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Updated: RRG Geologic Area Re-Opens after bear attack

Paul Vidal — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:45:21 +0000

The RRG is open again!

Just in time for the weekend, that troublesome bear has moved on past the gorge and the kind folks at the USFS have issued an order to reopen the area.

But please do pack your food properly. Access to food is the primary reason bears get interested in people in the first place. When Yogi can venture into any ol’ spot and snag a picnic basket, it makes that spot pretty appealing and almost always leads to uncomfortable encounters.

So, for the Fourth, we want you to go have fun, roll around in the mud, catch some butterflies, and otherwise be happy and jolly! If you get bored, here are a few things that would help out:

Plan ahead – Sign up for JATD
Build the community – Get the word about the PMRP and Rocktoberfest out
Give a little bit – Help us raise the mortgage!

Read on past the break for the full USFS press release.

Map of Food Containment Area
Food Storage Guide

WINCHESTER, Ky., July 1, 2010 – Forest Supervisor Frank Beum of the Daniel Boone National Forest announced that the Red River Gorge Geological Area will reopen on Friday, July 2 beginning at 8 a.m.

The gorge was temporary closed last Sunday after a hiker was attacked by a black bear along the Pinch-Em Tight Trail. The emergency closure was issued in the interest of public safety.

The Natural Bridge State Resort Park will reopen hiking trails on Friday morning at the same time. While the lodge, sky lift, and bridge remained open, the park took precautionary steps by closing all of its trails.

Officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are continuing their search for the bear that attacked the hiker. The bear believed to be involved in the attack was last seen Thursday, June 30, south of Beattyville in Lee County.

The sighting occurred some 17 miles from the attack site, indicating the bear is no longer in the Gorge area.

“As a result of incoming information and sighting reports, traps and bait have been removed from the Daniel Boone National Forest,” said Steven Dobey, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s bear biologist.

On Wednesday, the Daniel Boone National Forest issued an order for the Red River Gorge that prohibits open food storage or leaving food accessible to bears. This order is applicable to all national forest lands north of Natural Bridge State Resort Park to U.S. Highway 460 in Powell, Menifee and Wolfe counties. In Kentucky, it is against the law to intentionally or unintentionally feed a bear.

“Public safety continues to be our highest priority,” said Beum. “We want our visitors to be aware that black bears have returned to Kentucky, and we want them to know what to do in case they happen upon a bear.

“Forest visitors can help prevent bears from becoming a nuisance by not feeding them or allowing them access to food or garbage,” said Beum.

Red River Gorge campers must store food, including pet food, in a bear-resistant container, inside their vehicle, or in an enclosed hard-body trailer. Backcountry campers must suspend food and garbage at least 10 feet off the ground and four feet away from any tree or pole.

All food leftovers and trash must be properly disposed of in a bear-resistant trash receptacle provided by the U.S. Forest Service. Burning or burying food trash is prohibited. Any odorous items that may attract a bear, such as soap and toothpaste, must also be stored.

“We will have an increased presence in the gorge this weekend to provide additional information to the public regarding safe camping practices,” said District Ranger Dave Manner.

Commissioner of State Parks Gerry van der Meer commented that the park is seeing little to no impact in travelers changing their plans. Guests having reservations at the Natural Bridge lodge and campground were contacted during the week and informed of the bear attack, in the event they wished to make other plans. The lodge and campground are expected to be full for the upcoming Forth of July weekend. Additional ranger coverage and communication with guests will transpire over the weekend, including necessary precautions with regard to food storage and how to avoid a bear encounter.

The public should report nuisance bears and any bear exhibiting aggressive behavior by calling 1-800-252-5378 (1-800-25-ALERT)

Roadside Trail Day

Paul Vidal — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:58:21 +0000

Roadside Crag is one of the Red River Gorge’s most popular crags. Minutes from the parking off a major roadway and hosting wide range of climbs, Roadside attracts dozens of climbers of all abilities every weekend. Roadside is located on the Graining Fork Nature Preserve, land that is owned by climber-friendly Grants Stevens and Jon Haight. Over the years, though, Roadside’s popularity has contributed to increased wear and tear on the approach trail, especially near the steep trail-head. The increased foot traffic led to obvious problems with drainage and erosion.

On Saturday, April 3, 2010 Mike Driskell of Driskell Home Repair in Louisville organized a second trail day at Roadside Crag to try to address those problems. Thirteen people came to put the sweat of their brow into helping remove litter, trim tree branches, widen the trail-head, and improve drainage along the beginning of the trail. They refueled with some Miguel’s for lunch, provided by Driskell Home Repair, and stuffed their packs with some RRGCC schwag. After working on the trail-head, Driskell and company moved to the area near Roadside Attraction, a classic and popular trad climb, where the trail went straight up a series of rock steps. The poor drainage and steep incline led to severe erosion in this area. Now, after plenty of volunteer effort, the trail now accesses this area via a switchback that should mitigate the impacts near Roadside Attraction.

Mike hopes to return complete the new section of the trail on the next Roadside Trail Day, possibly in the spring of 2011. Additional projects also include working to stabilize the erosion around the base of the slab routes to the far-right of the cliff line.

Thank you to the volunteers that helped: John Grider, Malcolm Akindana, Randy Tebbs, Carrie Kirkpatrick, Dave Jasperson, JR Goodwin, Mark Rohr, Robert Keith Todd, Bryan Spencer, Josephine Neff, Derrick Powell, and Mike Driskell.

If you were not able to participate in this event, please mark your calendar for Johnny & Alex Trail Day (check out last year’s JATD), which will be held on August 14th, and stay tuned for more! Or, if you want to throw yourself at a project all your own, tell us about it and we’ll support you!

Gate at Solar Collector

Paul Vidal — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:14:15 +0000

Someone installed a gate along the trail to Solar Collector!!! What the…? This past Saturday the RRGCC installed a gate along the trail to the Solar Collector.

After it's all said and done, the crew enjoys their labors

So what’s the deal?

Is the Solar Collector, Dark Side, or Crossroads closed? Will they be closed? No, as long as climbers continue to pay the mortgage, access is preserved.

Many climbers who visit the PMRP don’t realize that the RRGCC has to pay a mortgage of $30,000 every year to keep the crags open. In years past the RRGCC has installed kiosks but often climbers walk by without reading the information. The gate was installed to remind (like a kiosk) our visitors that climbing on the PMRP is protected by the ongoing donations of climbers. A sign will soon be installed soon to encourage donations at RRGCC.org. The gate will not be locked and climber funds were not used to purchase materials for this gate.

The Managers, Mike Driskell and JR Goodwin

The RRGCC requested Mike Driskell and JR Goodwin to develop and install the gate. Mike and JR thought about gate designs and then put out the word, requesting volunteers for a mini trail day. Saturday, a group of about 10 motivated climbers gave up a couple of hours of PRIME climbing time to install the sign.

A metal gate, two four by fours, a post hole digger, a rock bar, Mark Jackson’s drill, and a little bit of elbow grease made for a good time. Mark even whipped out the chain saw. In the future, other gates may be installed along the trails to the crags on the PMRP. When you open the gate, please consider the satisfaction that you get from your sport and consider donating at RRGCC.org to preserve access.

Thank you to all the volunteers, including Mike, JR and Mark. Good Job!!!

JATD 2009, a quick bit

Paul Vidal — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:47:48 +0000

Thanks to Wes Allen for the video.. a more detailed wrap-up to come..

JATD 09 from Wes Allen on Vimeo.

Torrent Falls Access

Paul Vidal — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:14:48 +0000

From a post on redriverclimbing.com

The tentative date for the reopening of Torrent Falls to public access is set for July 31st. Access will be granted, free of charge (per KRS 411.190), to those who sign a waiver and register on the web site provided (torrentfallsclimbing.com). The number of parties (and cars … car-pool!) will be limited to three, with a recommended maximum group size of three, and access will only be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. On-line registration will begin at 6am of each day and will only be valid for the day of registration; the entrance gate for Torrent will operate from 8 am until 8pm with the code provided and will remain locked at all other times, please plan your day accordingly. Each vehicle will be required to display a valid parking pass obtained with the on-line registration, those that do not will be towed or immobilized.

…I ask that any who have issue with this post… contact me at “mathenybob at aol dot com”.

Bob

For more on the history of access at Torrent Falls, see this post. Please remember – climb responsibly.

Muir Valley Re-Opened

Paul Vidal — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:41:36 +0000

As posted by Liz Weber, owner of Muir Valley, on redriverclimbing.com:

Road work is completed to the point that traffic can again get back to Muir.

Please drive slowly and carefully. The shoulders are very soft at this stage.We are still grading and clearing trees and brush alongside the road.

Thanks for your patience and understanding during this closure.

Rick worked hard to bring this in ahead of schedule.

For more information about Muir Valley, visit the Friends of Muir Valley and MuirValley.com.

Muir Valley Temporarily Closed

Paul Vidal — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:23:11 +0000

As posted by Rick Weber, owner of Muir Valley, on redriverclimbing.com:

Last weekend made it clear that the approach road to Muir Valley needs to be rebuilt from scratch to keep careful drivers (the majority) from being terrorized by reckless [people]. The neighbors, and many of our visitors are justifiably angry. The neighbor to the south, a few weeks ago, while riding his horse, was struck by a speeding car catapulting over one of the blind hills. Fortunately it was a glancing blow with only minor injury.

Out of concern for our visitors’ and neighbors’ safety, we have no choice but to close the road Friday morning, May 30, 2008 and bring in heavy excavation equipment to do a major rebuild. Muir Valley will be closed indefinitely until construction is finished. The two blind hills will be removed, the road will be re-shaped and crowned, culverts will be installed and ditches dug.

Weather conditions and other concerns with utilities may postpone this work, but at this moment it is a “go.” We will post an update here if anything changes.

During construction, Muir Valley developers and others with vehicle permits may use the north entrance at Rogers to gain access to the maintenance/emergency road along the Valley floor. If you do not have an up-to-date permit and a 4-wheel drive vehicle, do NOT use this entrance. You will be towed. Jim Taylor’s AMGA training will proceed as scheduled.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Rick

For more information about Muir Valley, visit the Friends of Muir Valley and MuirValley.com.

Johnny and Alex Trail Day

Paul Vidal — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:51:57 +0000

August 2, 2008

Come one, come all to the 4th annual John Bronaugh and Alex Yeakley Trail Day, August 2th, 2008. Like in years past we will be depending on the Red River Gorge climbing community to come out and take care of the land you own, the Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve, in honor of two great men of the Red. We will be building and maintaining trails and, after a hard day’s work, having a great party with music and “beverages”. More details will come so be sure to stay tuned – consider using our RSS feed. So plan on bringing your tools and friends (these might be one in the same).. we’ve got a lot of dirt to move and payments to make.