Infectious Off-Road.com

Has anyone been on Freeway Ridge after all the rain we had? Just wondering how much change there is to the trail after the bulldozer went through.

We may be going up on Saturday (if I can get out of work)

I have heard that they have dozed almost everything... It is going to be interesting to see what is left.

So, how does the trail look?

I spoke to Bob Ferness about it Fri evening, I was at a Piute Mtn trail plan meeting in Kernville. He said the biggest reason they had to put in water bars was because of people widening the route by going around big ruts. As the runoff makes the ruts really big then the go arounds widen the trail which they think they have to control. I don't agree with them, but that's they're reasoning. They tried getting the dozer over gatekeeper but couldn't do it. He knew they would get flack over it.

We talked about the possibility of removing the dirt that covers gatekeeper, and Bobby has no objection to that being done, but I haven't seen it and don't know what it would take. Sounds like there is a lot of dirt that would have to be moved.

I guess the point is in the future if someone can' get through an obstacle, they better take a strap rather than creating a go around. I really don't agree with the Forest Service view of this, but not much we can do about it.

[quote="Goatman"]So, how does the trail look?

I spoke to Bob Ferness about it Fri evening, I was at a Piute Mtn trail plan meeting in Kernville. He said the biggest reason they had to put in water bars was because of people widening the route by going around big ruts. As the runoff makes the ruts really big then the go arounds widen the trail which they think they have to control. I don't agree with them, but that's they're reasoning. They tried getting the dozer over gatekeeper but couldn't do it. He knew they would get flack over it.

We talked about the possibility of removing the dirt that covers gatekeeper, and Bobby has no objection to that being done, but I haven't seen it and don't know what it would take. Sounds like there is a lot of dirt that would have to be moved.

I guess the point is in the future if someone can' get through an obstacle, they better take a strap rather than creating a go around. I really don't agree with the Forest Service view of this, but not much we can do about it.[/quote]
hay goatman we whint up freeway on saterday gate keeper is gone looks like thay pushed the rocks to the side of the trail if it hadent ben for the ruts the ran made in the trail its like driving on a dirt road now.

I want to know why they did not come in from Keysville instead of destroying GATE KEEPER

goatman ..all the work that they did is soft and muddy and starting to rut out,the turn on top after gaterkeeper is narrowed up and is very soft on the flat area,,,we couldn't do that much damage as offroaders in 10 years.
the part where keysville rd and freeway comes together is very soft and rutting out were they dozed it,if i remember right that part already had water bars on it
as far me that is the biggest waste of money....of coarse we are talking govern ment
o and the keysville rd is washout now and posy flat rd

Here is a video of what gatekeeper looked like on 8 Jan 2011 from the front bumper of my jeep.

[youtube]ob5F0KFLxgU[/youtube]

only one problem ......that vid is after the real gatekeeper...biggdoggand i had a good idea!!... put up a cross at the old gaterkeeper spot

[quote="Jeremy"]Here is a video of what gatekeeper looked like on 8 Jan 2011 from the front bumper of my jeep.[/quote]

Yep, that vid starts right after where gatekeeper was. The road is actually smoother than the vid where gatekeeper was.

Richard, part of the problem with gatekeeper returning to prominence is that many of the rocks were moved over the side of the ledge - so erosion will not return it to its former self.

As stated by Robert, if the goal of the Forestry Service was erosion control, it was a major failure. They tore up the hard-packed dirt and rock and filled it with loose sand - which resulted in major trail damage during the rains. Honestly, it would have been better to leave things alone and let a DESIGNATED 4x4 trail remain that way. I guess they have money to burn messing around with such things?

The good news is that the little waterfall up above Bradshaw Creek has turn into somewhat of an extreme obstacle. I had a pucker moment on that one (almost flipped backward)!

I've got a better idea actually... Since they said they have no objection to taking the dirt off of the gatekeeper lets get some able bodied individuals up there with shovels and dig it out. Unfortunately there was not enough runoff along the gatekeeper to take very much of the sediment with it. I think if anyone here had a 1/4 ton dunbar trailer that would come in handy here, because I don't think we can just throw all of this sediment over the side of the trail. Griping about this is not gonna get the gatekeeper back. We have to take it back for ourselves.

And to answer Chris: I think they just covered most of it. Many of those rocks are too heavy to just fling over the side with the minimal amount of equipment they used on it. Most of what rock the gatekeeper is made out of is solid outcrop.

my 2 cents.

[quote="REDxj5150"]I think they just covered most of it. Many of those rocks are too heavy to just fling over the side with the minimal amount of equipment they used on it. Most of what rock the gatekeeper is made out of is solid outcrop[/quote]

On our Christmas run, you could actually see a lot of fresh rocks rolled down the hill. The equipment used was a D8 that was still parked up there last month; plenty big enough to push just about anything. But I think you are right, the outcroppings will still be under the dirt. But if the dirt erodes, it will just turn into a dangerous off-camber section rather than a rock garden.

I realize that their erosion control job looks like a hack job, but it won't take as long as you think for it to do its intended job. *geology soapbox* proper erosion control can take a lot of money. We all know that the FS doesn't wanna really use any of that, so what they did was right for what they wanted to do. They plowed the alternative routes to promote foliage and grass growth, and they added the water bars more frequently to reduce the depth of the ruts. That may seem drastic by some, and some of you are suggesting that it's not working, but their sediment work will harden much quicker than many of you think. It sure is some loose soil right now, but there's going to be some pretty fast chemical changes in all of that loose soil that will make it more compact and solid in the coming months. Plus the water bars will reduce the size of the ruts.

Lets not focus on that part. It will work out. Lets just dig up the gatekeeper.

[quote]But I think you are right, the outcroppings will still be under the dirt. But if the dirt erodes, it will just turn into a dangerous off-camber section rather than a rock garden.[/quote]

[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v650/146/31/505084616/n505084616_1483713_5906458.jpg[/img]
I know the rock on the right (the preferred line) is still there. You wanna just drive a water truck up it and dump the water about 20ft up from here? just kidding on that.

I don't really see anything in the picture that would have been advantageous for them to take out. There is a lot of sediment covering it. I can imagine just a little farther up there was a lot of loose >basketball sized bolders that would have been a pain for them.

The whole thing is so stupid. The new waterbars are designed to minimize water running directly down the trail, which will make it harder for the dirt to get washed off of gatekeeper. One of the bummers is that this was also done about 12-13 years ago. Gatekeeper before then was a real obstacle, with a good ledge and a 7-8' rock on the outside that you had to squeeze past. There was also a huge rock garden on Bradshaw on the face of the sand hill above where the trail turns off from Black Gulch trail right before the creek crossing. This poor trail has had serious negative effects of Forest Service bulldozers for the challenge that we 4x4 users are looking for. They need to somehow learn to just leave it alone, but I don't know if that can happen. The current collaborative effort of the Forest Service and stakeholders to come up with a good trail plan for the Piutes is a very good thing, but they still don't get the whole 4x4 thing.

The Trailblazers are sending a letter to the district Ranger objecting to what was done, and asking for what we can do to correct the damage to gatekeeper. We'll see if anything happens.

Hey Richard, doesn't the forest service recommend not even going up these trails in wet and muddy conditions? I think the goal of the average off road enthusiast is different than that of any govt agency.... I still had a good time regardless, only instead of rocks to crawl over the rutts became the largest obsticles. Wasn't there a plan in the works sometime ago to actually designate an off road "park" after shutting down the mesa marin and old dump areas we used to ride in? What ever happened to that idea? It seems that there may be a day that just like skate boarding, if you want to crawl over rocks you may have to do it from inside a fenced area...after paying your admission fee. I hope we can come up with some responsible solutions that take everyone into account, I'm starting to enjoy myself.

M-O-N-E-Y.....that all it comes down to and CONTROL !!!!

yeah Money and where it comes from..

[quote="jcook"] Wasn't there a plan in the works sometime ago to actually designate an off road "park" after shutting down the mesa marin and old dump areas we used to ride in? What ever happened to that idea? [/quote]


[color=#FFFFBF]I remember talk about that, I thought it was suppose to be just north of town [/color]

[quote="jcook"]Hey Richard, doesn't the forest service recommend not even going up these trails in wet and muddy conditions?.


Wasn't there a plan in the works sometime ago to actually designate an off road "park" after shutting down the mesa marin and old dump areas we used to ride in? What ever happened to that idea? [/quote]


Unfortunately, yes.


The off road park location got turned down, the area chosen ended up having too much of the bad kind of dust. One of the new environmental concerns is "particulates", and the chosen location had a potential particulate problem.

Dick Taylor, who was the driving force behind the effort, had a job change right around that time and can't be the main guy anymore. No one has picked up the ball to try and get something going.......as far as I know.