Gettin' Dirty with the Wans: 8400 miles - UTBDR, KLIM rally, Canada, WABDR, OBDR +

That trail looks like so much fun! Doubt I could do it 2 up, but I'd have a blast trying it solo. Not quite single track, difficult enough but nothing too scary. Man, I need to scout out some stuff down here. There's gotta be stuff just like that in the Sierras.

You guys just rock.

S

No, I don't think I've been there. I seem to gravitate to the High Rock area when I'm up there.

I like the no dab video...gigglers. (puter is fixed, I haz video now.)

Cranes Mtn, my kinda stuff.

Oh Hai!


So, yesterday I was too busy to post.
Was I working? nope.


Riding? nah.


Doing some important adult-type things like paying bills, cleaning, or preparing for the holidays? hell no.










I was making Mameshiba!
Wooo!









This little dog bean is going to be winging his way across the country to live with his new friend in NY.



Hope you like him, Landon!

Thanks, Alleycatdad!
It’s not us, it’s the trail that rocks!

Hi Rob!
Yay, you haz video! About frickin’ time.

Hmmm. We’'ll have to check out this High Rock that you speak of...

Hey redog - well, I guess the voice of reason is still broken...
Make rocks your favorite!









Day 52: 8/12/12 continued
Christmas Valley, OR to Ram Horn Campground, CA 306 miles







It’'s weird that Crane Mountain looks easy in photos/video.
Because it’'s not.


Actually, this was some of the most dangerous riding we did all summer.
More challenging than Black Dragon Wash.
More technical than Lockhart Basin.
More difficult than anything we did in BC.


And it’'s not just a short section. This stuff went on and on.


The turns are tight and there are rocks and trees to hit everywhere.
You’'ll notice Matt was going a lot slower than usual.
Because you just can't go fast. Not fully loaded.
it’'s a tough trail for big bikes.



As far as leg-breaking potential goes, Crane Mtn is right up there with Porcupine Rim.










We stopped here after my foot got whacked on a rock.
I messed up Matt'’s “no dabs” game.
Sorry, Big Wanimal...
















Sometimes the trail would open up for a bit...








Then it was back to rocks and trees.







Oh, this snow photo was taken around that part of the trail (see above )







This little pile of rocks doesn’t look like much,
but Matt came close to breaking his leg here.
As we were riding over them, one of the rocks kicked up and knocked his right foot off the peg.
His foot got sucked behind the bike, under the sidebag, just as we started to fall to the right...






If we had fallen over, his twisted right leg would have landed on that rock down there,
with all of our weight on top of it.




Luckily, Matt goosed the throttle and the bike surged ahead.
he was able to get his foot back on the peg - disaster averted!
It was pretty scary, though.
So close.







The trail was beautiful.







And different.







But, so much work on a big bike, 2up.






I have a little video (including the "Ow, my foot!" portions )
When Matt stops and says, "That was nasty..."
he was really thinking, Mother brother! That was close!

HD for the rocks, of course.





There's a lot of talking on this video, and sometimes it's hard to understand.

At one point we're laughing really hard (around 1:20).
Earlier in the video, Matt says "What the hell were we thinking, coming up here in the snow??"
and at 1:20,
I say, "What the hell were we thinking, coming up here without the snow??"



At least the snow made everything look friendlier and softer.
The trail was so much pokier with all the rocks exposed...


(Oh well. I guess you had to be there)






Hey, I know these rocks!







We stopped here last time, to check out the snow ahead.






There’'s a marker on this tree, too.
We saw them nailed to various trees along the trail.








This next bit doesn'’t look like much either (what is it with this trail and the GoPro?? )
But it was a mess in 2010.







The bike was overheating here in 2010 and we had thought we were going to have to turn around.
It was slick and muddy and nasty.
Hmmm. Even this photo from 2010 doesn’'t look bad.
Well, it was.





Matt said the trail would have been easy on his XR650R, but the schoolbus is a handful.
Not that we would have done anything different - I was happy we made it back to Crane Mtn.
We had a lot of fun, and we were glad to ride something challenging...


It just kind of sucks that we need riskier and riskier rides in order to get our jollies.
When we stopped to think about all the "what ifs," we got kind of freaked out.
A broken leg here would have been a lousy way to end a great trip.

Stupid is as stupid does.






But, nevermind that...
We need to get more people up here, to document their rides!
So, you Oregon guys - go up to Crane Mountain and check it out...
Take a friend and a SPOT...







We were done with the rocks now, and onto to the trees.







Again, probably fine on something smaller, but a tight fit for the 990!








Matt thought this was probably more of a quad trail.
Last time, the only tracks we saw were from a quad.







I'll bet they do pretty well with those rocky sections, too.
A lot of the trail is more about picking your way through stuff, not blasting along...
So many things to hit!







Now we were in the sage brush.
OK - there's a little bit of blasting along, here and there...







We stopped at the top and checked out the views.
It was a nice place for some water and a break.







Happy to have all limbs intact!







Looking back the way we came.








Oh, I have a pic of that from last time...







Driver and schoolbus.







Back on the trail...







We still had a long way to go...

More Crane Mtn coming up - the next section is all about trees (and not hitting them)...

I love all the pictures of the trail from 2010 and now! It's really cool to see it both snow covered and not snow covered, not to mention in reverse! Glad your limbs are in one piece! I am a member of the cyborg club

We also can't wait for our new friend to come live with us!

Love the Mameshiba. .

Y'all should be a cable tv show!!
Thanks for sharing...

wow, fantastic! Thanks for sharing!!

Woo-hoo!

I'd watch that show

... right there.
"It just kind of sucks that we need riskier and riskier rides in order to get our jollies.
When we stopped to think about all the "what ifs," we got kind of freaked out.
A broken leg here would have been a lousy way to end a great trip."

I could return the voice of reason, Likes like you need it.

Heh, redog - were you drinking on the job?
Just kidding!
No take backs! That thing is all yours.

Hi Rwelch! glad you like the pics.

That mameshiba is on his way!

Yeah, we may have the technology, but I hope to never make use of it.
Happy to hear your leg is doing better!

Thanks, guys!
Mameshiba!
I had a lot of fun with that.




Too bad we're pretty much out of Mameshiba videos. There's one more I might use at the end.
I'm not really into babies, but I noticed there's another sub-category called Babyshiba.

Hi jnyrav! Welcome!
Thanks for reading!

Aw, you guys are sweet.

But, really - a cable show? It would be pretty boring.
We're not very interesting.



Well. Maybe if it was public access cable...
It looks like they'll give a show to just about anyone.






Wow. It started off funny, but then I started to feel bad for that poor guy.
Those callers!
I hope he makes himself a margarita...











Day 52: 8/12/12 continued
Christmas Valley, OR to Ram Horn Campground, CA 306 miles








I'm not even sure if this is still Crane Mtn, but that's what I'll call it.

We were out of the rockiest section and onto the sagebrush and meadow areas.







Lots of mule ears up here....I'm no plant expert, but I'm pretty sure these are Wyethia mollis <----- that one is actually informative!













Tree in the road...not a problem with the detour.







This next section had a bit of hillclimb.






For some reason, it doesn't look steep in the video.
But it was.
A little loose.
With lots of turns to make things difficult.
Doesn't look bad, but you can hear the bike working...

"Training!"









In 2010, we had gone up a super steep hill to get to the Crane Mtn trail,
so I was expecting a super steep downhill this time.


It never materialized.
Later, we figured out that we had come in a slightly different way last time
(through some obscure track in the dismal swamp).



This section with all the trees was new to us.








Lots and lots of trees.







Some meadows.







But mostly trees.







Matt was having fun, making our way through them.
Sometimes it was so tight!


I have some video here.
You can hear me freaking out once in a while.
I can't believe we didn't lose a mirror in this section!








Matt said it was like playing "Operation"
....only with bigger consequences.
If you muck up here, you need an operation!















We hit the California border somewhere between this pic...







and this one.








After a while, the trail opened up and we were on regular forest roads.







We were just about at the Dismal Swamp.
Matt recognized this shack.








The Moonlight Mine.
Didn't find a lot of info on this place. An old gold mine, I guess? a couple scraps of info at this link.














Outhouse? good thing it's not 2 stories!








On to the Dismal Swamp!










We're almost done with day 52, you guys!



I really need to finish this before the end of the world...

Wow, that was some really tight track. I think it was at 50seconds in where it got really crazy.

Can't wait for Mameshiba!! And Thanksgiving!!

A new leg is just a signature away but really I dont feel like becoming anymore cyborg than i am

I was wondering what happened to the voice of reason. Seems like you could have used him a couple of times on this trip. Those vids were freaking me out & I'm sitting in a chair watching it.:eek1

You guys are GREAT!!!

Wan's World
Ride On
Wan's World
Ride On...

I can't believe yinz dont have Doubletake Mirrors on the school bus, given the kind of riding you do

Hi Rwelch!

Hi VFR!
You missed the voice of reason? Nah, he just slowed us down.



Thanks for hanging in there!
Are you tempted to try some dirt now?

Thanks, sion! That was fun.
Loved the top 10 - "the suck it list"

yeah. the mirrors.
Matt had first generation folding mirrors on the 950. Destroyed them in baja and went back to the stock ones.


He says, in his defense, he wanted to buy the Doubletake ones from Black Dog at the Klim rally.
But, Kurt didn't have any with him.


Then, we were going to buy them after breaking that one on the single track,
but Radek gave us his old mirror when we were staying at the Man Cave.
we're lazy like that.



One of these days we'll get the right mirrors....









Day 52: 8/12/12 continued
Christmas Valley, OR to Ram Horn Campground, CA 306 miles








I was happy to see our old friend, the Dismal Swamp.









He was not looking as pretty as he usually does, but we all have our off days...









Everything was a little dried out.









This was later in the year, I guess.
Early summer is greener, lusher, more swampy.










The cows don't seem to mind.









This shot almost looks like a tilt-shift photo! Just a little bit. kinda?
























We decided to stop and enjoy the peace and quiet for a while.
I really do like this place.








Took a couple pics.








This marks 52 days without using a hairbrush!




Matt read that and said, "you liar - it was waaaay longer than that!"
Haha, he's right. I'm not much of a hair brusher/comber.
This was probably more like 60 or 70 days without a hairbrush...





Our "adventure" bags were looking pretty beat.
I'm always ragging on those things, but it's our fault for taking them on single track.
This one actually looks pretty good here.
Matt did a number on them at the KTM rally in Bend...
when he got home, they were just barely hanging on.








While we were hanging out, this friendly cow wandered over.
"Oh hai!"









Matt's probably thinking, "Mmmm. Burger."










Back into the trees. Matt had made a special trip to the dismal swamp just for me.
Thanks, BigWanimal.
We were heading out to 395.







Whoa.
These clouds remind me of the secret of management: "measure twice, cut once..."
you don't have to keep watching that, but if you go to 17:45 there's a "doodie" reference that live2ridetahoe might enjoy.







Don't cry over spilled grain?








We were getting close to PinkPillion's neighborhood, I think.
Everyone wave to Aimee!







Unfortunately, there were fires nearby. We were worried about you, Aimee.
Glad your family was okay.








We saw a fire engine making a beeline for the hills.








The smoke was so thick, it was hard to breathe.
It must have been horrible for the area residents, dealing with this smoke for days...








We were trying to decide where to stop for the night, when we saw a sign for a campground.
Perfect!
It was down a gravel road...








I don't have my journal handy, but this was Ramhorn Springs Campground.
I found some info - here.








As we were setting up our tent and getting ready for dinner,
Matt said, "did you notice that there's no one here?"
It was weird - there were tents and vehicles everywhere, but we didn't see a single person.


They showed up later. Guess a bunch of them had carpooled into town for dinner.
Others had been off, hiking in the nearby hills.
It was still a strange place.









Haha, the only reason we bought this flavor chili was so I could use this link in the ride report...
Smells like a steak and seats 35...







It wasn't bad.







306 miles.






Started the morning in Xmas Valley -
did the dunes, did the lost forest, made it up and across Crane Mountain (with just a bruised ankle)...

What a fantastic day.

That clip reminds me of Xymotic. where are you xymo?






Anyway.
One more day (our favorite bits of the PCQ) and we're done...





Knock knock.
Who's there?
Lettuce.
Lettuce who?

Lettuce in!

"...she's a squirrel-squashing, deer-smacking drivin' machine..."

sounds like my Maggie: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18754744&postcount=49301

although to be fair, I'm 90% sure Maggie and I haven't ever squashed any squirrels...

Thanks for thinking about me!!

Remember, when you think doodie, think live2ridetahoe.

Uh, wait a minute, that didn't come out right...

JG

Lookin forward to a 4 day weekend just so I can get caught up on your awesome report "WAN's". Lots of work I know, way to hang in there. Can't beleive you can keep all those details straight. I have trouble remembering what I did last night, let alone 53 days into a trip.