Ford Truck Illegally Stuck in Mud : Driver Ignored Posted Signs

.

OK , I have lost count. How many trucks have been seen stuck in mud just past the "no motor vehicles" signs in the past two weeks? If you look closely at the second picture you can see the top of one of the white signs jsut behind the truck. Look about half way back on the hood. There is over 10 of those same white signs posted within a couple 1000 feet of this stuck Ford. I was disappointed to find that this Ford was sporting a window decal from a local military base. It was noted that there was also a black Toyota Tacoma stuck here today too, but someone had pulled it out before we arrived.

.
This was seen Tuesday afternoon at the bottom of Old Stage Road. Now all the neighbors agreed that it was a sign of trouble. Well...while it was a very built Jeep, it came back to the bus almost as clean as it left. There was no visible signs of mud play. The female passenger who didn't know mud play was not allowed admitted she encouraged the driver to leave the trail and play in the mud, but the driver told her no and explained that is what gets trail areas closed to motorized use. Well done!!! Thank you for being part of the solution and not part of the problem. It was noted that the Jeep did not have license plates on it, and it was explained that valid plates are required on Old Stage Road and Gold Camp Road, and either a plate or OHV sticker is required on the side roads.

420: And the kids say, "Why is the law always picking on us"

.
Why would the Forest Service consider not allowing disbursed camping anymore? Why would the Forest Service close camp grounds? Well lets see here...here is a tree that some "Little Johnny" had to carve his "420" into. Wow...that make you a big tough pot smoker? No one is impressed. As my father would say, " Little puke..probably couldn't add the 3 digits together to save his life". Well hey...look on the bright side, this is definite justification for the Forest Service to show why their law enforcement now has drug sniffing K-9 units. Do you think this camp site will be regularly visited now by law enforcement looking for drugs? I bet so!

This campsite had been recently moved out of by a group of young folks. Do you see the trash bag left hanging in the tree in the second picture? Now while I was impressed the fire pit was not a total disgrace, the local wildlife would have had that bag scattered all over the campground if a good Samaritan had not been there to clean up after them.

I owe the Home Depot check out lady an apology.

.
I recently got irritated when attempting to use the self check out at Home Depot. I scanned a few items and then scanned a can of orange spray paint that I used for a project at home. I could not see a valid reason to have an age requirement on spray paint. Well, welcome to the Pike National Forest, one of America's largest urban interfaces. Maybe the age limit needs to be set higher. Ok, lets go over this. It ain't pretty, it ain't artistic, it ain't funny or cute, IT IS WRONG AND STUPID. As I have said before, leave the paint at home. One more vote to limit public access to public lands.

Leave the paint at home!!!

.

OK, so here is two examples of how two different groups marked where they wanted their friends to turn off the main road. Now if your friends ever call you and say "yeah, we have set up camp, just follow the yellow arrows painted on the trees or rocks...", let them know they are part of the weaker side of the gene pool. If on the other hand, your friends use a bright flag, a paper plate with a group name on it, etc. and are diligent to take it with after all have arrived, then let them know they are smarter then the average camper seen 'round these here parts. I am sure the Forest Service folks see painted and other semi-permanent marking as the perfect reason to give your campsite a closer than usual look. This is a prime example of where "leave no trace" applies to more then just motorized sports folks. Leave the paint at home!!! As a side note to ponder...the red flag was a group of adults camped on 372. The yellow paint was a large under aged party on 374.

My Jeep Has A 4 Inch Lift!!!

.

So I settle in off to the side of the water crossing to watch. Two Jeeps are traveling together, the first one has tried to cross the water too fast, and has stalled her Jeep by getting water in her open intake. A USFS Volunteer has showed up and is explaining how you want to go just fast enough to keep positive exhaust pressure, but slow enough as to not force water up your air intake. The black Jeep sporting it's local military base permit winches the ladie's gold Jeep out, and the guy driving the black Jeep then proclaims "But I have a 4 inch lift". This comment is followed by one of the faster attempts at this crossing I have seen yet. Yep...you guessed it. The black Jeep quietly comes to rest in about the same spot the gold Jeep was just pulled from. Everyone seems to be good sports about spending the next several hours pulling spark plugs, cranking water out of cylinders, etc. It was a beautiful day... I went wheeling, but drove by a few times over the next several hours to find them still there "drying things out". MUST be a Jeep thing.

Once Again...the rule is NO HILLCLIMBING

.
Ok, so here is a picture taken in Teller County, along Gold camp Road. Wow...does this mean you are cool? Is it like a macho thing? Let me clue you in here....one, those of you who do this are part of the reason trails and areas get closed. Thanks for being part of the problem. Secondly, years ago..when I was 16, I did the same kind of stuff, but we did it in a private sand pit on our family farm. Note that we got alot further then that, and we were driving a Ford Pinto station wagon. So...whatever it might be..it sure isn't tough or macho. It is against the rules, it gets trails closed, it is unsightly, it causes erosion, ... THINK!!!!

Ft. Carson Jeeper Makes Us All Proud

.

This is something I had never planned having to ever blog about. This is a post of a GOOD THING. Yes, I know they are out there, but it is so rare to run across them and we get so tired of seeing the bad, it was a GREAT refresher to run across this. This military gentleman had picked up all this trash that morning and was jsut settling in to enjoy a beverage in his campsite as he waited for some friends to arrive. Thank You!!! Beverage deserved! The USFS ranger who gave these pictures to me and told me this guys story with such excitement, also said this guy said he usually ran with Colorado4x4 group, but this weekend was waiting for the Big Horn group. I guess the Big Horn club was coming up the next day to help the USFS do some trail maintenance on FSR 370C aka Eagle Rock Trail. Thank you all!

An old song goes, " Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs..."

.
As an old song goes, " Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs..". Now, too bad no one reads them or follows their wisedom. When someone complains about why more and more travel management is required on public lands, think about what you see here. This Jeep driver decided to leave the marked trail and venture past the signs, markers, and flagged fence all indicating that the US Forest Service does NOT want or allow Jeeps and other motorized travel in their wetlands. I guess he missed all the clues here. This happened sometime Tuesday morning, June 19th, 2007. Now...before any of the self-propelled crowd such as hikers, mountain bikers, etc. get too self righteous here, we should take a good look at these photos. That is a mountain bike rack on top of this Jeep. This is someone who is part of the self-propelled crowd. As one of the signs this gentleman ignored reads, "Please respect the wetlands". The resource damage this driver did getting stuck was light. The resource damage he did getting it out was moderate.

Jeep End Over End Rollover

.
Ouch!!! This appears to a case of too fast for conditions. The tracks look like the driver came around the corner too fast hit a high spot in the road, then stuck a tire in a washout on the low side of the road causing the Jeep to flip end over end, not roll sideways, landing upside down about 30 feet down the embankment. That had to hurt! This vehicle was recovered on a Friday afternoon, approximately 72 hours after the accident happened. The truck had been shot with a shotgun, stereo and winch stolen. I was surprised the front bumper and wheels and tires weren't gone as well.
.

Nissan Murano: Unknown Story

.
This Nissan Murano was seen Saturday night, June 16th, 2007 on Old Stage Road. The front tires are freely hanging in the air, and the rear tires are over an inch off the ground also. The vehicle is totally perpendicular to road. Oops!!!

Here's Your Sign. Can You Read It?

.





Wow...Do you think Jeff Foxworthy might have known this guy when he made the phrase "Here's your sign!" so popular in relating to what he calls "stupid people"? Here is a vehicle sporting a window decal to a local military base parked in front of a fence with no less than 5 signs indicating that the property owner does NOT want the public to access from this point. The ground was fairly soft here and the only obvious tracks from this vehicle lead over to where the fence wire is spread and the tracks continue on the other side. Folks, we appreciate what you do for us in places like Iraq and around the globe, but this kinda stuff does not make me wanna see you in my neighborhood. Public access IS permitted from the east end of this reservoir for fishing. How long before such neglect for the rules leads to no public access? At a minimum this person is not helping the cause to have CSU to open South Slope / Seven Lakes to public hiking, are they? When a fence with a lock and 5 signs don't get the message across, I'm not sure what would. Future comment: "Hey son, I remember back in 2007 when I would disregard the fishing access rules. Thats why there is no more public access for you". I wonder if I ignored signs and fences on the local military base that this guys works if I would be treated so easily.

Isuzu: Smart Minds Drive What /Where?

.

Isuzu's catch phrase currently is Isuzu: Smart Minds Drive Alike". Hmm, in this case, let's hope not. This Isuzu driver decided to not follow the US Forest Service rules and he went 4-wheeling off the trail. He got stuck and had to have Search and Rescue come get him back in November, 2006. The driver was seen borrowing his father-in-law's Jeep to try to get this stuck truck out of the still frozen mud the second week of June. 2007. I bet that made ole dad just so proud. On the bright side, if it had not been frozen in, it would have most likely been missing parts.

.

Must Be A Jeep Thing

.
Dare I say...This MUST be a Jeep thing..cause I don't understand. Why would you four wheel where you aren't supposed to? This was taken during winter of 2006, "at the pond" on Gold Camp Road in the Pike National Forest. The US Forest Service rules do NOT specify seasonal conditions to stay out of the wetlands, it just says stay out period. This person then made the grave error of leaving it over night and letting it freeze in.