Snow??

[junkyrdog]

Has anyone been up to fordyce lately? whats the snow like right now?

[pepe]

You should look around, sometimes the answers are closer than you think.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...=584710&page=8

[Tinman]

Unless you have at least 40's and a really good winch do not go.

[Bebe]

WeBilt is meeting at the staging area at 9AM.

We'll post up a report when we get back.....if we get back. I'm driving

[Tinman]

Went in Friday and made it to Committee before we decided to call it a day and camp. Was raining pretty hard at that point and increased during the night. Luckily it let up. The water crossings were deep but doable if you're either really waterproofed and/or running some decent size tires (and don't drive into the holes of course.) Oddly enough the little stream right before the wagon wheel rose quit a bit and probably would have been the one to give the most trouble had it not gone down after the rain let up. It seemed like we were breaking trail after mile 6.5 or so. The trail is wet of course and there are still a lot of snow drifts including the off camber before water crossing #3. We went up to have a look in preparation for our FOF Memorial Day run. The mudhole is a problem of course. The water is probably almost 4 feet deep in spots and there are some downed trees. We saw a couple trees leaning across the trail we'll have to remove so they don't fall on someone.

The status of the mudhole is this:

The proposal the Forest Service filed had one comment on an area unrelated to Fordyce. The comment will be answered next week and then there is a 45 day appeal period. If everything goes ok we can start working on the re-route after that so we'll start planning. In the meantime we'll have to take a look at something temporary.

Couple of pics from the weekend here:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...=584710&page=9

[Tinman]

View from Committee Crossing area

[SCHooch]

How was the log ramp?

[jethrodeg]

The log ramp is holding up great. It just needs another section added to extend it out to the flat part on the lower end of the ramp. I was surprised at how much traction I got on it. No wheel spin needed.

[junkyrdog]

Thanks for the update..!!

[R290]

Originally Posted by Tinman

The status of the mudhole is this:

The proposal the Forest Service filed had one comment on an area unrelated to Fordyce. The comment will be answered next week and then there is a 45 day appeal period. If everything goes ok we can start working on the re-route after that so we'll start planning. In the meantime we'll have to take a look at something temporary.

What are you thinking of?

[Tinman]

That is a very good question. Let me talk with the other directors and I'll post something. The resaon we decided not to try and fix the area in the first place was that there didn't seem to be a way to do so without dumping about 100 yards of rock there and of course what would that do to the natural flow of water? It may be something like trying to pump some of the water out although this year it seems there is no place to pump it to, at least at this stage in the season. It looks like the proposed re-route will be approved so the Forest Service may be ok with designating the users created bypasses as officially usable on a temorary basis. Once closed this area will be worked on to return it to a more natural condition. In a relatively short time it will be unrecognizable as the former trail as nature takes it's course and finishes reclaiming it into the forest. I'll start a new thread in the next few days and we can also talk about possible temporary solutions there.