Desoto Mine and More 04-28-07
Oh boy what a ride. Another adventure for the record books. Now that the weather is getting warm we stepped up the starting time for this ride. We met for breakfast at 4:30 in Anthem and were unloaded and ready to ride at 6:00 AM sharp. Just the way Roy likes it, ready to ride at 1st light.
There were a couple of new faces for me on this ride with the Outlaws. The list included Roy (RoyD) Don (Azquadrider) Chris (arizonagriz) Bill
(WildBill) Mike (400exdude) Katt (X DA C) Zane (ZZZ) and Steve (Luke). Another great group to ride with. Everyone helps as much as possible whenever a rider need it. We will put this to a test later......
As we head out across the tops of the mountains is sunny and warm. I took us on the 1st leg of the journey so Roy could capture some more GPS coordinates. He is happiest if he gets to add new track every weekend. His wife says he has tracks every day from will nots but that is another story. I almost got suspended for missing 1 trail but they let it go because we only had to back track about 100 yards. Some day Roy will teach me how to use one of those GPS things. As we came to the main road just east of Cleator I lead the group to a mine north of the road. There is a steep hill at the base of the mine. I went to the top and watched a Wildbill made it about 3/4 of the way up and spun out because he forgot to put it in 4 wheel drive. It's not fun having to back down a very steep hill but it turned out ok.
On past Cleator to the Desoto Mine Trail. As you come the 1st part of the trail there is a good off camber section to see how well you trust your steed. Right after this there are several good hill climbs and descents. Everyone made it easily through this section. I thought this is going to be a fun easy day. At the boulder section I took the alt route up and over some boulders. When I landed on top of one large boulder it high centered me and spun my like a top. I had to rock it for the front wheels to grab to pull me over it. Wildbill, Katt and Z followed and made it as well. I had to use Roy's move on the front of Katt's quad to help him get over the high centered boulder. Luke wanted to try out his new beautiful Can-AM 650 Camo Max on some boulders on the streambed. He found out even with the long wheelbase it is possible to get the front end in the air a little higher than he wanted but Griz came in for help just in case. We made it up to the pines for a break where it was a little cooler.
Next stop was Palace station. This used to be an old stage coach station. From here we took the Senator highway around for a loop Roy and I did a few weeks ago. It goes out towards Kirkland Junction and loops back to the Senator Highway.
This section proved to be the toughest for this day. We came to a long steep, nasty, rocky hill climb with a few ruts and ledges thrown in to make you work to get to the top. I went around a couple of guys to get to the top so I could take some photos. As I near Roy I heard him say OH *#*#!!!!! I turned to see Griz's quad wheels up and him folded up under it. I did the 50 yard dash down that nasty hill in 3 seconds flat. I don't know if my feet even hit the ground I may have just jumped that far. I could see his back and as I got close his leg came out and started kicking. That really scared the s### out of me. I reached the quad and he was pushing it up. Unbelievable. After he climbed out and other people were there I stepped back to grab a quick photo. He was very lucky. He was trying to get between 2 rocks on this steep section and got thrown into the rock on the left as he let off the throttle it went straight up in the air and over his head and slammed him to the ground trapping him under the quad with his head against Z's front tire. Other than a few bruises (probably more the next day) He was fine. After getting the quad upright Roy and Steve became his outriggers on the off camber spot to get it back to the bottom of the hill to see what was damaged. Remarkably there was very little damage. Thank God we all wear helmets. Another testimonial for them.
Mike was having trouble with his 4 wheel drive not engaging on his new Kawasaki 650 Brute force so Steve hooked a strap from his Can-Am to the Kawasaki and pulled him up this bad hill. He did a great job.
Now it was time to get this Grizzly to the top of the mountain. I volunteered to drive (with ropes on) since Chris had been through enough. One thing that was damaged was the 4x4 switch. We could not get the locker to engage. This made for an interesting hill climb as the quad would lunge from one side of the hill to the other. It just was so loose it couldn't seem to get ahold of anything. With some help we made it. By this time Chris was really beat from trying to help push. After a short break Griz climbed back aboard his Griz for a short hill climb to a lunch break spot. Someone noticed a rock that was imbedded into Chris's cooler from the roll.
At this point we made an executive decision to go back the shorter way and by pass the nasty part of Desoto Mine. The only thing was we would have to go up a couple of other steep loose hills to go this way. On the last hill my 4 wheel drive switch decided it didn't want to work so I had to just get ugly like a sport rider to make it up to the top.
After stopping for another break at the 2nd highest point Katt's Polaris would not run. He had to let it cool for a few minutes and then it was fine. Wildbill noticed his frame was broken again on his Polaris 600. He used a ratchet strap to try to secure it. When we got back to the Senator highway Wildbill decided to take it to Crown King and the main road back to the trucks.
We headed back down through the river bed ad came across a garden snake pretending to be a tree branch. As we headed back to the quads Griz saw Katt had a flat tire. Another trail fix for the Polaris guys. It was a side wall puncture. It took 3 plugs plus we lit them on fire to melt them. It must have worked because he made it back to the truck ok.
As we were doing the bypass road around the tough section of Desoto Mine storm clouds were overhead and the wind kicked up. Again Katt's Polaris decided it wanted a short rest.
Finally back to the main road. We all took off and spread out because of the bad dust. You have to watch out on this road because the cars will run you off the road if you don't watch out. We came across a rattlesnake in the road that had been run over. I'm sure he wasn't going to make it but Mike moved him off the road just in case.
Another successful completion for a full days ride 101 miles. Roy was not happy because we were back to the trucks we had gas and it was daylight. As I pulled out of the parking lot he was riding in circles honking his horn and yelling Yeaaaaaaaa Haaaaaaaa!!!!! Can't wait for the next chapter.
Read MoreThere were a couple of new faces for me on this ride with the Outlaws. The list included Roy (RoyD) Don (Azquadrider) Chris (arizonagriz) Bill
(WildBill) Mike (400exdude) Katt (X DA C) Zane (ZZZ) and Steve (Luke). Another great group to ride with. Everyone helps as much as possible whenever a rider need it. We will put this to a test later......
As we head out across the tops of the mountains is sunny and warm. I took us on the 1st leg of the journey so Roy could capture some more GPS coordinates. He is happiest if he gets to add new track every weekend. His wife says he has tracks every day from will nots but that is another story. I almost got suspended for missing 1 trail but they let it go because we only had to back track about 100 yards. Some day Roy will teach me how to use one of those GPS things. As we came to the main road just east of Cleator I lead the group to a mine north of the road. There is a steep hill at the base of the mine. I went to the top and watched a Wildbill made it about 3/4 of the way up and spun out because he forgot to put it in 4 wheel drive. It's not fun having to back down a very steep hill but it turned out ok.
On past Cleator to the Desoto Mine Trail. As you come the 1st part of the trail there is a good off camber section to see how well you trust your steed. Right after this there are several good hill climbs and descents. Everyone made it easily through this section. I thought this is going to be a fun easy day. At the boulder section I took the alt route up and over some boulders. When I landed on top of one large boulder it high centered me and spun my like a top. I had to rock it for the front wheels to grab to pull me over it. Wildbill, Katt and Z followed and made it as well. I had to use Roy's move on the front of Katt's quad to help him get over the high centered boulder. Luke wanted to try out his new beautiful Can-AM 650 Camo Max on some boulders on the streambed. He found out even with the long wheelbase it is possible to get the front end in the air a little higher than he wanted but Griz came in for help just in case. We made it up to the pines for a break where it was a little cooler.
Next stop was Palace station. This used to be an old stage coach station. From here we took the Senator highway around for a loop Roy and I did a few weeks ago. It goes out towards Kirkland Junction and loops back to the Senator Highway.
This section proved to be the toughest for this day. We came to a long steep, nasty, rocky hill climb with a few ruts and ledges thrown in to make you work to get to the top. I went around a couple of guys to get to the top so I could take some photos. As I near Roy I heard him say OH *#*#!!!!! I turned to see Griz's quad wheels up and him folded up under it. I did the 50 yard dash down that nasty hill in 3 seconds flat. I don't know if my feet even hit the ground I may have just jumped that far. I could see his back and as I got close his leg came out and started kicking. That really scared the s### out of me. I reached the quad and he was pushing it up. Unbelievable. After he climbed out and other people were there I stepped back to grab a quick photo. He was very lucky. He was trying to get between 2 rocks on this steep section and got thrown into the rock on the left as he let off the throttle it went straight up in the air and over his head and slammed him to the ground trapping him under the quad with his head against Z's front tire. Other than a few bruises (probably more the next day) He was fine. After getting the quad upright Roy and Steve became his outriggers on the off camber spot to get it back to the bottom of the hill to see what was damaged. Remarkably there was very little damage. Thank God we all wear helmets. Another testimonial for them.
Mike was having trouble with his 4 wheel drive not engaging on his new Kawasaki 650 Brute force so Steve hooked a strap from his Can-Am to the Kawasaki and pulled him up this bad hill. He did a great job.
Now it was time to get this Grizzly to the top of the mountain. I volunteered to drive (with ropes on) since Chris had been through enough. One thing that was damaged was the 4x4 switch. We could not get the locker to engage. This made for an interesting hill climb as the quad would lunge from one side of the hill to the other. It just was so loose it couldn't seem to get ahold of anything. With some help we made it. By this time Chris was really beat from trying to help push. After a short break Griz climbed back aboard his Griz for a short hill climb to a lunch break spot. Someone noticed a rock that was imbedded into Chris's cooler from the roll.
At this point we made an executive decision to go back the shorter way and by pass the nasty part of Desoto Mine. The only thing was we would have to go up a couple of other steep loose hills to go this way. On the last hill my 4 wheel drive switch decided it didn't want to work so I had to just get ugly like a sport rider to make it up to the top.
After stopping for another break at the 2nd highest point Katt's Polaris would not run. He had to let it cool for a few minutes and then it was fine. Wildbill noticed his frame was broken again on his Polaris 600. He used a ratchet strap to try to secure it. When we got back to the Senator highway Wildbill decided to take it to Crown King and the main road back to the trucks.
We headed back down through the river bed ad came across a garden snake pretending to be a tree branch. As we headed back to the quads Griz saw Katt had a flat tire. Another trail fix for the Polaris guys. It was a side wall puncture. It took 3 plugs plus we lit them on fire to melt them. It must have worked because he made it back to the truck ok.
As we were doing the bypass road around the tough section of Desoto Mine storm clouds were overhead and the wind kicked up. Again Katt's Polaris decided it wanted a short rest.
Finally back to the main road. We all took off and spread out because of the bad dust. You have to watch out on this road because the cars will run you off the road if you don't watch out. We came across a rattlesnake in the road that had been run over. I'm sure he wasn't going to make it but Mike moved him off the road just in case.
Another successful completion for a full days ride 101 miles. Roy was not happy because we were back to the trucks we had gas and it was daylight. As I pulled out of the parking lot he was riding in circles honking his horn and yelling Yeaaaaaaaa Haaaaaaaa!!!!! Can't wait for the next chapter.
