Douglas Trailhead ORV encounter

[AaronPDX]

Hiked Mcintyre Ridge today, July 4, which I'll never do again on this holiday. It's a shooter's free-for-all! In 5 hours of hiking nearly 10 miles, maybe 40 mins were free from the sound of gunshots. Loudest and clearest, of course, when you reach a nice viewpoint to relax at. The abundant Trump signs on Wildcat Mtn Road should have been warning enough.

Anyhoo, once I returned down the trail, passing teenagers bonfiring and partying at the quarry, I got onto the trail leg leading to the parking area. It crosses the path of a rutty, decommissioned forest road, and thereupon was a Toyota 4X4 pickup noisily lurching up, Trump and US flags flying.

This is illegal, right? Since the road's decommissioned to prevent such activity? We had a brief 'dialogue' and one said since it's BLM land they're free to do what they want. I said I strongly doubt that's the case, but was ignorant of the precise nature of the law.

[AaronPDX]

Also, weirdly, the access trail from the parking lot was littered with a s**-ton of young growth bizarrely obstructing the trail. Anyone know what's up with this? I can't imagine it's natural.

http://www.dropbox.com/s/fufb0xzhqk1f61 ... 7.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4gf6jnnzccx4h ... 8.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2feqzbrwjsvrl ... 9.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jzftvfoo43umx ... 0.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fhz6hzitjtj59 ... 1.JPG?dl=0

(I would have put inline images rather than URLs, but they didn't work when I tried.)

And here are some nice memories:
viewtopic.php?t=19492

[walrus]

Those trees were down when we were last up there on June 16th. Both the Douglas and the McIntyre trailhead seem to get a lot of ORV/shooting use on the weekends. It is a beloved hike, but I will now only go there on weekday mornings, having had a few too many odd encounters (although nothing approaching what you described) on weekends/holidays.

[AaronPDX]

Good to know, Walrus. I wonder what (who?) brought down those trees. I'll take an axe up next time I go, and try to help clear the trail.

[Aimless]

If ORVs are using a hiking trail to enter a designated wilderness area and someone has felled trees across that trail, I would consider leaving the trees, assuming they are effectively blocking the ORVs. However, if the ORVs are just making a whole new mess by skirting around the felled trees, then removing them from the trail would seem like the better idea.

[justpeachy]

It crosses the path of a rutty, decommissioned forest road, and thereupon was a Toyota 4X4 pickup noisily lurching up, Trump and US flags flying.

Wait, they were driving down the decommissioned road? How is that even possible? This is what it looked like in 2013:



It's really sad how trashed and lawless that place has become. McIntyre Ridge is a lovely spot, but to hike there you need to put up with trash, target shooters, and OHVs.

[retired jerry]

It's too bad that can't have some designated shooting/lawless areas

half serious, half in jest

[AaronPDX]

@RetiredJerry: Agreed!

@Aimless: I saw no evidence of ORV use on the trail itself. Just major impediments for hikers.

@Justpeachy: Here's a pic of the ORV coming up the road:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z1cuk4v3l8bhw ... s.jpg?dl=0

What's the easiest way to find land boundaries online, i.e. to find out exactly what is under BLM jurisdiction?

(And how to properly embed a linked image in these posts?)

Concerning news about BLM leadership: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ry-pendley

[justpeachy]

What's the easiest way to find land boundaries online, i.e. to find out exactly what is under BLM jurisdiction?

I have a Gaia subscription, which has a public land layer and a private land layer. The Douglas Trailhead is not BLM, it is U.S. Forest Service. It's right on the edge of the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, which is also USFS.

I have a feeling that the problem with that specific spot is that it is in the Zigzag Ranger District and I don't think they ever make it out there to check on things. The rest of that district is totally separate from this area, as far as roads go. After visiting McIntyre Ridge from a different trailhead last year, I asked about the problem of OHVs driving into the designated wilderness and they just said they were aware of the issue. With so many other forms of entertainment off the table right now due to the pandemic, I think this kind of thing is only going to get worse, not just here, but all over our public lands.

[adamschneider]

What's the easiest way to find land boundaries online, i.e. to find out exactly what is under BLM jurisdiction?

CalTopo: https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=45.3345 ... =0.2&a=sma