So tonight Sherpa (Scott) and I took our runners out in the NASTY THICK mud. We had a blast, lots of deep crossings, all muddy trails, and a lot of chit chatting about our rigs. (this was the first time we've met). So anyway, we were pulling out to leave and we stopped for a while to chat before going to the car wash, and we were talking when we see headlights coming... PO-PO!!! Basically, they gave us both a warning for trespassing, destroying property (it's city-owned) bla bla bla, took our names in case they press charges :pat: But that will never happen hopefully. Anyway, that sucked real bad, but then we cleaned our rigs off and talked some more.

Scott's one of the nicest guys I've met, and a Veteran too! So anyway, that's my story. At one point we kidded around while the cop was in his patrol car calling it in about throwing our trucks into reverse, he could NEVEr get even 20ft. back on those muddy trails!! And then an Explorer patrol came, and we decided it might be a bad idea, because the explorer might be able to get up to 30ft. back there.

The BS part is there are NO signs up at all ANYWHERE and i've been back there probably 20 times, this is the first time i've ever heard anythign about this.

Anyone else ever been caught for wheelin' on private property?

 

kford,

lemme get this straight: was it private property? or did you think it was public land b/c there was no signs? and if there was no signs, did you assume it was public? i'm confused.

if it was private land, you and sherpa didn't do the off roading community any favors. sure its fun, but you've made one more enemy of the non-off roading community.

just my opinion.

bob

 

No, my buddies and I have gone back there for 2 years, and other people for longer than that i'm sure. Everyone knew this story: it was bought by a private company to build a subdivision, they ran out of money, and then the county (now i know it was the city) bought it back. There were trails and you'd think for 3 years they would have caught on, nobody hid the fact that they wheel back there. Just all of a sudden, they came down, hard.

And I don't think my incident in Oldham County, Kentucky should have too much bearing on your standing in Los Angeles.

 

Do you not "think" there are national organizations closing trails daily? This just fuels the fire. Ignorance is not an excuse.

 

Just like the guys who were caught hopping the fence at Yosemite don't have any affect on anyone else in any other state?
I'm not flaming - I'm just throwing out an extreme example. The cop is just doing his job, no need to criticize what he was doing.
I'm also very glad you guys decided not to make a run for it. That would have been VERY bad regardless of whether or not an Explorer was there. I don't know what law enforcement is like there but if there was any perceived threat on the officer's part he may have opened fire.

Anyhow, I'm glad to hear you guys had fun in the mud I hope that you guys find a better place to play where the cops won't have to bust you guys

 

trails are privately owned. "Trails" are businesses mostly. People buy them, fix trails, let you drive them for a price. Or maybe it's a farm whose owner doesn't care. "Organizations" can't close anything... What are you talking about? what would they be closing?

 

i've been busted for wheelin on "private proprty." no signs at all, and i had always seen people out there on bikes, ATVs, jeeps, etc. cops busted (warned) me one sunday. i wasn't happy about it, but i learned my lesson.

 

tacoma dude-i didn't criticize him at all. He did reak of cigars, was ignorant, and overly mean about it, but I didnt say any of that before. We weren't really going to run, we were kidding.
Pigs out here are just on such a power trip that their flashlights are shoved way too far up their you know whats. Scott knows exaclty what I mean now. Oldham Co, KY has the highest per capita income of any county in the state of kentucky. There's only white, baptist families out here, thus no crime. They don't have anything to do but exactly this. I mean they sent two patrol cars out just to give a warning for christ's sake. It's always like that.

 

Most of the trails out in Death Valley are close now I think. Most of it's due to folks trying to stop land destruction. Even out here, 4wd vehicles make new trails in and around the creosote bush when there are already good trails going nearly anywhere you could want to go. It won't be too much longer before parts of this area are closed down.

I feel for you guys. All dressed up and no place to wheel. There just aren't enough blank spaces on the maps anymore. Try to wheel like someone is watching over your shoulder...like maybe a disapproving mother-in-law.

 

Just an FYI - there have been too many officers responding to calls alone that have died on duty. When a dept. has adequate staffing most contacts will require a backup unit.
Sometimes it could very well be because they don't have anything to do but usually it's because a cover unit has been assigned.

As far as the criticism goes - sorry if I jumped the gun. There were a good few cop-bashing threads in the last month and they've all left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Sorry about that

Lastly - I had a feeling you were kidding about the running away bit but you can never really tell what people are thinking over the internet.

 

Just be smart where you wheel. Its ignorant people who tear up land that ruins the fun for everyone else.

TREAD LIGHTLY on land you have permission to ride on.

 

..But carry a big spare. i believe it was Roosevelt who said that on his off-roading policy.

 

This tells me plenty.

The groups I'm referring to are environmental organizations. You're a bright guy, I'm sure you can find the info if you really WANT to find it.

 

some organization has no say over a farmer's land or an entrepreneur's business. right?

 

Are you guys cops? why is everyone getting so defensive? Or are you just 80 years old? Come on guys, the cop wasn't even this pissed, christ. He was a lot cooler than you guys.

 

You don't seem to get it. Do you think the general public knows the difference between the responsible, tread lightly, off roaders and the people who tear up private property?

Do you think the general public knows the difference between those morons who tore up yellowstone and the off roaders who do trail maintenance and pick up trash on public land?

No, they lump everybody into 1 group called off roaders.

When the media picks up on these kind of news stories they don't tell the other side, the tread lightly off roaders. When the public finds out that people in off road vehicles tore up city owned land and the cost to fix the damage to make it viable for commercial use is $100,000 they're not going to be happy with off roaders.

Why do you think trails are closing all over the country? It takes votes from the general public and public perception is everything in this country. All it takes is for the sierra club to take some pictures of the torn up fields at Oldham County, Kentucky and put them up on their website to show the world how bad off roaders are to society. People in Moab Ut, Sierras Ca, Colorado, will see that and vote to close down trails.

Think globally.

 

Pretty sure that there's at least a couple of officers on the forum, and I don't think their gonna like that 'pig' comment
And I KNOW there's at least one member who is getting close to 80...OK..more like 60.

More to the point, the copper was just doing his job...making sure all was well. The flak you're catching is all about treading lightly and respecting the few open spaces that are left in most areas of North America, which you may have been. The less 'visible' we make ourselves, the less troubles we'll all have to deal with.

I don't think anyone is flaming, or being mean, just trying to give you a little heads up.
Glad you two got a chance to meet up. Sounds like you had a really good time, anyway

 

Funny how these threads go. BigBadBlue posts a message saying some guys from a club he's in did the same thing and got in essentially the same trouble. Folks on this board lined up behind him on his right to wheel in places like this and to flame folks that thought otherwise.

This time, it's reversed, nailing you for it.

People are funny to watch, aren't they?

 

Not sure who is singing two different tunes, but...

I don't care who it is, I blast everyone who trespasses and destroys property not designated specifically for off-road use. It gives all of us a black eye with bad publicity. If you have permission, that's another matter, but you should still "tread lightly". Frankly, threads like this, detailing these types of events are best kept to oneself and not posted. The result will ALWAYS be the same. Short sighted folks who don't get it (or don't care to get it) will always be blasted by those of us that do.

FWIW, I don't recall the BBB thread, but I doubt BBB would be deflamatory to police. If it's his thread, its probably closed anyway.

 

Well... in his defense, he wasn't as directly criticizing the cops as some people do. I have to agree with you though Mike, the use of "pigs" probably wasn't the best choice.