Public Shaming : "El Lobo 4x4 Club" (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jul 24, 2016
Threads
58
Messages
1,606
Location
BoZ ANGeLES
Website
backcountryadventuretime.com
El LOBO 4x4 off-road club

This one really pisses me off. I know the exact location of where this pit they are playing in. Over and over just dive into the mud. Its a wetland area, creek runs right through there. There is a perfectly good covert buried right there to go over the creek. That open meadow is now a slush pond. I was out there bird hunting that exact road earlier that day when they were "sending it". There were several spots with similar damage. They are trying REALLY HARD to reaffirm that Jeep XJ stereotype.

So they are stupid enough to post this online...on their Facebook. They identify where they were and they clearly tagged each other in the posts. Whats to stop someone from reporting them to the twig pigs? Not trying to sound like the super tree huger yuppie type here, but this is why we cant have nice things. I am a sportsman and I am getting sick and tired of others that don't play by the rules. We all know the FS default is just to close the road. Id rather that not happen.

Any one have experience on what the FS would even do in this case? Names are available, photographic evidence, there license plates are clearly viable in a number of places, and believe it or not, im pretty sure that 2-3 of them live down the street from me. I don't have Facebook so i can't contact the page.

Am I overreacting? Opinions? Let the little beaters have their pit?

Karma appears to have claimed one of the XJ's. :frown:

jeep 4.PNG


jeep 3.PNG


Jeep 2.PNG


jeep one.PNG
 
Where is the land that they're hammering? It looked like some of it was labeled Bear Canyon but I couldn't nail down anywhere else. The trailhead there is the edge of Custer Gallatin National Forest.
The US Forest Service website has lots of guidelines about being respectful and considerate but I don't know what they do about enforcement of actual laws.
 
The pit they are hammering the hell out of in their videos is near big bear lake, just around the corner. Its funny because i could drive right to the spot but im trying to figure out exactly what road its called on the map but cant find it for sure . I am looking for my GPS track from that day becuase i know i was out there that day and drove by it and thought, why in the hell are people just digging holes there? Whats the point.

And as i passed the five jeeps back on the pavement near gateway i knew that they must have been the culprit because the were all covered in mud and their jeeps had the cracked exhaust manifold sound that you get from muddin.
 
Maybe contact them directly and let them know what the consequences are for their actions. They may be new to the hobby or unaware and might just need to be informed. Maybe we could invite them along on a ride with us next year and display a more respectful method of enjoying the back-country. This is a great opportunity to try to unite other groups of users. Maybe I'm being unrealistically optimistic. I will say those Jeeps look pretty lame! They even make my 80 look good!
 
With several years as a Forest Ranger under my belt this is called resource damage. It is illegal and no forest in or around the GYE would tolerate it. Lack of education with public land use is why roads are being closed all over. Call the Gallatin NF and report it if you know the location. Maybe this club should do clean up efforts like 406 cruisers!
 
tread lightly... dumb jeep owners
 
and who the hell came up with El Lobo? sounds Mexican not montanian. stupid name
 
Shame they have to ruin it for the rest of us who enjoy offroading

Maybe contact them directly and let them know what the consequences are for their actions. They may be new to the hobby or unaware and might just need to be informed. Maybe we could invite them along on a ride with us next year and display a more respectful method of enjoying the back-country. This is a great opportunity to try to unite other groups of users. Maybe I'm being unrealistically optimistic. I will say those Jeeps look pretty lame! They even make my 80 look good!

80's always look good!
 
I my self wold not blame the vehicle/gun, its the nut with a screw loose behind the wheel/trigger. I would have no problem going out playing with a bunch of Jeeps, but not with a driver with a screw loose no matter what they drove.

Get your ducks in a row. Find the right person to to review the plates, location, visual ID by way of there posts on FB or other. This is why the FS closed most of our public roads. If a case cannot be made then by the info provided, then some one else with a more controlled form of speech than myself should knock on there door and ask nicely to pull there h...:poop:
 
Years ago a fellow i knew(shared a hangar with) had his truck parked behind a locked gate. several miles. any way he had my business card on the dash and the forest service LE saw it and got ahold of me. Wanted to know how I was assoc. with him etc, already had their case on him but must of been looking for additional guilty people. Did my best sgt schultz impersonation, which was honest . He made his living shooting coyotes in the 80's and early 90's. He was getting his super cub ready for coyote hunting, which he later piled up but survived the crash.
Never did ask him what the fine was or what he was shooting, none of my business and he never offered but I know he held off on ordering parts for awhile. I guess the purpose of this nostalgic post is if the fs LE think they have a case they will get to the bottom of it
 
A bunch of locals with pitch forks and burning torches heading down the road (at night) sounds like a gala event. Or lets look at it with more info first. Is the location a riparian area with frogs, tadpoles and puffins nesting or is this area a reclaimed logging site that holds runoff?

It would be nice to have a place were trucks better than mine can play in the mud if it is approved by the FS. Location location location.
 
I have had these guys leave several of their cards on my windshield up at MSU trying to get me to join and after seeing their rigs and how they "wheel" they have no idea what they are doing. I would honestly be afraid to drive one of their rigs. I spoke to one of the guys on here Saturday, tan fj with RTT and the awesome wired hair gryphon about this when I was up snow wheeling.

I was able to make it up to the spot and get the gps coordinates of their little mudhole. (45.489284,-111.125378)
I also have some pictures of it from earlier this year when I first found it. Another thing to note is they aren't using tree savers when they're winching out. Several of the trees have evidence of a steel cable being wrapped around them which will most likely kill the tree.
IMAG0017 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

I am also following their facebook page and have sent a few messages to the admin that he replied to fairly quickly. I doubt they would be very receptive to anyone telling them to stop. They all seem to be very closed minded about the topic from what I have seen. Hope this helps...

Its really a shame because in all reality the forest service will probably have to start getting more strict as far as what times of year this area is open which could ruin one of the best snow wheeling spots in the area. Maybe what could happen is a conversation with the El Lobo guys and then a clean up day of sorts to repair the area.
 
@Black798 thanks for posting

That was me that you talked to. I was going to try and make it out to the spot but got distracted. and the snow really started dumping after I left.

How far up the road did you guys end up going?
 
@ttFJC We ended up making about a mile and a half past big bear lake so we got pretty far back. I turned around because the now was getting up to mid-door level and the Chevy was having a tough time making forward progress. We ran up to the mud hole on our way out and ended up being up there until around 9 pm because on the way out that Chevy almost slid off the edge about 100 yards up the trail from where you turned around. It was a pretty tricky recovery.

Depending on the weather Ill probably be back up there Saturday to see if I can make it further. Looking at the USGS maps it looks like I may be able to link that complex over to storm castle.
 
I don’t think you’re overreacting. I’d report it. Guys that do this kind of stuff mess things up for those of us that try to respect the land. The result is always more closures.

That’s my $0.02
 
@ttFJC We ended up making about a mile and a half past big bear lake so we got pretty far back. I turned around because the now was getting up to mid-door level and the Chevy was having a tough time making forward progress. We ran up to the mud hole on our way out and ended up being up there until around 9 pm because on the way out that Chevy almost slid off the edge about 100 yards up the trail from where you turned around. It was a pretty tricky recovery.

Depending on the weather Ill probably be back up there Saturday to see if I can make it further. Looking at the USGS maps it looks like I may be able to link that complex over to storm castle.

Alot more brave then me.. love to do some snow wheeling but not until i get my winch.. Ive actually done that route to storm castle...In August.

Heres the link to my blog with the route. It starts next to the lake. My GPS was acting funny at first, and i stopped on the side of the road to look for birds a couple times.
Little Bear Canyon

That road was nothing in august. Some narrow narrow spots and a couple tight switchbacks next to certain death. Might be very interesting in winter. I wish i would have taken more pictures back there. I bet the veiw is amazing right now. Theres a gate back there at one point but im almost certain its open until the end of the year.
 
Alot more brave then me.. love to do some snow wheeling but not until I get my winch.. Ive actually done that route to storm castle...In August.

Heres the link to my blog with the route. It starts next to the lake. My GPS was acting funny at first, and I stopped on the side of the road to look for birds a couple times.
Little Bear Canyon

That road was nothing in August. Some narrow narrow spots and a couple tight switchbacks next to certain death. Might be very interesting in winter. I wish I would have taken more pictures back there. I bet the view is amazing right now. There's a gate back there at one point but I'm almost certain its open until the end of the year.

Thanks for that GPS track I will have to look into it some. The view on Saturday was pretty awesome from where we turned around, the clouds were kind of in the way but still pretty cool. The view coming down at night was awesome too being able to see the whole valley lit up. Ill look into doing that route more but I have my doubts, the snow towards the top was getting pretty deep but it had a good base under it so it may be possible assuming this incoming storm doesn't drop too much fresh stuff. I'm fairly certain the gate is open until the 31st of December.

Once you get that winch let me know, I'm always looking for a second vehicle to go with and there is plenty of areas to explore up there.
The winch is honestly the only reason I even consider pushing it as far as we did. That thing saved our asses quite a few times on Saturday but its there for a reason

Heres the view from up top
IMG_6074 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
 
Yeah its tricky. I would have bought one a month ago but i know if i wait santa clause might bring me one for xmas.

Finn and i go bird hunting back there alot. Looks alot differnt in the winter. Some day i want to drive all the way from the lake to moose creek. Might take a while. It appears to connect on the map, just havent ever drivin it.
 
Yeah its tricky. I would have bought one a month ago but i know if i wait santa clause might bring me one for xmas.

Finn and i go bird hunting back there alot. Looks alot differnt in the winter. Some day i want to drive all the way from the lake to moose creek. Might take a while. It appears to connect on the map, just havent ever drivin it.

I was fortunate to find a pair of winches on craigslist when I got mine that needed some tlc. After rebuilding the one and selling the other it ended up costing like 50 bucks for the winch and then a couple hundred for synthetic line and the flatlink

I didn't even know about the little bear complex until this year when I was poking around on the maps but it connects to a ton of areas. Very similar to the boulder river valley which can take you all the way down into Wyoming if done right.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom