Don't trash our trails. 4wheel article July 2005

[offroadracer99]

I recently read an article in the July 2005 issue of 4wheel & offroad magazine. I thought I would share it with all of you, even though I am sure many of you subscribe or pick up this magazine from time to time. I found it to be disturbing of the lack of care for the trail, the environment, and other people. Let me know what you all think.

?Point Taken?

Don?t Trash Our Trails

?I witnessed a recent off-road incident that both surprised and disappointed me, and one that cannot be good for the future of off-roading. I had the great fortune of attending the Jeeper?s Jamboree and tan the Rubicon Trail with a friend of mine, this trip being his 10th. This was my first trip and the event itself was a miracle of organization, cooperation, and camaraderie to say the least. Having done a limited amount of off-road driving in New England, Rubicon is clearly the Holy Grail of trails to drive and it was everything I expected and much, much more.

About half way between the trail?s starting point and Rubicon Springs we met up with a bunch of guys in two brand new Rubicon Jeeps, ready for anything that got in their way. They were periodically behind us or in front, depending on who stopped where for whatever reason. They were taking every inch of trail like a road race, tried passing others at places that were clearly a danger to all concerned, and whenever possible stopped to tackle a giant rock off the trail just for the hell of it. At one point, they did just that, with both Jeeps going over two rather large boulders, which I really didn?t think they would ever clear. We stopped to watch this and took a few photos just for fun. After clearing the first set of boulders, one guy tried another rock bigger than the Jeep, except it had about a 6-inch-diameter pine tree on the other side of it that was clearly in the way coming off the rock. Rather than skipping this rock-crawl, he pulled up to the rock, climbed up over it only to crash into the tree. Hitting the gas hard, he went nowhere, and the Jeep was firmly lodged between the rock and the pine. He could neither go forward nor back, and was obviously stuck. This was a big joke among the others watching and second guy pulled out his winch cable, hooked up the trapped Jeep and between the two of them, literally dragged the vehicle over the pine, ripping the roots out of the ground, downing the tree and leaving it broken and shredded. They had another good laugh at this and drove off in front of us. They could have easily pulled the Jeep sideways a bit and slid it without killing the tree.

Stupid behavior like this, causing damage to the environment is clearly irresponsible, thoughtless, and unnecessary and should not go unrecognized. Although this was hopefully an isolate incident, after enough of these events we will all have a problem. By the way, we met up with these guys a short time later and one of them, while trying to pass another guy missed seeing a rather large rock and trashed a steering rod. We passed them up and never did see them again. Our hope was that they were perhaps invited to leave the trail by one of the spotters. Otherwise it was an absolutely terrific weekend!

Dennis Janson
Ridgefield, CT?

This is not my work so I have referenced it. I also felt that since this was a letter sent in, and not the work of an official employee of Peterson?s, I would post it, yet I still referenced it to cover my butt.
This article was obtained form?
Point taken., Peterson?s 4Wheel & Offroad, July 2005 pg. 16., Primedia Specialty Group Inc., U.S.A.

[mitrail400ex]

Once again, its a matter of "one guy ruining it for the rest of us". I've never had the opportunity to go to a jeep jamboree, but from what I understand, they are a blast. MOST of the people use common sense and intelligence to determine what they should and shouldn't be doing. However, as with all sports, you'll get the guy that has too much money for his own good. They spend thousands upon thousands of dollars building a rig that will go anywhere, and rather than using it on an established trail, they proceed to blaze their own path, often over plants/ wildlife. Granted, thats how trails were formed to begin with, but in our world of neo-hippy tree huggers, every little blade of grass is precious. They will take every single opportunity given to them to try and shut us down. They could care less about the groups and clubs that spend countless (thankless) hours out on the trails repairing them, cleaning up the litter, and replanting trees in areas where the trails don't go. All they see is the one guy out there, climbing a rock and running into a tree.

So who is more guilty, the guy that runs into the tree, being an idiot? Or...the guy that sits by and watches the whole thing, without saying a single word to anyone about it? Personally, I blame them both. I've been known to stop and politely inform someone of their blatent stupidity before out on the ATV trails and at Silver Lake. I've also had someone correct me once, when I first got into ATVing. Chances are, all it would have taken was a "Excuse me, please stay on the marked trails. Otherwise they might be closed permanently next time you want to come back." Otherwise giving their license plate #'s to a DNR/ BLM officer usually does the trick.

/rambling done. Back to your daily lives.

[offroadracer99]

I am glad to see I inspired your views to be expressed about this article. Ramble anytime, its good for you :D . It's also good to know that you would take action and not sit back and watch someone try to ruin the fun for everyone else by breaking the trail rules. Once again it's good to have you on here.


What do the rest of you think about this article?

[WhiteRhino]

Yup,
I saw this article too and felt the same way. Why didn't the picture takers say something to the idiots? Or jot down their liscence number and report it. A little show of good samaritan goes a long way with the authorities.

Thanks for posting this.