July Long

[Mudhawg]

Have you NEVER done a trail when it is raining?
Have you never done a trail when it snows?

he cant realy criticize you tom cause both of those happened on the thanksgiving run and bob was there   :twisted:

[Fly Guy]

If you are planning on going to Waiparous, the trails are in better shape than I was expecting (I went out on Sunday). Yes there is mud and the pics prove it, but the pics don't show the many km of dry, hard packed trail that we traversed in order to reach these mud holes. Where there was mud...there was lots of mud. Where there was no mud...there was NO MUD!!!

If I wasn't going up north this weekend I'd be out at Waiparous again. I may make it there on Sunday.

Waiparous is open...go out, tread lightly, and have fun.

[FeatherFoot]

Well, the trails will be pretty cozy next year after SRD religates us to a gravelled road.  I'm sure we will find time in the queue to reminisce on this discussion then.

Have fun.

[Spinalguy]

You are completely out of the loop if you think that Waiporous possible closures has anything to do with us wheelin on July Long Weekend.
 :roll:
i'm done
Over and Out
Tom

[BlackYJ]

I'm going to get me some popcorn, this could be good  

[TJ54]

What the heck! my 2 cents. even though people will disagree
The trails are there for us to use, SRD has allowed us to. During the heavy rains they asked us to stay off the trails, I did stay home. On the night before the run I checked SRD's site, I could not find anything asking to restrict use, If there was I would have stayed home.

How many people went to Maclean V-days, and went on the trails on the wettest day in 200 years :?:

I didn't :!:  

Wasn't maclean trail closed by the goverment that day?

People need to practice what they preach, if they want us to listen to them.

[Asia]

What the hell, I'm already in some people's bad books...

I laughed heartily upon reading some of the preceding posts  :lol:

I was @ the McLean V-days, I worked right beside the conservation officer, spoke with him and he was glad that many of us showed up despite the heavy rains.  Some good work was completed.  Some of us went on a night run, all work and no play makes for an unbalanced event.  We stuck to the hard packed trails and when we ran into deep mud and blocked trails we turned back.  AURS wanted us @ the V-day, and I was alittle surprised @ the poor turnout by the CJA.  

Ian, I'm glad you organized this past run, alot of people had fun including myself despite my "hating mud".  Mother Nature had WAY more impact on the trails than we did.  If SRD posts a restriction on trail access they should keep us updated weekly @ the minimum to keep the OHV community informed.  Were they planning on posting up when the restriction was lifted?

I'll probably get some grief over my comments, but what the hell.

Tom

[tjd60]

By the way, the alert sent out by SRD that TJD60 refers to was dated JUNE 8th.

Actually, I got it form your post on last weekends run "food for thought"

That post was made on June 21st.

Here is the SRD post:

June 21, 2005

Southern/Central Region

The following highways are closed:

SOUTHERN REGION

Highway 68 - Highway 40 to Highway 1 (around Kananaskis).
Highway 532 - west of Highway 22.
Highway 540 - Highwood River to Highway 22.
Highway 579 - west of Water Valley.
Highway 584 - west of Sundre from James River to junction Highway 734 - bridge damage.
Powderface Trail, Homestead Road and MacLean Creek Trail in Kananaskis Country.

Highway 1A between Calgary and Canmore - expect delays and detours.

CENTRAL REGION

Highway 591 - boundary service to Highway 734

Highway 734 (Forestry Trunk Road) closed - Ram River Falls to Highway 579, north of Ram River Falls the highway is open but travel is not recommended; expect unmarked local washouts, soft spots and very rough conditions.
Highway 752 - 35 km west of Rocky Mountain House to Highway 734 (major damage to both large bridges).
Highway 766 closed - north of Highway 27

Hwy 837 - road damage, closed until further notice
The Bleriot Ferry on Highway 838 near Drumheller, Crowfoot Ferry south of Highway 56 near Gleichen, and Finnegan Ferry on Highway 862 are all out of service.

Highway 27 north of Drumheller is closed. Traffic is being rerouted to Highway 21 on the west and Highway 56 on the east. There is bridge damage and will be out of operation for at least two weeks.

[tjd60]

You are completely out of the loop if you think that Waiporous possible closures has anything to do with us wheelin on July Long Weekend.
 :roll:
i'm done
Over and Out
Tom

I don't think that they will close Waiporous because we went wheeling on July long weekend.  But the message is, that we should change our ways.  We can not stop anybody from wheeling, but I can share my point of view.  The type of wheeling that we all have done in the past, has to stop and we should be more selective in the type of trails during these very wet seasons.  Going out during and after rain is not a good idea.

[tjd60]

I'm going to get me some popcorn, this could be good  

Hey, pass the popcorn.  

[Spinalguy]

By the way, the alert sent out by SRD that TJD60 refers to was dated JUNE 8th.

Actually, I got it form your post on last weekends run "food for thought"

That post was made on June 21st.

Here is the SRD post:

June 21, 2005

Southern/Central Region

The following highways are closed:

SOUTHERN REGION

Highway 68 - Highway 40 to Highway 1 (around Kananaskis).
Highway 532 - west of Highway 22.
Highway 540 - Highwood River to Highway 22.
Highway 579 - west of Water Valley.
Highway 584 - west of Sundre from James River to junction Highway 734 - bridge damage.
Powderface Trail, Homestead Road and MacLean Creek Trail in Kananaskis Country.

Highway 1A between Calgary and Canmore - expect delays and detours.

CENTRAL REGION

Highway 591 - boundary service to Highway 734

Highway 734 (Forestry Trunk Road) closed - Ram River Falls to Highway 579, north of Ram River Falls the highway is open but travel is not recommended; expect unmarked local washouts, soft spots and very rough conditions.
Highway 752 - 35 km west of Rocky Mountain House to Highway 734 (major damage to both large bridges).
Highway 766 closed - north of Highway 27

Hwy 837 - road damage, closed until further notice
The Bleriot Ferry on Highway 838 near Drumheller, Crowfoot Ferry south of Highway 56 near Gleichen, and Finnegan Ferry on Highway 862 are all out of service.

Highway 27 north of Drumheller is closed. Traffic is being rerouted to Highway 21 on the west and Highway 56 on the east. There is bridge damage and will be out of operation for at least two weeks.

And where does it say that we should not wheel?
The June 8th SRD VOLUNTARY restrictions (which the overwhelming majority of OHV communities recognized) has never been updated. i agree with you Tom that they need to update us.
As for rain runs? i agree if the run you choose will have impact negatively on watersheds. There is lots of wheelin responsibly during rain that has no impact. As a fact, we are proposing to SRD that we will voluntarily not wheel on SENSITIVE trails during rainy periods exceeding x number of mm's.
Tom

i too wondered why the CJA had only a few folks out at the V-days. But i am sure that weather, flooding in our own homes, closedhighways(temporary),work, etc caused over 80% of your membership to not be there.
So, have an awesome long weekend everyone. Its going to be DRY starting today!

Tom

[tjd60]

I never said that it did.  I believe that I quoted your post, that people should reconsider........before heading out.

Since the rain has not let up for over 4 weeks now.  Why should the conditions have changed?  They are predicting flooding in Highriver and Okotoks again.  Same as two weeks ago.
You said ealier that you have seen it wetter then this. :?:   I heared them saying that we had the wettest June in history.

[FeatherFoot]

As a fact, we are proposing to SRD that we will voluntarily not wheel on SENSITIVE trails during rainy periods exceeding x number of mm's.

We sent this down to the boys in the ruls lab.  Looks mighty suspicious.

[jeepsucks]

please stay home and bitch at each other some more that way you wont be out clogging up the trails for the people that are in this sport for fun and not the politics.

[TJ54]

I think this thread is officially hijacked now
I wish I could continue in this discussion, but I am heading out of town for a week in a couple of hours.

But before I go.
The Cynical viewpoint.
Is this watershed/mud/wet trails just a red herring to get off roaders out of waiparous? Are we being distracted from the real reason to keep us out of Waiparous?
Do people really think the government has not done impact assessments of ohv trails in Ghost/Waiparous. Maybe the results have not been made public because they don't confirm  what is thought to be obvious, that ohv's are bad for the enviroment.
Do some of the stakeholders against ohv's, own property and business's in the area.
Do some of the stakeholders own property on hwy 40 that will be directly impacted/removed if highway 40 is widened and straightened as has been proposed for several years. If there are less people using the highway maybe they won't need to re-align the highway through the village of waiparous. Saving several house's and properties,
Maybe if there are less 4x4's in ghost/waiparous, then people's ATV tour companies will be more financially rewarding ?
There are so many issues here, don't be distracted by the smoke and mirrors.







Or maybe it really is about the watershed. But I don't really think so!!!!!!!!!!