Wyoming B.S. Thread

That's the fucking point

 

I like my Mt plate. White and blue. Also free. They have over 250 vanity plate to choose from ha

 

Random thought, but last week I found those crazy candy's at the gas station I hit regularly. Never seen them before but was super stoked to see em. Fuckers are addicting.

 

Ha! Awesome. They are spreading I think. Haven't had those in a while.

 

Haha as soon as I saw them I had to get a couple bags for my trip. I don't eat candy much so the def will last me a while.

Oh and tonight I picked up an Exped. Buuuut not the pad just their double sleeping bag. Pretty excited as it's the first bag I've bought, ever. Not exactly cheap but based on the praise from folks in here for other Exped products it made it easier to night the bullet. Probably will pick up a pad later this year to use it ground tenting with the truck since my solo camp build looks to be flying out the window

 

the mega sleep duo?

I personally hate sleeping bags that are that poly or nylon stuff. Slipper shit. I still buy quilted flannel ones.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-mountain-trapper-0-sleeping-bag

I have those 0 degree bags and 40 degree bags for summer. Two of them zip together to make a big ole sleeping bag. Much more comfortable i've found, plus grew up in bags like that so bit bias. But feels more like comfortable blankets than anything.

The slippery ones make me sweat to easily, i've never been as comfortable in them. Might not notice as much as I wear pj pants and a shirt to bed these days. But back when it was just my boxers I hated them haha


But i'm sure it'll work great. Hopefully the material doesn't bother you. If it does, take it back and get something like what i have. No loss.


Whats the trip?

 

Yeah I am a bit nervous with the material but I want to see if it's good. Has two temp ratings, one for cold and one for summer, so we will see. Got the REI membership so if I don't like it, back it goes.

The trip? Hmmm idk, I was thinking white rim in March/April but that would be the van for sure. A NM trip will take me a while to put together. It's important to me to put something together that is worthy of such a long journey for you guys so idk if I could even do that this year. Summer time in the San juans though is piquing my interest, even if it's a repeat of a decade ago

 

Ah I thought you were doing something much sooner than that ha

We spent two trips kicking around CO and a return(first time for Dan) for the Alpine loop. Was cool. Saw some new things and resaw others. Still cool.

Ya no rush on a NM trip at this point. I haven't even really begun to think about trips for 2025. Need to though. We have a small list of just weekend trips to do. (Goose lake/Sawtooth again, hopefully Blue Lake pending road opening, Noble Lake). But nothing big on the books yet.

 

Sooner... Like yeah I'm going out this weekend. Going to a canyon I went to before about an hour from town. Some fields to do some birding nearby to start my new year, goal is to photograph 75 species in NM alone. My total was 111 for 2024 so I think I can hit it, gonna do my best. Beautiful canyon and slot canyon nearby camp should be fun. It's her first time camping in well over a decade so starting easy on her lol

I want the NM to make the NM trip one that gives a good taste of what NM has to offer both in scenery and flavors so it's going to take some time to put together. No rush indeed.

 

nice! hope it goes well! Weather must be nice there. It finally snowed here today for the first time. Not much. But still, chilly. Nice campfire during the day weather but probably not looking to go camp right now ha

 

Weather looks like 57 for highs and 36s for lows. Sunshine every day. So between the new bag, the blankets I have, the firewood I have cut already, it should be plenty comfortable here. Snow would come into play if I head north of Sante Fe but for now I'll focus on south.

 

Well this sucks. Impacts areas were just explored.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEQ0SbAxzIA/?igsh=d3RnaTR3dzZwdWp3

 

Well that's disappointing. I guess I been out of the loop, I know there was the big round of closures next to Moab, and now this one rolling in? What's driving it? Usually there's money involved but it's murky with these closures that's going on.

 

I know this always sounds dramatic and disappointing when the blue ribbon guys present it, but it's not as bad as they make it out to be. Not that I'm always in support of whatever the travel management guys do, but I do think it's important to present an honest picture, regardless of which side you come down on.

- - -

The travel management plan for the Swell was created in 2008 (that's right, 17 years ago) and has been in litigation and public input since then. In 2008, they closed 732 miles of roads (per the plan). With the update on Dec 31, 2024, they reopened 67 miles of trails that we haven't had access to since 2008.

So, when you present that as "the BLM closed 665 miles" on Instagram, it's not really the full story. Or even really true at all, given that they are actually opening trails that have been inaccessible to most people who actually remember exploring the Swell in our lifetimes, hahaha. Sure does work well on Social Media to get people riled up though, ehh?

Anyway, it surely sucks to loose access to land, but I don't know that this access is anything that any of us would notice. I checked several of the "closed" roads against the maps I created for the 3 weeks I've spent roaming around, and several of them are roads that I noted as either impassable or non-existent when I was there, so... I dunno. I suppose I'd have been more upset about this in 2008 than I would have been today.

Here's the link describing the plan: San Rafael Swell Travel Management Plan Decision

 

I looked into this a bit more and I think you are mostly correct. And comparing the closed routes to what they are on Google Earth, some are nearly goat trails in some instances.

However, the video isn't entirely wrong about it going after finger roads to dispersed camping. Specifically the spot that we camped down by the river just last year in Buckhorn wash will no longer be available.

 

Yeah, I could see some of those little spurs being hit/caught up in this.

It seemed to me like there were still quite a few of them, but it does always suck to lose camp site options. Especially those that are on the edge of a dangerous, exposed cliff with amazing views. Hopefully none of those were closed. I checked a few of my favs, and they are still accessible.

 

Yeah i know just south of me another blm plan is closing most of the roads in another popular area just west of the Pryors.

Far as im concerned, any closure of any kind and any time, sucks. Period.

 

Went on the first camping trip with my girlfriend. It was fun seeing her get speechless at the beautiful canyon we camped in and the slot canyon we hiked. We made a stop at the Abo ruins dating back to the 1600s. Really cool. Hope y'all had a great weekend!
(phone pictures cuz my troublesome 24-105 died on me on this trip. Need to send it in ASAP)

 

And of course part of the trip was to start off my Big Year - 75 species in New Mexico. 7 down, 68 to go!





And the last photo before the 24-105 died on me.

 

Scenery looks cool there, and the birds look like... well... birds