4th of July at KM.

[Ol'89r]

Short report.

My neighbor, Master Sand Blaster and I got to Fish Creek camp at about 9:30 AM. After seeing some old faces and meeting some new people we suited up and tried to catch up to the group that had already left.

With Bundy and Thumbs leading, we took the Fish and Troy trail to the Mahogany Creek trail and eventually caught up with the group at the Beach trail connector. The trails were surprisingly dry and dusty for Kennedy Meadows.

By the time we got to the Beach trail, I had to adjust my clutch twice. My CRF450 seemed to be geared way too tall or I was riding way too slow or a combination of both. Not too far into the Beach trail, on a rocky uphill secton my clutch started going away again. I tipped over and lost a bunch of coolent and had no adjustment left on the handle.

Well, that was pretty much the end of my day. I turned around and hoped I had enough clutch to get back to camp. :bang: Looks like I may have to revive the Ol' XR Valdeze for these types of trails.

My neighbor went a little farther and remembering that I had the keys to the truck decided to turn back to make sure I made it back ok. :ohmy:

We got back to camp and loaded up just as a thunderstorm started moving in. By the time we had the bikes loaded, it was raining some pretty big drops. We figured the group wouldn't be back for a while since the infamous KiwiBird was leading the fray so, we sat around camp for a little bit and talked to Scar, Eel, 2strokin' and Oldandslo then headed for home. Got to see Boodac just before we left.

All in all it was a long drive for such a short day but, it was great seeing everyone and meeting Farmer John, GETMETOCA, Kelso, and all. Sorry I missed seeing Placelast.

I can't wait to hear the full version of this ride report because as we were leaving it looked like the storm was over where the group was heading. Maybe the smoked clutch was a good thing after all. ;)

Great to see Speedy and Eddie. Since they came all the way from the mid-west, I figured the least we coud do was come up from Corona. Sorry we didn't get to visit with you guys more but since Kiwi was leading the group, we didn't figure you would be back for a long, long time.

And now, the rest of the story.

Ol'89r

 

[JWW]

Sorry to hear about your bike.

Now lets hear the rest of them.

 

[MrLuckey]

Here is a link to a few pictures, I'll be back later to give the ride report.

PICTURES

FYI those pics are reduced in size and quality due to the fact that I don't have much web space. If anyone wants the full size pics just let me know which ones and give me an e-mail address.

 

[kelsorat]

Nice pics Ed. Glad you and Speedy made it home OK

 

[MrLuckey]

Okay I'll give it my best shot. First BIG TIME thanks to Kiwi, Chris, Natalie, Bundy and Tony for the use of bikes, camper and everything else we needed. You guys ROCK.

Aimee and I left her moms house in Pasadena Fri. morning around 6:30 am (woohoo an early start). Before we even made it to Mojave I had a fever, body aches and the chills). I hate flying and breathing everyones elses germs. The drive up was pretty uneventful until a few minutes after we turned onto 9 mile. We were behind a diesel pickup pulling a big trailer which was already going slow and we hadn't yet hit the grade. We agreed that passing them now would save us from being stuck behind them for 30 mountain miles so Aimee Andretti (hereafter referred to as AA) blew by them before the going got tricky. Next thing you know we are being stalked by 'big diesel', he is on our butt at every opportunity. We'd get a lead going downhill but it would evaporate on every uphill. Finally a slow moving toyota appears in front of us and it was apparent that if we could somehow make the pass, 'big diesel' would play hell getting around with his trailer. AA again shows her driving prowess and we are once again pulling away. The pressure of 'big diesel' must have got to 'toy' as he then put the pedal to metal and gave chase. One short straight away the 'big diesel' dispatched of 'toy' and was once again on our tail. (whats up with this guy). We rolled into the campground, parked and started chatting with all our great friends (mentioning 'big diesel' and his antics). Hey, that looks like Bombadier. Hey, that's a big diesel he'd driving and pulling a big trailer :laugh: Neither of us knew it was the other on the way up so we laughed about that all weekend.

.......> Part 2 to follow

 

[scar tissue]

We had a great time as always. This year, IMO, was much better than last year. The weather was perfect not hot at all. I'll post more later here are some pics.

Our kids in the creek, Placelast on little horse trial.

 

[scar tissue]

more pics

Camp Scar, The Bundettes on a trail ride, and teh kids fish creek swimming party. ( 2strokes family, Kim, DJ and Cole, Eels girlfriend Rona, my Family Lori, Jake and Joey, Bundy's Family AKA the Bundettes Amy Brenna, and Delany, and Thumbs girlfriend Julie.)

 

[scar tissue]

more.

FYI these are really small due to the file size limits o DRN if anyone wants the full size shot just email me. [email protected]

Scar and Mini Scar 9,430 ft up. Plus the Bundettes on our Monache trail ride to the Kern river.

 

[scar tissue]

Camp Scar, with Jake and the Bundettes

 

[scar tissue]

DRN'ers on a hike to Bald Mountian lookout 9,400 ft up.

And 2strokes wonderful family

 

[MrLuckey]

After the proper amount of chatting and getting settled a handful of the early arrivals decided to go for a short ride. I believe it consisted of Kiwi, Chris, OldNSlow, Bombadier and myself. Of course as tradition has it, jackass was the starting point. We made a nice little 2 hour tour up and around and back to camp to see who else might have pulled in. Within an hour or so it was evident that my earlier flu symptoms were coming back. Fever, extreme chills, body aches bleh. Every morning and night would turn out to be the same, while during the day they subsided just enough to let me meander along with FJ riding sweep with the occasional "emergency stop, rip off the helmet and hope to puke stop". It's the sickest I've been in years and the ONLY time I've ever felt so crappy but still have a fantastic time. One heck of a testament to how great the SoCal group is and how much I love all you folks. At some point the Scar clan, Kelsorat, and the Thumbs/Bundy clan pulled in and we were well on our way to another epic weekend. I'll just say here that we got to meet 2Stroke4Fun, OldnSlo, Kelsorat and Boodac and they are great additions to the SoCal group. I can't wait to hang out with you guys when I don't feel as if I am on deaths doorstep.

Friday night saw us devouring tri tip, linguine with clam sauce and way too much other delicious food. Tim built us all a nice fire and most headed for some much needed early sleep.

Saturday morning came and you would have thought breakfast was being catered by Spagos. Between Natty, Aimee and Chris, nobody wanted for food all weekend including Kota the 'canine eating machine'. I love that dog!

By the time a group was heading out Saturday, Placelast, Eel, Boodac, 89'r and friend, porkchop and I believe everyone else who I might have left out was on the scene. Great riding followed you can be sure but I'll let others cover that. I woke up every morning saying no way could I even gear up, but ended up doing it just to hang out with my friends. It really was all I could do to hang out at the back of the pack playing like I was sweeping and hoping to be able to limp back to camp before expiring for good. This trip was to be about seeing my friends, making some new ones and hanging out.

...> Part 3 to follow

 

[placelast]

Kennedy Meadows

This one’s for CPTJack & Woodsy

R2s, Shorty and I left home at noon, and a few hours later into the drive, was able to observe thunderclouds above the southern tip of the Sierras, near Tehachapi (Tah-hatch-ah-pea.) Some big raindrops landed on the windshield. We arrived at Fish Creek Campground just past 5 o’clock, and while making it around the paved loop; our progress was stopped by a parked ranger’s vehicle. After finishing up a conversation with some campers, he approached and asked to inspect the bikes for plates and spark arresters. “Help yourself”. He says to me “You look tired”, and with a new map and short Q&A we continued looking for a site moreover DRNers.

Finding the crew arrayed in the usual setting, we said our hellos and settled in a site not far from the entrance; GSR had used the spot to park but had setup elsewhere, and welcomed us to use it and save space for her Explorer.

As food is on the mind of teenage boys, dinner was started and on the stove while setting up camp. Upon swallowing the chow, we joined the campfire crowd for evening conversation, except for r2s, being a shy one.

Let’s see if I can capture the attendees: Scar and wife with two little Scars (those boys can sure hit that b'ball); neighbor Gus, wife and cute daughter; Eddie & Aimee; Natalie, Kelso Rat, Dirtjunkie, Farmer John, Thumbs & friend; (post midnight-arriving) Bundy & wife w/two girls; 2strok4fun w/wife and 2 small strokes (fun kids); Kiwi and (me put big foot in mouth: I met you last year?) friend. Did I miss anyone? Sorry if I had. Oh, and sorry to miss Ol’89r, and Boodac.

Getmetoca offered some leftovers and I volunteered HR2s and Shorty lest such fine and scrumptious chow go to waste. Thanks - they thought it was outrageous, although with Shorty it’s not cool to tell dad?! My only regret is they may not have followed through in offering cleanup-assist duties. Did they? (Uh, I forgot, dad.)

Eventually the conversations lean towards who’s riding what trails and decisions about which groups to join the following day of riding.

As midnight approached it was time to turn it in to rest for the morning’s ride. It’s difficult to do so earlier with the presence and fine conversation of DRNers and guests.

Scar Tissue (WR250F) and I (RMX) were up early, then Old and Slow (XR400R), 2strok4fun (250 E/XC) and lastly Kelso Rat (300 M/XC) – we were to do a loop consisting of Beach, Little Horse, Albanita and Granite/Broder Trails by driving to a remote drop off point. Kelso decided to stay behind and sort out jetting. The first half of our morning led us to Os Meadows and back.

My two sons cut a deal; they share the KDX - and Shorty went first, though he had a few difficulties (thanks for the assist, guys) but eventually got into the groove despite his rustiness and short stature on a grownup’s-sized bike. Fading back to keep an eye on him, I was unaware of how the others fared, other than Scar stopping once or twice to record our passing on film. One of the rocky photo-ops caught me in classic spode form: feet out, paddling over a large boulder. (Dang! No standup, elbows out, head-over-# plate pose.) Shorty needed some help in an uphill hairpin, which looped around a sapling, and his brother of course just had to tell him how to whip around those once we were back at the staging area; maybe by next year he’ll have grown enough to dab where needed to clear the more difficult sections like these and others. Although this is my fifth consecutive summer, I later read this loop is black diamond – a bit beyond his skill set but just as well for his development.

The soil was well on the dry side but by spacing things out a bit made a difference. A quick 15 miles of weaving through the pines and aspens – with meadows and water crossings thrown in for good measure, and we were back at the pickups for a recharge before heading down to Monache Meadow. Scar and 2s4fun mentioned having an hour before they needed to head back, and were going to turn around ½ hour in. It was r2s’ turn to carry the rear.

As we headed east Scar set a reasonable clip, and at one time I pondered the chase in spite of the dust. My thought upon catching up and seeing him riding fast by sitting on the seat(!) was a surprise and could have been a front to my challenge (after all, how can a guy ride thus sitting?), until I remembered him saying the night before of being a sit-down rider. Good riding dude.

Before Powell and Smith Meadows they turned around, whilst oe&S, r2s and I headed further in towards the Monache 4wt/Granite split; this has to be one of the finest areas – just north of the paved road crossing – where the soil changes from sandy to that with more clay/organic-material content (less dust) as it weaves between a long stand of aspens. A quick right and we were about to approach Monache Meadow proper.

Stopping on one ridge we see a big herd of cattle, along with some ranch hands. As such it seemed courteous to turn around, not wanting to disturb matters. Before leaving we took photos of r2s going through a sandy whoop section with Broder Meadow as a backdrop. O&S offers to snap a photo of me doing the same, and I take him up on it. As we finished the photo session, one last look reveled the cattle had move on; therefore we continued north. Before last rise, we had to cross Soda Creek, and it was dry - a first in five years.

Monache Meadow is always a welcomed site. There were other folks (less than ½ -dozen to be seen, even in the distance) spread about the expanse here and there, some fishing and others riding 4wds and quads. The water was axle deep - lowest by far. As such, coupled with the presence of others who are more familiar with the ideal fishing holes, I decided not to return later in the day as an angler on this South fork of the Kern River.

We took the 4wd trail back to avoid a rocky, chewed-up section of trail, and ended up with 35 miles on the odos.

Now it was decision time as to where best to ride and fish. When talking to the ranger the day before it was disappointing to discover the two trails which would have greatly eased access to access Bonita Flat – my former spot of fishing and catching of many trout - turned out to be for horses only these days. So with the recommendation of oe&S we drove as far as possible on access roads and a connector to Rattlesnake Trail.

It didn’ta take much to notice the high clouds while unloading, with the big gray canopy to the east. We then descended a steep 1 ½-mile connector of Beach Trail to Rattlesnake Trail. My how have things changed: the fire of a few years ago, which allegedly started by a backpacker’s campfire in the Dome Land Wilderness, spread and brought much destruction/devastation here; it’s like oe&S said: you either log it or it burns.

The 7-mile black-diamond ride down was a challenge as Shorty and I haven’t paired up for a few years; nonetheless was doable as long as I stayed in the lower gears, and monkey butt a small price to pay for remote alpine fishing opportunities. For some reason, the two difficult rock sections of the way in escaped memory, although the experience of the flooded creek beds remained.

We arrived at Bonita Flat to the scene of something quite different than memory of a couple decades before. In the presence of once-mighty-now-charred pines, the undergrowth had taken over the creek, although not the steep slopes. And as consequence water temperature rise, as does silt runoff; thus with the absence of clean and cool conditions, the trout population apparently disappeared – this was not a day nor place for fishing – so sorry, boys.

While scouting out the few up and downstream pools, distant thunder could be heard and a few flashes witnessed. Less than a minute into our return leg it began to sprinkle alarmingly-large drops, then the gates opened and it began to pour: I wondered with the lack of vegetation to hold soil on the steep inclines if we could become trapped by flash flood (insert Extreme Clear Creek memories here) or slides. At times hail would interrupt the rain; BA-sized ice balls went “tick…tick, tick” on my visor and arms. Small streams of runoff formed on the trail, creeks sprung out of nowhere, and everywhere pools formed, although traction certainly picked up; it was a strange mixture of fun and fright, as you would understand.

As we trudged along, we came to the inevitable: the two forgotten rock sections. Both were difficult going down, when dry, and we had gravity on our side; going up it worked against us, along with wet tires. I took both bikes up and over both locations, but not without assistance on the second, where we had some lift, tug, and rolling to do so. By this time we were soaked. Oh, and we were wearing flow-through gear. Negotiating the trail with fogged-up goggles/glasses proved risky and a gamble, and they eventually had to come off if we were to continue. Our final arrival at Beach Trail provided emotional relief, and the 1 ½ miles of black-diamond uphill a piece-o-cake for r2s as he tractored right up; it was a different story for Shorty and me on the 250 since it began knocking (from?) lost coolant or way-off jetting via the increased humidity, or that coupled with the combined 300-lb passenger/operator weight. While loading up one of us mentioned what a hoot it was to ride in the rain, and it looked like the pickup went through a carwash.

Arriving back at camp before sunset allowed my sons to wander and fish Fish Creek while I kept an eye on the spaghetti cooking on the stove. The trip down Rattlesnake Trail was beginning to take it’s toll as there wasn’t much motivation in my movement the rest of the evening; a fixture with minimum participation. Me tired. Although good conversation could be had, with The Eel and Rhona and Eel’s sister and friend, 10pm being a early closing of an adventuresome day for this old, beaten body.

Waking up at 4am wasn’t part of the plan nonetheless occurred, and after an hour of turning with a newfound small bruise on my calf, I decided to give up and start the day with breakfast, and packing for our return trip. Leaving at 7am afforded few goodbyes other than a wave to Kelso and Dirtjunkie.

On the way down the Tehachapi pass there was this homegrown billboard calling my name re: a fruit stand at the base of the mountains. We stopped and bought some nectarines, peaches, grapes and of course a watermelon for the 4th. Up to that point of being stirred at that stop, my sons caught even more sleep, and thereafter took in the rows upon rows of vineyards, dairy farms, and cotton and cornfields up to Maricopa. Near Ballinger Canyon we stopped for some pistachios, and could not have felt better than to pull in to home at 1pm. Whattatrip!

 

[2strok4fun]

I had a great time! My kids didnt want to leave. I am totaling bike damage and doctor bills (damn dedcuctable)

Ill report more later, no time now.

 

[thumbs]

I had a great time and it was nice to see everyone again.

Did anyone pick-up a big yellow flashligh? I think I left it at the campfire on Saturday night.

I'll post more later.

 

[scar tissue]

More report.

We really had a great time. For the 2nd year I joined placelast on his drive up and drop in ride. We do this to spend more time on the more remote trails. They were great as always. The 250f was running good, and I loved my new trail bike only set up. (Inspired by Jokers 250f) Thanks. It definantly got the yammy back off the chopping block. For now anyway.

The ride started out great, chasing 2stroke through the trees and brifly waiting at all the splits and crossings for shorty to catch up. We took turns beeing the sweep rider and leader. we kept ourselves spread out enough to keep the dust down. We hit those trails at a pretty good clip, Shorty did a good job keeping the pace and got better as the day wore on. Some areas I thought he would crash, he made with ease. Other areas I thought he'd breeze through hung him up. He got quicker at picking it back up and restarting through out the ride. :cool: I look forward to seeing some off the picture Placelast snapped off.

Those trails were perfect. Rocks dirt, trees, water, logs, what else could you ask for. We came up to a littel section and straightened 2strokes bars back out with a pipe we found. (bent from the previous days get off) We got back to the truck and Shorty and R2, switched up.

We had about an hour left before I promised the wife and kids we'd be back to cook up a late lunch. We were having so much fun I didn't want to quit but after last year pulling a "we'll be gone for 2-3 hours max" and rolling in 6.5 hours later, I figured I try to be on time this year. :cool:

We headed out down the trail with 2 stroke on my tire to stay out of the dust. With my bike, I graciuosly rearranged some of the rocks for him to hit :laugh: Wasn't that nice of me. :p We rode for about 30 minutes in this loop with waiting up at all the splits. I ask 2 stroke if hewants to go back and he says lets go a little further as it would be jsut the 2 of us railing back. Down this real fun trail we go and about the 40 minute mark we say our goodbyes to Placelast, Greg and R2. 2stroke and I took off back at a rapid pace and made it in 20 minutes. Nice riding!

We made it back and had a nice day with the family hitting the bald mountain lookout hike to 9430 feet and a little texas hold em tourney that the Bundys cleaned up in.

Sunday the crew left on a ride and I stayed to play with the kids. We went swimming in fish creek 2strokes family, Bundys family and Eels girlfriend joined us. We spent most of the AM down there.

After lunch we loaded up again to do a kids ride through Monache 4 wheel drive road to the kern river. Amy, Brenna, Delany and my son Jake squished into my crew cab and off we went . In about 15 minutes we were at the trail head. Off we went. The road was easy in the beginning and got harder the kids did great. We came across kiwi, eel and kelsorat out on the trail. stopped and said hi. (although I was wondering why they were on the beginner 4 wheel drive trail, no sandbagging on the trail rides please.) :think:

We came acroos some herds of cattle on the trail. the kids got a big kick out of it. We came around a corner and were 20 ft from a few bulls . It kind of got your attention. The heard moved on and we continued to the river. I rode each of the kids back and forth across the river a few times. I got a whole bunch of giggles ot of it.

The rest of the trip was great. This was probrably my best trip up there. I've always had a good time but the weather, the company and everything was perfect. It was great to see everyone.

Only 360 days to go until next year.

 

[scar tissue]

I had a great time and it was nice to see everyone again.

Did anyone pick-up a big yellow flashligh? I think I left it at the campfire on Saturday night.

I'll post more later.

Thumbs we have your flashlight and 2stroke we have your telescoping marshmellow cookers. I'll bring them out to our next ride unless you like to hook up to pick them up sooner.

 

[dirtjunkie]

Kennedy Meadows

WOW what a great 4 days we had! There is no place like Kennedy Meadows. The people, the food, the riding, I had a real hard time packing the trailer up and heading down 9mi to the flatlands again.
Me & the "eating machine" Kota dog went up Wed. night.
Arrived around midnight and the only ones there were KiWi & Louise and they must have been asleep cuz he didn't hear my horn or the diesel motor as I pulled in and leveled my trailer. Next day set up and coffee looking over the beautiful meadow at Fish Creek. So I said to myself shall I ride or nap, or nap and ride. The latter made more since, then a nice warm up ride the first day. The second day more of the same just chillin and greeting new arrivals. Eddie & Aimee showed up in a Ford Exploder chased up the hill by the Bombardier in a truck pulling a 26 ft trailer (that's so sad, she drives like an old lady)
Then on Saturday Bombardier invites me on a sort 103 mi. pleasure ride down to Kernville. Leaving at about 11:00 am dropping about 3500 feet or so. Then after lunch up the dreaded Rincon trail which I had heard many campfire stories about and even seen parts of this fine piece of real estate ( I should have known better) After taking my helmut and using it as a bucket to soak myself at the last creek crossing aka "point of no return" we started up the "fun part". Lets just say you could have picked up a 450 real cheap at a couple of slight uphills during the next few miles. With a little help, me and "loopie" (my bike) finally made it past the "fun section" and the rest of the ride was awesome. Arriving at camp around 8:00 pm that night.
Thanks to Pork Chop and his fine machining, my new KTM cooling fan worked very well.
Sorry I have no pictures of the Rincon trail you'll just have to go see it for yourself.
Great trip!
See ya'll next year!
PS Kota says bring more food next time!

 

[NVR FNSH]

PS Kota says bring more food next time!

I'm pressing charges - that dog's a thief. I'm bringing chainmail gloves next time......

Good to see everybody - only wish I could have brought my bike and stayed longer.

Brian

 

[2strok4fun]

Another KM trip in the books

This year (my second DRN-KM trip) I brought the family and rented a trailer to have a more comfortable place to sleep and limit trips to the stink hole. I should add that my wife Kim, while less than enthused to go camping with strangers while I go out and have fun and somtimes less than pleased with me :ohmy: was really impressed with the group and the quality of people involved.

We left home about 1p on thursday and got there about 6ish. A leisure night is spent around the campfire that Boodoc & clan has made and my wife and I do hot dogs on a stick over the fire, somthing the kids have been waiting to do all week, I do manage to forrage some leftover cheese garlic bread from camp Boodoc (cant let too much good food just go the fire) Mmmm.

Morning comes and I join a ride with Boodoc and nephew Nick, brother Bill, and I think son Chris and daughter (I forgot name) We ride out Beach ridge connect to Albinita, Little Horse, Black Rock Mtn?, Granite broder, Albinata, Jack ass to camp. The order sorted out, Nick (fast boy 125) Me then Bill with the others trailing a little further behind. I think it was around Little horse that Nick, Bill and I split from the group and ride ahead of the others at a fast pace set by the youthful one. What a fun ride as Little horse always is. We get to the north end and split off down Blackrock mtn. The pace is quick and fun and I am only able to reel in Nick here and there. While traversing an uneventful whoop section I encounter a small log in the gully of one of the whoops. I am not sure exactly what happend, but the bike kicked a 90, struck somthing solid and I was airborn at approx 30+ mph. I fly thru the air with enough time to notice the bike flipping wildly while I take the "tuck the football in and dive into the endzone" position. I hit the ground hard on a slight uphill, 5 more feet of flying would have got me to the crest. After a few second of taking inventory, I realise that I havent broken any arms or legs but my right side is smarting. A couple minutes behind Bill pulls up and helps me back under way. Imediatly noticable is a severly bent pro-taper, the throttle side turnd down a good bit. I manage to make it to camp at a much subdued pace. Back at camp some motrin and a Sam Adams seem to help.

More had arrived by campfire time that friday evening and camp Scar was in place. My boys had a good time playing with the little Scars, Jake and Joe. Placelast had arrived with 2 of his in tow and comes bearing gifts, Santa Placelast :cool: . Some beers, some wine, some motrin, some good campfire chatting and Im feeling pretty good. Ride plans develop for the follwoing day, yeah Im in......

Saturday morning and Scar allready dressed to ride knock on my door to wake me up and see if Im in for the ride. I dress, fuel up and roll down to camp Scar and load up in Scars truck. Kelsorat, Placelast with shorty and reluctant 2stroker, Scar and I head out to the drop in point. Surprisingly physically I feel pretty good and am able to "re-learn" my new handlebar bend. Ride went as described earlier, fun. We did some trailside engineering with a 4' section of square tube found along the trail, thanx crew, the bars are closer to normal now. :)

more later...............

 

[Boodac]

Hey it was great meeting the clan. I tried to play good dad most of the weekend since the daughters heading off to college this August. We arrived Wednesday night and went for a ride to Cedar and Rincon. I’ve never done these trails before and they were a little too challenging for the boy so we turned back before the Rincon cutoff. I need to finish that ride because what I did see sure looked like fun.
The kids, brother, nephew and Chris (2strok4fun) went on a fun loop around Oso Meadow. You have no idea how much restraint it took to hold me back from riding with the big boys instead of staying behind with the kids. The kids and I fell a distance behind but eventually caught up with the three speed demons back at camp. All I heard was how 2strok4fun decided to try his old high school gymnastics techniques out on the trail. :laugh: From the sound of it and the looks of the bent Pro Tapers, that was one goooooddddddd crash. I forgot to tell you 2strok4fun; I gave up trying to stay up with the Nick (nephew) many moons ago. That boy can flat out fly.
Other than getting up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to ride with the nephew and brother the rest of the weekend was spent dad/kid riding. The last ride Saturday afternoon couldn’t have been any better with the rain and lightning. That really helped with the dust. Other than the boy and I, the rest of the clan split late Saturday night.
Thanks for welcoming me around your fire guys. It was great to finally put some faces to the names on the board. I couldn’t help but think that we passed a few in the group while on rides, especially coming back on Mahogany Saturday morning.
2strok4fun, it was great meeting the wife and family. It was also good to see two old faces I havent seen in a long time like Scar & Ol89er. 89er, I figured you were stuck in some Mexican prison seeing as you have been absent from the seen so long. MrLuckey, good to finally meet you and the Mrs. I could see you really miss the Calif smog by the nausea. Thats Calif cruel way of saying welcome back. :laugh:

I look forward to riding with the group on the next ride.

 

[the Eel]

We had an awesome weekend - and like Scar said, this was also the best time I've had at KM so far. Just the right mix of people, activities, weather, etc. ... really great. You all make a great sport that much better !

This year my sister Adrienne and her boyfriend Neal joined Rhona and I. Adrienne and Neal don't ride but they were excited to camp, especially Adrienne since she hasn't camped since we (the Elliott family) used to rough it back on the east coast - we were just kids then. She probably hasn't slept on the ground in 20 years !

We drove up in two cars on Saturday morning, making good time with a brief stop in Mojave for gas and wood. We arrived around 11:30 AM at the Fish Creek campground and found a nice shady spot to call home for the weekend. We said a few hellos as people meandered around the loop and eventually got lunch together and took it over to Scar's place. New folks we met included 2stroke4fun's family, as well as Gus and Lisa. Plus many of the usual suspects were there as well, with the rest already out riding for the day.

We lunched on some tasty Emeril sausages on rolls, with mustard and onions. Real good stuff. After chatting for awhile, we headed back to our campsite for a bit. Scar had pre-arranged a trip up to the fire observation tower, so we were gonna join up with everyone around 4:30 PM for a drive / hike up to the tower. That was a great plan except it started raining pretty hard and there was alot of thunder and lightning ... not a good mix for a climb up the observation tower ! Rhoney and I hung around while Adrienne and Neal napped. But the rain passed and eventually we made the trip. It was neat ... but a bit scary to climb the tower with it being so windy. When we arrived at the top the observation guy was bustin' my chops since he had seen my two-handed death grip on the rails as I had ascended. There's no doubt he's a good observer, maybe a little too good !!

That night we cooked up some steak on a little grill over the open fire. After a delicious and satisfying meal we headed over to Scar's again for the evening's festivities - which included a poker tournament !! The night was spent learning how to play poker and enjoying everyone's company around the community firepit. After many laughs and libations we headed back to our campsite by flashlight, since even thousands of stars couldn't light our way back through the pitch black woods.

I slept terribly that night, never able to get comfortable. But at least it wasn't too cold and Rhona seemed to have slept well enough. Sunday meant one thing - TRAIL RIDING ! I hooked up with a big group for a tour of the woods - Kiwi, Eddie, Aimee, Natalie, Farmer John, KelsoRat, Porkchop, Thumbs, and 2stroke. I think there were others as well but it's hard to keep track with so many ... needless to say we had a great group. Poor Eddie looked like a ghost being sick and all ... but he soldiered on anyway. It was a treat hearing Aimee rave about how good the Kiwi's Gas Gas was in the woods (no pun intended ya stinky New Zealander). :ride:
Most people just don't realize how good these bikes are in the tight. It's where they really shine.

We went for a nice ride up to a cabin and ate lunch, after which we split into two groups, well three if you count Eddie and Thumbs, who decided to do a little extracurricular exploring of their own. :think: After awhile Kiwi, Porkchop, Kelso and I took off for an extended tour. What followed was an awesome combo of rocky single-track, tree-infested slaloms, and the occasional stair step-stair step-stair-step !! :aj: I chased Kiwi, I chased Porkchop ... they took turns leading our blast through the woods ... only occasionally stopping so we could "catch our breath". Along the way we saw a sand dune in the middle of the woods and somewhere out there Kelso lost his mojo (no worries Scott it'll be back in a few hours). :cool: The riding was killer. We put in about 50 brisk miles all told. An awesome day of trailriding ! Thanks guys. :)

More to follow ... gotta go get something to eat !

 

[GETMETOCA]

What a GREAT time!! Kennedy Meadows was awesome, but as many others have stated, it was the people that brought it all together...you peeps are the BEST! I was also excited about meeting some new people from DRN this ride.

Farmer John picked me up in Modesto at 6:15 am, I was not quite ready to go and answered the door in my robe :yikes: He started loading my bike and gear and I finished getting ready and helped him with the last details of of the tie downs. We're off! Okay, but first I ask Farmer John if we can stop at Star Bucks on the way out of town. He's down with that, and actually, Farmer John is such an easy-going guy he throws in that we can stop whenever I need to, A/C is my call, any music I want to listen to....wow!

Two hours later we stop in Tulare County for breakfast at Dennys and have a leisurely meal of Ultimate Omelettes and pig meat sides. We get to Mojave and stop at the KTM dealer, get some gas, and then stop at the StaterBrothers grocery store for food items. I've got my list so we grab a cart and get to work. In the produce section, I ask Farmer John to go get some broccoli while I bag some red peppers. How many? he asks. "three" I say. I turn around to find Farmer John standing next to the cart holding three robust heads of broccoli and perplexed look on his face. I have to teach him how to put them in the little plastic bags since he does not do the grocery shopping at his house ;) Farmer John turns out to be a great Cart Pusher, however, and we get the rest of the shopping done expeditiously.

On the long hill drive up to KM, the truck overheats and we have to pull over and add water to the radiator. NVR FNSH pulls up just as we are ready to go again and since I have not seen him in "ages" I hop in his truck to gab and catch up during the remaining jaunt to the campsite. We get to Fish Camp and see Aimee and get to meet Kiwi's woman Louise and then I meet Scars Clan and thier other friends as well.

I get to work setting up my kitchen and my tent. In a little while, Kiwi, Eddie, Dirtjunkie and a few others return from a ride they are on. Eddie is not feeling well at all and appears to have the flu :( Later I meet new faces 2Stroke4Fun, Bombadier and family members. Is it my imagination or are ALL the little kids in this DRN group especially cute?

I make a Captain Morgan cocktail and get to work on dinner which is Linguine and Clam Sauce and BBQ Salmon. Dirtjunkie and Eddie work on a Tri Tip and some Salad and together we create a meal with plenty to share. Tomorrow morning we ride!!

More later.......

 

[the Eel]

... now that I've eaten at least 3 times, back to the report.

Speaking of food - GETMETOCA is not only an avid trailrider but an avid and talented chef as well. Several rounds of applause for the incredibly tasty breakfasts she whipped together. Thanks Nat !

So ... after the Saturday ride I got back, cleaned up my dirty face, and ate dinner with Neal, Adrienne and Rho-Rho. Adrienne and Neal had spent Saturday hiking and Rhona hung out with the ladies, the munchkins, and Tim. :laugh:

Neal and Adrienne headed out after dinner ... and Rhona and I headed over for a night of hijinks around Kiwi's huge-mongous community firepit from hell. Nice fire.

Anyway ... we had another great night of laughs around the fire and by Monday it was over ... for us at least. Headed home early ... already looking forward to next year, or earlier.
Thanks for a great time !

 

[ScottYZ250]

man am I sorry I missed this one. Sounds like you all had a great time!

 

[GETMETOCA]

Okay, the rest of the ride report!

Saturday morning is a leisurely start. I get to work on the coffee pot and give Aimee a hard time about her Chorizo and Egg Burritos (which were DELICIOUS, but you know I cannot have two cooks in the same vicinity without a little barb here and there ;) ) Hey Eel, thanks for the props btw!!

We get a group together by 10:30 am to go ride trails, Kiwi is leading. I FINALLY get to meet Ol'89er and he is a warm and friendly soul for sure, with just the right amount of spark and mischievousness, as I somehow expected :debil: Eddie is still not feeling well. So its Kiwi, Aimee, Eddie, Me, and Farmer John. Others take a more difficult route but we all meet up on similar trails about an hour and a half later. I can't even remember the names of the trails we took that day or what order we took them in. Mahogany, Beach, Rattlesnake, Monache? They were all loads of fun. I had a lot of trouble on one section of Beach with a rocky step up.

I remember Aimee almost going over the side of trail and I remember the scene in Lion King where the Lion is perched on a rock overhang overlooking the kingdom. I was about 30 yards downtrail from her I had a pretty good view of her zinging off to the left. I don't think she actually knew there was NOTHING underneath that rock ledge she somehow found herself almost going over :eek:

I ended up cramming my front headlight assembly and front fender into a rock crevice thingy. I broke the plastic on the headlight and dislodged the headlight mounting. It took me, Kiwi, and Farmer John to get by bike dislodged from that mishap, but after that all was well. Poor Ol'89er was heading back as he had no clutch, bummer.

We joined Bundy and Thumbs on the remaining trails that day. All were a lot of fun. On the way back I was heading up this rocky uphill section of Rattlesnake and all of the sudden Aimee is coming up along side of me, roosting past me, leaving me in a swirl of dust and rocks. Must have been my comments about the Chorizo and Eggs. I'M SORRY!!!!!!! :joke: ;)

Sunday's ride was about 45 miles of Jackass Trail. More people on this ride today. Lots of fun. I had trouble on the switchbacks and required assistance but the rocky trails were mostly fun and the meadow was a weird single track rut that was also fun until I almost lost control in the cow poo. We lunched at this old cabin across the river then headed back.

I had fun riding back down Jackass with MXBundy, Dirtjunkie and FarmerJohn. I felt like I was hanging out with the "fast guys" but in reality, they were keeping an eye on me and going at my pace. This portion of the trail was incredibly fun for me.

Sunday night is a dinner of BBQ Chicken and later on Julie makes us S'more's around Kiwi's campfire. I haven't had a Smore since I was a girlscout and that was a LONG time ago! Monday morning is a nice leisurely breakfast with Eel and Rhona, Kiwi, Julie and Thumbs, Farmer John. I get to take a shower in the trialer and I emerge a new woman. Farmer John and I head back down the hill at 1 PM. I'm feeling lucky and want to buy a lottery ticket so we stop in the Podunk Farming Community off HWY 99 (that's where all the big winners buy there tickets) and get my $10 worth.

What a fun weekend, I'll go to Kennedy Meadows anytime! Thanks to everyone for a great time and great company. You guys all rock and I think the world of each and every one of you.

PS: Eel, tell Rhona I'm looking forward to training her to be a Pit Chick at the next Boar.