natural bridge

[carwash]

No sorry needed, i thought you were being funnay.

The "natural bridge" with the ski lift etc is a natural bridge there, yes... one of hundreds and hundreds, but the only one accessible by the average person in a minivan.

The arch they are talking about is part of the big bend trail entrance thru the narrows. I've heard it called white's arch before as well.

The trail actually runs across the top of the arch. And it's narrow as hell, hence the name. tough for two rigs to pass each other on it, and don't fall off the side... i imagine you will never be retrieved if it happens.

The trail/road was closed a couple years ago to ohv access due to erosion issues, etc. There is no other way "around" it that is legal. You have to enter somewhere else now.

[mckeddie]

white's branch arch it is, here is a lovely blog i found letting everyone know how evil we are.

tomeblen.bloginky.com/tag/red-river-gorge/

thanks
greg

[carwash]

I feel so dirty now... that's it, I'm done wheeling.

[BIGRAM]

This whole topic has given me something to write about for for Eng 101 class. I just submitted my essay to the columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader, We'll see if they post something positive for the area rather than always cutting the wheelers down.
I go through a lot of aluminum cans when I hit the trails but I always bring out more than what I go in with along with a couple stray parts here and there, hope everyone is doing the same. Slade gets a great deal of business from all 4-wheeling groups. All the rock-climbers and hikers buy is pizza. That's the tightest bunch of people I've ever seen and they get all the support. My family has been a part of the campgrounds at Natural Bridge and by the rest area, it is a fact that they try to slip in and steal a free night of camping and try to leave before anyone catches them. You don't see this out of the offroad group. As a local, thanks for all your support to our community, I know the local business owners appreciate it. Your welcome any time.

[blazerbrad]

It always aggravates me some in regards to the way a lot of the local community and "other" visitors to the area view the off-roading crowd. Like said above how much money do the cliff climbers that tent camp and eat their granola contribute to the area? The last trip down there our group paid for around 20 nights of hotel homes, fueled up the trail rigs AND the tow rigs (even if fuel is higher around the area we try to make it a point to fill up at the local stations), plus all of the food and snacks that were bought. Of course we all paid Charles Booth for a day of riding at his place.

On the other hand I also know where a lot of the bad rap for the fourwheeling community comes from and see it everytime we go to Slade. I'm not trying to be preachy and love a beer as much as the next guy, but I'm not quite sure why people need to get sloppy drunk while trailriding. I'm not talking about a beer or two throughout the day, but "I can't hardly walk" drunk. It's a simple fact that the majority of the anti-fourwheeling crowd looks at any alchohol consumption on the trail negatively, and a decent portion of the fourwheeling community looks at drunks on the trail negatively also.

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad, such as watching a guy keep backing up and hitting the bottom of Carb in his XJ while his cup of beer sloshes out the window all while we are yelling at him to stop because he broke a rear axle on his D35 and the tire, drum, and broken shaft are laying on the ground 10' behind him (some of the guys on this board where in his group). Then another time coming up to a group being led by some off-road shop out of Kentucky on Widowmaker when the guy started throwing out Jello shots....of course watching 2-3 guys fall on their face trying to get to them because they were so drunk they couldn't walk.

Of course you also have the guys who can't make it up some obstacle so they go blazing through the woods and running over trees to get around it.

[tjjeepjeep]

Technology plays against us to an extent as well. How many hits would a wheeler on a trail w/a slight grade get versus the drunk guy who does a right turn and goes over trees?

I've said it before...We cannot change everyone's perception of us at once. It's unfortunate and not realistic. But if one persons action or a group of people actions, makes someone stop and think "wow I didn't expect that". Then we've won a smaller battle. Any win, is a victory. Unfortunately some battles are fought in the courtroom, and this is where our sport probably falls short. Not from lack of trying/effort/drive, but it's hard to compete with the funds behind some of our opponents.

I drove to Nat Bridge to attend the Forest Service meetings, because it is important. Then my year took a crap and I haven't been involved much. But I know others still are and that they'd holler if help was needed. This year, we'll see what happens.
<getting off my soapbox now>:o

[KennyTJ]

Harlan County... excellent model, the community wants us there, the local government wants us there, they strive to keep up the trails... anyway it's an awsome model of how the local government/community can prosper from embracing the offroad community.

You never hear about any tree huggers complaining about environmental issues down at Black Moutain????