MT: 15th Annual Strawberry Fields is ON!

May 31 2017
posted by The Duck:

I need some help squashing the rumors that Strawberry Fields is going to be cancelled. This rumor has continued throughout the winter and spring. Neither Howard Kent nor the Nicholson Family has ever entertained the thought of cancelling the ride. These stories and rumors are a complete fabrication in the minds of others but it seems to feed upon itself and it simply won’t go away. The real danger of Strawberry being cancelled would come from the rumors and the lack of entries. At this point we have less than 25% of the entries we had last year at this time.

This evening, May 30th I spoke with a rancher friend who runs cattle on the north side of the mountains. Her comment is “we have had a good year and it looks like we will have plenty of water this year, but it's nothing out of the ordinary” The snowpack in the Untahs is always of interest to the farmers and ranchers in Utah and Wyoming as these mountain watersheds provide the water for irrigation throughout the western valleys. We have gone through years of severe drought and the general ranching population is ecstatic about the snowfall which has ranged between 80 and 120 percent. It had dropped to 80 % earlier in the year, but recent snowfalls brought that back up to 100 plus %. The lower country on the north side of the Unitahs, which is the shaded side has been clear of snow for several weeks. Roads are open and everyone is tickled to death about the moisture. All of this boils down to the fact that the ride has continued through previous years of normal and above normal snowpack. These rumors must be put to rest. There are miles of lower trails through beautiful country that are open right now.

Howard will be marking these trails this coming weekend. Please do what you can, through chat groups and personal communication to turn this rumor mill in the opposite direction or the end result may be the ultimate cancellation of the ride, but it will come, not this year but in some future year and will be the direct result of these rumors and panic attacks on the part of riders.

For more information on the ride, see:
http://xprides.com/rides/strawberry-fields/