Forest Lake Outfitters

[jeeper]

Wow. Look at him man up! 10 points.

 

[Skylinerider]

Thanks for posting on here, glad you did. Check out www.treadlightly.org join up as a member, get educated on how to tread lightly. And welcome to the forum.

 

[thefirstzukman]

At that time we did not see any signs stating that we were not allowed to go through this certain mud pit. We saw tire marks and noticed that other people have done it and wanted to go through it. We are not justifying our actions, but simply had a mistake on our part without knowing that it was not allowed.

IT is one of those things that is always illegal to do, kind of like shooting someone in the head for looking at you wrong... just because there isn't a sign saying not to do it doesn't make it ok to do. I would recommend a Tread lightly course like was suggested above and also gathering current maps of all places you desire to wheel.

 

[Noahfecks]

Wow. Look at him man up! 10 points.

x2
It takes a big person to step up and take responsibility for their actions, not make excuses, and correct their past transgressions and/or future behaviors

 

[Tonkaman]

Welcome to the forum! We all really appreciate you coming foreword and acknowledging what happened. I hope you stick around and get to know us a bit better. You will realize that most the people here are very kind and only looking out for the future of Offroad access.

 

[cuban b]

IT is one of those things that is always illegal to do, kind of like shooting someone in the head for looking at you wrong... just because there isn't a sign saying not to do it doesn't make it ok to do. I would recommend a Tread lightly course like was suggested above and also gathering current maps of all places you desire to wheel.

It isn't ALWAYS illegal to drive through a mud pit and even when it is, it is NOT comparable to shooting someone. Wow. They acknowledged their mistake, good for them. Time to move on.

 

[carsonc1974]

Im not sure its illegal to drive through all mud pits. In my industry, if the road is flooded BLM would rather you drive through it vs going around thus widening the road. There are limits though, we cannot rut longer then 100 ft, 4" deep. Keep in mind these are just the rules we have to follow as a contractor.

 

[Kevin B.]

Yah, if you HAVE to go through it's preferred to go through instead of around. Most recreationists don't HAVE to go through and tear it up in the first place, and BLM/Forest Service/whoever almost always prefers that we turn around and come back another day when that happens. But that's just talking about public roads - if the mud pit in question isn't part of a designated open road/trail or open travel area, it's absolutely illegal to play in it.

About the only time we should be tearing up a muddy spot is when it's on private property with the permission of the land owner, or when it's a recognized "obstacle" on an established trail (i.e., the pit just before the end of Forest Lake), or when we absolutely have to (i.e., working like Carson, or when it's impossible/impractical to go back and find another way). I like that Forest Lake Outfitters has acknowledged his error, but I'm confused how an experienced trail driver ever thought that tearing up that meadow was acceptable in the first place - the picture in question is gone now, but that didn't look like he was on a trail at all.

 

[KWight]

I agree with treading lightly and coming back another day to do the trail when conditions are such that tearing up the trail would take place. I have not been up to Forest Lake in 10 years and attempted to make the trip in July. There was a lot of rain at the time and the trail was a muddy sloppy mess. I tried to go through a section of boulders with and without my lockers engaged. With all the slipping and sliding around, I knew after a few tries that I was going to tear the trail and my rig up if I continued to try. I simply tucked tail and backed down the trail to a spot where I could turn around and leave this for another opportunity. There will always be another trip up that way to make it to the lake and I won't have to worry about the damage I left for others.

 

[Houndoc]

Wow. Look at him man up! 10 points.

Kudos!