DreamRide Video

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Dan_85

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Moderator note: This thread was split off from the Cinemascapes thread.


This is a very slickly produced film but there are a few segments here that don't sit totally comfortably with me, particularly in the opening half of the film. Am I the only one? Is that the Bentonite Hills in CRNP? Can anyone ID the slot canyon?

Anyone know the legality of riding in those areas? I can't help but think some pretty fragile desert environments would have been damaged in the making of this?
 
That totally blows. Those opening mauve and striped badlands look like the region south of Little Wild Horse canyon on the road that goes south all the way across the Muddy to the pavement south of Factory Butte. If so, that is in a WSA and it is illegal and highly inconsiderate and damaging to track up those wildland clay domes. If it can be confirmed this should be reported to the BLM.
 
Not cool at all. I'm going to split this off from the Cinemascapes into it's own thread. I'm pretty sure I can positively ID the slot. I think it's Leprechaun below the tech forks. I have some photos to compare. The areas of riding the grey badlands could be the motorcycle area near Factory Butte, but I don't know if there is much of the orange/brown stuff around there.
 
I looked through my photos I am now certain that the slot canyon they rode through is Leprechaun. I'll put together some side by sides. I have to ask though - is it illegal to ride a bike in a canyon in that area?

As for the badlands, it has to be either the Bentonite Hills or the ones on the Little Wild Horse Road that Art mentions. I'm sure we could line up some of their aerial shots with sat imagery of the area.

It looks like they've already been deleting comments from people unhappy with what they've done:

Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 7.00.28 PM.png
 
It would seem that it was indeed in the Bentonite Hills. I haven't figured out any exact spots on sat imagery yet, but check out this screenshot:

bentonite-badness.jpg

This shot that came up on a Google image search. You can see the exact ridge he's riding down in the distance with the hills matching up perfectly right behind it. Anyone know exactly where that's shot from?

_mg_7825_6_fused(tbw)_std.jpg

Photo info:
Copyright © 2012, Elaine R. Wilson

Bentonite Hills, Capitol Reef National Park, Near Torrey, Utah

19 May, 2012

http://www.naturespicsonline.com/galleries/Nature75/_mg_7825_6_fused(tbw).htm
 
Great sleuthing. We should bring your Dr. Watson partner in (@Aldaron) too! I would volunteer to take the case to the BLM since I've had some success in having enforcement done after the fact in the past.
 
Nick said:
It would seem that it was indeed in the Bentonite Hills. I haven't figured out any exact spots on sat imagery yet, but check out this screenshot:

View attachment 40824

This shot that came up on a Google image search. You can see the exact ridge he's riding down in the distance with the hills matching up perfectly right behind it. Anyone know exactly where that's shot from?

View attachment 40825

Photo info:
Copyright © 2012, Elaine R. Wilson

Bentonite Hills, Capitol Reef National Park, Near Torrey, Utah

19 May, 2012

http://www.naturespicsonline.com/galleries/Nature75/_mg_7825_6_fused(tbw).htm
Click to expand...
It is too complex, and the brown cliffs too high behind it I think, to be the exact spot on the Wild Horse Road that I was referring to. It may be in the badlands spot east of Factory Butte that is commonly hammered by motorcyclists and abuts another WSA that is commonly driven into as well. However the film sure has some pristine ground that this guy rode with nary a track but his own.
 
Artemus said:
It is too complex, and the brown cliffs too high behind it I think, to be the exact spot on the Wild Horse Road that I was referring to. It may be in the badlands spot east of Factory Butte that is commonly hammered by motorcyclists and abuts another WSA that is commonly driven into as well. However the film sure has some pristine ground that this guy rode with nary a track but his own.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I believe he was near 'Swing Arm City OHV Area' but not necessarily in it. Check out these two screen shots from the video with Factory Butte in the background. They are clearly directly south of it, shortly after sunrise.

upload_2016-3-14_21-20-55.png

upload_2016-3-14_21-20-30.png

Now check out the location of Swing Arm City:
http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/b..._butte.Par.26603.File.dat/FactoryButte_v6.pdf

There does appear to be other tracks on those hills, but not nearly as much as I would expect from that area, especially after looking at it on sat imagery. I could be wrong but I am inclined to believe that is closer to Factory Butte and out of the OHV area. It doesn't look anything like this: https://www.google.com/search?q=swi...f3sHLAhUJ32MKHQX5DC4QsAQIRw&biw=2352&bih=1322
 
As for Leprechaun Canyon, I don't have photos lined up perfectly with their shots, but I recognized this scene immediately, as well as the final two parts where it gets really narrow. The first narrow spot had a pool in it when I went through. It was immediately below the confluence with main and east forks. The final seconds where he's in a very narrow spot is right there at the confluence.

This is a little further down the canyon. Their shot looking up canyon:
Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 9.16.28 PM.png

My shot looking down at the same scene. It's easy to match up some of the details on the rock even though they are looking in opposite directions. Granted, biking through a canyon like Leprechaun isn't nearly as destructive as the Bentonite Hills, and who knows, maybe it's legal?
IMG_5760.jpg
 
I know of no law against the canyon bottom outside of Wilderness but it sure is inconsiderate and damaging even where there is no crytobiotic soil. Who wants tire marks all over the slickrock in a slot. Gimmick. And the whole Bentonite clay hills area is over the top and illegal if we find it to be in a WSA.
 
I'm pretty sure it's illegal even if it's not in a WSA. I would think human-powered bikes are required to stay on designated routes just like motor-powered ones.
 
Nick said:
I'm pretty sure it's illegal even if it's not in a WSA. I would think human-powered bikes are required to stay on designated routes just like motor-powered ones.
Click to expand...
You are probably right. And now even on the designated trails in the Wasatch we have the spectre of electric powered bicycles (i.e. motorcycles) to contend with and refuse.
 
Good detective work! I couldn't find any info on whether it was actually illegal or not to ride within canyons, I guess it would vary from area to area but it still doesn't seem cool. And even more strangely, I believe the video is actually produced by Diamondback - a huge, international manufacturer of MTBs. You would think they would have known better and gone through all the appropriate channels to find areas where it was legal to ride...

Artemus said:
You are probably right. And now even on the designated trails in the Wasatch we have the spectre of electric powered bicycles (i.e. motorcycles) to contend with and refuse.
Click to expand...

I'm 99% sure that within CRNP (and all other NPs?), bikes are required to stay on roads or official trails, which the Bentonite Hills certainly aren't.
 
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Diamond Back is at it again. The BLM has fined them in the past, but clearly not enough to make it think twice.

First it was this trip down the Green River.

Then this one filmed on a non-system trail in Moab. No permit. Seen tearing it up with the truck on Gemini Bridges road on a busy day.
 
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