The Johnson Valley Raffle Thread

[Capt. Nemo]

I remember reading somewhere that you MUST BE PRESENT to win... or maybe I'm just imagining things and trying to increase my odds

 

[JohnX]

I remember reading somewhere that you MUST BE PRESENT to win... or maybe I'm just imagining things and trying to increase my odds

I read that too...but I'll still spend his twenty on ticket...for me

 

[Bent]

... or maybe I'm just imagining things...

I understand.

 

[karstic]

Tickets will go on sale Saturday morning, onsite. Tickets will be available onsite only, and winners or their representative must be present to claim prizes.

--ron

You guys must be illiterate or something...

 

[JohnX]

You guys must be illiterate or something...

Wiseguy huh? Okay...If you're gonna actually read...then I guess someone can buy you tickets.

 

[karstic]

Wiseguy huh? Okay...If you're gonna actually read...then I guess someone can buy you tickets.

Yeah you guys are afraid I'm gonna clean house.

I hope this becomes an annual event cause I already told the wife, "No cruises next Thanksgiving!!!

 

[Capt. Nemo]

I understand.

 

[johnnyc]

Seeing that I can't make this fine event, anyone care to be my representative and purchase $20 worth of tickets for me?

Hey Stephan,

I'm getting $20 worth of tickets for Remi. I can get yours too. Think about it...would you trust anybody else? :laugh3:

 

[JohnX]

I propose that anyone buying tickets for someone else should label those tickets accordingly and in the presence of other members before the drawings....not that I don't trust you guys

 

[karstic]

I trust Johnny

 

[karstic]

Saturday Night Dinner and Raffle ​

Saturday evening a dinner of burgers and brauts will be provided to all participants. Cost of dinner will be covered by your donation. After dinner there will be a raffle, with proceeds going to Friends of Panamint Valley and the SoCal Chapter of . Friends of Panamint Valley is the lead organization in the fight to reopen Surprise Canyon. Raffle tickets will be available onsite.​

Dinner around 6:30 pm
Raffle around 7:30 pm​

A recent article about Surprise Canyon. Looks like we got a tough fight ahead. buy plenty of raffle tickets.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2005/nov/14/519659433.html

 

[Goatman]

A recent article about Surprise Canyon. Looks like we got a tough fight ahead. buy plenty of raffle tickets.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2005/nov/14/519659433.html

It's a good read, to find out one side of it.....unfortunately. The thing that none of them ever want to talk about is the fact that the canyon was a road until about 1982. The canyon isn't recuperating from 4x4 use, it's going back totally natural after the dirt, gravel and rocks of a road bed were washed away in a big flash flood. All the stuff they say is growing back was already growing back, and we did nothing to hinder that, other than trimming tree branches to keep the route open. Flash floods scour out the canyon regularly, so even the slightest evidence of vehicular travel is removed, and the canyon is changed. The stream that they talk about runs under ground from the top of the canyon until right before the narrows, which is the tight section of canyon that was the 4x4 challenge. That section of canyon is pure rock, with virtually no vegetation, and can't be hurt by vehicular travel. The stream disappears about 3/4's of a mile below the narrow part of the canyon.

Funny thing is that the regular flash floods do so much damage/change to the canyon that 4x4 use is totally insignificant. The part they say about gas and oil in the water isn't true, either. At the last major run up the canyon during Panamint Valley Days, where our club takes 20 some rigs up, plus our trail crew and cook crew, the BLM did water testing before, during, and after we ran up and down the canyon and the tests found no change in water quality.......not one trace of gas, oil, or other contaminants after about 30 rigs went up and then down the canyon, through the water.

 

[karstic]

Sounds like you've got a good Letter to the Editor there Richard

 

[Loose_Nuts_Enterprises]

I heard somewhere, that the water still has traces of mercury from the silver smelting process. Is there any credance to this?

 

[jonboy]

I have a hard time believing that the author of the article went further up the canyon than the beginning of the falls, if he even got that far - the cottonwoods he says jeepers "mowed over" were probably in the sandwash section that was basically 2 wheel drive trail and there's no reason anybody would stray off the trail there to hit a small tree. The flash floods however, definitely mow down anything in their path, including big trees, giant rocks and ore carts.

I only went there 4 times, but never saw anybody drive over trees or bushes, though we did leave some scraped paint on the rocks. As for the holes drilled in the solid rock walls, IIRC there were maybe a half dozen approx 1.5 inch dia holes and if you didn't know where they were, you'd be hard pressed to find them.

Short of going in with lots of explosives, there's not much we humans can do to that canyon that will come close to matching what mother nature does with a single storm.

Goatman - are you involved with the group who's looking into buying property up top, in order to secure access rights?

 

[Ed A. Stevens]

A recent article about Surprise Canyon. Looks like we got a tough fight ahead. buy plenty of raffle tickets.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2005/nov/14/519659433.html

Considering the byline contributors the slant of the article should be expected.

One of the quotes (and photos) is from the Novak family who live at the canyon base, who are portrayed a benign "caretakers." The son of this family is the only person who has ever been tried and convicted in Federal Superior Court for vandalism and "creating a public hazard" in Surprise Canyon and on Surprise Canyon Road. I have asked the article author how she can present a convicted vandal as a "caretaker?" I also sent her a copy of the sentence, and the case file number (to ease her research).

One of the quotes is from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) representation, Daniel Patterson (and ex. BLM employee, formerly from the Barstow BLM office). He has little patience for vehicle use (anywhere, or people in general). A little reading on his involvement in the ISDRA (Glamis Dunes) and the litigation leading to the Stipulation Agreement that closed Surprise Canyon Road will offer a better picture of his goals.

The other major quote source (and photo) is from another ex-BLM employee, Jeff Aardhal (formally from the Ridgecrest BLM office, and intimately involved with Surprise Canyon Road issues). It's no surprise to find him employed by the CBD within weeks of his retirement from the BLM.

The last Wilderness Study Report (pre S21, Desert Protection Act of 1994) of Surprise Canyon (CDCA-136) recommended zero Wilderness. Senator Feinsteins comments and the content of the DPA of 1994 also excludes Surprise Canyon Road from the designated Wilderness. During Mr. Aardahl's tenure in Ridgecrest these recommendations were ignored and the CBD appeared to be informed of any challenges that would reverse a policy of closure. The public (and the BLM) is probably better off with Mr. Aardahl retired and overtly working for the CBD (IMO, rather than still working inside the BLM).

There will never be an easy fight with folks like these, and a complacent (collusive) print media. Letters to the editor should help.

My Baja plans fell through, so I have a slim chance of crashing the raffle party.

 

[Kejtar]

so who won what?

 

[johnnyc]

so who won what?

Well, the tickets I got for you won nothing. Same for Karstic. Sorry guys. I still have your string of tickets to prove it. And BTW, I won nothing either.

As usual, Sequoia and his father won multiple prizes. Lockwood won three times. And one each for Dan, Rabbit and Ryan Brown. There were a few others who also won multiple times.

Actually, I did get something. Ken from San Diego won some Farmer Matt's blank taillight boxes. And he gave them to me since they were for a pre-97. Thanks again Ken and Amanda!

 

[Kejtar]

Well, the tickets I got for you won nothing.

:bawl:

 

[Rawbrown]

I won some steel door edge gaurds or something and I exclaimed, "for what doors?" since I was missing my back 3 doors. So I traded it for a half case of heinekin's and then gave those away... after drinking 2...