Motorcycles on Snow Mesa!?!?

i rarely name locations in my blogs. If asked, I’ll give a vague reply or say, “Western Kansas.” I won’t share my special places on social media. My thoughts are, I found them, so can you.

With Snow Mesa I’m making an exception. It’s come to my attention, dirt bikes (varoom, varoom) have been green lighted, for quite sometime, to occupy the same space as Colorado Trail and Continental Divide Trail backpackers, day hikers and equestrians users too. This is a skewered corrupt notion of the USFS policy of “Multiple Use.” 

Why the “tude” about Snow Mesa Jeffie? Well, readers I’ll tell ya.

SM is an above tree line plateau (12,250-12,420 feet) surrounded by 360 degrees of stark beauty. It’s serene and mostly silent (except for the murmur of the wind). It’s a rare and unique chunk of Colorado geography. National Geographic views without the usual ups and downs of Rocky Mountain hiking. I find it to be as close to a religious experience as a non-practicing Jew can obtain. On a sunny summer’s day, it’s the BIGLY O of hiking. 

BUT! That’s all without the noise, noxious fumes and testosterone intrusion of mostly young, male and dare I say White dirt bike riders, who gaze upon the Mesa as something to be conquered instead of appreciating. 

The trail up from Spring Creek Pass (Continental Divide) bisects an active Pika colony. If you’ve been following along on my posts, you’re well aware of Jeffy’s Pika love.. My little buddies are indicator species of Climate Change. They are probably stressed. Pikas don’t need the added tsuris (aggravation in Yiddish) from the internal combustion engine crowd. Those protective gear wearing adrenaline junkies (similar to the Imperial Army of Star Wars fame) can interrupt the pikas short harvesting season. All this because the dirt bikers are too lazy to hike the same trails a 70 year old Alta Caca (old poop in Yiddish) does on a daily basis. 

Now my Pika take. (After my rant). 

https://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2025/07/hi-im-jeff-i-like-hanging-out.html

It’s on Snow Mesa where I saw the light and became an ordained Trail Angel. Read all about my transformation:

https://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2021/08/its-830-in-morning-and-youve.html

If that’s not enough personal attachment. Snow Mesa is where I got hopelessly farblundjet (Yiddish for lost). This post should have been in Outside Magazine.

https://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2019/08/at-least-i-didnt-have-to-cut-off.html

Back to the present! I’ve been ascending Snow Mesa since 2019. Honestly, this wasn’t an issue for me up to now. 

So what changed? There’s now more dirt bikes, lots more. From the Beta Motorcycles website. 

“Beta Motorcycles Announces Record Numbers: Sales Increased 180 Percent Between 2018 and 2024”

If you’re into graphs:

Plus! Many dirt bike riders don GoPro cameras on their Darth Vader helmets. Surely many clips find themselves on Facebook, Instagram and countless other social media venues. The bikers are clueless to the notion of the more the merrier doesn’t pertain to the Great Outdoors. (At least not on my turf!). 

All this has translated to an increase of varoom varoom use on one of my favorite Colorado hikes. As Isaiah 7:7 proclaims. “This shall not stand!” 

Snow Mesa nuzzles up against the La Garita Wilderness (established 1964). With a little bit of Googling, I discovered snowmobilers were instrumental in keeping this gem out of wilderness protection status. 

HOWEVER! There’s power in numbers! Hiking is the Numero Uno outdoor activity in Merica! 

According to research published this week by Statista Research Department, 61.44 million Americans went hiking in 2023. That's a massive leap of nearly twice the number who went hiking just 10 years earlier in 2013, and represents about one-fifth of the US population.

So, here’s where my readers (all 26 of you) can help. 

You can email the new Forest Supervisor of the Rio Grande National Forest. You can forward this blog to folks you know who have hiked the Colorado Trail or the Continental Divide Trail. You can forward this blog to lovers of silent sports and the Great Outdoors including those equine lovers. You can send a snail mail to the District Ranger of the Divide RD.

Let your voices and words be heard. Keep Snow Mesa silent!

Here’s the Rio Grande National Forest snail mail

Attention: Forest Supervisor Dennis Kuhnel

1055 9th St. Del Norte, CO 81132

Divide Ranger District

13308 West US Hwy 160 Del Norte, CO 81132

contact me and I’ll PayPal you the cost of the stamps!

Lastly, when I completed my recent Snow Mesa hike (after handing out four PB&BOYSENBERRY sandwiches to CT backpackers) I was passed by four dirt bikers heading up to the Mesa. On a steep section near the highway I watched as a Colorado Trail hiker jumped off the trail to let them pass. She wasn’t happy about this. 

Motorcycles and hiker/horses are a bad combo. It’s multiple abuse. The noisy guys have to go.

Help me, the pikas, the CT and CDT backpackers and the horse folks out

Thank you in advance,

Jeff

“Hi! I’m Jeff. I like hanging out…

with pikas. Frankly in times like these, I prefer pika company over most people.”

No. I wasn’t introducing myself at a Pika Lovers Anonymous meeting. I was attending a Mountain Studies Institute “PikaNet Project” monitoring class. 

Our instructors Jewell and Elin had asked all the wannabe “citizen scientists” to gather in a circle and state our names and the “why?” we were there. Our monikers and reasons varied, but our pika love/obsession was real. 

Once the intros were done. Jewell and Elin launched into in-depth pika lecture. For a guy who craves pika info almost as much as Happy Hour IPAs, this was a compelling class. 

Here’s some of the fine points:

A) Pikas are in the rabbit family. Just don’t expect them to squeak, “What’s up Doc?”

B) Female pikas have two litters/season. Number of tykes varies from 1-6. 

C) Pikas are territorial. (Somehow it’s hard for me to imagine a turf war breaking out between two tiny vegetarian fir balls.)

D) Pikas eat their own poop. OK, not a menu item for humans, but it works for them. Spoiler Alert! They only eat their soft nutrient rich poop. 

E) Pikas are cool to Marmots sharing their high country real estate.  There’s safety in numbers. Both species call out alarms upon approaching threats. IE: coyotes, weasels, bobcats, eagles and unleashed dogs. 

F) BUT! Here’s the best new factoid I learned. Pikas stay active all year, unlike their slacker neighbor Marmots who hibernate. So while the marmots are in a deep REM pattern during the winter, pikas will crawl into their burrows and spoon them to stay warm! (There was no mention if the pikas take the liberty of dry humping the marmots legs.)

After our pika lecture, we set out for the survey site. The area was, of course  spectacular, after all Pikas are connoisseurs of natural beauty. (Like me). 

We were then told to pair off to conduct a “practice” survey. I joined Jordan (a young MSI intern) and Dan, another senior whose  quiet demeanor hid a vast knowledge of the western landscape. He also carried a mortgage payment’s worth of cameras around his neck. 

We chose a ubiquitous chunk of talus slope to examine. Jordan began peering under rocks looking for sign of old or new hay piles. (Yes, pikas are furry farmers). Dan shot photos and I gazed around looking for actual pikas. We filled in the blanks of the survey forms. Coordinates. Check. Relative size of talus slope. (No “bigger than a bread box” option). Temperature in the shade. Check. Length of longest rock. (In meters). Average size of tenth largest rock? Presence of meadows, willows or water. Check. Any marmot neighbors? ETC.

Our objectives were met, so I continued waddling gingerly up the loose rocks. There! In the distance. Score! I saw and photographed the groups one and only pika sighting. 

Mission accomplished. We regrouped and headed back to our meet up place. Jewell made a few closing comments, as the rest of us went through the usual platitudes of “So long, so good to know you” 

Afterwards I was determined not to let this new found pika knowledge go to waste. I wanted to supply sound science to Pikanet and the Pika Patrol app. So I loaded up Sanctuary One for an arduous journey to the rarified air of extreme western Kansas. Yes I’m talking about the Mighty Mount Sunflower Massif. A tried and true venue for sightings of these elusive fluffy mammals.

Whew! Once I made it up a gnarly 4x4 road, I set up my observation post. Since it was Happy Hour, I grabbed a DIPA and my camp chair to search for my beloved little buddies. Lucky for me, I’m  a pika whisperer. I’m also fluent in Piddish. (A blend of pika speak and Yiddish). 

It didn’t take long for Pinchas the pika to drop by for a schmooze.

“OY! Jeffie! My heart soars like an eagle (even though they try to eat us) to see you again! How goes it?”

“Shalom Pinchas! You’re looking well. I’ve been spending lots of time visiting old pika shtetls. I’m verklempt to say this, but I’m seeing less of you folks. In some places the pikas have all gone missing!” I then wiped away a few tears. 

“Jeffie! Me and my mishpocheh (family) are struggling too. We aren’t a thriving shtel either.”

Pichas took a deep breath and began a full-on rant. Justifiably so.

“We pikas cannot believe your fellow Mericans went meshuga (crazy) and elected the same schmuck (idiot) again. This time the Commander of Shnorrers (takers and grifters) created a Cabinet of Putzes. All bowing to his insane wishes. Anti-vaccine, anti-science, anti-immigration, anti-Gobment, anti-democracy, anti-environmental regulations, anti-education, screw the poor to benefit the rich and worst of all, for us, deny climate change even exists! We’re plotzing from the heat! When did “greed is good” and “selfish capitalism” become so ingrained in Merican culture?

We hear there’s farshtuken (nasty) Republicans who want to sell public lands. Great! Our burrows will get bulldozed and replaced by “Pika Peak Estates.”

Plus! If that’s not enough the kinder (children) are having nightmares about Kristi Noem. They heard she shot her own dog and now they’re afraid, she’ll use them for target practice. The cost of therapy ain’t bupkis either. A hay pile per session! OY! It’s not easy being a pika these days!”

As Pinchas wrath was petering out, I broke the tension as best I could.

“Pinchas! I brought along a 6-pack of IPA (Idaho Pika Ale) for you and all the other landsman nearby. Gather them around, without turf wars! And I’ll pour out shots for all of you.” 

“Jeffie! That’s great! You’re a true mensch. Let’s Feyerlekht! (Party!)”

Needless to say, it doesn’t take long for pikas to get a bisl fershnickered. (A little drunk). They began singing Hava Nagila, followed by bawdy pika drinking songs. Then in a rare moment of quiet, Pinchas tapped his shot glass with a pebble to get everyone’s attention.

“Mazel Tov and L’Chiam to Jeffie! A mitzvah on him for being the voice of pikas. He’s governed by gonifs (thieves) who have no empathy towards other humans. Why would they care about us? But merts eshem (God willing) he keeps trying to get the good word out. A sincere sheynem dank" (Thank you very much).

OK. By now I had a few high attitude real IPAs and once again I got a bit verklempt.

So now I’ll beg, cajole and plead to please vote responsibly. It’s not only humankind’s future at risk, it’s little mammals who are so endearing to people like me.

May the force of the pikas be with you. 

Jeffie 

Last photo: BIGLY pika.

A Close Dog Encounter of the…

aggressive kind…

I was minding my own business performing the pre-hike ritual of fussing with my shoes and gear. A young couple pulled up in the parking area. I spotted a small dog between them. I continued putzing around.

Next thing I know, the little cur was rushing, snarling and barking at me. I froze in place and shouted at the twosome. “Please call your dog!”

The woman shouted the dog’s name. No response as the little shit kept advancing towards me. Exasperated, by the dog’s selective hearing, she ran over and scooped up the mutt. Then  she went about whispering sweet nothings into its ears while cuddling it. 

Not exactly a Pavlov’s Dog training regime. Wouldn’t you say? She pawed the puppy with public displays of affection for bad behavior? WTF! 

There were no words of apology issued either.

I screwed around some more (with higher blood pressure) reckoning they’re young and will hike faster than me.

WRONG! 

Apparently, they were in Olympic training mode for the “One mile mosey” competition. I caught them in 15 minutes. Once again, the Napoleon complex dog charged me. Once again I yelled out. “Please call your dog!” It was doggy Deja Vu all over again. But this time the little turd jumped up and snapped at my calf. It missed. I raised my hiking stick up in a menacing manner. “Don’t let me do something all of us will later regret!” She snagged the attacker and once again coo-cooed into its pointy years and hugged it.

At least, this time she issued a lame. “Sorry.” The Dude called out, “Have a nice day!” While my blood pressure crept up along with my anger. 

I forged ahead and took a detour to check out a retro bitcoin mine. Once again, I figured the threesome would get way ahead of me resulting in no more Jeffie vs. canine confrontations.

WRONG II !!! 

In less than a Sambini second, I spotted them ahead, moving at the incredible speed of one step/minute. 

At this point I said, “F—k it!” I don’t want to deal with this shit again. I don’t hike in beautiful places to be harassed and hassled.”

I headed downhill in an unhappy state of mind.

Now some Jeffie Dog History. I don’t own a dog and probably will never own a dog. That being said, I’d consider myself to be dog neutral. If a strangers dog leaves me alone, no problem. There’s no need for me to pet it or exchange contact info so we can become Facebook buddies. However, I will quickly warm up to a well trained friendly dog. I’ve been known to pet,  tail wagging pooches briefly, while saying. “You’re a good dog, a friendly dog. I like you.” 

So here’s my point. We live in society where dogs have been elevated to the status of “fur babies.” Fine! But please take the time to train your four legged child to heel or else place them on a leash. This small gesture would be appreciated by wildlife, humans with cynophobia (fear of dogs) and me.  Woof! Woof! 

Dog owners! Please consider this! A former no fake news post about wildlife vs. dog concerns.  Spoiler Alert! The wildlife loses.

https://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2024/09/this-is-psa.html

Last photo: Here’s the note I left on that couples truck. A reality check for dog owners.

This Schadenfreude moment…

is brought to you by the vilest human on the planet’s (birthday) and military parade. At an estimated cost of $25-45 million, it’ll be far less than what it’ll cost Tommy Trumper to haul his precariously placed pickup truck off that road to nowhere.

Poor Tommy. He doesn’t believe in the Rule of Law so why would he believe in the Law of Physics?

I’m guessing there will be a GoFundMe to pay for the extraction. It’ll be the BIGLY equivalent of many Bud Lights. I don’t plan on donating. 

Thoughts and prayers Tommy!

Feel free to spread the moment. We’ll take our victories while we can since we are heavily outgunned, outmaneuvered and outmanned. 

This is incipient Anarchy…

Since June 16th, 2015 when the Vilest Man in the World 🌎 descended an escalator in New York’s Trump Tower (spit) and Molotov cocktailed his MAGA hat into ring, I’ve been issuing warnings. 

I predicted his Armageddon One term would be divisive, incompetent and chaotic.  It was. In 2020, the voting population thought so too. It was so bad an incumbent was decimated at the polls. 

Unfortunately the Trump turd endured despite the January 6th, 2021 attempted  coup. One thing I have to admit about this scumbag, he makes up for his complete shamelessness with incredible persistence. A true ME ME ME sociopath. 

In 2024, a nauseating turnaround occurred. My Fellow Mericans had mass historical amnesia. They forgot how unpalatable this human shit 💩 sandwich was. They re-elected him. 

Here’s my not-so-genteel take of that moment.

https://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2025/01/you-can-fool-some-people.html

Now we’re seeing the predictable results. Chaos Squared  Executive Orders issued on “emergencies” where hours before there weren’t any. (A classic “Look up! The sky is falling” attention getting device.) All while  flipping off the Rule of Law, the Constitution and basic common sense and decency. It’s so easy to write orders when all the above are ignored, disrespected and violated.

Or as our wannabe Fuhrer proclaims, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law” 

This quote is loosely attributed to another Dictator. Napoleon Bonaparte. 

Before I rant about the Mariana Trench low points of the Commander of Chaos’ regime, let’s go back to the Cabinet confirmations of a cast of charlatans.

From Fox Fear Network Merica received Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Pete was a pretty boy commentator for the of Fox and Friends Weekend edition (Puke). With this former  (highest rank Major)  National Guardsman in charge of the largest Military complex in the world. His confirmation went down to the wire amid allegations of sexual improprieties, alcohol abuse, (I’ll drink to that!) and financial mismanagement. It took JD (Juvenile Delinquent) Vance to save this 44 year old putz’ ass to secure that 51st vote.  Despicable.

From the authors of Project 2025 (AKA the Anarchist Guide to Incompetent Gobment)  Merica scored a bevy of anti-Gobment Trumpers who are completely at ease with there being only one branch of Gobment. The Executive Branch. There’s rumors each Project 2025 appointee prays each morning  at their very own Trump altar. Of course it’s equipped with a God Bless Merica Trump Bible. Google hypo-Christian nerds and there’s a good chance  Russell Vought director of the Office of Management and Budget will pop up.

 In the Department of Education, there’s Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. I’d say that’s a smack down for public education. 

Health and Human Services, we now have RFK Junior, former heroin addict, appetizer for a parasitic brain worm and presidential candidate. For this gig Bobby Junior pledged his brain worm and used needles in a show of support to a populist parasite. Once RFK Junior came into power, 10,000 HHS positions were sent to the coroner. The CDC, National Institute of Health and the Food and Drug Administration have been affected and not in a good way. At least the anti-vaxxer didn’t give the brain worm an assistant secretary of Health gig.

Kristi Noem is now the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Her motto? “I want to treat immigrants as good as my dogs and goats. I’ll shoot them!”

Yes, all these creeps were confirmed by a Republican controlled Senate. Although Matt Gaezt was deemed too repulsive to be Merica’s AG. Now we are stuck with Trump Toadie Pam Bondi. 

The Republican AG appeared on Fox News this week, and marked Fentanyl Awareness Day with a curious claim. “In President Trump’s first 100 days, we’ve seized over 22 million fentanyl laced pills, saving over 119 million lives,” Bondi said.

I can’t speak for all Mericans, but in my circle of friends, family and acquaintances, I don’t know anyone who uses fentanyl. So where does this drug addled inflated BS number come from? (Currently the US population is 340 million.) Mind you, this is the AG talking trash. The supposed watchdog of “Truth, Justice and the American Way!” (Where’s Superman when you need him?) 

 

Yes, it was a confirmation of worst case scenario cabinet members. Trump the chess master sat back and thought, “Check!”

Here’s a partial list of his executive atrocities: (there’s a BIGLY amount)

Emperor Donald has issued 143 Executive Orders so far. An unheard of amount in such a short time.The subjects range from DEI, immigration, birthright citizenship, tariffs, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement (again), government accountability  and the hot button issue of low flow shower heads. His grubby, greedy fat fingers are all over the map. Of course, there’s been legal pushback. “More than 200 Federal lawsuits have challenged Trump’s new policies, with multiple judges temporarily blocking his priorities.” Source: USA Today

The unsecured Signal chat announcing Merica’s military plans against the Houthis of Yemen. (Complete with macho emojis) Followed by another militarily compromising Signal chat to Hegseth’s family members. At least Pete didn’t crow, “Hi Honey I blew up the Houthis.”

The deportation of a Maryland citizen (Kilmar Garcia who was granted “withholding of removal” status by a judge in 2019) to a El Salvador prison due to a case of mistaken tattoo identity. Dastardly Donald won’t admit to the “Whoops! I hate when that happens.” and deemed Mister Garcia guilty, just because. Don dislikes due process.

The on and all again tariffs, thereby created high and lows in the stock market with inside trading galore. As Trump said on (Un)Truth Social, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” Just before the stock market jumped. 

Many of the tariffs are in effect, most impacting the bottom line for those with the least amount of savings and disposable income to begin with. This factoid from the New York Times says it all.

• Americans are spending less money, even at McDonald’s. Quarterly sales at the fast-food giant dipped by 3.6 percent in the U.S.

Just when you think we’ve hit the low bar, BUT NO! Here’s  another corrupt con. The Trump issued crypto-scam meme coins, complete with the ultimate pay to play. The top scam coin holders get to share a sumptuous dinner with #47. (cheesy burgers washed down with Diet Cokes). Such a deal! GAG!

Laura “Looney Tunes” Loomer’s Q’Anon trip to the Oval Office where she wielded papers baring hearsay of “disloyalty” on members of the National Security Council. Gone are General Haugh (head of the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command.) and his deputy Wendy Noble. There’s unsubstantiated talk Laura gave a “hand job” to the Jerk Off in Chief to seal the deal. But it’s just talk. 

Lastly (for the sake of brevity since there’s so much material), Elon Musk DOGE’s agenda of Federal layoffs in a lame effort to reduce the Federal budget. Using the Tech  Twerps credo, “Move fast and break things.” the Ketamine addict slashed Federal Agencies with little to no regard for their impact on our health, education, climate, foreign policies, scientific research/development and environmental protections. 

That’s just one level of abominations. Musk ordered his army of mini Tech Twerps to harvest sensitive data on many of our fellow Mericans. All this orchestrated by a unelected and unconfirmed White Nationalist. Where’s the outrage from Republicans about Gobment overreach?

Here’s a few old posts on this subject:

https://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2025/03/coming-soon-to-planet-near-you_14.html

https://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2025/02/national-parks-are-the.html

I’m not the only one concerned with this daily assault on democracy combined with a “Shock and Aww Fuck” brutality. 

Below is a recent New York Times/Siena College poll. My guess is the 42% who consider events “exciting” were diehard  fans of “The Apprentice.” 

By now you’re thinking. Jeffie is sure opinionated. I wonder where he thinks this will end. 

Here’s my take.

If the Grim Reaper doesn’t appear on the scene, Trump and the Republican Party will be backed into a corner. There’s nothing quite as dangerous as a trapped predator. The Commander of Chaos will follow the lead of his historical mentor. Adolf Hitler. There will be a “Reichstag Fire” event. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

This will precipitate another “National Emergency.” Trump will then declare Martial Law, unleashing unlawful arrests and round ups. The wannabe Dictator will then sit back, sip his Diet Coke and declare. “Checkmate!”

We are in a fine mess. 

But wait there’s Pope!