Kelowna mud bogging and outdoor 4x4ing annual events

[Rwede]

Sure, the mudbogging buddies on Facebook trashed Judie Steeves. Judie has done more for the outdoors than any of the names on Facebook, as evidenced by the many awards she has received from respected conservation groups.

By the "quality" of the posts, and deflecting blame on other groups with the "Yeah, but look how bad XXXXX is!" comments, it's easy to spot the ignorance (or is it denial?) about mudbogging's effects. I found it amusing that there was outright denial that the trucks chewed down to the soil, yet one can plainly see the chewed up soil in the picture where the trucks have climbed to their camping spot at the top of the picture.

I'll bet dollars to donuts that none of the swamp trashers have any awards to show for their work in promoting sustainable use of our outdoor resources like Judie Steeves has. More likely, they have a list of infractions for the detrimental effects they have had, and I guess that's something they can boast about on Facebook too.

[quagmaire]

Well Mack, I don't want to say "I told you so..." so I wont...

Worth reading;

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_sim ... 03973.html
(link to a group member explaining the 'winter camp'

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_sim ... 44404.html
(link to a member helping out)

(PLEASE read the articles, I can't seem to cut/paste)

I have seen so many people pulled out by members who shouldn't have been anywhere near where they were... (why would you go out on a forest service road, in winter, by yourself, in a stock vehicle (cars even!) and think that the snow would get better the HIGHER you climb?!)

Richard; If you are TRULY interested, I can (or have someone else) take you to the camp site to show how it was left (spotless).
However, It would be better to wait a couple of months until better road conditions. Ironically, to go now would cause more damage as the snow is melting and creating more of a 'mud bog' than a snow road...

FYI: Most of the trucks in the original Capital News article have been put away for the season as they are dedicated 'snow machines'.

[alstick]

I'd like to know how you figure mud gets to the top of 6 feet of snow? The brown you see is from trees used for fire wood, the brown on the snow is beetle kill needles from the trees dragged for wood. This is a perfect example of how people "presume" what someone says is fact even when seen from 1000 feet above in a helicopter. Since when is it illegal to drive on FSR roads - these just happen to be covered in 6 feet of snow?

Oh and apparently four wheelers need private land but hikers want lands appropriated for parks by the government into "parks" so they can walk in areas that take so many miles to see that no one will ever go there. Also most parks have 6-8 foot wide built and engineered trails which are wider and have more impact than your average 4x4 trail.

This is the type of miss information that gets spread by people who do not know what they are talking about. I was recently in Moab Utah for the Easter Jeep Safari. It’s the largest off-road event in the world. The owner of the restaurant we were in said that the week long event makes up 25% of his sales for the year! There is an impact for you.

[Gone_Fishin]

Although, I see tire tracks over the tops of two trees in the lower right of the picture...

I'd hardly call that "treading lightly."

They better walk the talk, which is not evidenced in one simple picture.

[Mack of Trades]

Well Mack, I don't want to say "I told you so..." so I wont...

Worth reading;

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_sim ... 03973.html
(link to a group member explaining the 'winter camp'

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_sim ... 44404.html
(link to a member helping out)

(PLEASE read the articles, I can't seem to cut/paste)

I have seen so many people pulled out by members who shouldn't have been anywhere near where they were... (why would you go out on a forest service road, in winter, by yourself, in a stock vehicle (cars even!) and think that the snow would get better the HIGHER you climb?!)


Richard; If you are TRULY interested, I can (or have someone else) take you to the camp site to show how it was left (spotless).
However, It would be better to wait a couple of months until better road conditions. Ironically, to go now would cause more damage as the snow is melting and creating more of a 'mud bog' than a snow road...

FYI: Most of the trucks in the original Capital News article have been put away for the season as they are dedicated 'snow machines'.

yes you did tell me so ...and in a way your exactly right about not really a good spot for a forum post like this due to meeting all the negativity
but on the other hand this is where we need something like this ...those write-up you posted ...absoulutly awsome , see this is how we get the info out about the sports alot of us enjoy and to not be generalized as a group of reckless people ..
i am totally ok with the lack of knowlage some people have and the comments they post about wrecking the enviroment ..
myself i own a 1989 jeepyj ..its never seen the mud in a pit ,i like crawling around in it and want to be able to do such with meeting such critisism i love my jeep doors off top off sun shining and leaning over the side to watch yourself crawl absoulutly awsome time .....

so thanks again for the write-ups you shared give you a 10 on that post...

again people feel free to share this topic with your friends we need to bring events the okanagan p.s ANYONE going to the knox mount hill climb this year ? better stand on the pavement wouldnt want the rubber on your shoe tearing up the grass now of our provincial parks land ;)

[Relentless]

I found it amusing that there was outright denial that the trucks chewed down to the soil, yet one can plainly see the chewed up soil in the picture where the trucks have climbed to their camping spot at the top of the picture.

Another "false" statement!
I was up there just before the winter campout, and let me tell you something......
There is 3-6 feet of packed melted-frozen- packed melted snow.
We rode on top of the snow, not sinking down.

Those monster trucks would need 3-6 feet of ground clearance to be able to tear up any ground(which, by the way is frozen solid)
If any of you tree huggers are worried about the couple of small trees that might have been driven over, maybe you should park yourselves at the Postill shooting range at the 3-1/2 Km mark of Postill Lake road, and report all of the people shooting off their guns and falling trees from too many lead slugs cutting them down(and these are 50 feet high trees that have been there for 40 years).

I love it when people make assumptions based on heresay.
It's best to get some facts first, instead of guessing.

And by the way, the mess in the picture is from dead tree branches that were cut for firewood, something that creates no environmental impact.

[Gone_Fishin]

If any of you tree huggers are worried about the couple of small trees that might have been driven over, maybe you should park yourselves at the Postill shooting range at the 3-1/2 Km mark of Postill Lake road, and report all of the people shooting off their guns and falling trees from too many lead slugs cutting them down(and these are 50 feet high trees that have been there for 40 years).

Why are you pointing at other wanton environmental damage to justify what you have done? Two wrongs do not make a right.

I'm an advocate for full public access to the backcountry. However, when a few do damage, it ruins it for all of us. It's a tough enough battle with over-zealous irrigation districts and the OBWB who want to gate our watersheds to all users, so when I see this kind of stuff, it's really a *bleep* off for those of us who promote access for all.

[vinnied]

Well like the OP said if there was designated area, you wouldn't see this taking place elsewhere.
Maybe you guys should work with some govt officials and try and work something out. They, nor the general public seem to have no problem with logging crown land, cutting in roads, and leaving big bald patches all over our mountains that can be seen for miles and miles.
Hey its just a few phone calls, and really there's nothing to loose. All they can say is no, and that's pretty much where your at now.

[NotLikeYou]

just realise where you live and that you will never win against all the cry babies or eco nuts etc. I traded by bogger in for a quad and never have looked back, Maybe if moved away from here I would get back into it, But while im here im on my quad. To many old people cry about everything here,

Like ive said befor if its not a field sport or golf or hockey, no one in kelowna cares.


Look at how many years and how much money it took the dirt bike club to open the track, That to you all should be a sign of how tough it will be to get a 4x4 pit opened.

[wthwyt]

just realise where you live and that you will never win against all the cry babies or eco nuts etc. I traded by bogger in for a quad and never have looked back, Maybe if moved away from here I would get back into it, But while im here im on my quad. To many old people cry about everything here,

Like ive said befor if its not a field sport or golf or hockey, no one in kelowna cares.


Look at how many years and how much money it took the dirt bike club to open the track, That to you all should be a sign of how tough it will be to get a 4x4 pit opened.

One of biggest problem I read into these is no one wants to donate any land to this be it private or public, wonder why.

[hampster1]

Bottom line, not one of the trucks got a ticket, so regaurdless of your oppion in the eyes of the law they did nothing wrong!

[Rutland06]

Bogging is not a sport its nothing more than environmental rape. The barren mud pits boggers frequent don't occur naturally on their own it takes idiots driving through a swamp or a creek over to turn it into a lifeless mud hole. I have nothing for respect for the real 4x4 enthusiasts who act as stewards for their sport by staying on trails and packing their garbage and garbage left by others out. Boggers on the other hand have no business being on crown lands destroying wetlands and riparian areas. If boggers want to get together and pay to build a mud bog on private property that is inspected to make sure it doesn't negatively impact or destroy the natural environment then all the power to them. Until then I hope the government prosecutes these idiots who destroy crown land to the full extent of the law.

[cv23]

Until then I hope the government prosecutes these idiots who destroy crown land to the full extent of the law.

Unfortunately a $500 fine is about all they hand out. Seems a bit strange that a vehicle can get a $400 fine and impounded for speeding yet a slap on the wrist is all that is given for wanton destruction of public property.

[NotLikeYou]

Bogging is not a sport its nothing more than environmental rape. The barren mud pits boggers frequent don't occur naturally on their own it takes idiots driving through a swamp or a creek over to turn it into a lifeless mud hole. I have nothing for respect for the real 4x4 enthusiasts who act as stewards for their sport by staying on trails and packing their garbage and garbage left by others out. Boggers on the other hand have no business being on crown lands destroying wetlands and riparian areas. If boggers want to get together and pay to build a mud bog on private property that is inspected to make sure it doesn't negatively impact or destroy the natural environment then all the power to them. Until then I hope the government prosecutes these idiots who destroy crown land to the full extent of the law.

What is it exactly that they are destroying? Most bogging pits are located around a DEAD swamp or a flat area that gets a lot of spring run off, You will usualy see QUAD or DIRT BIKE marks in the mud befor you see truck tires. Also,

from westbank to kelowna I can only name about 3 big mud pits and thats about it. The put in smith creek is just a big mud pit at the base of a mountain with nothing really around it accept for a bible camp and houses. Can't really destroy wilderness that has already been BUILT on.

There's a big pit in summer land to just past garnet lake, People have been bogging there for years, The surrounding environment is just a big grassy field nearby is a large industrial size powerlines. None of the surrounding area has been hurt by this or effect in any way, (both of these mud pits have no water running out of them )

And then postill lake area, Witch has been hit hard be 4x4's for yearrs sure the tire marks and ruts dont look good, but Deer still are shot there every year, Ive seen moose in that area, the lakes havent changed color from silt etc. tree's are still going, Yeap I would have to say that area is PRETTY destroyed.

[Gone_Fishin]

The boggers brag of $250,000 invested in their machines. It seems to me that those with this kind of cash to put into a pasttime could easily afford to buy their own property to set up a mud pit. Taxpayers should not be subbrogating Crown land to those who are claiming areas like Postill and Garnet as their own to destroy as they see fit.