kirkland Junct Az into the Bradshaw Mnts 03-17-07
Another Great New Adventure. This time there were only 2 original Outlaws (Roy and Don) and 1 Rookie (Jason) to the group. Jason was driving his wife's brand new 07 Grizzly 700 with power steering and EFI. It was a fairly long drive to the staging spot which was Kirkland Junction. We met at McDonalds in Wickenburg at 5:30 Am and played follow the leader to the staging spot. It was a bit on the cool side when we unloaded, about 42 degrees. I almost had to get some cheese out for Roy who was in his shorts but as soon as he started his quad he was over it.
Our 1st destination was a ghost town. I believe the name is Placerville. We found the remains of one building and some other walls but that was about it except for a few mines. Roy had a route planned out to get from Placerville to the Bradshaw Mnts but the main road had a gate across it with no trespassing signs on it. We tried all of the side roads in the area but none went through so we back tracked to the main road and had to ride on pavement for a few miles until we came to a forest service road. This is where Roy surprised me. He changed the route in mid stream and went to plan D right off the bat. Personally I like just taking a trail that goes in the general area I am wanting to ride and see if I can make it through.
Well we made it through all right. There were a few stops to check the maps and GPS to make sure we were heading in the right direction. By now the Bradshaw's were starting to grow. We had gone from desert to manzanita and were looking at pine trees on the mountains. We stopped to survey a nasty hill climb on the trail. Finally a good spot to get a little adrenaline flowing. Roy went up about half way with me right behind him. We had Jason wait for assistance since we had not ridden with him before and wanted to make sure he was safe.
The trail was off camber, loose and had a big rut on the left side. The best way to tackle it was to drop down into the rut and straddle it until you got the ledges. Then you had to jump the front up the ledge and pull yourself up. Well this is where Roy got some extra riding time. He jumped on the side of Jason's new 700 Grizzly for ballast and told him to drop into the rut. It was going well until Jason's front left tire decided to climb the wall, when it got about 2 feet in the air he wasn't sure it was ok and let off the throttle and rolled backwards. Roy wasn't expecting this and lost his grip and fell off. I thought he was going to get run over but he was to quick. After regrouping we put the rope on the front of the Griz and he made it with no problems. There were a few other good hills to climb along the way.
We looped around the tops of the mountains and dropped back down to Senator Highway. We took this to near the top near Crown King. Roy had met a local (Eric) and was getting the lo down on the road closures in the area. Eric said he would take us on a go around to the trail we were looking for. He 1st took us to a peak that is the 2nd highest point in the Bradshaw's. From here you could see the fire that the Forest Service started when they lost control of a controlled burn. Roy was having a good time chatting with our new guide because he knows so many trails in the area. His eyes started to glaze over when he was talking about some real nasty trail he didn't think we could make it through. (I feel another ride in the works.) He took us down a fun nasty spot and I used Montanarider's line. "The only thing funner than going down that trail would be going back up it" It was very loose with some off camber and big boulders thrown in for kicks . As I was at the top I turned around and there was Roy bouncing from side to side throwing rocks and yelling Yeee Haaaaaa. I think he was having fun. Eric on his 2 wheel drive sport quad tried to make it a couple of times but this time the hill won.
Eric took us to the nasty hill we started up and went the other way. We all had fun on this nasty part and a few others on our way down the mountain. I think Jason has a new respect for what his new machine can do. He let me ride it for a while and I have to say the power steering is truly amazing. It is so effortless it feels like you are on ice but the quad responds very well. It is not tippy in the least which was always a problem for the Grizzly. I believe this will be one of the top quads in it’s class if not the top Bear. The power was not as good as I thought it would be but it is not broken in yet. It has plenty of power but not snappy like the Brute Force 650i.
We ended up in a sand wash that snaked through a canyon for about 5 miles that was very fun. This came out back on the main paved road which we took back to the vehicles. It was about 5 miles of pavement.
Another Excellent adventure for the books. Thanks for coming along Jason. Hope you had fun.
Read MoreOur 1st destination was a ghost town. I believe the name is Placerville. We found the remains of one building and some other walls but that was about it except for a few mines. Roy had a route planned out to get from Placerville to the Bradshaw Mnts but the main road had a gate across it with no trespassing signs on it. We tried all of the side roads in the area but none went through so we back tracked to the main road and had to ride on pavement for a few miles until we came to a forest service road. This is where Roy surprised me. He changed the route in mid stream and went to plan D right off the bat. Personally I like just taking a trail that goes in the general area I am wanting to ride and see if I can make it through.
Well we made it through all right. There were a few stops to check the maps and GPS to make sure we were heading in the right direction. By now the Bradshaw's were starting to grow. We had gone from desert to manzanita and were looking at pine trees on the mountains. We stopped to survey a nasty hill climb on the trail. Finally a good spot to get a little adrenaline flowing. Roy went up about half way with me right behind him. We had Jason wait for assistance since we had not ridden with him before and wanted to make sure he was safe.
The trail was off camber, loose and had a big rut on the left side. The best way to tackle it was to drop down into the rut and straddle it until you got the ledges. Then you had to jump the front up the ledge and pull yourself up. Well this is where Roy got some extra riding time. He jumped on the side of Jason's new 700 Grizzly for ballast and told him to drop into the rut. It was going well until Jason's front left tire decided to climb the wall, when it got about 2 feet in the air he wasn't sure it was ok and let off the throttle and rolled backwards. Roy wasn't expecting this and lost his grip and fell off. I thought he was going to get run over but he was to quick. After regrouping we put the rope on the front of the Griz and he made it with no problems. There were a few other good hills to climb along the way.
We looped around the tops of the mountains and dropped back down to Senator Highway. We took this to near the top near Crown King. Roy had met a local (Eric) and was getting the lo down on the road closures in the area. Eric said he would take us on a go around to the trail we were looking for. He 1st took us to a peak that is the 2nd highest point in the Bradshaw's. From here you could see the fire that the Forest Service started when they lost control of a controlled burn. Roy was having a good time chatting with our new guide because he knows so many trails in the area. His eyes started to glaze over when he was talking about some real nasty trail he didn't think we could make it through. (I feel another ride in the works.) He took us down a fun nasty spot and I used Montanarider's line. "The only thing funner than going down that trail would be going back up it" It was very loose with some off camber and big boulders thrown in for kicks . As I was at the top I turned around and there was Roy bouncing from side to side throwing rocks and yelling Yeee Haaaaaa. I think he was having fun. Eric on his 2 wheel drive sport quad tried to make it a couple of times but this time the hill won.
Eric took us to the nasty hill we started up and went the other way. We all had fun on this nasty part and a few others on our way down the mountain. I think Jason has a new respect for what his new machine can do. He let me ride it for a while and I have to say the power steering is truly amazing. It is so effortless it feels like you are on ice but the quad responds very well. It is not tippy in the least which was always a problem for the Grizzly. I believe this will be one of the top quads in it’s class if not the top Bear. The power was not as good as I thought it would be but it is not broken in yet. It has plenty of power but not snappy like the Brute Force 650i.
We ended up in a sand wash that snaked through a canyon for about 5 miles that was very fun. This came out back on the main paved road which we took back to the vehicles. It was about 5 miles of pavement.
Another Excellent adventure for the books. Thanks for coming along Jason. Hope you had fun.
