CANYONLANDS EAST TMP COMMENTS

Re: Canyonlands East TMP
Dear Sirs ,

I’m requesting the BLM extend the comment deadline an additional 60 days to February 15, 2017.

1) I did not receive notification of the current comment period even though I submitted
    comments January 14, 2016. I could not find any legal notice in web searches  of local press.
    I learned of the current comment period through word of mouth .

2) I’m requesting a SDEIS to correct Alternative A to include route identification numbers .

3) Sand washes and single track routes have not been inventoried even though GPS data has
    been provided by multiple uses .

My preference is Alternative D with these additional routes :
click to see missing routes  designated in yellow

TRK 127        TRK 464
TRK 151        TRK 473
TRK 152        TRK 474
TRK 156        TRK 478
TRK 169        TRK 479
TRK 170        TRK 480
TRK 171        TRK 481
TRK 172        TRK 482
TRK 229        TRK 483
TRK 230        TRK 484
TRK 231        TRK 486
TRK 234        TRK 506
TRK 235        TRK 508
TRK 236
TRK 237
TRK 238
TRK 271
TRK 272

Regards,
John Aiton
6855 Hollilynn DR
Boise, ID 83709
208-870-4392

FAKE FUN , GRAND VIEW 12/11/2016

LOOP ~ 62 MILES

TRAIL BOSS – OFFROADER & YMAN

RIDERS- 8 total

photos – John , JimBob , Yman ,Offroader


I decided to leave early and fill-up the truck at Gran-Del.
Jim Grant has always provided 3 grades of non-ethanol gas and asks for
a 20 gal/month minimum purchase to keep the account active. 

The first two pumps gave a “faulty pump” error at the card reader.
Ended up having to top off with “Stove Oil” , now I’m good for –12F !

Jim was there doing some maintenance, didn’t know what was wrong but
thought someone was having trouble Saturday night. 
He said there was a couple of fuel spills on the other island.

I headed to Grand View worried it might be a premonition .

 

 

Sunday looked to be a Blue Bird day but the there was an inversion along the
Snake with an ice fog and  25F temperature.

We always park in fog , don't know why we don’t drive above it.

I got my bike started then noticed no throttle control.
Mid week I did a plug check, didn’t look rich so I decided to raise the needle.
Obviously I didn’t get the collar around the cable . I had to pull the tank and reset   
the cable/ collar .

After 10-12 miles we were above the fog and the temps were in the mid 30’s .
The frozen sand wash was a hoot with the ice screws. I could almost keep with
the guys running rubber, topping out 50+MPH.

 

 

 

Old Nike missile bunker , back in the old days when the Russkies
didn’t dare rig our elections .

Had a section of clay to climb , but the really bad stuff was still frozen .

 

 

 

 

 

Dole Mountain side hill.
It was slow going for me , at any speed  my front tire would walk off the
trail , then there are some deep ruts that are still my monsters to overcome.


We rode the Mckeeth washes all the way back , lots of big whoops.
I hit reserve ~ 55 miles maybe went to rich on the jetting .

My Tire                                             Wyman’s tire ( you can never screw too much )

BLM CANYONLAND TMP 11/29/2016

 

The BLM has “opened” comments for the Owyhee County TMP.

Similar to last year it’s during a inconvenient time to make comments and there was no public
notice of the plan.

The Owyhee Avalanche is the only pubilc notification that I’m aware and it was published 8 days
after the comment period opened .  

I emailed comments in January 2016 and did not receive notification of the new plans 

I have included the Jacks Creek area .

There are no washes or connecting single track  were inventoried .
Below is the south my past routes .

Below is one of my rides.



 

Plan A – no changes

All the Maps can be found here .

https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=dispatchToPatternPage&currentPageId=22166


David Wood has also noticed that many of the roads that run to overlooks and trail heads
mandated in the  Owyhee Wilderness bill have been closed.

50 by 50 | Three Forks, Oregon 11/5/2016

 

Loop ~ 315 miles

Riders – Tim , John

The weekend was forecasted to be unseasonable warm and dry.
Tim sent me a message asking if I was riding Saturday .
Yeap ,I wanted to go to Three Forks.

As I was getting the bike ready Saturday morning I noticed a coolant leak.
It was just a loose clamp and I was able to tighten without removing any panels .

It was still chilly Saturday morning.

I  found that when it’s <50F, I really don’t like riding > 50 MPH.

Baja Road at HWY167 .

Tim’s GS ADV , first bike envy I’ve had in awhile.

Tim at the “summit” on Mud Flat Road.

Ranch off Juniper Mountain Road 

 

Three Forks Canyon

 

 

Didn’t have time to explore and I was running low on fuel.
About 3-4 miles from Hwy 95 my fuel light came on. I packed a gallon of gas but
wanted to see what my range would be.
I rolled into Jordon Valley with ~ 215 miles on the tank. 
It took ~ 5.4 gallons to fill up , I was down to my last half gallon.

The Jordan Creek Road into Silver City had some icy puddles .

Ruby City

Idaho Hotel , looks closed for the season

A few mullie

Rolled home ~ 8PM .

I must of got Lost - Davis Mountain 10/19/2016

Loop ~ 250 miles
Riders – John , Byron

 

I wanted to explore some new backroads on the ridge south of
Fairfield, hit the City of Rocks and swing by Magic Reservoir .

Wednesday was the 1st nice day after 4-5 days of weather .
The low was 38F but clear and still.
When we met at GranDel’s  ~10:30 it was in the upper 40’s.

Riding into Hill City on US20 it was ~ 42F , which is my Big Bike limit .
My nipples got so cold they ached .

Castle Rock Road

 

Iron Mountain behind Fairfield

 

One of the mud holes on the Davis Mountain Road. 
No clay but it’s slicker than snot , decided to ride around.

View of the Fairfield Prairie from Davis Mountain .

At the intersection below the hill we decided to ride off Davis Mountain.

Green is the route I wanted to take into the City of Rocks.
Red is what we rode .The up hill path looked steep and greasy .
I wasn’t sure I was on the correct trail so we dropped
down to the flats and were going to go around the mountain.

There was a short rocky section made more technical by the mud.
Riding off rock I slid my front wheel out and got my leg pinned under the bike.

Kind of lost my confidence in the mud after the bobble.

 

At the bottom of the trail there was  “locked” gate. After closer inspection
you could see it had been Macgyvered and the was a why to get through.

Then we had a mile or two of muddy ranch road to negotiate .
Thank God there was no clay to pack up the wheels.

 

We thought we would at least hit Mormon Reservoir but the road I
picked was fenced off. It was ~ 3:30PM so we decided to head into
Fairfield for fuel and coffee.

We rode home along the South Fork, Prairie and Blacks Creek,
excellent debate prep.