Vail Pass Ranger kindness

[cjtarpley]

Yes, I said Kindness!!! This last week I was up there on a Thurs. I really did forget to get my day pass because riding had already surged into my mind. Which leaves very little room for any other thoughts.
The new Head Ranger flagged me down up in the hills. I forget his name, (possibly Jack) But the dude was super cool and when I told him the situation he wrote my name down and told me I could get the 6 bucks in by 4:00 that day otherwise he would just mail me a ticket. When we talked about the stigma of un-kind rangers at VP, he said he had recently taken the lead ranger position and was working very hard to change that type of relationship with the public. Particularly snowmobilers. I'll be honest, it was one of the first times I had a good, interaction with the V.P. Rangers. Maybe there's hope???

 

[skibreeze]

That's good to hear, but they all have a ways to go. The FS was at RE on Sun. and didn't check any registrations at all, probably just B lined it up to the wilderness line and waited for somebody to cross over, just like last w/e.

 

[AndrettiDog]

That's good to hear, but they all have a ways to go. The FS was at RE on Sun. and didn't check any registrations at all, probably just B lined it up to the wilderness line and waited for somebody to cross over, just like last w/e.

Yeah, I'm starting to see more and more of this. Why not work on informing people of these boundaries? Some people really don't know where they are. Even though you can look at a map, it's easy to go a couple miles and not realize you are in wilderness. That's not an excuse, but they can help by posting more boundary markers, place better signage at some of the lots and just give a nice warning that you are in an area you shouldn't be in and you need to backtrack a little.

I've backed the "policing" at VP only because w/o it I think we would eventually lose all of that area. But we need more FS people that are snowmobilers and care for the sport. Not just people that have a chip on their shoulder against the sled heads each day. The good news is that the Minturn/Eagle FS station now has a lady at the helm that has been a snowmobiler throughout here life. She came from out of state so hopefully she is not exposed to the liberal crap that plagues the mountain towns.

 

[skibreeze]

If I see them again this w/e, I should stop and talk to them to see what their agenda is. Might be interesting.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

If I see them again this w/e, I should stop and talk to them to see what their agenda is. Might be interesting.

Entrapment. The boundary is on a map, but I can tell you that the signs move every damn weekend!

What they need to do is create a .kml file or something and make it a downloadable feature to Google Earth or a gps track. Then we could put it on the gps and know exactly where it is. Who in the hell is gonna carry a map, fold it out and compare coordinates on the map and gps? Unless one is truly lost.

 

[skibreeze]

They have to move, other wise they'd be buried.

 

[CO_MapMaker]

That's good to hear, but they all have a ways to go. The FS was at RE on Sun. and didn't check any registrations at all, probably just B lined it up to the wilderness line and waited for somebody to cross over, just like last w/e.

They have been hanging there alot. They accused us of going in and followed our tracks back (which we didn't). They were nice though, unless you were the guys before us that got 5 wilderness tickets at $500 a pop! They did say 95% of the wilderness tickets they write are out of staters.

 

[skibreeze]

They have been hanging there alot. They accused us of going in and followed our tracks back (which we didn't). They were nice though, unless you were the guys before us that got 5 wilderness tickets at $500 a pop! They did say 95% of the wilderness tickets they write are out of staters.

I personally think that they should have a map/sign at the trailheads and help to educate the folks that aren't aware of the rules. I think that they should be checking registrations, checking for stolen sleds. I think that part of their job should be promoting good will amonst all users of our public property. I know, keep dreaming.

 

[tmk50]

I took the map for SLO off of sledcity.com and did an overlay in google earth - then dowloaded the kmz file to my gps. It shows the trails, wilderness boundaries, etc. It worked really well when we rode up there in late January.

I can try to do something similar for Rabbit Ears and send it out to anyone/everyone that is interested.

I need a good clean .jpg file with the trails and wilderness/ski area boundaries marked. If someone has that link or the file shoot me a PM and I will work on it this week. The one on sledcity looks OK - but I just wanted to get the best one that I can (no text boxes, legends in the middle of the map, etc.)

 

[PJ-Hunter]

I took the map for SLO off of sledcity.com and did an overlay in google earth - then dowloaded the kmz file to my gps. It shows the trails, wilderness boundaries, etc. It worked really well when we rode up there in late January.

I can try to do something similar for Rabbit Ears and send it out to anyone/everyone that is interested.

I need a good clean .jpg file with the trails and wilderness/ski area boundaries marked. If someone has that link or the file shoot me a PM and I will work on it this week. The one on sledcity looks OK - but I just wanted to get the best one that I can (no text boxes, legends in the middle of the map, etc.)

Let me see what I can dig up.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Let me see what I can dig up.

I found a pdf, trying to figure out a way to convert it to jpg.

View attachment stelprdb5274222.pdf

 

[PJ-Hunter]

USFS link:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/f...in+NG+-+Hahns+Peak/Bears+Ears+Ranger+District

 

[AndrettiDog]

I found a pdf, trying to figure out a way to convert it to jpg.

View attachment 138766

Here it is in JPG. Not as useful as a PDF though.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

I think all he needs is the Eastern edge of the Blue, Purple and Green.

 

[tmk50]

OK - I will try to get it done in the next few days. Thx for the files!

 

[tmk50]

OK - here it is. I got everything to line up pretty close, but if you guys want to you can try to line it up even closer when you open this up on your computers.

NOTE: Snowest does not allow .kmz files, so you will need to change the name of the attachment as described below:

1. Download the "RE.pdf" file to your computer
2. Rename the file to "RE.kmz"
3. Open the file using Google Earth
4. Make sure that you have your sidebar turned on (View -> Sidebar)
5. You should see the RE map listed under "My Places". Right click on it and select "Properties" - now you can adjust the tranparency and move the map around if you want to try to get things to line up better than I did.
6. If you have a newer Garmin GPS unit that allows you to upload custom maps follow the directions at this website starting with step #5 (I have done steps 1-4 for you)

http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/us/onthetrail/custommaps#fragment-2

Now when you ride on Rabbit Ears you can turn this map "on" and see where the wilderness and other out of bounds areas are.

**I am not responsible for paying any tickets if this map is not 100% accurate!!

 

[milehighassassin]

I lost my annual pass to VP and I stopped to talk to the Rangers there about it. The ranger there "Jonathan" was super cool about it. He looked up my pass number and gave me his business card with the # on it. He also hand wrote that this was my pass replacement on back.

Haven't had any issues but that was cool that he did that. They don't have replacement passes for some reason and the season pass they give you is about 1/4" wider and longer than a regular credit card or drivers license. So basically it won't fit in a standard wallet.

 

[dragon12]

A little respect would go a long ways from both sides, rangers and riders. It would be nice if the boundaries were clearly marked and maps were available at the lots but it is up to us to know the boundaries. If the rangers spent a couple of weeks patrolling the boundaries and stopping riders and educating them of the wilderness boundary before they cross into, it would help. Maybe hand out a few maps while doing so.

Who knows, maybe they have already done this and the respect was not returned so they have resorted to their current tactics.

Some people just like to act like cox.

 

[trackvs2wheels]

Thanks tmk50!!!!

Layed my SPOT messages over your google earth image and what do you know...we are not YET into the no-no zone

Thanks again...that's pretty cool!!

 

[tmk50]

Thanks tmk50!!!!

Layed my SPOT messages over your google earth image and what do you know...we are not YET into the no-no zone

Thanks again...that's pretty cool!!

No problem - if you guys have other maps that you want me to work on for other riding areas in the state I can work on those too - I'll start another thread though - I have hijacked this one.....