South Meadow Cr- Travel Advisory

[geo5]

Rode up S Meadow yesterday with @4gotalot and we noticed a new mining claim holder with large pack (6-10) of what appeared to be Bear Dogs had just moved in to the lower mine site.

New claim holder advised us to ‘roll up our windows’ as the dogs swarmed our vehicles.

Mark has been in contact with local LEO and will provide more information as available.

The encounter was brief but from the claim holders statements and general bearing and qty of the dogs I think it is a good idea to move our scheduled club run next weekend, stay tuned for more info. Probably Hay Canyon/Ringing Rocks.

 

[4gotalot]

Ennis PD/Sheriff has been contacted and they will contact first responders if called out.
FS office in Ennis was contacted to warn trail crew.
Game Warden for the Ennis area has been contacted.
FS Enforcment out of Dillon is planning to visit the location today, Tue 4th. Not alone...

I was told they would call me back after the visit.

 

[secretasiansam]

What else was said by the claim owner?

 

[geo5]

What else was said by the claim owner?

Not much- brief interaction- dude said he just purchased the mining rights and was ‘moving in’. Based on our timeline he probably arrived 30-60min before we saw him.

 

[4gotalot]

What else was said by the claim owner?

Brief interaction is a great description. I will go with that for now.

 

[ttFJC]

i wish yall had a picture of the bear dawgs

 

[Mike NXP]

Maybe I misunderstood the situation, but is he doing anything illegal or is he just a mountain man who doesn't control his dogs too well? Why does FS and other folks feel the need to interact if it's his land

 

[geo5]

AFAIK- claim rights don’t convey land ownership.

What’s done with this advisory is up to the advisee, but be advised there is snow and dogs up S meadow cr. The mining ruins are super cool.

 

[Mike NXP]

AFAIK- claim rights don’t convey land ownership.

What’s done with this advisory is up to the advisee, but be advised there is snow and dogs up S meadow cr. The mining ruins are super cool.
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Ah, gotcha.

I didn't know if mining rights translated to land ownership, but it sounds like that isn't always the case.

Right on, good PSA

 

[REZARF]

Glad you guys are good.

That is always a cools spot to hop out and check out the old equipment.

 

[AirheadNut]

Good to know! Actually kind of surprised you got that far, I was thinking there would be more snow.

Just in case anyone was curious, there are two types of mine claim: patented and unpatented. Patented claims transfer ownership of land and mineral rights to the claimant, unpatented claims only transfer ownership of mineral rights while the surface rights remain public. The Federal Gov. ceased to grant patented mine claims in 1994, but patented claims granted prior to that time still remain private property.

From what I can tell after a little digging around in various mine claim databases, the claims in question are unpatented and therefore still under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service. While I am pretty sure this is the case, I cannot guarantee it.

 

[Mike NXP]

Good to know! Actually kind of surprised you got that far, I was thinking there would be more snow.

Just in case anyone was curious, there are two types of mine claim: patented and unpatented. Patented claims transfer ownership of land and mineral rights to the claimant, unpatented claims only transfer ownership of mineral rights while the surface rights remain public. The Federal Gov. ceased to grant patented mine claims in 1994, but patented claims granted prior to that time still remain private property.

From what I can tell after a little digging around in various mine claim databases, the claims in question are unpatented and therefore still under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service. While I am pretty sure this is the case, I cannot guarantee it.

Good info, thanks for sharing. Wouldn't either way give the person a right to be there , and it sounds like if they've done it the right way forest service should be aware of the operation? Does FS transfer the mineral rights for mining claims or maybe it could be a private land owner allowing it...Would be nice if they didn't disturb people passing by and enjoying the area either way

 

[AirheadNut]

Good info, thanks for sharing. Wouldn't either way give the person a right to be there , and it sounds like if they've done it the right way forest service should be aware of the operation? Would be nice if they didn't disturb people passing by and enjoying the area though

Yes, either way they have the right to occupy the area and extract minerals, but with an unpatented claim they do not have the right to deny the public right of way across the claim, at least on established roads.

 

[rc51kid]

This ia good to know. I ws planning on riding moto up there when it melts out. Aggressive dogs are a real problem on a bicycle or moto. It triggers there pray drive. I love dogs more than any one but i am not putting up with getting attached by a pack of dogs when i dont have the option to "role up the windows". Things would get uggly fast.

 

[geo5]

Unconfirmed but I have heard from a couple of different sources that the dogs are gone. Not sure about the snow.

 

[rc51kid]

Any updates to if this trail is clear of snow tothelake at top?

Also, it has been a long time since i did this trail. How hard is the last hill going up to the lake? My memory was that it was short but steep and rocky. If i remember right most of the rocks were anchored in the ground. I went up it in the 80. We made it just fine but it took a little work. This year i want to go on bikes. On the bikes anchored rocks are much better than loose rocks. Also sometimes anchored rocks can be tough in a truck becouse of how they are positioned if the line up withthe diff or something. Sometimes on a bike you can go around them. But loose rolling rocks can be really tough on a bike. I just cant remeber.

 

[87BJ74]

!Bump!

Came accross this, Apparently this claim has been in forclosure since 2019... But the 40 acres is now up for sale via auction.

40 Acres Montana Real Estate Foreclosure-Missouri | Live and Online Auctions on HiBid.com

hibid.com

 

[ttFJC]

ok who else wants to bid on this with me? group buy? we get a bunch of people into this we could easily make our money back. My brother and I already have some prospecting experience. We legit found some gold and silver ore this summer so were basically seasoned experts now

 

[90WT]