You know the weather is really poor in Michigan when you go out to the garage and notice your bike is beginning to collect dust! All the rain this spring has cut into prime riding time for those of us who like to get out some before the summer leaves emerge … unless, that is, you’re willing to ride around on a large chunk of highly conductive metal in a thunder storm with attendant lightening strikes nearby.
Well, Wednesday, 19May04, became the only 24 hour period in the past 10 days or so where it did not rain [significantly] on the east side of the State. Determined to not miss out, I had my gear ready and the collecting dust wiped off my ride the night before just to make sure I got an early start. The morning was absolutely glorious … a near cloudless, pale blue sky was mysteriously marked in a way that I casually explained to my wife was one of the classic “dirt biker omens” … it seems that two jet contrails had formed a perfect ‘X’ in the sky off to the north … which I further explained meant that one should proceed in that direction post haste to affect maximum two wheeled contact with the ground in order to facilitate appeasement of the motorcycle gods who were obviously displeased by our lack of attention lately. She gave me one of her sly smiles, turned and while walking away, told me to ride safe and have a great day!
After a few minutes with maps and the February 2004 Issue of The Great Lakes Trail Rider I had decided to audition some trails completely new to me … namely, the Ambrose Lake loop, then up the new MCCCT connector [ORV Sticker only] to the Rose City loop with its series of intra-trail connectors, and finally ride back to the Trailhead at Ambrose Lake. On paper this looked like a great plan … from Midland I intended to shoot over to M-30, take that north to M-55, then east through West Branch, catch Fairview on the east side of the city, hop on that ~9 miles north to Houghton Creek road, then west ~1 mile to the parking area as marked on both the DNR and GLTR map for Ambrose Lake. All was going well until approaching Houghton Creek road … while going north on Fairview I noticed that most of the roads were not marked … seems that the poles were there … just the signs were missing? I found myself wondering what mental disease it is that causes folks to remove road signs … perhaps a feeble attempt to have an ‘unlisted residence’ only a few miles from the edge of nowhere? Regardless, I missed Houghton Creek and came to the stop sign at Rose City road. I did notice the trail had crossed Fairview a couple of times about a mile back … so, back I went and turned west on an unmarked road that appeared in somewhat poorer condition than those often marked as ‘Seasonal Roads’. There were no markings whatsoever for Ambrose Lake Camp Ground or for the DNR ORV Trailhead. I figured it couldn’t be much more than a mile according to the map … so I pushed on in my Jeep Wrangler towing my bike trailer … as fate would have it, things got considerably worse. The road became deep, soft sand at the bottom of a noticeably steep hill … apparently recent rains had washed the loose particles down to the bottom leaving behind a deeply rutted, rock-infested road bed. Being the typical 4WD’er I immediately decided this was a 2WD situation [isn’t it amazing how important it is for us to have 4WD, but how far we’re determined to go before actually using it?] … in my mind I thought perhaps a bit of extra throttle might be necessary … probably would have been right if the trailer wheel hadn’t fell into one of the larger ruts about half way up the hill thereby completely stopping all forward progress … with utter disgust, I finally slammed the Jeep into 4WD and floored it … my four big, Goodyear MTRs hooked up suddenly causing me to crest the hill quicker than I expected only to find an abandoned car across the road about half way down the other side. At this point nothing was going to prevent me from reaching my goal … I left the Jeep in 4WD, stomped on the accelerator and launched over the left berm into the brush easily clearing the automotive impediment and again moving forward toward the trailhead. After ~1 mile I came to another crossroad … again the road sign was missing … but according to the map this should be Piper Lake Road which runs north and south. Interestingly, the continuation of Houghton Creek Road on the other side of Piper Lake Road still bore no signs for Ambrose Lake Campground or the ORV Trailhead. It did, however, have a Dead End sign accompanied by a small, wooden DNR-type sign depicting a teepee … I took this as reasonably positive evidence that I was closing in on the objective as I began heading down a Dead End road. After a few hundred yards, I was treated to a beautiful, large, clean parking facility equipped with a new restroom … the DNR sign at the entrance proclaimed this to be Ambrose Lake ORV Trailhead. In the bright sunshine of the late morning I parked and unloaded my ride with only nature as my company. Interestingly, the entire trailhead area is fenced off and signed for “No Camping” despite a cleared, flat, grassy field adjacent to the facility … apparently Ambrose Lake Camp Ground is further down the Dead End road?
The major reason I picked this area for riding today is because the geology of the terrain surrounding West Branch is conducive to rapid drainage. Being on the edge of the Saginaw Valley, it is a hilly area composed of glacial till favoring gravel and sand over clay … this combination of environmental factors means that standing water is typically not an issue and whenever water is encountered, usually the bottom is solid and it is reasonably safe to ride through … even when riding solo as I often do.
Initially one enters the Ambrose Lake loop and intersects the MCCCT Rose City Loop connector by bearing to the left at the first trail branch. I found the initial trail condition to be superb, no deadfall present, the overhanging Pine branches had been recently trimmed and the trail markers were new and appropriately placed for easy visibility [many thanks to the CCC volunteers who accomplish this work]. Regarding signage, easy visibility is important on the Ambrose Lake loop because it is a trail amenable to somewhat higher speeds on a bike … it is wide [50”], relatively smooth, hard-packed, gravel base with few whoops. While there were many small puddles present … none were of size to cause one to slow down ... this is really a great way to start the ride! The new MCCCT connector trail comes up quickly though and the fast riding is over … this new trail is currently as close to riding on virgin land as I have experienced to date. It is literally hacked through often, densely forested, irregular terrain … while cut sufficiently wide for ATV passage, most of the trail is a single track that will give you a big smile if tight stuff is your forte. In one area the trail crosses a clear cut perpendicular to the direction used by most of the skidders … sort of the ultimate set of whoops … ones that I was certainly glad to put behind me! After riding approximately 30 minutes I was reaching the point that my clutch hand no longer had any feeling [while fun for you more experienced riders, this new connector is a bit tight for a lengthy ride on my CFR-450] … suddenly though, I emerged atop a large hill in another clear cut area. Thump … thump … thump … the deep, melodious groan of solitary oil wells pumping their liquid gold could be felt as much as heard. Seemingly at the top of the world, I convinced myself that this was the perfect place for a break … besides, my left had felt like it was being pierced by a thousand needles. It seemed funny to me that I had come all this distance and hadn’t seen any wild life … the reason would become evident soon … while I watched the trail off in the distance I could hear the sound of screaming motors headed my way. More often than not, I do not see other riders but I do see a lot of wild life … so, whenever I don’t see much wild life, must the converse be true?
Having regained full use of my left hand and satisfied my thirst … I headed off down the hill toward the far horizon in the direction the trail seemed to go. Actually this is the first point that a set of trail markers were missing … more on this subject later. While navigating downward, the soft, sandy trail was becoming more severely eroded by exposure to previously rapid running water … couple that situation with the fact that the only large tree in the entire area, which stood immediately beside the trail, had been unceremoniously uprooted in such a fashion so as to partially impede trail drainage … further increasing the erosion at the bottom of the hill. It was a standing-slide-maneuver through the last part of the ride, all the while holding my breath hoping I would stay upright and out of the grasp of the large rut and elevated root ball. Having made it down turned out to be the easy part … immediately across the road was a long, steep, narrow, rocky, sandy, root-infested, hill climb punctuated with several twists and many trees adjacent to the path with no significant approach at the bottom. Again the recent rains had swept sand from the upper portions of the trail toward the bottom thereby deepening the sand at the start of the climb … and despite all the rain lately, this stuff was powdery dry! Being only my third year of riding, this hill presented a considerable challenge … starting out in low gear standing on the pegs I managed to sprint over the deep sandy lower portion of the climb while gaining speed as I climbed higher … on shifting into second I found it necessary to sit down through several of the early turns because of low hanging branches from adjacent trees … with the 450 hanging between two thirds and full throttle I continued to gain speed and despite a couple of hard hits off protruding roots and one 6 inch in diameter rock that I managed to hit rather squarely … I made it to the top in one piece only to be greeted by five cheering spectators who were assessing my attempt from a vantage point invisible to me. That hill climb will remain with me for a long time … I surmise that its one of those ‘defining moments’ we riders use as a foundation for our development in the sport. According to my audience, the 450 was at times roosting sand and gravel into the lower portions of the adjacent trees, especially when I leaned it over in the turns and opened the throttle … they, all being older gentlemen between the ages of 55 and 67 [three on bikes and two on ATVs], explained to me how they were running the Rose City loop in a counterclockwise fashion so as to avoid this climb. Thinking back on this event, I’m glad I didn’t know they were watching … I might have chickened out … good thing I didn’t know that this was the entrance point to the Rose City loop and the road leading off to the east was starting point for a counterclockwise run as opposed to directly up the hill which is in the clockwise direction.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, accepting their critiques of my hill climbing performance and their combined advice that I had the wrong bike for such trail riding [they were all riding DRZs], we each went our separate ways. I proceeded onward in my circumnavigation of the Rose City Loop and was immediately presented with the first of several interesting water situations. The recent rains have caused many of the trail sections to become flowing streams. When the composition of the surface is sandy gravel mixed with baseball to softball-sized, round rocks and it is present on long slopes … torrential rains can create some very interesting obstacles through which to ride. In this case, the bottom of the gradually sloping trail had been filled with a mixture of sand and water that was perfectly smooth on the surface, but acted like 6 to 8 inch deep Jell-O when my tires hit it … I thought it would be hard, so when my tires started to sink I instinctively hit the throttle and immediately was looking at the sky … by accident I stayed on the throttle and managed to carry the wheelie through almost 50 yards of such conditions … then the trail became 6 inch deep, slowly flowing water over a hard base of gravel and larger rocks … this section was perhaps 250 yards long … I have never ridden through a rocky stream bed before so I found it to be exciting! There were several more sections of such water obstacles prior to reaching the MCCCT connector trail to The Meadows at the northernmost portion of the loop. I should mention that a majority of the Rose City Loop is somewhat more difficult riding than Ambrose Lake … and the MCCCT connector between them is much tighter and more technical than either. Having successfully circumnavigated the Rose City loop back to the hill climb point where I started, I met another ATV rider who had been hunting turkeys in the area for the past week. He explained that upon his arrival on Monday, he had run the entire loop and all of its intra-trail connectors and had found signage at every turn. Then, sometime late Tuesday, he was returning back to his campsite and noticed that several of the signs had been torn down. Because of this story I again found myself wondering what mental disease it is that causes folks to remove road signs … is there a pattern emerging here?
The hill climb to the MCCCT connector returning to Ambrose Lake is relatively uneventful compared to the other direction. The ride back through all the tight stuff seems much shorter this time … my left hand doesn’t fail me … upon hitting the Ambrose Lake Loop I opted to do a quick blast around the trail which is only about 8.5 miles long. After the tight stuff, this is a great ending for my day … just lock the 450 in second gear, stand on the pegs and let’er rip!
At a little past four in the afternoon I pull back into the parking lot … the sun is still shining but the rays are now low in the sky … it hasn’t rained a drop [yet] … I have another huge smile on my face … and most importantly, the memory of my ‘greatest hill climb ever attempted by man or beast’ story to lay on my wife when I get back home. For many of you folks, I bet you can’t even remember what your third year of riding was like … while I certainly will never catch up to you in skill or expertise … I can assure you that I intend to enjoy these developing years every bit as much as you did … just starting at bit more advance age!
The described ride represents 2.6 hours motor operation time and required approximately 1.5 gallons of gas for my CRF-450. All trails were in excellent condition … there were no significant deadfall blockages or water hazards. Signage was excellent excepting portions of the Rose City Loop where the signs had apparently been torn down. Despite said lack of signs, using only a compass, I had no problem circumnavigating the course and backtracking one of the intra-trail connector loops on the east side of the Rose City system. I highly recommend these trails to anyone looking for diversity in riding conditions … they offer everything from tight stuff to wide open two track roads where even I hit 4th gear! Watch out for other riders, especially ATVs as most of these trails are easily accessible to them and often they can be hard to see when you are traveling at higher speeds with a smile so large it pushes your eyes closed.
Terry Nestrick :cool:
Well, Wednesday, 19May04, became the only 24 hour period in the past 10 days or so where it did not rain [significantly] on the east side of the State. Determined to not miss out, I had my gear ready and the collecting dust wiped off my ride the night before just to make sure I got an early start. The morning was absolutely glorious … a near cloudless, pale blue sky was mysteriously marked in a way that I casually explained to my wife was one of the classic “dirt biker omens” … it seems that two jet contrails had formed a perfect ‘X’ in the sky off to the north … which I further explained meant that one should proceed in that direction post haste to affect maximum two wheeled contact with the ground in order to facilitate appeasement of the motorcycle gods who were obviously displeased by our lack of attention lately. She gave me one of her sly smiles, turned and while walking away, told me to ride safe and have a great day!
After a few minutes with maps and the February 2004 Issue of The Great Lakes Trail Rider I had decided to audition some trails completely new to me … namely, the Ambrose Lake loop, then up the new MCCCT connector [ORV Sticker only] to the Rose City loop with its series of intra-trail connectors, and finally ride back to the Trailhead at Ambrose Lake. On paper this looked like a great plan … from Midland I intended to shoot over to M-30, take that north to M-55, then east through West Branch, catch Fairview on the east side of the city, hop on that ~9 miles north to Houghton Creek road, then west ~1 mile to the parking area as marked on both the DNR and GLTR map for Ambrose Lake. All was going well until approaching Houghton Creek road … while going north on Fairview I noticed that most of the roads were not marked … seems that the poles were there … just the signs were missing? I found myself wondering what mental disease it is that causes folks to remove road signs … perhaps a feeble attempt to have an ‘unlisted residence’ only a few miles from the edge of nowhere? Regardless, I missed Houghton Creek and came to the stop sign at Rose City road. I did notice the trail had crossed Fairview a couple of times about a mile back … so, back I went and turned west on an unmarked road that appeared in somewhat poorer condition than those often marked as ‘Seasonal Roads’. There were no markings whatsoever for Ambrose Lake Camp Ground or for the DNR ORV Trailhead. I figured it couldn’t be much more than a mile according to the map … so I pushed on in my Jeep Wrangler towing my bike trailer … as fate would have it, things got considerably worse. The road became deep, soft sand at the bottom of a noticeably steep hill … apparently recent rains had washed the loose particles down to the bottom leaving behind a deeply rutted, rock-infested road bed. Being the typical 4WD’er I immediately decided this was a 2WD situation [isn’t it amazing how important it is for us to have 4WD, but how far we’re determined to go before actually using it?] … in my mind I thought perhaps a bit of extra throttle might be necessary … probably would have been right if the trailer wheel hadn’t fell into one of the larger ruts about half way up the hill thereby completely stopping all forward progress … with utter disgust, I finally slammed the Jeep into 4WD and floored it … my four big, Goodyear MTRs hooked up suddenly causing me to crest the hill quicker than I expected only to find an abandoned car across the road about half way down the other side. At this point nothing was going to prevent me from reaching my goal … I left the Jeep in 4WD, stomped on the accelerator and launched over the left berm into the brush easily clearing the automotive impediment and again moving forward toward the trailhead. After ~1 mile I came to another crossroad … again the road sign was missing … but according to the map this should be Piper Lake Road which runs north and south. Interestingly, the continuation of Houghton Creek Road on the other side of Piper Lake Road still bore no signs for Ambrose Lake Campground or the ORV Trailhead. It did, however, have a Dead End sign accompanied by a small, wooden DNR-type sign depicting a teepee … I took this as reasonably positive evidence that I was closing in on the objective as I began heading down a Dead End road. After a few hundred yards, I was treated to a beautiful, large, clean parking facility equipped with a new restroom … the DNR sign at the entrance proclaimed this to be Ambrose Lake ORV Trailhead. In the bright sunshine of the late morning I parked and unloaded my ride with only nature as my company. Interestingly, the entire trailhead area is fenced off and signed for “No Camping” despite a cleared, flat, grassy field adjacent to the facility … apparently Ambrose Lake Camp Ground is further down the Dead End road?
The major reason I picked this area for riding today is because the geology of the terrain surrounding West Branch is conducive to rapid drainage. Being on the edge of the Saginaw Valley, it is a hilly area composed of glacial till favoring gravel and sand over clay … this combination of environmental factors means that standing water is typically not an issue and whenever water is encountered, usually the bottom is solid and it is reasonably safe to ride through … even when riding solo as I often do.
Initially one enters the Ambrose Lake loop and intersects the MCCCT Rose City Loop connector by bearing to the left at the first trail branch. I found the initial trail condition to be superb, no deadfall present, the overhanging Pine branches had been recently trimmed and the trail markers were new and appropriately placed for easy visibility [many thanks to the CCC volunteers who accomplish this work]. Regarding signage, easy visibility is important on the Ambrose Lake loop because it is a trail amenable to somewhat higher speeds on a bike … it is wide [50”], relatively smooth, hard-packed, gravel base with few whoops. While there were many small puddles present … none were of size to cause one to slow down ... this is really a great way to start the ride! The new MCCCT connector trail comes up quickly though and the fast riding is over … this new trail is currently as close to riding on virgin land as I have experienced to date. It is literally hacked through often, densely forested, irregular terrain … while cut sufficiently wide for ATV passage, most of the trail is a single track that will give you a big smile if tight stuff is your forte. In one area the trail crosses a clear cut perpendicular to the direction used by most of the skidders … sort of the ultimate set of whoops … ones that I was certainly glad to put behind me! After riding approximately 30 minutes I was reaching the point that my clutch hand no longer had any feeling [while fun for you more experienced riders, this new connector is a bit tight for a lengthy ride on my CFR-450] … suddenly though, I emerged atop a large hill in another clear cut area. Thump … thump … thump … the deep, melodious groan of solitary oil wells pumping their liquid gold could be felt as much as heard. Seemingly at the top of the world, I convinced myself that this was the perfect place for a break … besides, my left had felt like it was being pierced by a thousand needles. It seemed funny to me that I had come all this distance and hadn’t seen any wild life … the reason would become evident soon … while I watched the trail off in the distance I could hear the sound of screaming motors headed my way. More often than not, I do not see other riders but I do see a lot of wild life … so, whenever I don’t see much wild life, must the converse be true?
Having regained full use of my left hand and satisfied my thirst … I headed off down the hill toward the far horizon in the direction the trail seemed to go. Actually this is the first point that a set of trail markers were missing … more on this subject later. While navigating downward, the soft, sandy trail was becoming more severely eroded by exposure to previously rapid running water … couple that situation with the fact that the only large tree in the entire area, which stood immediately beside the trail, had been unceremoniously uprooted in such a fashion so as to partially impede trail drainage … further increasing the erosion at the bottom of the hill. It was a standing-slide-maneuver through the last part of the ride, all the while holding my breath hoping I would stay upright and out of the grasp of the large rut and elevated root ball. Having made it down turned out to be the easy part … immediately across the road was a long, steep, narrow, rocky, sandy, root-infested, hill climb punctuated with several twists and many trees adjacent to the path with no significant approach at the bottom. Again the recent rains had swept sand from the upper portions of the trail toward the bottom thereby deepening the sand at the start of the climb … and despite all the rain lately, this stuff was powdery dry! Being only my third year of riding, this hill presented a considerable challenge … starting out in low gear standing on the pegs I managed to sprint over the deep sandy lower portion of the climb while gaining speed as I climbed higher … on shifting into second I found it necessary to sit down through several of the early turns because of low hanging branches from adjacent trees … with the 450 hanging between two thirds and full throttle I continued to gain speed and despite a couple of hard hits off protruding roots and one 6 inch in diameter rock that I managed to hit rather squarely … I made it to the top in one piece only to be greeted by five cheering spectators who were assessing my attempt from a vantage point invisible to me. That hill climb will remain with me for a long time … I surmise that its one of those ‘defining moments’ we riders use as a foundation for our development in the sport. According to my audience, the 450 was at times roosting sand and gravel into the lower portions of the adjacent trees, especially when I leaned it over in the turns and opened the throttle … they, all being older gentlemen between the ages of 55 and 67 [three on bikes and two on ATVs], explained to me how they were running the Rose City loop in a counterclockwise fashion so as to avoid this climb. Thinking back on this event, I’m glad I didn’t know they were watching … I might have chickened out … good thing I didn’t know that this was the entrance point to the Rose City loop and the road leading off to the east was starting point for a counterclockwise run as opposed to directly up the hill which is in the clockwise direction.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, accepting their critiques of my hill climbing performance and their combined advice that I had the wrong bike for such trail riding [they were all riding DRZs], we each went our separate ways. I proceeded onward in my circumnavigation of the Rose City Loop and was immediately presented with the first of several interesting water situations. The recent rains have caused many of the trail sections to become flowing streams. When the composition of the surface is sandy gravel mixed with baseball to softball-sized, round rocks and it is present on long slopes … torrential rains can create some very interesting obstacles through which to ride. In this case, the bottom of the gradually sloping trail had been filled with a mixture of sand and water that was perfectly smooth on the surface, but acted like 6 to 8 inch deep Jell-O when my tires hit it … I thought it would be hard, so when my tires started to sink I instinctively hit the throttle and immediately was looking at the sky … by accident I stayed on the throttle and managed to carry the wheelie through almost 50 yards of such conditions … then the trail became 6 inch deep, slowly flowing water over a hard base of gravel and larger rocks … this section was perhaps 250 yards long … I have never ridden through a rocky stream bed before so I found it to be exciting! There were several more sections of such water obstacles prior to reaching the MCCCT connector trail to The Meadows at the northernmost portion of the loop. I should mention that a majority of the Rose City Loop is somewhat more difficult riding than Ambrose Lake … and the MCCCT connector between them is much tighter and more technical than either. Having successfully circumnavigated the Rose City loop back to the hill climb point where I started, I met another ATV rider who had been hunting turkeys in the area for the past week. He explained that upon his arrival on Monday, he had run the entire loop and all of its intra-trail connectors and had found signage at every turn. Then, sometime late Tuesday, he was returning back to his campsite and noticed that several of the signs had been torn down. Because of this story I again found myself wondering what mental disease it is that causes folks to remove road signs … is there a pattern emerging here?
The hill climb to the MCCCT connector returning to Ambrose Lake is relatively uneventful compared to the other direction. The ride back through all the tight stuff seems much shorter this time … my left hand doesn’t fail me … upon hitting the Ambrose Lake Loop I opted to do a quick blast around the trail which is only about 8.5 miles long. After the tight stuff, this is a great ending for my day … just lock the 450 in second gear, stand on the pegs and let’er rip!
At a little past four in the afternoon I pull back into the parking lot … the sun is still shining but the rays are now low in the sky … it hasn’t rained a drop [yet] … I have another huge smile on my face … and most importantly, the memory of my ‘greatest hill climb ever attempted by man or beast’ story to lay on my wife when I get back home. For many of you folks, I bet you can’t even remember what your third year of riding was like … while I certainly will never catch up to you in skill or expertise … I can assure you that I intend to enjoy these developing years every bit as much as you did … just starting at bit more advance age!
The described ride represents 2.6 hours motor operation time and required approximately 1.5 gallons of gas for my CRF-450. All trails were in excellent condition … there were no significant deadfall blockages or water hazards. Signage was excellent excepting portions of the Rose City Loop where the signs had apparently been torn down. Despite said lack of signs, using only a compass, I had no problem circumnavigating the course and backtracking one of the intra-trail connector loops on the east side of the Rose City system. I highly recommend these trails to anyone looking for diversity in riding conditions … they offer everything from tight stuff to wide open two track roads where even I hit 4th gear! Watch out for other riders, especially ATVs as most of these trails are easily accessible to them and often they can be hard to see when you are traveling at higher speeds with a smile so large it pushes your eyes closed.
Terry Nestrick :cool:
