Hart's Pass & Slate Peak, Washington:

 

Well thanks to the greed of Republicans and big oil companies Ryan Zinke has recommended to significantly reduce the size of Utah's believe Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante. If your planning an expedition down there better make it soon. Nothing like putting an idiot in charge of Dept of Interior.

 

What size tires and lift combo is this? It looks just about perfect!

 

Well then, you may be surprised and interested to hear about the million+ acres Obama put under protection days before he left office. I included an article for your pleasure.



https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/13/1...tection-record

 

Yep, Democrats are no friend of people who want to use public lands for anything, even walking on it, let alone off road vehicles.

If you are looking for either political party to use common sense or even moderation, you'd better prepare for disapointment. They are both run by people with an angle.

 

I really don't want to get into a political discussion here, but how is it that you read into that barriers to usage? As an example, Grand Staircase-Escalante is an incredible set-aside that I've used extensively. We know what the Utah legislators want to do with it, and we know what the current Republican congress wants to do with it. But, in case you haven't been keeping up with things, the Utah state legislators have been lobbying to transfer the area to state control. They've made no secret that they want to mine coal in the area. That means that roads will be built, leases will be let, and fences and gates restricting access will be erected. And the current Republican congress changed federal financial accountability laws to allow for the transfer of federal properties without considering the budget offsets needed. You'd have to be pretty blind to the truth to not see what's being telegraphed here. And, BTW, there have been plenty of land use restrictions placed here, in Oklahoma by our local governments. Pretty much all Republicans.

Bottom line: I'm not saying that the Republicans are to blame. And I'm not saying that the Democrats are free from blame. But, I am saying to take off the political-colored lenses and study the issue thoroughly before posting political comments based on the party-line.

And, before even doing that, look at yourself and the folks you go out with. How much blame do they assume for failing to follow good LNT/TL practices, for stealing and disturbing artifacts, and for just plain acting like jerks in the wilderness? That, sir is where the biggest problem lie. It may not be you, it may not be your friends, but I've been around the block long enough to know that the yahoos are out there ruining it for the rest of us.

 

Recently had a little fun taking the path less traveled in order to view the eclipse. Here are a few Jeep pics, which I'm sure interest you more than those scenery shots. LOL. To view the entire album, with image captions, visit my public FB page here ...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=b806bee0b4

Friend Brian drives through the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, OK ...



Brian drives through Osage Reservation along the Oklahoma Adventure Trail ...



My Jeep on the Great Salt Plains, OK ...



My Jeep in the Nebraska Sandhills ...



Okay, a scenery shot. Carhenge near Alliance, NE ...



My Jeep in Hell's Half Acre, ID ...



My Jeep in Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID ...



My Jeep headed up to Hat Point above Hell's Canyon on the OR/ID border ...



Friends Josh (Cascade Warrior's son) and Jack while driving the Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route 4 ...



Josh clearing a log my Jeep wouldn't fit under ...



Jack and family driving north of our campsite near Mitchell, OR ...



Another scenery shot. You'll want a low speed transfer case, good tires, and a bit of nerves to get up to this spot high above the John Day River Valley. It was a steep climb up the mountains (which is why there are no stiill shot of Jeeps--I was too busy driving!) ...



The main show. We came, we saw. It was incredible ...



Driving along a Pony Express Trail in White Pine County, NV ...



White Pine County Road 1, headed to US Hwy 50 in Nevada ("American's Loneliest Road") ...



Crossing between Beaver and Junction, UT on SR-153. After crossing the pass at 10,000 feet, the road becomes dirt, narrow and windy with some pretty good drop-offs ...



Jeep along Notom-Bullfrog Road in Capitol Reef National Park, headed for the ferry across Lake Powell ...

 

Yeah, well I'm saying both parties are to blame, so I always chuckle when someone goes off on one of them and acts as if the others are pure of heart. That was my point, so sorry if I was not clear.

As for myself, I've never stolen or disrupted artifacts, nor have I littered. I've also not even spun wheels unecessarily, nor have I disturbed water more than the minimum to pass through. I've treaded as lightly as anyone I've seen with a Jeep, so my conscious is clear.

Beautiful pics, btw.

 

We just returned from Northern Colorado where we camped and did 28 of the 80 trails in the Funtreks guidebook for that area. We did most of the "Difficult" trails in areas 1, 2 & 3 of that guidebook including Heart Attack Hill on the Kelly Flats trail. It wasn't all that bad. We used the Funtreks guide book for Arizona earlier this year and in Moab last year. They are the greatest and I have the data cards for these guides that show the route on our Garmin GPS. I am attaching just a few photos from this latest trip.

BTW, Mark: If you are ever in SE Idaho again I would like to hook up with you for a run in Hells Half Acre. That is one of our favorite areas near home.

 

I believe that is intellectually dishonest. You can say both parties have their faults, and that's very true. But in the case of these national treasures, there is one party actively trying to remove protection and sell the lands for oil and shale development. Literally, destroying our wildlife preserves. You can say the democrats are overprotecting some lands (preventing off road access), but at least in 100 years there will still be something to argue about there. But you can't un-sell the park land once you've handed it over to the oil companies.