Just back from Dog Canyon

[dkerr24]

Thank you Presidio for that update on hwy 137.  It gives me another option for how I want to enter the park.  I've driven plenty of old mine trails in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, but this time I'd be driving a vehicle that should never leave a blacktop road.

I did finally see the hwy on Mapquest once I zoomed in to a very low level on the map, but I still couldn't tell if it was paved or not.  Not sure if I could have confirmed it from using Google Earth, either.

I do have a question:  On mapquest, hwy 137 shows it splits and has 2 distinct roadbeds just before it reaches Dog Canyon.  Is it one way on each side, kinda like the last section of the drive into the Hot Springs area at BIBE?

Okie, I bet your cousins have some good stories on some of the stupid stuff pulled by some of the visitors.  I know I've seen my share of people with no clue what they were doing on the trails in the Grand Canyon.

[okiehiker]

The number of people who will look them straight in the eye and say, "I have permission from the landowner" is amazing.  The dumber they are.... well that's enough on the subject.

[Boojum1]

Dog Canyon is superb.  Spent a sub 20 degree night in February there once.  Nice hiking.  If you're into range management, study the conditions from the Nat'l Forest (lease) to private (okiehiker's kin, sounds like) to park (unmanaged mostly since 50-something).  The NF property is horribly abused, or was at that time.  The NP grassland conditions were excellent and had not had any brush invasion, in fact was probably ripe for a prescribed burn.  The private land was in between...better than the leased land but obviously grazed.  It looked like really good rangeland. 

I was also #2 at the scene of a motorcycle accident...passenge r on the bike narrowly missed being impaled on a mature agave but still sustained a punctured lung on impact and slide.  I helped get stretcher up the hill.  The local cop was perhaps doing his job, but was essentially worthless...a disinterested observer at best.  He did manage to pass me going about 120...guess the thrill was over after that.