Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Who Descided on YELLOW PAINT???????????

5K views 52 replies 22 participants last post by  traildoc 
#1 · (Edited)
Over the years there have been several passionate discussions about marking Moab slickrock sections of trails such as Rockstacker (other than the offical Slickrock trail) with paint. There are those in Moab that believe some other trail routing technique could be used, but it was never stated what it could be.

Now that the Green Dot and Blue Dot trails have been adopted into the system the new paint option is now YELLOW. The reason for this post is that in Sedona have a new slickrock trail and other short sections of trail that need either to be marked with paint to define the route or they need some other form of marking, which has never been defined.

Going from white dots (on the Slickrock trail) brown solid lines (on Rockstacker) to blue dots (on the Blue Dot trail) to green dots (on the old Green Dot trail) to now YELLOW dashes (on the new M7 trail) has been quite a process. Can anyone out there in the other land of Red Rock give me the logic behind now using yellow paint on the new once Green Dot now M7 trail.

These trail marking discussions with a government land manger is like hearding ants. What process was used in coming up with YELLOW dashes? Maybe it was as simple as drawing a slip of paper out of a hat with color names on them.

Now that YELLOW is the old Green Dot trail color will they be repainting the current Slickrock trail YELLOW. Please provide some insight as to how the color selection process might be reduced when bring up the topic with the land manager. Also how do you convince the public in general, who hate trails on slickrock, that paint is the best way to go.

Apparently someone decided that the environmental damage done by marking a trail with YELLOW paint is small enough that it is now considered acceptable by the land manager. I wonder if those guys with the portable battery operated paint removal tools will put up with the YELLOW paint, those guys can be a real pain.

They came down to Sedona and removed the black stenciled bear paw prints off the slickrock section of our beloved Hangover trail. Maybe if they were YELLOW bear paw prints it would have been ok. Someone went up and replaced the grey smudges of wire brushed off black bear paw prints with white translucent paint, which still remains.

Does this also mean all or some BLM land managers might have an addendum in their trail building manual that YELLOW paint is the paint of choice for slickrock trails, if so can someone email me a copy.

Thanks in advance for any insight that would be helpful in marking our new Sedona unmarked slickrock trail.

TD
 
See less See more
#15 ·
TrailDoc- Once again I am just plain confused by your complaints. Who the **** cares what color they used? Are you perplexed that it's yellow? That it's marked? That nobody asked you? I just don't understand what your beef is. Could you please clarify?

You are the only guy on MTBR that can write five paragraphs and still leave me completely baffled as to your intent.

JMH
 
#16 ·
Wow, just wow.

Go outside, breathe the air. Live. Don't let such trivial things bother you to the point of typing a multi paragraph rant on the internet about something so stupid.

chain chain was probably right, maybe it was on sale? Nah, too simple, it was probably conceived by the same people who orchestrated 9/11.
 
#20 ·
Simple answer is that the cheapest a$$ old bucket of paint in the Moab paint store is always the winner. There is no method to the paint color, except for cheap old paint that the store could only sell to a mountain biker who lives on PBR and road kill.

You really need to chill the hell out Trail Doc. Go ride your bike and forget about the colors of paint. The guys that originally bought the cheapest paint on the planet to mark their originally illegal trails are laughing at you. Your post is a real D-bag move man. Lame.
 
#3 ·
Jw:

I be honest with you I don't get it either. Seems like if the trail was initially marked with Green Dots and the trail was called the Green Dot that that green paint would have been OK. But there has to be more to it, and maybe it's the Control Factor that has taken over here.

Since the final color of the old Green Dot trail is now Yellow that is a lot different than Brown, Blue, Green or White. I could be wrong on the control thing and maybe it was the cost of the paint and it's durability. Maybe the paint is the same as yellow curb paint which is probably a very durable paint compared to something you would buy at Walkers Hardware on the bargain table for $5,00.

Durability would be a factor since Mother Nature is constantly doing her thing trying to breakdown the paint and make it go away. Once the line gets more defined with thousands of people riding the new trail maybe the future repainting project could skip every other dot, time will tell.

Anyway I am just trying to find out if the BLM has some new color guideline on the painting of dots on a slickrock trail.

The locals who hate that trail being adopted have got to be going crazy thinking about any color paint out there in the middle of one of the most beautiful places in the whole world. When they use to have Green Dot and Blue Dot to themselves it was really cool, but now they have to share it with a bunch of outsiders and that sucks.

I myself love to share a great trail and I think any intermediate or above skilled rider is going to love that ride especially if you link it up to the Portal. Let us know what you think if you ever ride it.

TD
 
#7 ·
otherwise we are pretty good with rock cairns and such...
Snot

You know the problem with cairns on slickrock when you have a bunch of those paint remover nutcases out riding a newly cairned route they think is only theirs to enjoy, while the outsiders are out riding in the sand on Poison Spider.

You being from the OTE mold know what the concept of Paying it Forward is all about in the mountain biking world. Would you rather be riding Show Me the Money to Grafton Mesa or the paved road in Zion National Park?

Please don't tell me the paved road ;).

TD
 
#19 ·
From wikipedia.

"Bianchi bicycles are traditionally painted celeste (pronounced che-les-te in Italian, Se-lest in English), a turquoise also known as Tiffany blue, although there are other colours. Myths say celeste is the colour of the Milan sky, the eye colour of a former queen (Tiffany) of Italy for whom Edoardo Bianchi made a bicycle (the crowned eagle of the company logo is an adaptation of the former royal crest) and that it was a mixture of surplus military paint."
 
#27 ·
mh:

Why do you think the M7 system will be a crappy ride, because of the paint color? I believe the WHOLE M7 ride will soon become the second best ride for those physically fit higher skilled riders vacationing in Moab.

During the winter it may move into the number one position due to the ride being at a lower elevation than Hazard Down.

The route is so bullet proof it will require very little maintenance, and will easily last longer than human civilization will.

TD
 
G
#29 ·
I'm not sure if it's better to start a new thread or bring this one back - but the question was here, and the answer is finally yes.

For this thread, that means there will be a new stretch of trail built / opened at the beginning of the Mag 7 system. It will start a little further down the Gemini Bridges rd than the 'temporary' Mag 7 / Bull Run (or old Green Dot) entrance. This section will traverse a small canyon rim, then meet up with the current Bull Run section. Basically, this means replacing a lot of the seismic rd people have been riding this summer (temporarily!) with some new canyon rim singletrack more in character with the rest of the route.

Of course, this also means more yellow paint...

Beyond Mag 7, this easement trade is also good news for new trails at Bar M and Klondike Bluffs. The North 40 trail at Bar M will now be completed. This trail is located directly north of the Lazy / EZ trails at Bar M and will be an awesome addition to that system. There are a bunch of new trails opening in the Klondike Bluff's area right now. Some have just opened, and more will soon be open because of this trade.

It's very important to point out the Moab BLM office's role in this trade. Trails across SITLA (state school trust) lands in UT require an easement be granted. Which means dollars need to be paid. Sometimes the BLM and SITLA trade easements when it's mutually beneficial. Getting these easements via trade saved the (local) group proposing and building these trails a LOT of money. Thanks go to rec. planners at the BLM for recognizing the opportunity and then suggesting and making this trade happen. The money saved can be (much better) spent on other trail projects!

FW
 
#40 ·
This discussion on color choice of slickrock trail markings is lame, tiresome, and way worn out. If you don't like it, don't ride it. If you lust that much for lame, tired, worn out things to beeotch about you obviously are not riding enough. Or working enough. Or, generally, having way too little to do in life other than make a fuss about painted rock on online forums.
 
#41 ·
this discussion on color choice of slickrock trail markings is lame, tiresome, and way worn out. If you don't like it, don't ride it. If you lust that much for lame, tired, worn out things to beeotch about you obviously are not riding enough. Or working enough. Or, generally, having way too little to do in life other than make a fuss about painted rock on online forums.
+1 :)
 
#44 ·
ronski:

Thanks for your post. You able to differentiate the what the long term mission is as compared to the short term rangeling necessary to move the process forward. If anyone thinks the Whole Enchilada or the Whole Mag7 would be a reality without people like great grand dad, they are out of touch with reality.

As BIG as Moab is there are many other 30+ mile epic adventure ride opportunities, but is there an old fart out there willing to put the time and energy into making it a reality? Time will tell, but I kind of doubt it. I have heard though, that there are some secret connectors being routed over on the east side of 191 so maybe I am wrong again.

TD
 
#50 ·
TD. Having just returned from a great week long journey of Southern Utah and Southwest Colorado, I tried my best to enjoy Moab, but came away once again self-defeated. As much as I try to give old Moab a fair shake in providing a great experience, the yellow paint job is in my little world of throwing coins in the air, a reflection of what that place has become. A place to piss in the sand, and in this case, on the rock.
Driving through town, trying to provide a little economic support for a local business or two, I must say that it felt like driving down any California city except there were no people of color, just white and those folks were doing everything, I mean everything with elbows out in attack position and necks bulging from too much self induced stress. I guess that there was yet one more "festival" going on. What is it this time? Jazz, film, jeeps, bikes, mushrooms, beer, or birds? Those Moabites, always hucking for a buck. The locals should have a NO-Tourist festival. To gain admission, one just has to show their town water bill. Free foot massages and an effigy burning of a jeepbikeenviroriverrider.
Same thing out on the trails once I carefully skirted through town. No body saying hello, how are you, nice to see you out enjoying the nature. Most people out looking for the dots. And yes, yellow is a such a highway thing. That is a good water cooler inside the BLM office brand of humor. "Didja see all the lycraheads out there on M7? Boy, the highway is busy today, he-he". But what does that matter as others have mentioned here? Is there a difference between looking ahead and looking down? Nope, just give it to me on the rocks.
So, the soulrider has left Moab a long time ago. Too many dots, too many of everything. A beautiful place, some good riding, but its been a sacrifice zone for a long time, yellow and brown dots included.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top