![Roast :roast:](./images/smilies/roast.gif)
JT500 rolled in first from more than 1500 miles away and established camp at Honeysuckle campground. Rob129 arrived the next day and I followed him in to camp from the ranger station on the streetbike. We made introductions and BS'ed for a bit before making plans for the first day of riding.
Day 1:
I took them out to Canfield from the gun range and headed up trail 10. Not 2 minutes in a moose ran across my path and scared the bejeezus out of me, or maybe it was Coop trying to find his way to camp. I'm not really certain.
![Hiding :hiding:](./images/smilies/hiding_.gif)
We were headed for Spades Lookout up trail 28 through "The Scary Hill". JT500 was the first to give it a shot. He's seen my video on youtube.
He made it up to the rock wall with no problem, but then let the scary hill intimidate him and stopped. Apparently it's not the same in person or the video does not represent it well enough. ;D He gave it another shot, but ultimately went around as did Rob. I have every confidence they'll both get it next time.
Things were going well. Everyone seemed to be having fun. No other obstacles posed much trouble. Then when we finally got out of the rocks and into the hardpack, Rob cross rutted and went down twisting and landing on his right knee. Ouch.
![Flip :flip:](./images/smilies/flip.gif)
From there we headed back down 9 to the gun range. I headed home for a shower and to pick up my wife to come camp for the night. In the meantime, I guess Rooster stopped by the camp and shot the breeze for a bit. Unfortunately I missed him...again.
At dinner, it was decided that we would take day 2 off from riding in hopes that Rob's knee would fell better for day 3 and allow Rob to tend to smoking the brisket he brought. JT also wanted to spend some time with his significant other who made the long haul with him. I guess I kept them out playing longer than they had anticipated. Shame on me, but I was having fun.
Coop arrived while I was cleaning up and packing up to come camp. (Like I said, Coop or moose, I dunno. We hadn't been introduced yet.)
Day 2:
My wife and I didn't sleep worth a damn. We hung out til almost noon getting to know everyone before I ran her back home (and took a nap) I came back for dinner and to make plans for Day 3. Rob's brisket turned out pretty dang good. Thanks again Rob!
Day 3:
Rob's knee was not getting better. It had stiffened up on him making it difficult to swing his leg over the bike let alone kick it. So, he stayed at camp with the family and nursed it for another day. The rest of us (dad came out with me too) decided to trailer the bikes from camp over to Hudlow and try making a loop out of trails 78 and 69. Ok, time to back up here. Coop. Coop is a big man, as many CR500 riders seem to be. Great guy, shining personality, logger by trade. Coop was not having a good day. Before we even hit the trail head, Coop's hydration pack sprung a leak and was getting his backside soggy. It was no small hole either. It looked like he picked up a nail with it. Not sure how he could have done that. Coop assured me that he had been out riding fairly aggressively the previous weekend and he felt pretty good. Any locals reading this know that trail 78 from the bottom is a fairly serious climb. Well, it proved to be too much for Coop's ol 84 CR500 clutch. Like i said, Coop is a big man. He coaxed that thing up probably 300 yards before it was evident that the old clutch was just not going haul him up it. I'll get the video posted up shortly. You can almost see it catching fire.
![Surprised :o](./images/smilies/icon_surprised.gif)
Ok, so I've still got dad and JT. Lets head out toward Independence instead. So we crossed the creek and took the trail up the backside of Horse Heaven. Fun trail. Again, I have video I will upload from work's connection later. We got to the end of that and dad noticed his kickstarter was loose. He got out the wrench and went to tighten it up when half the bolt fell off in his hand. OH CRAP!
![Yikes :yikes:](./images/smilies/yikes.gif)
I can just imagine Rob's reaction to bikes arriving back at camp unexpectedly.
![What did I miss? :miss:](./images/smilies/didimiss.gif)
With only JT and I left, we headed for Harvey's trail referred to by some of the locals as the "F me" trail. This is the trail:
While the trail earned the nickname for it's difficulty level in wet rainy conditions, today's conditions were perfect. Nice and tacky. JT tackled it with only a couple of minor stops. I told him he had earned his PNW singletrack merit badge, and he did.
![Woot :woot:](./images/smilies/woot.gif)
![Headbang :headbang:](./images/smilies/headbang.gif)
From there we took the road over to Weber Saddle and headed down Independence from the top. This is what I hoped to show Rob knowing what a scenery junkie he is. Again, JT has pictures and I hope he posts them. We continued down to the first creek crossing and came across a family on horseback. Nice folk. Cool to see people out doing stuff and coexisting on the singletrack.
![Cool :cool:](./images/smilies/cool.gif)
![Surprised :o](./images/smilies/icon_surprised.gif)
![Nut kick :nutkick:](./images/smilies/nutkick.gif)
Awesome ride JT. JT's machine is an 03 KX500. Sweet ride. He was able to crawl up Harvey's trail much slower than I could. And then riding down the road it was evident that he had at least 40mph more top end speed than I did. I may need to start looking for one of them motors. It seems the gearbox is much wider than the CR.
Back at camp, Coop pulled the cover off to have a look at the clutch. Wow did it stink. Yep, she's cooked. I ran back to town with dad and called the local shops on the minute chance they might have a clutch for Coop's bike. No luck. Dealerships don't stock squat anymore. It sucks. Back at home, we extracted the bolt from dad's kickstart spline. Luckily, I have recent experience with that and it came right out. He left to get a new bolt and I headed back to camp to inform Coop and for dinner. Teriyaki Pork chops. Yum! Thanks again Rob!
Day 4:
Same drill as day 3. I showed up at camp around 7:45 and we discussed what to do. Rob's knee was still bugging him, but he was determined to go. His wife did not look pleased. He simply asked that I make it a squid ride if possible. So, Rob, JT, Dad and I headed out from camp back up the road to 802 and took that mingled with 28 to Spades, down 78 where Coop smoked his clutch and out across Davis saddle. Should have some footage of creek crossing. Have to check. We stopped at the end of Davis Saddle and turned around to head back to camp. A short easy one, but still a decent ride.
Dad and I loaded up from there and headed home. I sat down and started writing this when I got home. I had to quit and take the FZ out to meet my family on the Pend Orielle river. More riding for me! Yay! I had a good day. I had 4 good days.
Thank you gents! I hope we can do it again some time.
PS. The rest of y'all suck.
![Bling :bling:](./images/smilies/bling.gif)
![No no :nono:](./images/smilies/nono.gif)
![Moon :moon:](./images/smilies/moon.gif)