Hltoppr
El Gringo Spectacular!
Yesterday I took the wife and two year old daughter out to an area outside of Flagstaff to test out a new OZTent, and to get the little one used to taking a nap in a tent. There is an area to the West of the Kachina Peaks known as Hart Prairie, with expansive views in the tall Ponderosa pine forest. It's always been a favorite of mine, since I was in college in the early 90s.
The area is a mix of privately held parcels and national forest, and several of the forest service roads run through private in-holdings. We found a spot on the national forest and set up the tent for the afternoon and relaxed.
At about 5 pm, we packed up and headed out on a marked forest service road, 9009T, which again crosses privately held land by a water tank, and meets back up with FS794, making a large loop.
The water tank, from FS794 looking South. FS9009T is about 75 yards past the southern edge of the tank.
9009T from the South, heading NE, and passing through the private land...
(Yes...I was on the bike this morning, but in the Cruiser yesterday.)
The same tank, from the South, looking North on FS9009T.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. Upon meeting up again with FS794, a pickup truck, parked overlooking the tank to the East, begins honking its horn wildly. Obviously, someone is trying to signal me, so I turn east down FS794.
Rolling up on the pickup, the elderly driver jumps out, pointing a video camera at the Troopy. I stop and ask if he needs help, and he proceeds to launch into a profanity laced tirade about how dare I travel cross country and destroy this area; how we "out of towners" should go home and that the locals are tired of us, waiving his hands in the air while holding the camera.
This guy is way amped up, as the volume and general over the top antics have scared my daughter in the back seat of the Troopy, who starts crying, and my wife (who is on the left hand side, closest to this guy, BTW...downside at this moment to having an OZ rig...), is visibly nervous.
I calmly tell him that we were on the marked FS road 9009T; to which he replies that we should all go fornicate ourselves, and to get out. I'm not about to stay and argue with a fanatic, so we drive off; he gets in his truck and follows us for a while, then turns off on another road.
I've spent the last 15 years trying to be an example of good overlanding practices; have a BS in Environmental Management, and a J.D. specializing in public land law...so I'm very taken aback by this guy's accusations. Adding insult to injury, I'm running Overland Journal logos on the Troopy...and I definitely wouldn't do anything to put these folks, whom I consider close friends and colleagues, in a bad light.
My OCD kicks in...and I'm not going to sleep anyways, so I pour over my topos, bring up the satellite imagery of the area, verify land ownership with the County Assessor, and go back out this morning to verify that the road was there, and legally marked.
Turns out that the owners of the land are mostly locals....and a local judge who I practice before is one of them....
I give her a call this morning, and we have a long conversation about the usage of the parcels these roads run through. She has no idea who this guy could have been, and he definitely didn't have permission to be off the road and parked on the private land.
We're trying to find more info on this guy.
But...long story short...I'm welcome on their land at any time!
So, I hope that this situation may help us to think about how we'll all react when confronted by someone who may be very misinformed, but fanatical in their beliefs that we're all anti-environmental idiots, ruining land at will. With a little research, and some good communication with land owners, we can turn these bad situations into good ones which only help to show that, as overlanders, we can be true stewards and conservationists.
Cheers,
Andrew
The area is a mix of privately held parcels and national forest, and several of the forest service roads run through private in-holdings. We found a spot on the national forest and set up the tent for the afternoon and relaxed.
At about 5 pm, we packed up and headed out on a marked forest service road, 9009T, which again crosses privately held land by a water tank, and meets back up with FS794, making a large loop.
The water tank, from FS794 looking South. FS9009T is about 75 yards past the southern edge of the tank.
9009T from the South, heading NE, and passing through the private land...
(Yes...I was on the bike this morning, but in the Cruiser yesterday.)
The same tank, from the South, looking North on FS9009T.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. Upon meeting up again with FS794, a pickup truck, parked overlooking the tank to the East, begins honking its horn wildly. Obviously, someone is trying to signal me, so I turn east down FS794.
Rolling up on the pickup, the elderly driver jumps out, pointing a video camera at the Troopy. I stop and ask if he needs help, and he proceeds to launch into a profanity laced tirade about how dare I travel cross country and destroy this area; how we "out of towners" should go home and that the locals are tired of us, waiving his hands in the air while holding the camera.
This guy is way amped up, as the volume and general over the top antics have scared my daughter in the back seat of the Troopy, who starts crying, and my wife (who is on the left hand side, closest to this guy, BTW...downside at this moment to having an OZ rig...), is visibly nervous.
I calmly tell him that we were on the marked FS road 9009T; to which he replies that we should all go fornicate ourselves, and to get out. I'm not about to stay and argue with a fanatic, so we drive off; he gets in his truck and follows us for a while, then turns off on another road.
I've spent the last 15 years trying to be an example of good overlanding practices; have a BS in Environmental Management, and a J.D. specializing in public land law...so I'm very taken aback by this guy's accusations. Adding insult to injury, I'm running Overland Journal logos on the Troopy...and I definitely wouldn't do anything to put these folks, whom I consider close friends and colleagues, in a bad light.
My OCD kicks in...and I'm not going to sleep anyways, so I pour over my topos, bring up the satellite imagery of the area, verify land ownership with the County Assessor, and go back out this morning to verify that the road was there, and legally marked.
Turns out that the owners of the land are mostly locals....and a local judge who I practice before is one of them....
I give her a call this morning, and we have a long conversation about the usage of the parcels these roads run through. She has no idea who this guy could have been, and he definitely didn't have permission to be off the road and parked on the private land.
We're trying to find more info on this guy.
But...long story short...I'm welcome on their land at any time!
So, I hope that this situation may help us to think about how we'll all react when confronted by someone who may be very misinformed, but fanatical in their beliefs that we're all anti-environmental idiots, ruining land at will. With a little research, and some good communication with land owners, we can turn these bad situations into good ones which only help to show that, as overlanders, we can be true stewards and conservationists.
Cheers,
Andrew
thanks. The reason I wonder if it was him is because a portion of our peaks loop single track runs through the area you are describing, and if there was any sabotage/booby traps found in that area within the coming days, they could be connected with him.
