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| Del and Stacie Albright with their well-traveled red jeep. |
SHARETRAILS/BLUERIBBON COALITION TEAM ALBRIGHT HIGHLIGHTED IN MODOC COUNTY
Outdoor activists find Modoc a real treasure (Special to the Record)
by Jean Bilodeaux
Consummate outdoor recreationists and internationally
known photojournalists, Del and Stacie Albright visited Modoc County this last
week. The couple specializes in land
use, access and getting involved in teaching responsible off-pavement motorized
recreation and trail ethics.
“We want to help people enjoy the back
country responsibly, thereby insuring that public lands stay open for all,”
explains Del Albright.
First meeting on the Rubicon Trail the
couple have much in common, including a love of the outdoors that extends to
guiding convoys, photojournalism, vehicle modification, hunting, fly fishing,
four-wheeling, camping, RVing, restoring vintage trailers and vehicles. They
teach leadership, public speaking, letter writing, and moderating classes and
activities that support responsible outdoor recreation, such as “leave no
trace.”
The Rubicon Trail is a 22-mile long road
and jeep trail (18 miles). It is
considered America’s most famous and challenging 4x4 trail, usually taking two
days to complete. It stretches from the
gold country to the west shore of Lake Tahoe.
The Rubicon Jeep model is named after the Rubicon Trail, which serves as
a testing ground for the Jeep company.
Del started the Friends of the Rubicon
group that helps keep the trails open.
He has 50 years of off roading and 35
years of land use experience. They drive
a bright red jeep covered in hundreds of stickers.
“Each sticker represents our sponsors or
groups we are affiliated with or help.
And each sticker is hiding a scratch or small dent,” laughs Del.
They appear on more than 600 websites
and in 21 magazines. With millions of
fans in outdoor recreation, their promotion of an area can help the local
economy.
“We teach and are advocates of economical,
sustainable, manageable recreational use of public lands. Likely, Surprise Valley and Alturas have so
much to offer and responsible stewardship and use of these resources can keep
them as the treasures they are,” adds Albright.
The couple stayed at the Likely Place RV
and Park and Golf Resort and had so much fun they are planning to return in May
and possibly bring some members of the outdoor groups they belong to.
Lorissa Soriano of MORT – Modoc Outdoor
Recreation and Tourism guided the couple in their exploration and enjoyment of
Modoc County.
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