Holy Crap! That was one heckuva ride report! I just saw it myself! I started reading it, gearing up for another one of placelast's entertaining yarns. Even went so far as to hold back, divert my eyes, prolong the familiar author's thread long enough to go get a scoop of my favorite Starbuck's Lowfat Latte Ice Cream, preparing for the "show". Once settled back in front of the computer I read the horror and I was, well....horrified!
Glad you guys are alive and well! What a harrowing experience!
So, I gotta ask......If you guys were all "Survivor" finalists, who would you have voted off the island?? :debil:
I'M OUT!
The bike retrieval was a complete sucsess!! That was a real relief. I've got about $10,000 in my KTM and if it was not there today I would have to be riding my sons TTR 90 for now on. It was a fun day. The sun was out and it was warm. I rode on back of a buddies bike for about 15 miles to the bikes. We kinda got lost on our way out and ended going up some rocky nasty hills with both of us being pulled farther and farther to the back of the bike. when we got to the top of the hills we would be laughing our - well you know what I mean. My buddy was quite impressed at how far we had walked and how steep of a climb we had. You could see our mud dried foot prints everywhere. On our way down to the bikes I had to get off and walk - too steep for the two of us to ride down. After cleaning the bike off we had a great ride back twards the truck. I took many pictures with a throw away camera. We rode to the top of the hill that we slept at - you know the one - the place where we made the wrong turn and froze. You could see the two spots that we slept at. You know what it looks like when a deer curls up in the grass and makes an impresion? My goggles were still laying under the tree that we first slept. I layed down in one of the spots and my friend took a picture - we laughed and said lets get the hell out of this place !!! Glad it's over for me and the other guys will be going in tomorrow morning with some great guys helping . Soon the whole thing will be behind us - it's been quite an ordeal and now we can move on!
Man John, you always write some epic ride stories, but this one takes the cake! :scream: I think I'll stay down here in SoCal where it's dry, or at least it only rains enough to increase the traction. I've only ever had one un-planned overnighter, and that was in a vehicle with a heater available, not a bike. (I spent the night stuck on Ballbuster trail at Big Bear in the Explorer once!)
I can't even imagine what that felt like, especially being wet, cold, and faced with such a long walk in riding gear. Just walking from the truck to my bike usually wears me out!:laugh: I'm looking forward to the next post about the rescue mission. Good luck! :yeehaw:
Well Iguess it's not completely over yet. I'm on my way to the Dr.s. I came down with some kind of nasty rash or skin virus on my legs. From the top of my shins down to my ankles there is a redish purple rash. My legs are swollen, purple and starting to hurt. I guess one shouldn't wear motorcycle boots for over 24 hours. Go figure !
Holy moly what a tale! Did you really hump 20 miles outta there in gear with no water? Sounds like the Battaan Death March! I think I need to get a space blanket.
Happy to say this cheesey episode of Gilligans Island is over :thumb: You know: a 3 hour tour....... the weather started getting rough, etc. etc. The Drn SAR team showed up as planned this morning. The survivors 4-wheeled it 15 miles to trail entrance while Farmerjohn, Nvrfnsh, Jonala 2-wheeled it. I took the back of FJ's 440(being Ktm) and we hit the long , now dry trail down to where the still proud and standing 450 was. 1 click of e-button and away we went. Piece of cake riding the mountain today. FJ took us down some bitchen singletrack trails back to trucks. All stranded vehicles rescued and accounted for.
The rescue operation turned into an archaelogical expedition and dig. We followed numerous boot prints down into the Valley of Death. Farmer John, NVR FNSH, and I chipped and hacked away through upwards of twenty pounds of rock-like hardened mud to reveal a Honda from the Lost Civilization of the Two Strokes. It started right up and I wheelied up the dry hills like they were nothing. What a difference a little moisture makes.
I am eternally grateful to the aforementioned volunteers and Jonala, the other member of the rescue party. It was five and a half miles to my bike from where I parked my truck at the trailhead, an uncomfortable ride on the back of a bike. It would have been horrible doing the Clear Creek Death March of 2003 in reverse.
The best part of the rescue was giving fremontguy a white-knuckle ride in my new 4wd truck. He thought he had survived that horrible night only to roll in the rescue truck the next weekend.
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