Power Kite Forum

Southern Colorado Scouting Gets Kinda Sketchy

Proletariat - 22-3-2015 at 12:06 AM

Someone on here recently mentioned that they like to watch kite videos where you get to see the surrounding land, approach, locale, etc. I totally agree, so while I was out scouting a couple of lakes today (for snowkiting next season or perhaps water this summer) I decided to film it.


FrontRangeJeff - 22-3-2015 at 06:02 AM

Love it! I enjoy our scouting expeditions but gotta say....sort of glad I wasn't having to play direction #@%$#! on that one. Your narrative was damned funny. I do believe it is just a matter of time however that we'll round a corner and see a massive expanse of brilliant terrain with a giant lake for summer bordered by huge fields of 2" grass for boarding and buggying....ok probably not.



ssayre - 22-3-2015 at 07:21 AM

Great video, thanks. The landscape is so different out there and it's cool getting a locals narrative while driving through it. How far is that from home?

Proletariat - 22-3-2015 at 08:13 AM

about 3.5 hours or so... My folks' place is about 2.5 hours south, then this is 1 hour west.

FrontRangeJeff - 22-3-2015 at 02:15 PM

It is a cool spot - but Dave - you think its too shadowed by trees and mtns? Makes a lot of sense.

Your Smith res vid looks darned promising though!!

Proletariat - 22-3-2015 at 07:46 PM

Lathrop is definitely pretty tight, but both Smith and Mountain Home are totally rideable. Plus Pueblo and Trinidad reservoir all look great. If there's wind down there (there almost always is -- this the windmills) we have a small playground within 100 miles of mi Casa.

flyguy0101 - 23-3-2015 at 05:28 AM

Dave- Enjoyed the vid love the scenery
Scott

FrontRangeJeff - 23-3-2015 at 06:20 AM

Too bad about Lathrop - that place is always nuking...had a tent shred to pieces there years ago:)

Pueblo (and Trinidad Lake) might be a problem - being state parks we'll bump against the std issues but def worth the shot.

Too bad WY is another hour for you then it is for me - (I can be to Hattie in exactly two hours) I suspect you'll want to head south while I'll be drawn north - both are windy spots.

Proletariat - 23-3-2015 at 07:42 AM

Yeah, it's 2 hours to walsenburg from my house... maybe 2.5 if you lollygag. I already talked to Trinidad and they were totally cool with us kiting there. Probably need to get a name, but I think it's the same people all the time at that east entrance, so I think a quick conversation and we should be set (same with Lathrop, which would do in a pinch).

erratic winds - 23-3-2015 at 03:57 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Proletariat  
I already talked to Trinidad and they were totally cool with us kiting there. .



"someone" was cool with me kiting chatfield too, but that didn't prevent me getting thrown off the res and threatened with trespass if I tried to kite there again.

Any kite whatsoever is illegal in a Colorado State Park, but you two already knew that, and it's not stoppin ya.

FrontRangeJeff - 23-3-2015 at 04:04 PM

give the broken record a rest please....this argument has already been adequately beaten to beyond death in my opinion

erratic winds - 23-3-2015 at 04:21 PM

Yeah, I'm sure you're just so tired of me repeating the *state law* for the *state park*. Usually people who break the rules are quiet about it, or at least don't act proud about it. Learn from those people. See what Oregon has gone thru to get their beaches back? I doubt either of you are up to that effort when it gets banned here due to rules violators, but hey, I guess it ain't my problem anymore.

It's a big #@%$#!ing state, there's loads of places to kite that ain't state parks, and if you want a good place to kite, you're in the wrong #@%$#!ing state (as you are already well aware of)

FrontRangeJeff - 23-3-2015 at 05:12 PM

proud about or flaunting of breaking state laws????? DUDE - every post we've EVER had regarding kiting at the state parks specifically state that we get prior approval with the office...so quit it. In fact re-read our previous spat regarding state parks and you'll probably get refreshed....do that next time before you play the moral superiority card.

I don't kite where I'm not allowed so get off it. The only two state parks I've ever kited was on frozen lakes and I got PRIOR approval. Nobody here is flaunting breaking state laws....everywhere within here we are discussing talking with staff first and if they want to follow the letter of the law and not allow it then fine.

Just because you are jaded with your experiences at Chatfield I get it....I got it the previous 10 times


Proletariat - 23-3-2015 at 06:05 PM

Nick, you should apply to be a park ranger. :)

There's actually a significant amount of leeway built into the law for the ranger to make a case-by-case determination. It's similar to cops getting the benefit of the doubt from the judge who tries the case. I've checked with all rangers on a couple of spots and if any of them says no, we don't go. This happened at San Luis State Park, FYI... 3 guys said "sure", one guy said, "absolutely not." We didn't go. That's not what happened at other parks.

I don't appreciate you insinuating that we're in any way being irresponsible, illegal, or being bad kiting advocates or ambassadors. I have done more outreach with authorities in a year than you've done in your entire kiting career. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate all of your hard work at Easton, but don't presume to understand the efforts Jeff and I have put in over the last 2 years. You got burned at Chatfield and it sucks, but I think we can all agree that those dudes are jerks and we should just move on. Many other parks have not-jerks working for them.

I assume that we're not just going to let this drop at this point... so go ahead and tear my above statements apart and copy/paste laws and quotes and such. I'm done commenting on this thread. Bummer, because I was just trying to share a pretty cool day with my favorite kite buddies.

volock - 23-3-2015 at 07:41 PM

Great video you two. Thanks for scouting plenty of places to the north for me! :D Now if they'd only open Lake Nighthorse in Durango so we can find out if it'd be any good or not (not to mention close by skiing if the wind dies)

soliver - 23-3-2015 at 07:46 PM

Good work Dave... and very well stated above. I have always been of the opinion that there are elements in most everything which serve no other purpose than to be contrary for the sake of being contrary, or negative for the sake of having something to argue about. I haven't followed much of what you and Jeff have been up to in your scouting because, well, I live in Georgia... but it looks like you guys are going at it the RIGHT way... however, as always, it appears as though the contrary element poops in the proverbial cheerios again... big surprise.

crazyherb - 24-3-2015 at 12:59 AM

Wow...Pro...that was a trip down memory lane!! Thanks!! I grew up in Westcliffe, CO..

I think I would have just kept on 25 and hit Pueblo reservoir...do they let you kite there?

My little Sister fishes (aka pretty much LIVES on the bank) at Brush Hollow Reservoir...maybe another location to scout (just thinking out loud).
Thanks for the ride-along!!

Steve

FrontRangeJeff - 24-3-2015 at 05:35 AM

Crazyherb - Westcliffe had to be a cool spot to grow up! Joanna (wife) and I make a point to camp and bike down there at least once a year; reminds me a bit of spending 5th grade in Cripple Creek (long before gambling) very similar vibe. We've spent some time around Deweese Res - so pretty (no kiting BTW:D)

volock - never even heard of Nighthorse - funny considering my In-laws live 5 minutes from Navajo:D I've been curious about the NM side of that?

Soliver - totally right. Dave's response is much less emotional and more succinct then mine. I lost my cool and saw red too quick since a previous thread devolved in the same manor with the same accusations. I've learned a lot from Dave about how to engage bystanders and officials alike; so any attempts to somehow lump either of us into an irresponsible rogue faction makes my blood boil. Your comment about just being contrary will give me more restraint in the future to not get :mad:

volock - 24-3-2015 at 04:07 PM

Quote: Originally posted by FrontRangeJeff  

volock - never even heard of Nighthorse - funny considering my In-laws live 5 minutes from Navajo:D I've been curious about the NM side of that?


Lake Nighthorse was a bit of a joke, I thought you might have heard of it. Story on it still being closed and no date for opening is here. Basically big gorgeous looking lake/shoreline near Durango built years ago and not open for recreation yet (still).

NM side of Navajo isn't good for kiting, not that I don't love the lake (and I've been to CO side but it's been years). Most the lake has steep high canyons/sides, and not favorable beaches. Top that with a ton of boat traffic and I wouldn't/haven't tried it. No freezing over for the winter. Only lake I know of people kiting/windsurfing in that part of the state is Morgan Lake, which is nice and toasty as it serves as a cooling pond for the nearby coal plant (outside of Farmington, NM).

Winter I end up hitting Eagle Nest Lake, Brazos Pass, and Valles Caldera for the public spots. I have family that are ranchers, so have a few other spots I hit up north when there's snow (and bonus free housing).

Mountainboard/Buggy there's not a lot of good locations. A dry lakebed down in White Sands, one further south on private property we can't get on, and the Balloon Fiesta Park in ABQ which is nice if you're here, but not worth it otherwise.

Water the venues are pretty much all the west side of the state, or Elephant Butte in the south.

volock - 24-3-2015 at 04:21 PM

Any clue if anywhere in the great dunes is hard enough to kite?

FrontRangeJeff - 25-3-2015 at 08:02 AM

That is pretty funny...geesh; you'd think the recreation plans would have been figured out within 4 years. The CO side of Navajo is much the same as what you report of the NM side - lots of trees/brush along the shoreline and oodles of boats. Most places that sound potentially awesome for kiting quickly evaporate:D

I've ridden around the Chama / Brazos area as well as Cumbres/La Manga passes a bunch and man what awesome country. Having family with space up there has to be a treat.

Not sure about the dunes - Dave did a ton of scouting down there and found a decent BLM wash in the area that we kited on a second trip down together. If memory serves though he didn't find anything in the dune area per se. Hopefully Dave will chime in.
Jeff

volock - 25-3-2015 at 09:46 AM

Awesome thanks Jeff. Now to derail the thread a little, I'm headed up to Elizabeth/Kiowa (Due East of Castle Rock by an hour/ESE of Parker). Anywhere decent around there to ride you know of? Making one of the required trips to visit my parents and trying to squeeze as much in as possible.

FrontRangeJeff - 25-3-2015 at 12:04 PM

Oh I think we can all agree that this thread here got derailed several posts before even your first one - which was still very much on topic :D.

Unfortunately I haven't explored that area at all...I'm looking in my DeLorme Gazetteer at that section and it looks like a rare one that doesn't even include any BLM and very little state lands. Based on Google Earth it looks like the school in Kiowa has a baseball diamond connected immediately with the football field but hard to tell whether there might be a chain link fence.

I do the same thing - take a smattering of kites for visits! Hope you find something

Proletariat - 25-3-2015 at 08:06 PM

Quote: Originally posted by volock  
Awesome thanks Jeff. Now to derail the thread a little, I'm headed up to Elizabeth/Kiowa (Due East of Castle Rock by an hour/ESE of Parker). Anywhere decent around there to ride you know of? Making one of the required trips to visit my parents and trying to squeeze as much in as possible.


I guess I lied. I'm commenting. I have a buddy over by Elizabeth who owns some land. I could ask him, if you like. Just send me a u2u with details on dates. I also own some mineral rights on some land out by Kiowa, so if you strike oil, you can ride on that with my permission.

Regarding sand dunes, I got a firm "no" from the ranger there (was thinking of bugging NAPKA for help there). However, there is lots of BLM land nearby that is fair game if you can find a flat spot. San Luis Reservoir (disgustingly fishy dry lake nearby) is right next to GSD and also a firm "no" from the lead ranger. It's disgusting and not quite "dry" anyway.

volock - 26-3-2015 at 08:27 PM

Thanks Jeff and Dave