Mendocino Fire!!

WOA! Craziness... So me and a buddy went up to Stonyford for Memorial Day weekend just with my Jeep, no bikes. Not as torturous as I thought it would be. We left Stonyford Sunday by cutting through to Upper Lake OHV by taking the OHV corridor (17N16) just so I could see where everything lead out to so when I take my bike out I wont need to worry about getting lost and or wasting gas trying to find my way back.

Anyways, along route 17N16, the OHV Corridor,  you'll eventually come across the beginning of a road that runs perpendicular to 17N16 called 17N04 aka "Bartlett Springs Road"...this is the road that leads to Crab Tree Hot Springs which is of course closed because a family doesn't want random people enjoying the only hot spring in the area...hey great (dicks). If you take this road, 17N04 (Bartlett Springs Road) you'll eventually meander (and I mean meander) your way down into Indian Valley Reservoir!

Anypoo, apparently when me and my buddy were cruising along forest route 17N16 (the OHV corridor) there was a fire brewing off to our left and it was so young in its life there was no smoke we could see! The fire started along the forest route 17N04, Bartlett Springs Road from what sounds like halfway between the OHV corridor and Indian Valley Resovoir where the road becomes quite desolate and remote. It's crazy to think we almost took that way out because were were nervous about our 1/4 tank of gas getting us out fast enough. We were only deterred by the fact that there is a "road closed" sign at the beginning of 17N04 (due to keeping people away from the trail head of Crab Tree Hot Springs) and by the fact that I read a very disconcerting article about property owners booby trapping gates and "do not trespass" barriers.

One of the booby trap scenarios I read about is property owners putting up gates and digging deep enough holes on either side of the gate to swallow up any defiant OHV'er/Truck/Jeep that decides they want to see what's on the other side. This whole concept made me want to respect the "road closed" sign lol.

It really, really is a shame that the property owners have closed (and I think illegally) that section of 17N04. Had it been open me and my buddy would have cruised down that area potentially alerting authorities before the fire swallowed up 175 acres of our beloved Mendocino National Forest. This is for sure an issue I will be passing on to the USFS Grindstone District.

Keep checking back for interesting industry updates as well as information concerning OHV use in the Mendocino National Forest! Thanks for reading! Tell a friend!