I'm new here so I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Andrew and I love offroading. I have a 1987 toyota 4runner with many mods(see signature). So heres what happened over the weekend. A friend and I went up to ross pass trail over the weekend. Saturday we went up and checked it out. While we were turning around at the end of the trail my friend broke a bolt on the steering tie rod. So we had to leave the truck up there over night. the next day we went back with the right part and fixed er up. Then we took some pics of us going around a fallen tree in the trail.

Ready to drop in.


Nice and slow flexing.


right here some branches came through the open window and scrapped my hand. Note to self close windows when in tight trees.


Pics and text have been edited out of this thread as per staff sees fit from our rules.
Corey

Many more trail ride pics to come.

 

Your truck has a twin in Chile. Check this out:

https://www.yotatech.com/attachment....achmentid=9002

 

Thats a good looking 4runner. I wish I had a sunroof.

 

Whatever happened to Tread Lightly. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems to me from the pictures that the trail went straight and not into the creek. It's people like you that get our trails closed down. Thanks BH.

 

Yeah so. They've closed down half the trails here from people leaving whole couches burnt in the trail. Dead cars are being left in the trail and trash. I don't leave anything behind and almost never go off the trail. I think moving a few little pebbles in a creek is the least of our worries.

 

I have to agree, this is the kind of trail abuse that gives the tree huggers, in this case the fish and wildlife huggers, something to bitch about. In our area the land management agencies are closing trails that have stream crossings to restore the environment for native fish. SO, driving through must have some impact on wildlife.

Please stay on designated trails.

 

I think this was a little extreme....there is a choice of words you could have used besides for these to be a little more polite.

On a second note...good pics man. Keep em coming...

 

The very core of Tread Lightly.

 

Your care-free attitude and need to point the finger at others is a poor excuse. "Almost" should be changed to never and it always starts with a few pebbles. Have fun but keep it on the trail.

 

Now see...that wasn't so hard.....was it?

 

After forcing myself....

 

So all those rocks in Moab don't look like they follow a trail.. guess that's gonna get that area shut down too... I think you guys are totally overdoing this whole Tread Lightly thing. Ever been to Montana...? any idea how many miles and miles and miles and miles of backroads there is around there? I doubt you could even tell where those guys dropped off the road there. It's when people go out in a beautiful meadow and spin brodies or run over green trees, or make giant ruts in a campground that get places shut down. It's not when somebody makes their own piece of a trail because their Yota is so Bad@$$ that they have to make their own challenges. Sure hope this guy continues to post but I wouldnt' be surprised if you ran him off for this nonsense on his first post. I'm totally for the Tread Lightly foundation so don't get my wrong there but you guys have totally different trails than the big sky country!

 

Nice rig, very capable as the pics demonstrate. And I agree with the whole tread lightly stuff, but I think youre right when you say a few pebbles is the least of your worries. You gotta take the tread lightly thing like you take the bible (NO disrespect), what the spirit of it is, not by the word. To use common sense and respect the surroundings. The ecosystem is harmed way more by a bunch of dirty hippies bathing in the river than a truck dropping in and popping out(unless its pouring fuel out) and folding some grass.

 

They actually do follow specified routes. The trails are marked with signs at most entrances, mapped by GPS and a lot of trails in Moab actually have painted markers marking the routes.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion I guess.


On a side note...this is exactly why I stopped posting so much

 

I agree.

I can't stand when people exaggerate the whole tread lightly thing. There are times and places when going OFF a trail is fine.

UBERYOTA,
Nice pics and rig!

 

I agree; there are times and places where it is perfectly ok to go off the trail (trail repairs, camping, etc.) It is acceptable IMO to drive into areas where driving would not impact the landscape adversly.

IMO driving OFF a designated trail through a riparian area into a stream for no reason other than to flex the suspension on a rig is not the right reason, time, or place. I am sure the Montana Riparian and Wetland Association, Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station, School of Forestry, and the Montana Association of Conservation Districts would agree. If the trail isn't challenging enough find another trail.

Maybe some education on the subject would help:
http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technica...gscbk5rip.html
http://www.treadlightly.org/readedu....004E2A00000000

Please don't get me wrong, I am not trying to preach. I am not a perfect steward of the environment. I am just trying to help preserve our environment and trails for generations to come. What's wrong with that?

 

Around here in Missoula, (WesternMT) There are BARELY any good places to wheel because of people dumping trash, shooting up all the roadsigns, keggers, hippies(rainbow people), poachers, and general abuse of public property. The forest service closes an area, and people blaze new trails to access that area anyway. I have seen several 4x4s, cars, snowmobiles, that have been left or stuck in the mountains that have been riddled with bullet holes while the owner left to get help. I don't think occasionally going into a creek is going to destroy the planet, when these areas are going to be closed eventually anyway and people will still do what they want to. Its a wild place out there. Thats why I NEVER go too far unarmed. Anyway, nice ride.

 

I agree...I've saw so many trails that have been trashed up...trash ruins....I never throw any garbage out while on the trail. Sometimes I see the occasional obstacle that I know I can't make it through...so I make a trail to go around it. I think when they dropped into the creek...them tracks will be gone in no time. Now if they were cutting donuts and intentionally tearing up stuff, I could see where someone would have a decent argument. But this is drawn way out of proportion for the poor guys first post.

 

Well, good for you. I'm glad that you all don't live any where near colorado or utah, because that is where i like to wheel, and you guys are absolutely right, the places you are going will get shut down anyway, why not hurry the process along.

Also, i'm sure the environmental lobby will want to thank you all very much, so i'll do it for them. Thank you. You are the poster children for why OHV use is so devastating. Of course those tracks will be gone in no time, a little think called erosion will take care of it quickly enough. Soon there will be all kinds of folks driving down there because they will think that the reason there are tracks there is becasue there is an actual road there, and its not, and then the trail gets shut down.

What i really love though, is how stupid this whole thing is. The guy went there, he did something that people who believe in keeping trails open dislike, so they asked him to not do that anymore. Granted, they could have said it more nicely, but they had a reasonable point. Then, a bunch of folks came back with, "he's got a right to do it, they'll close the trail anyway, and tread lightly is a waste of time"

Well, for some folks, who have maybe a couple thousand tops intotheir ride, yeah, its a waste of time. For others of us who have spent many, many thousands, its a bit less. All we want is to see trails stay open, no matter where they are. A trail just closed here in colorado which was one of a very few hard trails that is close to denver, and it was closed because people had "such badass trucks that they needed to find a challenge." Problem is, the first guy here drove into the stream, and so did the next and the next and then they started going accross the stream, and pretty soon the whole gulch was a huge mess. And it wasn't just the guys who were looking for challenges, it was the guys looking for a way around too. Well, it'll be gated in a month or so, and then, oh well, guess the guys with the "badass yotas" will just have to go farther now, oh well.

Anyway, i can tell no one's mind is going to be changed, and that is truly sad. I hope that folks will realized that staying on a trail is actually important, because the environmentalists will use even the tinyest of infractions to crush us. They are trying to shut down Las Cruces, NM, a prized and truly awesome trail system. Too much straying from the trail is damaging critical ecosystem...blah blah blah. its the same thing here in colorado, in utah, in california. I worry for the future.

Anyway, thanks for listening.

 

I'm not condoning straying from the trail, I'm just stating the fact that people destroy EVERYTHING! Its a sad thing when people ruin things for everybody else by having their way with the world. I also worry for the future. Human nature can be extremely pathetic in any light. Do I drive in creeks, streambeds? NO, personally I don't feel the need to, but some do. You can be the most upstanding, law abiding guy in the world and there are thousands out there that don't give a damn. Ike, I agree with your post, I'm just stating the facts as I know them.-Unfortunately