Jerks on the river bed close to Colfax, CA

[Ga426owner]

LJ, I would be very cautious going back there as it sounds like you & your dad may have crossed up with some drug dealers/growers...... ?

[gettin2old4this]

Well, if these guys are drug dealers of some sort I don't know if they would have pulled out a knife, it would have probably been a gun. Just my opinion.

The important thing here is if you are riding on someones property or not. It doesn't sound like you are too sure if you guys are even supposed to be in there in the first place. I understand that you have been going in there for years but property can be deeded over rather quickly. The new no trespassing signs seem like an obvious indication that someone has taken that land over. If it is an illegal takeover than call the authorities.

[John_Lorenz]

If it was in the colfx Mountains

There are a lot of Growers up there as well as meth labs. I would report this to the authorities asap.

People well parts of people are floating in the bay and the other half of them is scattered in the mountain ranges up there.

Stay awayyyyyy

[ May 20, 2002: Message edited by: EgoAhole ]

[JT1]

LJ,

First, if you were riding on private property then there would be no need to worry about you being in compliance with OHV laws (however, you may be trespassing). Private property needs to be posted (3 signs per mile) or fenced for it to be enforcable. Even if it was private property that would not excuse these hillbillys from brandishing a weapon at you.....and I would call the sheriff's dept. if it ever happens again.

Second, if it was public land I again would notify the sheriff's dept (trust me, they are not going to even think about OHV laws....they will, however, address the brandishing).

JT

[Wakeman]

I used to ride behind my parents place to shasta lake all the time about 20 years ago. One time I was taking an old dirt road to a US Forest camp site (normally only accessed from the lake) my buddy and I ran into a house sitting on the road. It was very temporary looking and there were a bunch of beat up trucks fully of green leaves.

Never rode so fast in all my life. My buddy killed his bike while trying to turn around. He said he was never so scared in all his life.

My fishing pole fell out of my backpack when it snagged a tree. Nice Fenwick. Its still back there, if someone wants to go look for it.

So there are worse things to run into out in the woods than an environmentalist or even a wild bear. I'd say a gun packing grower would top the list.

[Mark_Cantrell]

LJ,

OHV laws and trespassing are concerns only when there are not more pressing matters. The only pressing matter in this case is not getting hurt. Avoid these people. They may not be what you fear but then again, don't risk it. Find another way in.

Whether or not you involve the Police is just personal preference. Don't go somewhere you think you could get hurt.

Packing is sometimes warranted, even when just out enjoying. Consider what's legal, your comfort level, and of course what your parents think. Even if you pack, still avoid. The best way not to get hurt is to not go where you're likely to get hurt. Packing is way down on the list of ways not to get hurt compared to avoiding.

Be safe,

mwc

[LJ]

My dad and I were crossing a river bed on our dirt bikes a couple of weeks ago and we came across a NO TRESSPASSING sign. This up in the Sierra Foothills, kind of in the middle of nowhere. Anyhow, we thought it was kind of odd because we've never seen a sign there before, so we rode real slow across the river bed and we saw a bunch of 4-wheelers parked on the river bank. We didn't want to bother anybody, so we rode real slow to not make a bunch of noise. We have to cross the river bed to get to our trail we've been doing for years. Well, on the way back, we came across the river bed again SLOW, and here were these guys trying to cross the river in a dually (they were stuck). These guys looked like they came from the mountains, beards, scraggly hair, no shirts, etc. Well, we rode towards them and they started to approach us antagonistically waving there arms, and one guy pulls a huge knife out. My dad and I hauled ass out there. What right do these guys have to claiming a river bed? The only thing I can think of is they might have a gold claim there, but can they put NO TRESSPASSING signs out? The odd thing is as rough as these guys looked, the sure had decent trucks! My guess is they were meth/drug dealers.

My dad thinks he ran into the same guys a few weeks prior when he took my mom out there to enjoy a day laying next to river and playing with the dogs. He said when they left, these guys followed them out of there in their truck, as if they were trying to scare my parents off. As far as I know, the area we pass through belongs to a rock quarry that went out of business a couple of years ago, and the forest surrounding we think is part of Tahoe National Forest. We thought about calling the cops, but my dad was a little hesitant because it is not known for sure if OHV are legal in the area. However, in the past we met some riders in the same area that turned out to be cops from the Bay Area riding dirt bikes (nice guys), so I don't think the area is considered as off limits. Anyhow, it really sucks to run across jerks like that!

[sirthumpalot]

Call the poliece from a pay phone and tell them what you saw anonymously, then follow up with a question about can you ride there. I would hate to swamp your bike or something only to have these guys come up on you while you're trying to get restarted.

[MXOldtimer]

Anytime someone threatens you with a weapon, CALL THE POLICE. The police needs to be aware those people are there, what happens if it's a bunch of kids out riding someday that run across these A'holes.

[LJ]

Thanks guys for the advice!

I talked to my dad last night and he went to talk to the Sheriff that lives in the same neighborhood as our cabin. The Sheriff said those guys are "squaters" and he was going to send a couple of guys to check them out. He didn't give my dad a hard time about riding down there.

In retrospect it makes me very angry. My dad and I are not the only ones down there enjoying the river. About a 1/4 mile down the river bed was a young couple with a baby playing on the beach. In fact just the day before the incident, my wife and I were down there collecting river rocks for a landscaping project for our house. Thank God these a**holes didn't come and harass us. There is only one way out of there and they would have blocked us in.

One reason I really like riding up in the Sierras is that people generally leave you alone as long as you are not offensive. Never gas it around resident's houses, and wave to people out on the trail. The riding is awesome and the scenery is great. Where else can you ride on terrain that resembles moonscape from a period when they did blast mining a century ago? It also is neat in that you come across old machinery out in the middle of nowhere. One time we came across an old steam shovel quitly rusting away! To think that we cant continue exploring the back country because of a couple of selfish bast*rds sucks.

To top it off, I was watching the news the night of the day my dad and I were harassed by these hillbillies. Barbra Boxer and her cohorts were petetioning to limit the growth of Forest Hill ORV park East of Auburn. The biased news coverage let her go off on her eco babble for 95% of the coverage, and then the reporters interviewed a kid on an ATC to give his side. It was really pathetic! The next day I sent my $35 bucks to the Blue Ribbon Coalition.

On a side note, not all these "hillbillies" are bad guys. Last year my dad locked up his CR250 (the poor old guy didn't have his glasses on and put Red Line motor oil in the gas rather than Red Line 2 stroke oil! The two containers look the same if you are not paying attention!) I left him behind by a lake to get my truck because that bike wasn't going to run again with a locked up crank. When I came back with my truck, I found my dad drinking beer with the locals fishing. These guys were more than happy to help us out, and were offended if we didn't sit down and have a beer with them. They liked the bikes and were amazed that they are liquid cooled and have those "mono" shocks out back. Yep, my dad's 87 two stroke CR250 was quite the advanced bike! Not my "old" YZ400 four stroke! I guess you can't always judge a book by it's cover!

[MXBUBS1]

Just kill the bastards. Only way to deal with that type.

[Mark_Cantrell]

Don't mess around with those boys down on the bayou.

mwc