June 06 White Mountain ATV Adventure
Day 1 of 3 of our White Mountain adventure. We started out adventure with a bang. Greg and I left camp at 6.:00 AM to go look for Elk. We were riding side beside because the dust was horrible. The main roads behind Big Lake are very smooth and wide. We were within about 3 miles of camp when I saw lots of Elk on the right side. I yelled at Greg and I stopped. He went on to turn around and I hit reverse. As I backed up about 10' my quad had a sudden jolt as I hit a Toyota that was right behind me. It was my fault for not looking but at the same time I wonder why a truck would be that close to someone in that kind of dust. I got a scratch on my muffler but the Toyota was damaged quite a bit. His bumper was bent as was the grill. Another costly lesson learned. Always look behind you before you back up. By the way there was about 100 Elk there and I didn't even get 1 photo. I guess I was a little bummed out. We then went a few miles away and saw another big heard of elk on a hillside with lots of babies. They were a long way away but we could see them good with my binoculars.
On with the adventure. We returned to camp and waited for our guide from Eager. His name is Hank Rogers. He is 4th generation from Eager and riding with him is like having a historian along with you. I wish I would have had a recorder with me so I could remember all the stories. The other riders are Jeff and Jeff, Greg, Vidwiz, Robert, and Laura and family, Mark and Family, and Me, Don. As we were waiting for Hank we continued to set up camp as the kids played. Mark's son was putting a rock on a stick and trying to catapult it into the air but he missed as the rock hit him in the face. Ouch!!! 1st injury but not the last of the biggest.
After a wonderful breakfast thanks to Jeff we headed out. Hank took us to a historical cabin that he said was used by cattle rustlers. He said his Great Grandfather even rode with them some. A couple of the more famous people that used the cabin were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We continued on and stopped at a beautiful overlook of the Black river.
This is where it got quite interesting. Hank was going to take us down to a small natural spring. He said he did not think the Ridge Runner or Polaris Ranger could make it past the large rocks on the trail. Well he was right. Vidwiz went in front of everyone to see if he could make it. The spot wasn't that bad but it was off camber and as he put one wheel on top of a rock on the high side he hit the brakes and rolled over. Fortunately he had a roll cage as he roller over a large rock and ended up on his right side. Thank goodness he was caught by a tree or he would have rolled several more times. He was ok but a little scraped up as he stuck out his arm. Lucky it was only a scrape. After looking over the situation Greg hooked up his snatch block to a tree and I hooked up my winch as well as a safety strap. We had to do some work but were able to free the Ridge Runner from it's predicament.
Next stop was an abandoned fire tower. Some of us had fun climbing to the top and the view was incredible. Robert noticed that his tire on the Ranger was flat. His wife Laura must have hit an errant rock that cut down the sidewall. Robert put in a couple of plugs but couldn't get them to hold. Greg to the rescue again. He asked if anyone had a lighter which I do in my bag. He lit the plugs on fire and then aired up the tire. Sure enough this worked.
Hank then took up on the prettiest part of the ride. We went on a trail alongside a wash to another trail that used to be a railroad track. They buried the track and it is a gorgeous trail through the aspens with ferns galore. I was running tail gunner and almost ran into a couple of turkeys on the trail. Right after this I noticed my rear tire was flat. I couldn't find the hole in my tire and called Greg on the radio. When he arrived I found that I must have hit a rock and bent the rim on the inside of my tire. I pulled my quad up on a log so we could take off my tire and I beat the rim back in place with my hammer. One more thank you to Greg for his help.
We returned back at camp and had a relaxing time. Today's ride took us only 86 miles but we all had a blast. Back at camp Greg had to fix the little quad for the small ones to ride.
After dinner Roy arrived and I thought it was funny to see everyone getting out laptops and GPS units to relive today's ride and get ready for tomorrows adventure.
Read MoreOn with the adventure. We returned to camp and waited for our guide from Eager. His name is Hank Rogers. He is 4th generation from Eager and riding with him is like having a historian along with you. I wish I would have had a recorder with me so I could remember all the stories. The other riders are Jeff and Jeff, Greg, Vidwiz, Robert, and Laura and family, Mark and Family, and Me, Don. As we were waiting for Hank we continued to set up camp as the kids played. Mark's son was putting a rock on a stick and trying to catapult it into the air but he missed as the rock hit him in the face. Ouch!!! 1st injury but not the last of the biggest.
After a wonderful breakfast thanks to Jeff we headed out. Hank took us to a historical cabin that he said was used by cattle rustlers. He said his Great Grandfather even rode with them some. A couple of the more famous people that used the cabin were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We continued on and stopped at a beautiful overlook of the Black river.
This is where it got quite interesting. Hank was going to take us down to a small natural spring. He said he did not think the Ridge Runner or Polaris Ranger could make it past the large rocks on the trail. Well he was right. Vidwiz went in front of everyone to see if he could make it. The spot wasn't that bad but it was off camber and as he put one wheel on top of a rock on the high side he hit the brakes and rolled over. Fortunately he had a roll cage as he roller over a large rock and ended up on his right side. Thank goodness he was caught by a tree or he would have rolled several more times. He was ok but a little scraped up as he stuck out his arm. Lucky it was only a scrape. After looking over the situation Greg hooked up his snatch block to a tree and I hooked up my winch as well as a safety strap. We had to do some work but were able to free the Ridge Runner from it's predicament.
Next stop was an abandoned fire tower. Some of us had fun climbing to the top and the view was incredible. Robert noticed that his tire on the Ranger was flat. His wife Laura must have hit an errant rock that cut down the sidewall. Robert put in a couple of plugs but couldn't get them to hold. Greg to the rescue again. He asked if anyone had a lighter which I do in my bag. He lit the plugs on fire and then aired up the tire. Sure enough this worked.
Hank then took up on the prettiest part of the ride. We went on a trail alongside a wash to another trail that used to be a railroad track. They buried the track and it is a gorgeous trail through the aspens with ferns galore. I was running tail gunner and almost ran into a couple of turkeys on the trail. Right after this I noticed my rear tire was flat. I couldn't find the hole in my tire and called Greg on the radio. When he arrived I found that I must have hit a rock and bent the rim on the inside of my tire. I pulled my quad up on a log so we could take off my tire and I beat the rim back in place with my hammer. One more thank you to Greg for his help.
We returned back at camp and had a relaxing time. Today's ride took us only 86 miles but we all had a blast. Back at camp Greg had to fix the little quad for the small ones to ride.
After dinner Roy arrived and I thought it was funny to see everyone getting out laptops and GPS units to relive today's ride and get ready for tomorrows adventure.
