One of the nice things about Zero Topaz, the ranch that Cindy and I just bought, is the fact that it butts up to BIA land or what is also known as Bureau of Indian Affairs. It's essentially tribal land and treated like public BLM land. Anyway, this means we have nobody to the north or to the west of us and that makes it feel really private. Now, if there is a downside to this, it's that people do use that land to recreate and that includes shooting, hunting and of course, off-roading. And really, we think that's great and being that our property is fully fenced, not something we give too much thought.
Back in 2012, there was a fire that did damage our gate on the north and created a breach on the west and since that time, people did start to drive through our property and over time, the traffic made something of a new road that connected the two points. Granted, it's NOT marked on any map and these people were always trespassing.
Here's a shot of the north gate or what was left of it.
And, here's a shot of the breach on top of the hill.
Needless to say, the very first thing I did after we took ownership of the ranch was to seal off both points to the best of my ability and posted signs indicating that this was PRIVATE PROPERTY - NO TRESPASSING. Essentially, I just used what I could find around the ranch including an old gate and barbed wire.
Being that I got busy with other things, I had to put a real fix on hold but made sure to spend Memorial Day weekend there to start making better repairs to the fence and seal things up. While there, I heard a side-by-side approach our north gate, heard it idle there for a while and then... saw it tear up the hill and rip in virgin tracks and just so that he could go up and around our property. I should note that this is a steep hill and it looked tough enough that I never saw the guy come back to make the return trip.
The day after, same thing happened. I heard a couple of side-by-sides come up to the north gate and just idle there for a long time. After a bit, I decided to hike up to the road to see what was going on and as I got closer, I could hear one of the guys yell, "this isn't private property - it's BLM!" At that point, I started running to the road to intercept them and as I did, I calmly told the first guy that, "I'm sorry but this is private property and you are trespassing." The guy responded by saying, "Bullshit, this is BLM land and I've been driving through it for years!" I explained to him that the land he came from was BIA but everything past the gate he opened, the one with the NO TRESPASSING sign, was my property and I would be grateful if he went back the way he came and left. He responded by saying, "yeah, whatever - I'm going through!" and then, like a total dick, he blasted around me. As his buddy approached, I put my hand up to signal him to stop and yelled at him that they were trespassing, just as he blasted by.
Of course, what neither of these guys were expecting was that the gate on top of the hill, was totally sealed off. And, that's where I caught up with them.
Totally out of breath and a little pissed off now, I started yelling at them that they were trespassing on private property and that I wanted them to leave the way they came. To this, the first guy started arguing with me about how this has always been public land, said I was full of shit and demanded to know how long I "supposedly" owned it. I told him for about two weeks and that I could even show him the deed. At this point, he told me about a thing called On X Offroad and if I gave it a look, I would see that he was right and that I was wrong and... that's when I pulled out my phone!
Meanwhile, his buddy, the second guy was starting to realize that maybe, they were in the wrong here and might be trespassing and so, he asked for me to calm down. He said that there was no need for me to get all upset and that they were just trying to drive through my property. I reminded him that I wasn't upset when I first saw them but now I was pretty pissed being that they blew me off and blew around me like I didn't matter! He tried to explain how he couldn't hear me with his helmet on and that he was just following his friend. Realizing that they weren't getting through my fence, the first guy got in huff, got in his side-by-side, turned around and tore back down the hill. The second guy decided to stay and try to smooth things over. He introduce himself and then asked where I was from? Confused, I told him, "from here! This is my property". He then asked, "I mean, where are you from?" Kind of like, what I get from people wanting to know what country I was from being that I have slanty eyes and speak poor English. So, I told him, "Carson City!" Not sure what to make of that, he laughed and said, "well, I guess we're all locals here then and there's no need to get upset. All they wanted to do was go to a local bar on the other side of the hill and even took the time to closed my gate after going through it." And I said, that's great and all but the gate and the no trespassing sign were there for a reason. I explained that they're gonna have to find another way to the bar because they're not doing it through my property. He said that he understood, offered to shake my hand and then left. I walked all the way down the hill to make sure they left and when I got there, I could see they were still there and looking for a "new" route around my fence line. After deciding that it might be too hard, they drove back to wherever they came from and using the road.
Now, I would be the first to admit that this could have just as easily been a couple of Jeep guys but I gotta say... in recent years, anytime I see douchebaggery out on the trail, it's always with guys driving side-by-sides. And because of it, it's really hard for me to not look at them as being the scourge of the off-road world. Unless something changes, their total lack of respect for private property, public land and trails as a whole, WILL lead to an end of any of it being unavailable to anyone.
And yes, I have done a lot more since to chain and lock the gate and fix the fence line. So far, we haven't had any more unwanted visitors.
Back in 2012, there was a fire that did damage our gate on the north and created a breach on the west and since that time, people did start to drive through our property and over time, the traffic made something of a new road that connected the two points. Granted, it's NOT marked on any map and these people were always trespassing.
Here's a shot of the north gate or what was left of it.
And, here's a shot of the breach on top of the hill.
Needless to say, the very first thing I did after we took ownership of the ranch was to seal off both points to the best of my ability and posted signs indicating that this was PRIVATE PROPERTY - NO TRESPASSING. Essentially, I just used what I could find around the ranch including an old gate and barbed wire.
Being that I got busy with other things, I had to put a real fix on hold but made sure to spend Memorial Day weekend there to start making better repairs to the fence and seal things up. While there, I heard a side-by-side approach our north gate, heard it idle there for a while and then... saw it tear up the hill and rip in virgin tracks and just so that he could go up and around our property. I should note that this is a steep hill and it looked tough enough that I never saw the guy come back to make the return trip.
The day after, same thing happened. I heard a couple of side-by-sides come up to the north gate and just idle there for a long time. After a bit, I decided to hike up to the road to see what was going on and as I got closer, I could hear one of the guys yell, "this isn't private property - it's BLM!" At that point, I started running to the road to intercept them and as I did, I calmly told the first guy that, "I'm sorry but this is private property and you are trespassing." The guy responded by saying, "Bullshit, this is BLM land and I've been driving through it for years!" I explained to him that the land he came from was BIA but everything past the gate he opened, the one with the NO TRESPASSING sign, was my property and I would be grateful if he went back the way he came and left. He responded by saying, "yeah, whatever - I'm going through!" and then, like a total dick, he blasted around me. As his buddy approached, I put my hand up to signal him to stop and yelled at him that they were trespassing, just as he blasted by.
Of course, what neither of these guys were expecting was that the gate on top of the hill, was totally sealed off. And, that's where I caught up with them.
Totally out of breath and a little pissed off now, I started yelling at them that they were trespassing on private property and that I wanted them to leave the way they came. To this, the first guy started arguing with me about how this has always been public land, said I was full of shit and demanded to know how long I "supposedly" owned it. I told him for about two weeks and that I could even show him the deed. At this point, he told me about a thing called On X Offroad and if I gave it a look, I would see that he was right and that I was wrong and... that's when I pulled out my phone!
Meanwhile, his buddy, the second guy was starting to realize that maybe, they were in the wrong here and might be trespassing and so, he asked for me to calm down. He said that there was no need for me to get all upset and that they were just trying to drive through my property. I reminded him that I wasn't upset when I first saw them but now I was pretty pissed being that they blew me off and blew around me like I didn't matter! He tried to explain how he couldn't hear me with his helmet on and that he was just following his friend. Realizing that they weren't getting through my fence, the first guy got in huff, got in his side-by-side, turned around and tore back down the hill. The second guy decided to stay and try to smooth things over. He introduce himself and then asked where I was from? Confused, I told him, "from here! This is my property". He then asked, "I mean, where are you from?" Kind of like, what I get from people wanting to know what country I was from being that I have slanty eyes and speak poor English. So, I told him, "Carson City!" Not sure what to make of that, he laughed and said, "well, I guess we're all locals here then and there's no need to get upset. All they wanted to do was go to a local bar on the other side of the hill and even took the time to closed my gate after going through it." And I said, that's great and all but the gate and the no trespassing sign were there for a reason. I explained that they're gonna have to find another way to the bar because they're not doing it through my property. He said that he understood, offered to shake my hand and then left. I walked all the way down the hill to make sure they left and when I got there, I could see they were still there and looking for a "new" route around my fence line. After deciding that it might be too hard, they drove back to wherever they came from and using the road.
Now, I would be the first to admit that this could have just as easily been a couple of Jeep guys but I gotta say... in recent years, anytime I see douchebaggery out on the trail, it's always with guys driving side-by-sides. And because of it, it's really hard for me to not look at them as being the scourge of the off-road world. Unless something changes, their total lack of respect for private property, public land and trails as a whole, WILL lead to an end of any of it being unavailable to anyone.
And yes, I have done a lot more since to chain and lock the gate and fix the fence line. So far, we haven't had any more unwanted visitors.
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