tanvat

We have such a jewel in the Current and Jacks Fork yet it seems that we are bound and determined to degrade it. Every time I go there (for 25 years now and hundreds of days on those waters) I'm awed by how wonderful our rivers are. But basically every trip I've taken the last decade or show is just further demonstration of why it is simply time to crack down on the b.s. Our trip this weekend is a great illustration. My wife and I did a short overnighter on the upper river with my with our 2 year old and 5 year old. It was the 2 year old's third Current River overnighter and the 5 year old's, well, I've lost count, but he has been on the river a lot and apparently enough to recognize what too many adults either will not or cannot; i.e., the ONSR is beautiful, but good god, can people not bury, burn, or haul out their freaking toilet paper; can they not see that after 4 passes of a jet boat they single handedly made the entire river murky for a half mile and left a 10 fit strip of Mississippi mud along both shorelines - but of course, there is no way that there could be any bad impact on the river from doing so - it is after all, apparently an inalienable right to blast repeatedly up and down the river at low water right below Cave Spring so that the whole river - save a strip in the middle - goes from crystal clear to a murky green. There is no other National Park in the entire country - at least that I'm aware of - that permits such extensive and obviously damaging motorized use to the very resource that motivated the creation of the park in the first place. It seems entirely reasonable to allow a few primitive drive up locations every few miles. It also seems reasonable to allow motor boats - but there is absolutely no need whatsoever to allow a 40 horse jet anywhere above Two Rivers or any jets at all above Pulltite. The argument that such restrictions would "lock" people out are facially silly - one can walk, float a canoe, or in some stretches, motor up the river, albeit at a slower speed - and, gasp, sometimes when the water is low it means you might not be able to use your motor boat - well, wait 'till it rains. The present state of things means that 4 jets running up and down a 5 mile stretch of river basically means that 8 people dictate the experience for dozens of other users while simultaneously causing disproportionately bad effects on the river via eroding the banks and river bottom disturbance. I've for a while to keep an open mind on these issues, but the last few years just make the case tha something needs to change - I've yet to hear a factual, logical, practical or plausible argument to the contrary, so if anyone has one, I'd like to hear it. Ultimately, it seems to be just a value issues - some people appreciate the remaining natural attributes of the rivers and others want a playground on which they can pretty much do as they please irrespective of demonstrable negative impacts on the resource.

I wonder how much weight the NPS would give to this meaningless resolution. Legally, it means nothing. Politically, it reflects concerns that have been well-aired AND politics should, ideally, have nothing to do with the determination. And did I miss something - did MDC really weigh in and recommend the "no action" alternative? I doubt the MDC decisionmakers actually have any particular familiairty with the rivers. I just got back from a short overnighter with my two pre-K kids - floated from Akers-Pulltite. I was, again, just stunned at how much larger the illegal roads are along the river. My recollection goes back almost 20 years now; and I simply do not remember a full fledged gravel road that would permit one to launch a jet boat at a a mile or so above Pulltite at that gravel bar where the big "jumping rock" is - saw a jet launch there last September and road seemed even bigger now - with a full fledged circle drive up in the woods. Also last September, I saw three full sized RV travel trailers parked up on the river bank above Williams Landing and one at Twin Rocks - at Twin Rocks!!! Can't help but wonder if my kids will be able to enjoy a slice of semi-intact Ozarks or, if in 25 years, it'll be a roadside river. When its gone, its gone, and the next generation won't know the difference and bar gets set that much lower.

Under present Missouri law - as noted by previous posters - the fisheries biologist is almost certainly wrong. For the biologist to say that a landowner can close off a publicly accessible, publicly managed/stocked stream is not only legally incorrect, but it also serves to reinforce incorrect info; after all MDC said it was closed, right? It seems that a lot of misinformation starts and is perpetuated that way - someone says it once, it is repeated, and it transforms from a "by gawd they oughta" statement to an immutable fact that "everbody knows" and is "common sense." If the L.P. at Vida could be closed, then one could effectively cut off float access from Prongs on the Jacks Fork b/c, most of the year, you have to drag a bit to float from the access down to NPS land (not that its a National Park, of course). As far as what the Phelps Co. sheriff would do, he is elected and likely would, lets say, respond to constituent concerns.

Interesting. Perhaps that will provide some extra leverage to get the ONSR on the ball to, at the very least, enforce some of the basic, existing restrictions against ATV use in and around the rivers, 3,000 horses crapping in the river, and RVs parked on gravel bars.

One more thing - DEFINITELY switch to mid-July. Mid-June the Wind River and all the area streams will be chocolate milk and a lot of hiking trails will be snowed in at elevation and muddy otherwise. Mid-July will probably be OK -but the Wind River and the Dubois area streams on the Absaroka side (i.e., the Double Cabin TH suggestion) will likely still have a some tint even in mid-July due to the sedimentary geology of the Absarokas - and those streams will cloud up quick and easy after a rain. If you want to fish Dubois, I'd go no earlier than mid-July. FWIW, snowpack is nearly 40% above average....

Dubois is a great destination. Like another poster stated, it really is too far to do multiple day trips to Yellowstone from there - you'll spend you whole vacation in the car. From Dubois, it is about 60 miles to the south entrance to Yellowstone - that is at least a 1.5 hour drive due to the slow speeds over Togowotee Pass and through Grand Teton and the Rockefeller Parkway. From the south entrance it is another solid hour to get to the Lake and another half hour to Old Faithful. Its a lot of slow driving for one day - the area is just so big. But, if you really want to go to Yellowstone, go for it for one day and just get up early and make a long day of it and realize you'll only scratch a tiny fraction of the surface - I'd head to the Old Faithful area and walk around the geyser basin in addition to stopping at West Thumb to check out the thermals there and take in the great views of Yellowstone Lake and the Absarokas. From Dubois, you've got some great fishing options. I've only fished three spots around Dubois: 1. Double Cabin trailhead at the edge of the Washakie Wilderness - some fantastic wade fishing for native 'cutts after mid-July or so when the water goes down. Its early, but so far, this is a big snow year with snowpacks about 40% above average. Absolutely stunning scenery - just awesome. 2. Tie Hack Lake off Tie Hack Road - good float tubing for 'cutts - or at least was at ice out in 1996 (man, time flies!) 3. Brooks Lake area toward Togowotee Pass. Take the short, easy walk to the Jade Lakes under the Breccia Cliffs - some fish, but mainly just awesome scenery. A few smallish brookies are just icing on the cake. For a walk w/out fishing: 1. Hermitage Point on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton Park is as spectacular as it gets and, as a bonus, the trail is flat. Lots of wildlife on this trail. 2. Ditto String Lake area - crowded by the trailhead, but can walk a spectacular, flat trail about 2 to 2.5 miles to the beaches at Leigh Lake - these are real beaches - curl your toes in the sand and take in the Tetons. In all of these areas, take appropriate grizzly precautions. Have fun - best outdoor spot in the Lower 48.

I thought the series was pretty good - like others, I thought there was a bit too much focus on Yosemite. Pivotal as it was, it just kept showing many of the same scenes over and over - but the history was/is fascinating. Parks are great in their own right, but my favorite thing about the Nat. Parks is that everyone goes to them. This leaves the adjacent Nat. Forest Wilderness Areas relatively deserted - with some boot leather and sweat, you can see the same stuff as in the parks and not see another soul for days at a time.