Campbell Mt. - Change of the guard and new metal gate!

Yesterday afternoon, while three of us were cutting in the new fenceline diversion trail on the backside of Campbell Mt., we were approached by a member of the public who wanted to let us know that we were working on private land; I guess he didn't think that we had done our homework prior to embarking on this task...

Previously, I had cleared the work with Palmer Sather, the gentleman who owns that part of the mountain. I went back to see Palmer Sather again this afternoon, just to make sure that he was still 'all cool' with us cutting trails on Campbell Mt's backside - especially given that I had heard that he was not doing well in the memory Dept.

Sure enough, his son met me at the door and he informed me that his father was now suffering from dementia. This is very unfortunate, as Palmer is a complete 'salt of the earth / old-school honest' guy.

His son's name is Joe, and he is now the 'new boss' of all of Palmer Sather's owned and leased land. These lands comprise parts of Campbell's backside (family-owned) and most of the Mice (grazing leases).

Joe turns out to be a really great guy. I explained about the gentleman's agreement that PACA has with his father, Palmer Sather, and Joe agreed to support it in full - no problem. I brought aerial maps of the area with me and showed Joe exactly what we were up to, just as I had with Palmer. Its all good!

In other great Campbell Mt. news: Joe informed me that he is erecting a large metal gate at the Greyback Mt. Rd. entrance to the Campbell Mt's northern parking lot! Yah!!! No more garbage dump; no more redneck 4+4s and far fewer dirt-bikers on Campbell Mt.

Joe is cool with all non-motorized traffic, he just has a problem with rednecks littering all over the place, brain-dead individuals dumping furniture and appliances and dirt-bikers trashing the mountain by tearing vertical-drop lines up and down the mountainside. In other words; the same way that we look at it :-)

The new gate is to be in place by July 1st.

Andrew D.

So did he rectify the city's dilemma of not knowing who owns the towers? Or is he just going to leave a contact number and when/if anybody goes up there they can just call and be given access.
For Sale :
700hp home made truck with no exhaust and 42" spiked tires.

As it turns out, he knows exactly who owns what up there and has made arrangements with them for keys. Joe tells me that he has been horse-back riding those trails since the 1950's, and his family has been recreating on every proverbial foot of the mountain for the last half century.

A.