See Where Bragging Gets You -- Men Caught Snowmobiling Illegally In Colorado After Bragging On Social Media

One Of The Snowmobilers In Question - Credit: Karen Teague
Two men have been caught snowmobiling on a snowless Independence Pass in Colorado. Though the photo to right was taken by a physical witness, Karen Teague of the Independence Pass Foundation, there is even more evidence for this infraction...the snowmobile riders put it on social media.

Reported by the Aspen Times, Teague, who was accompanied by two other associates, came across the snowmobilers on July 3 while on a data collecting research project concerning area alpine flowers. The encounter with the snowmobile riders came as the riders were on their way to the parking area along Highway 82.

Though the men told Teague that they were allowed to be there and made sure to check their route, It has also been reported that the men were very wrong about that and would have been in violation of regulations that ban motorized travel in the wilderness.

"Shelly Grail, recreation manager for the district, said there is no gray area about snowmobile travel along the Independence Pass corridor.
'It is clearly a violation for snowmobiles to be off of designated routes during the winter season,' she wrote in an email before heading into the field Tuesday morning. Over-the-snow travel is restricted to designated routes, which is essentially Highway 82, she said. Wilderness is not a designated route."
In a report from Snowbrains, the U.S. Forest Service began an investigation after receiving tips about the identity of one of the alleged snowmobilers. That tip pointed to David Lesh, who founded the clothing company Virtika. The company posted photos of the founder riding in Independence Pass to the companies Facebook page. The post was captioned “@davidlesh sledding today on Independence Pass on Independence Day.”, though the post has since been removed from the page.

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