BLM CLOSURE ALERT! Bear Lake Travel Managment Plan

For some months Offroading Home has been preparing a post comparing the various citizen unfriendly, if not intentionally deceptive, tactics the BLM uses against offroaders in general and senior riders in particular. It's not quite ready yet but an urgent matter requires this short post about yet another BLM "Travel Management Plan" which is underway. This time it's for the massively popular Bear Lake offroad riding area.   [A more in depth discussion of this TMP is available at: Offroading Home Forum.]

The "Travel Management Plan" – you remember, that is what has nearly universally become the BLMs euphemism for their Democrat-Harry-Reid-backed closure of all offroad trails in America. Legally they are required to do it with full disclosure and include citizen feedback; however, BLM offices have gotten "spin doctoring" and subterfuge to the level of an art form.

We will have more to say about it in the future; but for now, all offroaders, especially those in the area, need to know that:

1- The Pocatello Field office, under the direction of Dave Pacioretty [dpacioretty@blm.gov (208)478-6340] has set a comment deadline one month away – MARCH 24, 2011.

Press to Read The Rest ...

New Google Earth: Version 6.0

Google has released another update to Google Earth - now version 6.0!   [I actually had this post prepared last year for the update to version 5.2, and was nearly ready to release it on you, when my testing showed that a couple of very substantial bugs had been introduced into previously working code!]

So, even though there were a couple of interesting new features, my testing showed that the so-called "update" had broken part of the code which allowed you to save your trails correctly for others to see. I decided that was too much of a damage to the program for me to want to endorse; so, instead of telling you about it, I told Google – or at least tried to. Have YOU ever tried getting through to a REAL person at Google?

My bug discovery was published in the Google Earth forum and did receive comments from other users; but, not even a shred of acknowledgement from any Google official person. So, the only thing we could do was to wait to see when/if they improved it in later versions.

Press to Read The Rest ...

GEO-tography: Night

Even pocket sized cameras are getting sophisticated enough to take photos which look good in some pretty tough conditions offroad.   I'm happy with the Nikon that I carry in my clip-on belt case, but the one thing it doesn't do well is make up for the "shakes." One time, while cleaning my lens for the um-teenth time on a trail, I was mumbling about how many of my photos just didn't seem "crisp" and were just a tad blurry - like they were out of focus.   A friend asked "why don't you try shutting off your ATV and see how that works?"

I did and it made a lot of difference.   The subtle vibration of the machine's motor was transmitted to my hand and blurred the photograph slightly, even though I had the camera's "vibration control" setting switched on.   We all know that no pocket camera can obtain the crystal qualities of a 35-mm camera mounted on a tripod and with a cable shutter release – especially when the light gets low.

The "vibration control" system on most cameras of any kind is much better at dampening the "low frequency" shakes from a tired hand than it is the high frequency jerks from an ATV engine, even at idol.

What happens when you are trundling along off-road on an iceburg trying to get to a spot where you can watch a volcano erupt – like in this photograph?   It's dark so what do you do then?

Press to Read The Rest ...

Offroad: Mesquite - Canyonlands, Virgin River

This second offroad excursion in the 2011 snowbird year was taken out of exasperation with the continual bad weather over the previous month. Rain and cold had precluded riding our ATVs for what seemed like an eternity so we bundled up at the first sign of the sun in weeks for an afternoon ride into "the Canyonlands."

We also wanted to see what, if anything was left of the trails along the Virgin River which was doing its SECOND "100 year flood" in five years.   [A free Google Earth file of this route is available at: Canyonlands-Virgin River.]

Tecnhically, I supposed, the Canyonland trails are on Gold Butte, but the area is only 4 miles past the Riverside Road turn off, and still connected to the West Bunkerville Flats riding area. Most locals don't consider "riding the Butte" to begin until you at least round the gap at the Little Virgin Mountains along Clives Landing.

Press to Read The Rest ...

Gold Mines of Gold Butte

I have a friend who loves historic Gold Mines… well, all mines actually!   He's never heard about a mine that he didn't want to go visit. To look at them, to walk around them, to explore them and photograph them. He loves to drive his side-by-side up any old mine road to as close as he can get… even if it's straight up.   He's been to so many mines, and has so many mine photographs, we kid him that he must be writing a coffee-table book about them.

And he has chosen a pretty good place to snowbird because hundreds of the things are within a day-trip of his winter-time home. There are more than 40 claims on Gold Butte alone which have historically taken gold in some amount. None, unfortunately, are still in operation; and, as we have previously shown, the BLM is taking great pains to eradicate them from the face of the earth.

Today's map is a neat "network link" that I found at a website (MineCache.com) which will display all the mining claims in a Google Earth viewport which have been known to contain at least some gold.   [A free Google Earth file of this route is available at: Gold Mines of Gold Butte.]

Press to Read The Rest ...

Offroad: Gold Butte - Backcountry Byway

For the several hundred new retiree's who are moving into their Dell Webb homes near Mesquite bringing with them their offroad vehicles – where do you begin? And for someone just up for the weekend in an SUV suitable to go offroad – is there a sort of "sampler" which one can do in a day?

The answer to both questions is: yes. The Gold Butte Backcountry Byway. And the map for the ride described here was taken as an "introductory" ride for new members this year by the Kokopelli ATV club based in Mesquite.   [A free Google Earth file of this route is available at: Offroading: Gold Butte Backcountry Byway.]

This route winds through typical Mojave Desert sand, to Aztec Formation red sandstone; from volcanic intrusions to metamorphosed monzogranite; from desert floor and washes to the Pinon-Juniper biome; and back again.

There are three aspects of this full day adventure we should talk about which will help you understand the area well enough to tailor the experience to your own capabilities and needs: The Byway itself, The area's hiking trailheads and The Mine Area Side-trip.

Press to Read The Rest ...

What A Change: Mesquite Offroading

If there's nothing else that can be said about Mesquite it's that this years snowbirding adventure has been different than any others – anywhere! Well, perhaps not anywhere; because, if we went anywhere else one would expect it to be different. Coming back to a spot where we've been before, we expect it to be the same, or at least a little similar.

The Kokopelli club is still here. Nancy, the lobbyist is still at her paid job to turn Gold Butte into a "hikers only" coffee table book for the Sierra Club. And the Mayor is still here - for a little while more.

But, right off the bat we found that many of the washes had substantially changed from rains either last spring or early this fall. Charlie said that things had washed out a little – and boy was he right! We almost didn't recognize Mud Wash for all the rocks. BUT, little did we know that was merely the beginning.

Press to Read The Rest ...

Christmas Carols - Not So Been There, Done That

What do you do when you've already got the T-shirt? Been there–done that is how the younger generation puts it. What about Christmas carols? We've all heard them so much and for so long — who hasn't got them memorized… well pretty much?

Take a look/listen to these TEN carols that I've found on the web – on TEN different instruments – in TEN different arrangements. All of them take an original Christmas carol and make it fresh and new for the season… with or without the snow! Yo, ho ho!

Press to Read The Rest ...

Ultimate Offroad: Santa

If either you or your children occasionally watch the NASA channel (and who doesn't) you undoutedly have seen the giant electronic map, taking up one whole wall in the Mission Control room, which displays the earth, the Space Shuttle orbits and the current position of the Space Shuttle and Space Station at any given time. In short… a huge "Google Earth" trail map!

And you probably know that on Christmas and Thanksgiving the little symbol's representing the Space Shuttle and Station are substituted for icons of Santa's sleigh and a Turkey respectively. Radar and Satellite tracking data are fed into NASA computers and the exact positions of any satellite can be displayed to the second! Better than most of our GPS units we take along to track our rides.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually follow along the Shuttle's path over the earth? Or better yet – even be able to track and plot the track the "Old Guy" takes Christmas Eve? Is anyone tracking him? Does he show up on radar… or whatever? Do we still have any records of his flights?

Well, yes, Virginia… the answer is YES to all of those questions. [In fact, this is a post where I'd appreciate it if you would make an effort to forward this link to families you know who could use the information. Copy and paste this link into an email   --> http://OffroadingHome.com <--   the post will be left here through christmas so you can link to it.]

Press to Read The Rest ...

Trail 1: Gold Butte Backcountry Byway and Mine

Despite a couple of rain and show storms, the 2010-11 Winter riding season is underway around Mesquite Nevada. Offroading Home accompanied the Kokopelli ATV club on its second ride this season (didn't want to brave their first ride in the snow).

There were several 'new' members along to make taking one of the "old standard rides" – the Gold Butte Backcountry Byway – very interesting and enjoyable, even when a sticky automatic-choke valve requred towing and cut the ride a tiny bit short.   [A free Google Earth file of this route is available at: Trail 1: Byway/Treasure Hawk.]

Whitney Junction

Even though we had eight or nine trailers, we were able to swing around the newly environmentalist-inflicted, railroad-tie fenced, control-those-nasty-offroaders parking lot they've landscaped the desert with now at Whitney Junction and still all fit in. That was most assuredly because we all arrived fairly close together and had the same goal as we swung around and parked properly. Surprised that the environmentalist scheme to landscape didn't fit in with what the area is actually used for? I'm not. Who's gonna break it to the campers that their spot is actually supposed to be a parking lot?

Press to Read The Rest ...

It's Finally Open - Bridge at Hoover Dam

Because the mountains were full to the foothills with the almost irrational desert snowstorm, Gordon and I took a ride to see what Bass Pro had on their shelves this Yuletide season which was different from last year – not, much. At least from what we could see.

That's not to say that what they had wasn't incredible – just not new. In fact they are stocked to the rafters as the Las Vegas Valley's premiere "everything sports" store. A good visit, especially for Gordon who found some things that he couldn't get up in the mountains of Wyoming.

With a half day still on the clock, we decided to go check the rumor that the hapless bridge over Black Canyon at Hoover Dam was actually completed – finally, after being knocked down at least once during construction by the canyon's fairly common "breezes," which can pull the enamel off your teeth.

Ever since 9-11, and the fact that it was discovered that Hoover Dam was on some kind of "target" list, the drive from Boulder City over the dam has been something out of Nightmare on Elm Street. The auto equivalent of pat-downs both coming and going, coupled with the ever-present brain-dead looky-loo's and heavy equipment, brought traffic over the dam to a stand-still. Any time of the day or night!

Press to Read The Rest ...

Gold Butte Trail Monitoring

Offroading Home met with an intrepid group of offroaders who have just quietly and behind the scenes been going about the business of monitoring trail usage in the Bunkerville/Gold Butte riding area.

Probably few of us know that the BLM recruits cooperation from clubs and individuals who can ride the trails taking GPS readings and noting things like wash-outs, land-slides and other trail damage as well as noting usage.

A few members of the Trails and Dunes club from Las Vegas rode the West Bunkerville Flats area today monitoring trails along Nickle Creek Ravine and into the Old Mine area being trained on how to use the BLMs GPS units and what types of forms are necessary to document "hazards and incidents" for the BLM.

Why on earth would an offroad club want to monitor trails for the BLM? Well, there are many reasons.

Press to Read The Rest ...

Maps To Go Offroad By

"Don't leave home without one" is a great idea – especially if you are talking about a map. I've even had a person tell me that he wasn't lost, he just wasn't on the map for a few hours.

Offroading Home has posted previously about the where's and why-fore's of mapping, in fact several times. You may remember that not too long ago, I completed an entire "101" series on the subject:

• GPS Maps 101: The number systems – Degrees, minutes, seconds, latitude and longitude.
• GPS Maps 102: Coordinate Systems – Conversions between systems and accuracy.
• GPS Maps 103: Measuring Lat and Lon – Calculating lat and lon, stars, chronometers, sextants and history.
• GPS Maps 104: Datums – Satellites, spheres and converting degrees to distance.
• GPS Maps 105: Projections and UTM – Mercator projection, UTM conventions, Northing and Easting.
• GPS Maps 106: Reading a TOPO Map – Understanding a TOPO map for use in the field.

Press to Read The Rest ...

GEO-tography: Minimalism

If you spend any time at all navigating around the web you will undoubtedly see that it is highly graphically oriented. And unless I miss my guess you will, on occasion, stumble onto a photograph which impresses you as being exceedingly fine. You may bookmark it so you can look at it again, or you may even get an idea how to take one like it of your own for your favorite offroad spot.

Sometimes, it's sort of like watching a movie – you may not be able to write a screenplay or know how to direct a film but you do know what a good film looks like and what plots seem hokey, even if you can't put it into words. Such is the case with the set of GEO-tographs that I've included below. Of course they are in focus, have good color and interesting content; but, they also have something else – lack of other things to go wrong!

Press to Read The Rest ...

Moab 4WD Backroads: Central - Part 4

Even though Moab isn't in either of its surrounding "national areas," it takes next to zero amount of "make-up" to change this area of the desert into a Disney-worthy spectacular extravaganza. They don't call this Canyonlands for nothing!

And even though it doesn't take much to turn the area from a peaceful ride into a life-threatening challange (think rain, flash floods and landslides) more and more of the "get-away-from-it-all" population is landing in this Coppola-esq city – some, even in the blistering summer.

As Offroading Home readers know, we have begun digitizing the trails found in Charles Wells' book "Moab, Ut Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails" and this is the fourth and final post about those ATV and SUV trails in the central area whose base-camp is the town of Moab. Two other riding areas remain for digitizing into maps; but, we thought that you would rather see them as each area is finished rather than waiting until the whole map is done.   [A free Google Earth file of this route is available at: Offroading Home on the Utah tab under the file name: "UtahMoabTrailsystem.kmz".]

Press to Read The Rest ...