Montana Mnt & Hackberry Creek 12-08
We went camping at the Martinez Mine area after Christmas. Jim and Susie plus grandkids along with Ken and Nan plus grandkids and Robert and Laura plus kids joined in the fun. It had been raining for 4 days so we weren’t sure what to expect but the road in was very good and not too muddy. It was quite cold at least by Arizona standards. High in the 50’s and low in the 30’s but we all had campers so life is good.
On Saturday morning a big group of riders, 19 to be exact. Camp by at 7:30 to pick up me and Robert to go for a long ride. We headed out for Montana Mountain. Somehow the group got split up. Steve had a side trail he wanted to show us so 5 of us (Steve, Jeff, Ol Lefty, a guy on a motorcycle and me) headed down a narrow snow lined trail around the mountains. What a gorgeous trail. I had never been on this one before. There were many side trails along the way that need to be explored. There was a few water crossings along the way and even an Indian ruin. This trail circled around to meet up with the main road to Montana Mnt where we met up with the group. As we climbed higher there was lots of snow and ice. I’m sure the motorcycle guy was having quite a time. The views along the way were spectacular with all the snow on the mountains.
After the switchbacks we stopped at the old house for a break. The next part of the trail would take us past a working open pit mine to Oak Flat campground. There was one mishap on this section of trail. One of the riders took a wrong line going over a couple of rock ledges and then hit the throttle until he had to let go because the quad was coming over on him. Thankfully it missed him but it did some substantial damage to the Polaris 500. There was nothing we could do to fix the broken quad on the trail. Something in the wheel was broken and it had about a 6 inch wobble. All we could do was stash it behind some bushes and have him ride in one of the RZR’s. It is nice to have an extra seat along.
Now is where we are about to get off the highway. We are headed for the Hackberry Creek trail. This is a very nasty, technical, steep, boulder strewn trail. To top it off it had snow and ice to make it even trickier. As we approach the 1st big hill I think a lot of riders got a little big eyed, and some got a rush. There were a few riders that opted for the go around which isn’t a walk in the park but it is much easier. Jeff and I headed out 1st so we could get ahead of the heard to get some photos. I stopped at a nasty spot as Jeff went further up the trail. There was a bit of trouble but no one went over. I was coming up a real bad spot and got thrown to the left. My front was high in the air and I could do nothing but hold on. Steve and Roy came to my rescue thank goodness. It took both of them standing on one side to get enough weight to hold down the right side so I could climb over the boulders. As we came down the hill Roy was last and got high centered at the top. Steve and I went to help and I again almost went over. Steve got some extra riding time again. Steve pushed Roy off the rock and we were off.
Just when you think it is over there is another huge boulder hill climb. Waaa Whooo let’s get it on!!! Again some took the go around. What a difference this trail is covered with snow. Everyone made it without any trouble. It is quite a work out wrestling an 800 pound machine through the stuff we were going over.
On the next hill there is a spot where you have to climb over a large boulder next to a small waterfall and make a hard right. To make it safe and easier we used a rope hooked on to the front to keep the machines from going over. Of course there are always those that have to show off that they don’t need a stinking rope like Ball Bearing (Bob) and of course Insane Zane wasn’t going to be outdone. Now we thought we were done but the trail had other ideas. There was more nasty off camber boulder hopping just ahead. It is now about 4:00 PM and everybody was a bit warn out but we still have about 20 miles to get back to camp.
Ol Lefty needed one more tire fill up on his Can-Am 650 max before the ride home. That made it an even 4 tires that went flat all one at a time. After the fill up we headed to the highway where we had a 1 &1/2 mile ride on the pavement to get back to the trails south of Superior. From here we made a fast run for home. I couldn’t believe Roy was going so fast. He never looked back and we made great time. We arrived back at camp just before dark tired, thirsty and hungry.
What a great butt kicker of a ride.
There are also photos of lower and upper Woodpecker towards the end. Insane Zane did some amazing things on his Kawasaki Prairie and on my test machine a Polaris 850 XP.
Read MoreOn Saturday morning a big group of riders, 19 to be exact. Camp by at 7:30 to pick up me and Robert to go for a long ride. We headed out for Montana Mountain. Somehow the group got split up. Steve had a side trail he wanted to show us so 5 of us (Steve, Jeff, Ol Lefty, a guy on a motorcycle and me) headed down a narrow snow lined trail around the mountains. What a gorgeous trail. I had never been on this one before. There were many side trails along the way that need to be explored. There was a few water crossings along the way and even an Indian ruin. This trail circled around to meet up with the main road to Montana Mnt where we met up with the group. As we climbed higher there was lots of snow and ice. I’m sure the motorcycle guy was having quite a time. The views along the way were spectacular with all the snow on the mountains.
After the switchbacks we stopped at the old house for a break. The next part of the trail would take us past a working open pit mine to Oak Flat campground. There was one mishap on this section of trail. One of the riders took a wrong line going over a couple of rock ledges and then hit the throttle until he had to let go because the quad was coming over on him. Thankfully it missed him but it did some substantial damage to the Polaris 500. There was nothing we could do to fix the broken quad on the trail. Something in the wheel was broken and it had about a 6 inch wobble. All we could do was stash it behind some bushes and have him ride in one of the RZR’s. It is nice to have an extra seat along.
Now is where we are about to get off the highway. We are headed for the Hackberry Creek trail. This is a very nasty, technical, steep, boulder strewn trail. To top it off it had snow and ice to make it even trickier. As we approach the 1st big hill I think a lot of riders got a little big eyed, and some got a rush. There were a few riders that opted for the go around which isn’t a walk in the park but it is much easier. Jeff and I headed out 1st so we could get ahead of the heard to get some photos. I stopped at a nasty spot as Jeff went further up the trail. There was a bit of trouble but no one went over. I was coming up a real bad spot and got thrown to the left. My front was high in the air and I could do nothing but hold on. Steve and Roy came to my rescue thank goodness. It took both of them standing on one side to get enough weight to hold down the right side so I could climb over the boulders. As we came down the hill Roy was last and got high centered at the top. Steve and I went to help and I again almost went over. Steve got some extra riding time again. Steve pushed Roy off the rock and we were off.
Just when you think it is over there is another huge boulder hill climb. Waaa Whooo let’s get it on!!! Again some took the go around. What a difference this trail is covered with snow. Everyone made it without any trouble. It is quite a work out wrestling an 800 pound machine through the stuff we were going over.
On the next hill there is a spot where you have to climb over a large boulder next to a small waterfall and make a hard right. To make it safe and easier we used a rope hooked on to the front to keep the machines from going over. Of course there are always those that have to show off that they don’t need a stinking rope like Ball Bearing (Bob) and of course Insane Zane wasn’t going to be outdone. Now we thought we were done but the trail had other ideas. There was more nasty off camber boulder hopping just ahead. It is now about 4:00 PM and everybody was a bit warn out but we still have about 20 miles to get back to camp.
Ol Lefty needed one more tire fill up on his Can-Am 650 max before the ride home. That made it an even 4 tires that went flat all one at a time. After the fill up we headed to the highway where we had a 1 &1/2 mile ride on the pavement to get back to the trails south of Superior. From here we made a fast run for home. I couldn’t believe Roy was going so fast. He never looked back and we made great time. We arrived back at camp just before dark tired, thirsty and hungry.
What a great butt kicker of a ride.
There are also photos of lower and upper Woodpecker towards the end. Insane Zane did some amazing things on his Kawasaki Prairie and on my test machine a Polaris 850 XP.
