Hey Fred – Sorry about the comment. Your posting seemed to imply something that clearly wasn’t intended. I know you Google Scout (or otherwise obtain information about possible routes – like in this forum), just like me. How else would you know where to explore for new routes. Any logic would suggest scouting before a large party is led through a new route for the reasons you stated. That said, we all love Gordy’s but it is a ways down there and most of the trails are getting to be “old hat” for some of us (not that they are not still fun and challenging). We’re always looking for new meat. Cimmy Mesa has always been a pain to get to what with the Indian Route not being paved and sometimes badly rutted. Interestingly, it is now mostly paved from the Laguna south border going down which gives some relief to the ruts and washboard we all love so much. Fairly recent exploratories there have let us find what appears to be one of the few legal access points and routes into the interior (also where private and indian land make access a problem). There have been stories about some of the ranchers in the area being pretty open to access on a case by case basis (we need to get to know some of these folks). In addition to the 6000 or so acres at Cimmy, the Rio Puerco district has another 42000 acres that they are going to designate (haven’t yet) as Open OHV areas. Some may not be suitable or interesting to Rock Crawlers – e.g., Sand Dunes or Mud Flats but just the thought of so much Open OHV is pretty mind boggling. Gordy’s is Limited OHV meaning no new tracks though we do need to run as many as we can from the old “secret map” – some of which are not used much these days.
I guess the only thing about the “Scout Team” that is a bit off-putting is that there is precious little information coming out of it to the membership. It appears as though there have been at least two scouting trips but, other than a few photos of Jeeps parked on a road, there is nothing about where the scouting was done and what conditions were found. Also, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of planned trips based on these scout trips.