Predator 4x4 longwater gulch july 18 & 19......

[black95]

I signed up on predator's list of volunteers to help with Hackett and Longwater Gulches, think it was summer '07? anyway, got this E-mail today from them........




TRAIL MAINTENANCE

July 18th and 19th, Saturday and Sunday
Longwater Gulch
Meet each morning at 8:30am at the gate.

We need firm commitments so we can plan the amount of work to tackle and how much supplies we will need.

You must be signed up on the Teller County Volunteer List. If you signed up once, you don't need to sign up again. If you don't remember signing up, please come in and sign up again. Remember, no children under the age of 8 (Teller County Requirement) and no alcohol while doing trail maintenance.

Bring all the things you would normally bring to spend a day outdoors. We will work in the rain and in the heat.

Suggested items:
Rain Gear
Gloves
Sunscreen
Lunch
Lots to drink
Hat

Bring it if you have it:
Chain Saws - (Please verify they work prior to the trip)
Post hole diggers

Please let us know as soon as you can if you will be participating and the number of people in your group.

Thank you!

Julie Panek
Predator 4 Wheel Drive,llc
4260 North Nevada Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719)528-5790




Seems like a start in the right direction, I will be there for sure. contact predator 4x4 if you need any info.

 

[Man Jerk]

I would be there if I wasn't gonna be out of town.

 

[Isotel]

And an Important note, is you need to sign up At Predator before the event, you can not just show up!

 

[black95]

Signed up for the Teller Volunteer list today at predator 4x4, and also sent in the E-mail to let them know I was in. Anyone else interested in helping out?

I talked with the people at predator to find out what impact this weekend was going to have on getting the trail open, They seemed to think that it depended on the amount of support they received and and how much was accomplished. Typical answer I guess, but one guy also seemed to think that this was more or less the final work to be done for the trail to be ready to open. Who knows, But its worth a shot, seems to me like giving up a weekend or two for getting another trail might be a pretty good trade off.

E-mail: julie@predator4wd.com

 

[PPFJ60]

I believe July 18th I will be busy but I will be there on July 19th. I have signed up a Predator at least once in the past but I will sign up again just to make sure.

 

[PPFJ60]

Sounds like it may just be Luke and myself from CLC?

I will be there on Sunday.

 

[black95]

Sounds like it may just be Luke and myself from CLC?

I will be there on Sunday.

I'm starting to think it's us Chuck........Maybe nobody likes us........

 

[Man Jerk]

I would guys, but I'm gonna be in Salida camping with the family.

I put in 2 weekends on Metberry back in the day.

 

[PPFJ60]

Luke,

So Mark says it's not us it's him.......

Did he just break up with us?

 

[black95]

lmao, sounds like it. we'll let you slide on this one Mark. Have fun in
Salida.

 

[Man Jerk]

We are camping with the kid for the 1st time (14 months) should be an adventure.

FYI, if your experience is anything like mine you will walk out of there completely covered head to toe in soot. We spent the whole time building dams, and used the charred trees to do it.

it's hot, hard work so be prepared.

 

[PPFJ60]

Luke worked both Saturday and Sunday. I worked on Sunday. We strung cable on both Longwater and Hackett. Digging post holes, Cementing posts and stringing cable turns out be a lot of work. Jerry is doing a drive through with the forest service and teller county on Wednesday and hopes to get approval to leave the gates open after they see all the work that was done. Both trails end at the Teller county lines because Park county is not on-board with opening the trails all the way to the river.

I think the trails are in great shape and don't see any problems with getting permission to open the trails from a trail maintenance point of view but then I think this has been a political issue all along so who knows for sure if we will get permission.

We can help this process by sending letters and or calling the Park county commisioners and asking the to allow the trails to be opened so we can camp, fish and trail ride these trails in the Park county portion of the trails.

Sending letters and or calling the Teller county commisioners thanking them for allow the trails to be opened in the Teller county section will also be helpful.

 

[black95]

The little post hole digger with the chainsaw engine was the worst!! that little machine got heavy after about four holes. All being said I am really glad I got the opportunity to go out and help get a trail open, hopefully.

I have a HUGE new respect for Jerry of Predator 4x4, after talking with him about the hurdles he has had to deal with, the money he has put up, his '92 Dodge truck that twists like it has a plastic frame, and how a 50 year old guy outworked my butt all day really makes you appreciate what has been done to open Hackett, Longwater, and metberry. He is a stand-up guy, as are all the others who showed up.......some coming as far as from Arvada.

The reality is that no one HAS to do anything to open these trails. I am grateful to Teller county for taking the initiative to do something for our hobby, and for tourism.

Also it should be noted that there was almost a stipulation that these trails would not open unless ATV use was excluded, which also tells me that it is not going unnoticed that the ATV's are much harder on the forest than are our 4x4's. I am usually the first one to throw the ATV crowd under the bus because I just feel that they are by nature a less responsible group. Jerry was asked about this and felt that no motorized use should be excluded, which I now agree with based on the fact that the ATV crowd is starting to get organized and educated, and ultimatley add to our "motorized use" number of votes.

Despite that, there will always be bad apples. Case in point: as we got to Hackett Gulch to unlock the gate, it was discovered that someone had dismantled the gate hinges so that the gate could be hinged from the chain holding it closed.......This kind of stupidity makes you really question the future of our land use.

I had a really good time, and got to meet some new wheelers that I hope to meet on the trail some day. I felt good about holding the torch for us toyota guys on saturday.(I had to ride all day with 5 Jeeps) And thanks goes to Chuck, who held that torch on sunday as I had to leave early to keep the wife happy. I REALLY hope Hackett opens this week, because I gave up a chance to drive it since she wanted me home early, she will never hear the end of this if i missed that opportunity!

 

[LCPilot]

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to help out the community.

 

[PPFJ60]

I called Predator to see how it went with Teller county and the FS.

THE GATES FOR LONGWATER AND HACKETT ARE OPEN!

 

[PPFJ60]

Here is a link to Teller county CDSD Building Dept and one to Park County County Offices .

 

[EricG]

I called Predator to see how it went with Teller county and the FS.

THE GATES FOR LONGWATER AND HACKETT ARE OPEN!

I went down Hackett yesterday - fun ride! Note that it doesn't go all the way down to the river at this time. Thanks for all the work you guys have put in! Wish I could've made that last weekend.