Paradise Lot Nov 27, 2012

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

As someone who does his fair share of whining on the Internet in the hope that someone, somewhere will read it and act upon it, let me point out the obvious: rarely, if ever, does it achieve anything.

According to the notice on the MORA website:

vehicle access will not be maintained from Longmire to Paradise on Tuesdays and Wednesdays

So let's seize this carp and capitalize on the lack of motorized vehicles! That road would be epic for longboarding, bicycling, really just about any activity where pavement is desired and the lack of cars is optimal. I sincerely doubt they would prohibit you from using the road in a non-motorized, non-vehicular way during the days where the road is closed and no maintenance is occurring. This is the case for Hwy 123 and the Stevens Canyon Rd. which are already closed for the winter.

Just because the road is closed to vehicles, doesn't mean there aren't other ways to show the NPS how much demand there is. Don't just sit there on the couch and whine, get out and DO SOMETHING about it!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

As someone who does his fair share of whining on the Internet in the hope that someone, somewhere will read it and act upon it, let me point out the obvious: rarely, if ever, does it achieve anything.

According to the notice on the MORA website: vehicle access will not be maintained from Longmire to Paradise on Tuesdays and Wednesdays

So let's seize this carp and capitalize on the lack of motorized vehicles! That road would be epic for longboarding, bicycling, really just about any activity where pavement is desired and the lack of cars is optimal. I sincerely doubt they would prohibit you from using the road in a non-motorized, non-vehicular way during the days where the road is closed and no maintenance is occurring. This is the case for Hwy 123 and the Stevens Canyon Rd. which are already closed for the winter.

Just because the road is closed to vehicles, doesn't mean there aren't other ways to show the NPS how much demand there is. Don't just sit there on the couch and whine, get out and DO SOMETHING about it!

Unfortunately, pipedream, the Park Service doesn't work like that. Have you ever looked at the Longmire gate when it's closed? There's a big sign on it which says no hiking or skiing on the road when the gate is closed, and that almost certainly includes all the other activities you suggest. A pipedream, for sure.

As others have suggested, the only methods which have any hope of success in reopening the road all week are contacting Senators and Congressmen, and pursuing legal action against the Park Service.

I think the biggest potential "lemonade" opportunity with the park's current plan is overnight camp in the group camping area Mon-Tue-Weds and ski in the Paradise area with only a few other folks.

If NPS was willing and/or able to rent out RV overnight parking spots at Paradise at the same rates as Crystal and Stevens ($30/night) I'll bet they could generate a lot of revenue, but I suspect that would require congressional action.