Anyone riding up around there today? They get skunked or did they get the goods? Thinking about it for this weekend, but don't want to ride dust on crust. Thanks.
Vail Pass updates?
- Thread starter wks
- Start date
I live in Dillon/Silverthorne and we got maybe 1-2 inches all day.
Snotel from Copper Mt.says 3" since midnight.http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/nwcc/sntl-datarpt.jsp?site=415&days=7&state=co.
Super light flakes now,doesn't look very promising.My friend in Alma/Fairplay just called and said he got about a foot today.I'm heading south.
Snotel from Copper Mt.says 3" since midnight.http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/nwcc/sntl-datarpt.jsp?site=415&days=7&state=co.
Super light flakes now,doesn't look very promising.My friend in Alma/Fairplay just called and said he got about a foot today.I'm heading south.
Not quite "dust on crust"
Good 4-6" of soft snow today on top of a layer heavier snow from spring conditions last week. Some parts above tree line are completely blown off.
Good 4-6" of soft snow today on top of a layer heavier snow from spring conditions last week. Some parts above tree line are completely blown off.
Vail Pass sucks now, to much pressure from the rangers, Try to get more creative in your ride plans, does not matter how much snow at VP.
You know I have heard people say this a few times and I have rode Vail Pass my entire life. I have never ONCE had any issues with the Rangers. They come up and check me for my permit fee, we usually shoot the $hit for a bit and then they go on their way.
Just so you guys know the money you pay also pays for grooming of that trail up there. Diesel fuel is not cheap, nor is buying a snowcat. The Vail Taks Force gets the money that you pay up there, in order to help keep the area clean as well as grooming, etc.
Exactly, I have even taken their GPS tracking device out for them. They told me that some people really stiff them on that. I have nothing to hide and I want to stretch out the boundaries of where I go as much as possible so that hopefully we won't loose any terrain because it's not used. If they are giving you a hard time I wonder what it is that you are doing.
I rode today and the stuff in the sun is setup. Ptarmigan is destroyed because it gets so much traffic. We found some crazy tree runs today that had some great powder in them. You just have to get away from the crowd.
Us too
BugITo
I think we talked today while you were looking at your track.
The 600 loosened up and ran great after a while.
So we took your advice with the Lynk tracker also and covered as much of the boundaries as we could. Thanks great idea.
BugITo
I think we talked today while you were looking at your track.
The 600 loosened up and ran great after a while.
So we took your advice with the Lynk tracker also and covered as much of the boundaries as we could. Thanks great idea.
BugITo
I think we talked today while you were looking at your track.
The 600 loosened up and ran great after a while.
So we took your advice with the Lynk tracker also and covered as much of the boundaries as we could. Thanks great idea.
Good to hear on the 600. Hope you guys found some of the "stash" too.
Vail Pass sucks now, to much pressure from the rangers, Try to get more creative in your ride plans, does not matter how much snow at VP.
RE was no better this weekend. They had the state cops and the Feds up there all weekend. They had nutz too, we had a herd following us through some of the tightest trees up there. They were trying to see if we strayed into all of that wonderful terrain that never gets touched except a 7" wide trail from the Twig Fairies.
D
dtown
Well-known member
BugITo
I think we talked today while you were looking at your track.
The 600 loosened up and ran great after a while.
So we took your advice with the Lynk tracker also and covered as much of the boundaries as we could. Thanks great idea.
I went to VP on Sunday for the 1st time this season... I respectfully declined the Lynks tracker after talking to the rangers a bit. My opinion is that you guys are helping these special "Wildlife Rangers" build a case against off trail sledders. In my option, the most likely scenario for these collected GPS tracks is so that they can show, "hey look these new sleds are capable of going anywhere/everyewhere including tight trees". The save the Lynx group claims that a Lynx will not cross a snowmobile track... if we put tracks all over the place in the trees, we're "impacting" the Lynx. I asked the "Wildlife Rangers" if the Lynx had a GPS tracker put on them so they could compare the interactions of the GPS tracks, they said no. They failed to mention that the real reason for this is because they still haven't found a Lynx or evidence of a Lynx in that area... but "it's ideal Lynx habitat". In my opion our tax dolars are once agian being used against us by "tricking" us into building a case for either shutting our riding areas down or making us stay on trails.
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Haven't seen a lynx on VP? Chit, 4-5 years ago they found 2 or 3 dead ones. One was shot and the other two were road kill. Maybe they should shut I70 down.
D
dtown
Well-known member
Shut it down? No, we're going to build a $10million land bridge over I-70. They "know" the Lynx are stil there, but they have been unsuccesful at traping them to put a GPS on them for this study - I read that in the Vail newspaper sometime in February. (The radios that they put on the Lynx when they released them several years ago are long dead).
Will you sign my petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide?
http://www.dhmo.org/
I've thought about this...
My direction is that I hope to continue to push the boundaries with that tracker. Show that we use all of the area that is available to us. I'm concerned that if we don't, small areas will continue to get closed each year. It's amazing how much has been shut down to sleds since I was young (I grew up in that area). You have a good point about the Lynx. Makes me sick to even type those letters because it might as well be the Unicorn we are all talking about. There is a reason it is called the Canadian Lynx...because it lives in Canada! I've sat down with wilderness "specialists" and they've shown me maps of areas that are habitatable for the Lynx. When I asked if there was any proof of a lynx in that area, everyone looked dumbfounded and had to answer "no". So I guess my back yard is lynx habitat as well. The "Lynx Wildcard" will be played until snowmobile is outlawed all together.
Speaking of tracks.
Has any body ever seen a Lynx anywhere around here?
Has any body ever seen any Lynx tracks anywhere around here?
I've ridden and hiked around all over this area since the early 1980's and have never seen any.
Lots of Birds, Elk, deer, rabbit, fox, squirrels and the occasional coyote.
Come to think of it I have never seen a Lynx anywhere in Colorado except a few pictures when they released them with the tracking collars.
According to the web site where the research is be collected they are studying if the rabbit population is dropping and the coyote population is raising. They are looking into if the coyotes are using the packed snowmobile trails to hunt the rabbits (a main source of food for the invisible Lynx) Their results are saying that it makes no difference.
But based upon my past experience with a government research project.
If the results don't equal what you want "LIE" .
Here is why. The head researcher of the project will say what ever needs to be said so they don't lose their funding. I have seen it happen before and have no reason to believe that it can't happen again. The poor workers doing the field work don't see the results until the schmuck releases the results.
Thinking about some more it I probably won't assist them any more.
Here is a link to the lynx program.
If you would like more information on the Rock Mountain Research Station lynx program, see the Web site at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/wildlife/forest_carnivores/lynx
Has any body ever seen a Lynx anywhere around here?
Has any body ever seen any Lynx tracks anywhere around here?
I've ridden and hiked around all over this area since the early 1980's and have never seen any.
Lots of Birds, Elk, deer, rabbit, fox, squirrels and the occasional coyote.
Come to think of it I have never seen a Lynx anywhere in Colorado except a few pictures when they released them with the tracking collars.
According to the web site where the research is be collected they are studying if the rabbit population is dropping and the coyote population is raising. They are looking into if the coyotes are using the packed snowmobile trails to hunt the rabbits (a main source of food for the invisible Lynx) Their results are saying that it makes no difference.
But based upon my past experience with a government research project.
If the results don't equal what you want "LIE" .
Here is why. The head researcher of the project will say what ever needs to be said so they don't lose their funding. I have seen it happen before and have no reason to believe that it can't happen again. The poor workers doing the field work don't see the results until the schmuck releases the results.
Thinking about some more it I probably won't assist them any more.
Here is a link to the lynx program.
If you would like more information on the Rock Mountain Research Station lynx program, see the Web site at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/wildlife/forest_carnivores/lynx
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This is what they are looking for.
http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/wildlife/forest_carnivores/lynx/research/images/tracks_small.jpg
http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/wildlife/forest_carnivores/lynx/research/images/tracks_small.jpg
I know a long time ago probably 10 years ago or so there was someone that got caught placing fur in the fur trap for lynx. They checked the DNA and determined it came from a lynx that was in captivity. I think there is plenty of evidence showing that these animals are not really out there, granted I don't see mountain lions all that often either. I know they are there and have seen a couple. One problem with cats is that they are nocturnal. So they do a lot of travel at night. I am not arguing that lynx can survive here but just because you don't see them doesn't me they aren't there.
I rarely see a bobcat either.
I rarely see a bobcat either.
D
Doctor D
Active member
"WE WILL MANAGE THE SLED RIDERS"
Many have not had any troubles with the "Wildlife Rangers"...Ride as much at VP as our crew did and you will....It started about 3 years ago when I blew a primary clutch through the hood about 2 miles from the groomed trail. We started hooking up and towing. Not long here comes JOHNNY SPECIAL RANGER, hey you guys have your legal stuff I can look at (registrations), of course here ya go, point is the snow was real deep and those 2 RANGERS sat and watched us struggle moving my sled for 30 minutes until I yelled at em to either help or go away!! They left.
Then the no overnight snowmobile parking on the pass came, but if you are a skier staying at the huts you can clog the lot with your cars overnight and cdot won't complain. Then the tickets to some in our group for riding 2 feet out of bounds on 2 or 3 occations 250 a pop, no warning nothing..Then the day the ranger thought he would bang on the camper door to tell my friends wife what danger we are putting her son Kameron in when we ride up there, (Kameron just turned 17 and runs us all over the mountain..Sick rider) Needless to say his wife told the RANGER to get lost.
We rode there a ton for many years, and the last 2 to 3 years the Rangers had it out for us...And for the money for grooming, been there many times when it was not groomed. If I have to pay to use the back country the folks taking my money better be respectful and not rude (have many other stories about rangers).
If you want to be MANAGED while riding your sled then go to VP....
Many have not had any troubles with the "Wildlife Rangers"...Ride as much at VP as our crew did and you will....It started about 3 years ago when I blew a primary clutch through the hood about 2 miles from the groomed trail. We started hooking up and towing. Not long here comes JOHNNY SPECIAL RANGER, hey you guys have your legal stuff I can look at (registrations), of course here ya go, point is the snow was real deep and those 2 RANGERS sat and watched us struggle moving my sled for 30 minutes until I yelled at em to either help or go away!! They left.
Then the no overnight snowmobile parking on the pass came, but if you are a skier staying at the huts you can clog the lot with your cars overnight and cdot won't complain. Then the tickets to some in our group for riding 2 feet out of bounds on 2 or 3 occations 250 a pop, no warning nothing..Then the day the ranger thought he would bang on the camper door to tell my friends wife what danger we are putting her son Kameron in when we ride up there, (Kameron just turned 17 and runs us all over the mountain..Sick rider) Needless to say his wife told the RANGER to get lost.
We rode there a ton for many years, and the last 2 to 3 years the Rangers had it out for us...And for the money for grooming, been there many times when it was not groomed. If I have to pay to use the back country the folks taking my money better be respectful and not rude (have many other stories about rangers).
If you want to be MANAGED while riding your sled then go to VP....
So they were doing their job? You were out of bounds, how far is too far. If you knew you were out of bounds by 3 feet or 300 yards, technically you are breaking the law. Sure they probably have the power to use some discretion but it seems you already established a reputation with the guy by yelling at them.
You also cannot expect to have a groomed trail every time you ride. Grooming is done when they have the manpower, money and weather. They typically groom after a busy weekend or prior to.
They had it out for you for money? Well if you didn't pay, once again they are doing their job.
BTW... there are two groups that operate up there. Ranger and State Parks are not the same thing. Rangers will check you for your access fee but honestly could care less about your registration, state parks will be checking for registration and could care less about the access fee. Waste of resources in our government by having two groups up there doing two jobs that one could do? Probably but it is what it is.
I have yet to see any signage that disallows overnight parking. If you cannot stay there with a snowmobile trailer but a skier can, I would be raising hell with the group that is trying to enforce that. "Those that get involved make the decisions..." Keep that in mind.
By the way I am 30 years old and I have been riding up in that are since I could walk. I grew up in Red Cliff, I would put money that I have done more riding in that are than most.
