Camp Chaos – KTM Mike’s place in Atlanta, MI

[Nestrick]

I hope Mike Stephenson [KTM Mike] doesn’t get too mad at me … but it seems that my son Tom and I were invited up there for a Father’s Day Ride this year, and while there, I managed to collect a few pictures I thought you folks might enjoy. The idea behind this post arises from YZMAN400’s query regarding places we have ridden this year … and seein’s how both Mike and I listed the Camp Chaos Trail System as one of our rides, I thought perhaps those of you who have yet to visit there personally should take a short virtual reality tour with me as your guide. All aboard … Mike, his wife Sheila, and their two sons, Mark and Mitch, inhabit one of the premier family riding sites on the planet!

[See photo, Left]
A shot of the Stephenson homestead … this is from the rear of the house … the point you reach after cruising up his driveway which must be more than mile in length! The boys, Mitch and Mark, are in charge of ground keeping … the place is manicured and picture perfect yet very inviting. It is located on the crest of a hill and therefore always seems to have a nice breeze blowing … despite the open fields in view, it is surrounded by wooded and hilly terrain with a spring-fed stream flowing rapidly through the nearby valley.

[See photo, Middle]
This shot is from the side of the house looking out at the garage … Mike has a huge work area filled with a variety of motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles. Out back, sits a small tractor and the enclosed trailer used for hauling around machinery. Note how small my Jeep and bike trailer looks beside the garage … that’s Mike, my son Tom, and Mike’s friend, Joel trash talking about bikes … perhaps they were suffering a minor case of ‘Honda-envy’ due to all that orange nearby?

[See photo, Right]
A 10X optical telephoto shot from Mike’s front porch looking out onto the grass track … the gravel road to the left is a portion of the driveway leading up to the house. Without the telephoto, these riders are just dots on the horizon! The cyclists are Mike, Tom and Joel … that’s Mitch on the Quad. They are all busting along at a speedy pace … this is an area where one is expected to ride as fast as possible … at least that’s how it appeared to me.

 

[Nestrick]

[See photo, Left]
Another 10X telephoto shot of my son Tom riding up the outside straightaway … he is just about to crest one of the three jumps distributed across the grass track venue … in this case you have a good run at the soft sand hill and can get some decent air!

[See photo, Middle]
The pack of riders approach … Mike in front on the KTM 300, Joel tight on his tail riding my CRF-450, and closely followed by Mitch on the Yamaha Blaster, Mark on his Yamaha TTR125 and finally, Tom on his CR-250. Although this photo lends no feel for action, believe me, these guys are hauling when they approach the relatively wide turn that is only 50 yards from Mike’s front porch!

[See photo, Right]
This is a 10X telephoto of Mark (leading), Mike (middle) and Mitch (rear, on the Quad) winding their way around the nearly 1 mile grass track course … the tall grass in the foreground lends a surrealistic feeling to the atmosphere … this was one of those ‘lucky’ photos you catch every now and then … what a memory for Mike and his boys! Can you imagine this right out your front door? I have to load up my bike and drive for 45 minutes before I reach the first legal area to ride … and that place is Gladwin.

 

[Nestrick]

[See photo, Left]
Tired of riding the 1 mile grass track? Then how about a tight, twisty, rock infested, hilly, sometimes muddy, woods trail? Here we see (L to R) Joel, Tom and Mike assessing the entrance to Mike’s play pen in the woods … down a very steep hill and the trail begins …

[See photo, Middle]
Although not necessarily in actual order … here’s a section of the trail as it traverses the side of a small hill … this area is pristine and often virgin in character … you must have a sharp eye to see the trail in spots since it is that narrow! Despite several trail markers posted along the route, I managed to “pull a Woodsy” the first time I was out there alone … but not too worry, you can shout and someone can give you directions from the house … you’re never very far away, but from the seat of your bike, you’d never know it!

[See photo, Right]
More of the woods trail … it’s open here, but there are some spots where my 32 inch bars won’t fit between the trees adjoining the trailside.

 

[Nestrick]

[See photo, Left]
Yup … there’s a stream crossing … but to eliminate erosion problems, Mike has installed this neat bridge.

[See photo, Middle]
Here comes Mitch motoring down the hillside opposite the bridge and successfully making the crossing a high speed.

[See photo, Right]
And finally, while not at Mike’s place … this is a closing picture from our Camp Chaos Father’s Day Ride Ritual held this year at Crapo Creek and Big Bear … here we see Mike busting around a wide corner somewhere on the Crapo Creek trail after a short break … we all had a great time and the riding together with the kids was a real blast.

terry nestrick :cool:

 

[bbarel]

Wow what a great place. How much property does Mike have? I would love to have a place with property to put some trail on. I am very jealous...

 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

lol, you can tell alot about a guy by comparing the size of his garage to the size of his house...

nice tour.... I almost felt like I was.... well.... no I didn't.... but it looks like a riot

 

[70 marlin]

I know why they call it GOD's country! Very nice place Mike, I look foreword to riding there sometime. :cool:

 

[woodsy]

ANOTHER FABULOUS REPORT BY THE KING OF THE KEYBOARD!!! Thanks Terry - That was awesome!! To say least, you have as great of a way with the camera as you do with the words to describe the FUN! Your "ramblings" are always a delight!
Now on to Mike: WOW!! What a BEAUTIFUL environment to raise a family and have a RIOT!! One of My true remorses in life now is that Larry's crank went on his KTM that day you invited all three of us over for Burgers and we were unable to take you up on the offer!! :( :( Wooeee is meeee, I could have been the one to discover that AWESOME "private" trail system you have setup and to sample your wifes good cookin!! Of course, thats probably a good thing for you because that ol Bear hunters saying of "dont feed it and it'll probably go away" certainly applies to ol Woodsy! Oh well, now that cats out of the bag and the great system is just another "public knowledge thing"... Might as well post some orange triangles and open a trailside burger stand now Mike :) :) If you do, you could probably make a killing on selling Young Teds "emergency kits" cause it is apparent that "Woodsy Syndrom" has infected your area!!
That was a beautiful way to do Fathers Day guys!! JUST BEAUTIFUL!! :thumb:
Woodsy

 

[KTM Mike]

Oh oh..the secret is out now. I expect my taxes will go up now!

I am blessed indeed! All this is on 40 acres - about 7 field, the rest woods. 1 mile grass track and if I ride the full woods section about 3 miles in the woods (some sections have been "closed" by official order of the better half - to wet this year and getting to torn up).

On the garage size thing - it is telling isnt it! The irony is, the entire downstairs of original house was a garage when we bought it a few years ago! But before we restarted to gut the place for our remodel (which is not done yet much to my wife's dismay!), of course I built a replacement garage! Future plans of course include MORE garage space - you cant have to much!

Orange Triagles? Well just for added realism, I did post course marker arrows like they use in the enduros on my trail. I had to do that because certain other people cant seem to find my trail and get lost! And the MCCT is right at the end of the driveway! North 6 miles by back road, 6 miles by trail and you have the Atlanta system (80 miles), and south about the same by road and trail you have the Hunt Creek/Mio loops offering about 65 miles together.

Sometime this fall I hope to get together a ride where perhaps I could host a bunch at my house. Plenty of camping space available. I may even allow Woodsy to show up if he promises to not eat to much!

Now Terry...we need to talk about keeping secrets! (yuk yuk)

 

[Creeper9]

Nestrick,

Nice tour. Although I have to admit, I'm kind of an off and on weekend resident at CC. Now, the real object of the grass track is to make Mike worry that he's going to have a YZ250 or a 250 EXC centerpunch him in a corner. That and the long straight down the east side makes him feel better since that's the only place he can lose me with that 300 :nener:

Now, the object of the woods loop is completely different. This loop was built to see how long you can hang on to your bike before you end up just falling off from exhuastion. Luckilly for me, this happens long after Mike pulls off from severe arm pump. I guess that 250 glued to his silencer makes him work extra hard? :laugh:
(I'm trying to get an invite up for a re-match here) (Mike? hint hint?)

Hopefully we'll hook up at CC some time!


Talk to you later
-Kurt

 

[Creeper9]

I had to do that because certain other people cant seem to find my trail and get lost!

Who are you talking about? :yeehaw:

 

[KTM Mike]

Now Kurt - first off the reason you get lost is I am always so far in front of you :ride: , you never see where the trail goes anyhow....AND...the only time that puny little 250 was glued to my silencer is when I had to tie a rope on the handlebars to make sure you wouldnt get lost! :nener:

I took a long walk through the woods tonight...I think I came up with some real nice re-routes that you will absolutely hate :p - that way you wont have ANY idea where the trail goes...and hence I get to stay in front!

Re-Match - you are on!

(maybe we better not invite Woodsy here though...he may never come out of the woods particularily if he tries to follow you)

 

[woodsy]

Hey, I have NEVER needed help getting lost :yikes:

 

[Creeper9]

Woodsy,

I'm sure if you need help getting lost, I would be the right person for that. Although I do have a couple of friends worse than I am... (Is that possible?)


Mike,
I told my PUNY 250 what you said about it last night, and it has been seriously offended. All I can say, is I'm not responsible for what it decides to do to you when I'm not riding it. :ohmy:

New sections??!! I'm ready to get lost..... Just let me know when.

-Kurt

 

[INCA]

Kurt - As long as you're talking to your PUNY 250, could we have a name for it? Why not join the likes of Skippy, Kadie and Inca?

Young Ted

 

[KTM Mike]

Inca - I dont think you were ever properly introduced to my bike either - Eugene - meet Inca.

 

[woodsy]

Actually Kurt, I am SHOCKED that you havent already named your scoot - for me it is MANDATORY cause when I stop at trailside to take a "trail-dump" (something that YZMAN has perfected!) and get seperated from my bike I have to have a name to yell or every stray bike in the forest will come!!! I mean, really, can you see me standing in the forest up by Boon yelling - HEY MOTORCYCLE, WHERE ARE YOU!! That would look and sound pretty stupid wouldnt it? A name is totally different, HEY KADIE, CAN YOU HERE ME and she lites right up!! So, if you are half the "getting lost expert you say you are you gotta name your scoot!!
Also, I bet if you ask Young Ted (or INCA) real nice he would be glad to mail you a set of his "DELUXE NAME LETTERS" so your pride and joy fits right in!!
Oh yea, KURT, as soon as I get out of this brace and can ride again we HAVE to ride together!! We will get together with Young Ted (and anyone else interested) and have a 3 day "GETTING LOST EXTRAVAGANSA" (I will tell my wife 5 days just in case :) )
RIDE ON BROTHERS!!
Woodsy

 

[woodsy]

Eugene - meet KADIE :ride:

 

[INCA]

Mike & Kurt - For once Woodsy is not lost or wrong either. Send me your P.O. address to [email protected] and I'll get the letters back to you. Anyone else that wants to join in, you are welcome. This is simply part of all the fun and laughs. Keeps me out of mischief to.

Young Ted