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Climbers of Mount Lindsey be aware! The landowner of the summit block (Trinchera-Blanca Ranch) recently posted a warning sign as the approach trail crosses from Forest Service lands onto the Ranch's private property noting that this is private property and that public access is not permitted. I was alerted of this change last week when out in the field, but was not in a location where I could easily post this information.

Colorado Fourteeners Initiative has been working with the Ranch for several years trying to obtain legal public access through an access agreement with a public agency. As maps note, climbers of either the standard gully route or the ridge route are crossing private property. However, the recent Nelson vs. USA case (bicyclist injured on an unofficial bike path on the Air Force Academy) has caused increased concern by landowners that the Colorado Recreational Use Statute may be insufficient in protecting them from lawsuits by injured recreationists. This was one of the reasons precipitating the closure of the DeCaLiBron Loop earlier in the season.

CFI continues to work with landowners to see if there are appropriate tweaks to state laws that might lessen private landowner liability concerns. This will take time and, if appropriate legal language can be found, will require pushing a bill through the Colorado Legislature next session. So, for now, please respect the closure. We hope to have this resolved by next climbing season, if possible. Stay tuned.

Lloyd Athearn, Executive Director
Colorado Fourteeners Initiative

If people have been using that trail for more than 18 years, then he may not have a case.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia ... orado.html

peter303 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 06, 2021 5:00 pm If people have been using that trail for more than 18 years, then he may not have a case.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia ... orado.html

There is a big legal difference between a particular person claiming an access right (say, for using a road that crossess a neighbor's property to reach their property regularly for decades) and claiming a general sense that "climbers" have crossed private property over the same period. I'm not sure I'd want to argue that point.

I just climbed Lindsey a few weeks ago and that sign was not there! Glad I got it but sad it's closed! That is an epic mountain and one of my favorites for sure! Hoping for a positive outcome!

Do you know how this affects access to Huerfano, Iron Nipple, and Huerfanito since all 3 of those peaks are split by private property?

Wow. It is difficult to see how access to this summit could be related to that judgment, since the Academy appears to have been negligent in a known, previously warned hazard on an established, but unofficial, bike path. While natural hazards can and do exist, they are not part of any structure or improvement within the natural environment. Hopefully this will be resolved soon with a positive outcome. Lindsey is such a special place.

yardman wrote: ↑Mon Sep 06, 2021 4:56 pmClimbers of Mount Lindsey be aware! The landowner of the summit block (Trinchera-Blanca Ranch) recently posted a warning sign as the approach trail crosses from Forest Service lands onto the Ranch's private property noting that this is private property and that public access is not permitted. So, for now, please respect the closure.

Thank you letting this community know what's going on and why.
Your request is not only reasonable under the circumstances, but also is the only realistic and prudent course of action.
Here's hoping folks do not trespass and risk making the situation even more problematic than it already is.

I talked to a guy named Eddie yesterday who had just done Little Bear, Blanca, Ellingwood and the traverses between. He was to do Lindsey today for his FINISHER.

I hope a few thousand people hike up there and pee on the sign before summiting. "Please respect the private property closure" is a siren song of the oppressed embracing the chains which shackle them. Why should we respect it? Do the 'owners' respect our ambition to recreate on land which they aren't using? Owners respect very little save their own avarice. By what right does anyone claim ownership of the earth? We have reified private land ownership, cordoned off the commons, and commodified nature. I shall respect the private property rights in the alpine as much as they respect human dignity, which is to say not at all.

Ptglhs wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:19 am I hope a few thousand people hike up there and pee on the sign before summiting. "Please respect the private property closure" is a siren song of the oppressed embracing the chains which shackle them. Why should we respect it? Do the 'owners' respect our ambition to recreate on land which they aren't using? Owners respect very little save their own avarice. By what right does anyone claim ownership of the earth? We have reified private land ownership, cordoned off the commons, and commodified nature. I shall respect the private property rights in the alpine as much as they respect human dignity, which is to say not at all.

Here we go again

Ptglhs wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:19 am I hope a few thousand people hike up there and pee on the sign before summiting. "Please respect the private property closure" is a siren song of the oppressed embracing the chains which shackle them. Why should we respect it? Do the 'owners' respect our ambition to recreate on land which they aren't using? Owners respect very little save their own avarice. By what right does anyone claim ownership of the earth? We have reified private land ownership, cordoned off the commons, and commodified nature. I shall respect the private property rights in the alpine as much as they respect human dignity, which is to say not at all.

I wonder if the sign is short enough to easily pee on

Bill,
Can we get a list of private property areas in the alpine so Ptglhs can get to work knocking that sucker out