********Advisory - Maybe Warning About Crystal Mill**********

Along with three friends, I recently enjoyed a trip to Crystal Mill. However, a day after we were there, an incident occurred about which all visitors should be aware.

Apparently, the person who owns the property on which Crystal Mill sits has decided to limit access to the area and has, in fact, erected a post & cable "fence/barrier". The incident revolves around some photographers who apparently had an unpleasant encounter with the armed landover and he proceeded to fire shots to warn the visitors. The Gunnison County Sheriff's Office was called and responded to the discharge of the gun.

A fuller accounting of the incident, along with a photo of the cable barrier can be found on one of the DPReview.com forums. The forum is: Sony Alpha/NEX E-mount Talk and the thread is titled "Crested Butte and Marble Colorado".The information about the incident starts about 60% of the way through the thread. The URL is:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3733459#forum-post-54540059

I've seen a couple of other references to this incident and speculation is the landowner is trying to prevent access to the river for fear of liability issues. In fact, he has recently painted "POSTED" dozens of times on rocks, trees, etc.

While I was there, I went down to the river bed to photograph the mill and had no conscious knowledge that I was trespassing while doing so. I believe property rights are important and always try to respect them but do believe firing a rifle and threatening others might just be called "overkill".

Since so many who participate in this forum have either been to Crystal Mill or may plan to go, I thought you should be fully aware of emerging conditions before you unknowingly make a mistake. I had always assumed (mistakenly) the Mill was on Forest Service property.

Be careful out there.

Doug Beezley
Snellville, GA

There has been a big influx of tourists in the area this year and some potential injuries from people going down the steep trail. The owners of the property had liability concerns and have cabled off the top of the hill along the roadside.

I took a look at the Gunnison County Land Records. Without using names (easy to use interface), its owned by a corporation located in Austin and includes about 400 acreas significantly around Crystal including apparently local businesses that benefit. No apparent recent sale, so there must have been some recent incidents that got their legal active and protective of the land. Or could be insurance or legal reviews. Not sure about the reports of gunfire but it should be in a county record somewhere. I suppose someone could contact the ownership to learn more on their plans given the contact address is right there in the record.

This does remind me of an unfortunate land sale in Moab. As I recollect, the famous Lions Back 4x4 slickrock obstacle was on government land. Then an enterprising owner purchased the land with intent to build condos/townhouses/hotel or something with Lions Back as a featured part of the land. Unfortunately as soon as he did that, he assumed all liability of what could be a deadly location and could not find insurance willing to cover the active obstacle. So while he was friendly to the 4x4 community, he did have to shut the obstacle down. AFAIK nothing was ever built, but that may have been the souring economy back then.

For that matter, I did run into some owners on some land in Rockwood Colorado. From the Rockwood D&SNGRR station there is a short trail that leads to views of the High Line from the south of the cut. The trail is posted private but by that point I checked with some local railfans about the trail and nobody seemed concerned. But while up there, we did get visited by two owners of that area who made their point that it was private land; but they left us welcome to photograph the trains so long as we promptly left afterward. In review, I understand why they needed to be diligent - its a good view that could attract too many sightseers on their access trail.

So I consider this - does the recent influx of photographers - casual, hobbyist, and professional - cause property owners to pull access? Or is this an illusion and there has always been issues? Is this just a cycle of do-it-yourselfers; and the number of active photographers will fall back to a normal number. Is this only true for the well known locations (Maroon Bells, Crystal Mill, The Wave, etc) ; in other areas nobody seemed to care nor were there many photographers around.

Interesting read Karl. I actually witnessed a scene at the mill a few years ago where a visiting photographer brought a gun and fired it multiple times for fun. I about lost my mind pissed off. It got very nasty when the land owner ripped into our area on a atv and demanded who was shooting the firearm. He was so pissed we all pointed at said photographer. To this day I still know the photographer and respect his passion for his craft. I'm also certain said photographer has learned a valuable lesson. In a way I can't blame the residents.

Also, from what I gather has kids or friends that enjoy fishing the pool of water under the mill. I'll assume he's sick of photographers expressing their displeasure concerning the fisherman included in important composition.

Kane - Perhaps, though I do not know how the fence changes the complaints. The land record does list 49 parcels and some of the reported businesses/shops in the list likely gain from visitors (but I need to read the record closer). Also, the property listing has a C/O with a name that I assume is the caretaker/manager Those out there may be ranch hands or locals connected with the property. Might be a damned if you do/dont situation for them.

This is similar to stories I heard on the ground in Ridgway about local ranchers tired of the fall crowds - makes the town business but clutters their operations. One of the Ridgway town-locals I met on CR-5 actually speculated a tree blocking the trail higher up was placed by local ranchers trying to keep crowds out. He planned to cut it out of the way; I do not know if he did clear it or if the tree was intentionally placed. But yeah, seeing some fraying nerves out there.