Only as I left camp behind did I realize what I gem of an area I had found. The forest roads and various ATV trails (legal for motorcycles) spread out like spiderwebs! I had in mind to explore a designated ATV area about 20-ish miles away but I wasn’t particularly dedicated to the task. I didn’t head that way… I ambled. I took this forest road or that trail in no particular order. I’d see a cool stump or a neat grove of trees or a likely place for small game hunting in the fall and go check it out. I’d ping my SpotX occasionally but I was more or less lost. Not that I cared, the day was young and I was well prepared. The sun was brutal but also clearly visible. I kept an eye on it and managed to go in basically the correct direction.
I was “scouting” for future trips too. I found a few very nice dispersed camps (free!). I mildly regretted paying full scratch for a State Park just a few miles away. Then I remembered that nice cool shower. Luxuries are sometimes worth the expense.
The entire area was ideal. A perfect Curmudgeon playland! I made plans to come back for small game season. I’ve a mind to add hunting to my bike trips; carry a hunting firearm on the bike, ride to a nice hunting spot, whack a rabbit or a gamebird, and grill it right there in the forest. (At the moment, that’s not in the cards. Fire restrictions are in effect so grilling without returning to a metal ringed firepit is illegal. Also, it’s stupid. More importantly, it’s not the right hunting season. That’s OK. I’m patient and it’s an idea not a job.) I’ve experimented with motorcycle/fishing too. That was a different story that I never blogged but it hasn’t yet worked out. This area didn’t lend itself to fish dinner anyway. I didn’t find any secret fishing holes.
There’s a spectrum of “styles” for people playing in nature and I don’t sit at the middle of that bell curve. I’d shutdown my motorcycle and was sitting on a stump watching a goldfinch when I saw the first “other people”. It was an ATV “group” and it was my best guess as to “normal” for the area.
Four machines arrived in convoy and eight people piled out. A four seat UTV, complete with kids in the back wearing helmets. An older ATV driven by a bald guy (no helmet). A dirt bike operated by a guy that looked a bit like Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Also no helmet. Finally a skinny sunburnt woman on an old ATV. She wore a muscle shirt and was clutching a lit cigarette. Some poor bastard (husband?) was perched on the back and holding on for deal life. No helmet on those two either.
I mention the helmet thing because helmets on a UTV seem like overkill. Since they’ve got roll cages it’s more a lawyer thing than a logical need (unless, of course, you’re going nuts on technical obstacles). Yet, I notice that even the craziest rednecks will carefully truss up kids like the tykes are going to space. That says something about our society and it seems rather positive to me. The woman with the muscle shirt looked like she ate meth from the skulls of her enemies yet she helped the kids with the gentlest hand… while waving a lit cigarette in the middle of a parched forest with the other. They gave me a nod, as if assessing the threat profile of a bearded weirdo sitting in the brush stalking songbirds. I nodded back. Everyone was happy. The kids frolicked a bit and then everyone saddled up and roared out. I love Americans!
I thought that, as I approached the ATV “area” I might be overrun by the extras from Mad Max, The Road Warrior. It was nothing of the sort. I saw only one additional ATV group. Three gleaming new UTVs in convoy; looking for all the world like an organized and highly financed high tech military patrol. I sputtered by, feeling sheepish to be going so slow on my “grandpa bike” but also macho to be exploring alone.
That was it. Two ATV groups. That was “the crowded part” of my day.
Sounds like a lovely day. I’m jealous 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
I forget if you previously said- does your bike have a federally-approved spark arrestor? A buddy and I once got rousted by a courteous agent in a business suit for the lack of same. It actually was a pleasant encounter with a Fed!
Also, I’m stealing and taking to work monday the phrase ” looked like she ate meth from the skulls of her enemies”. Beautiful! Only problem is, how to casually work it into the conversation in a civilized fashion…
No worries. The stock TW muffler has a spark arrestor built right in. I think there’s a logo or stamp that proves it too. It’s somewhere under the mud and I’d have to look for it but I’m pretty sure it’s there.
That said I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how little I’ve been hassled by forest and park badge sniffers. I’ve recently camped all weekend in two State Parks without ever seeing a human employee at the gate or elsewhere. It looks like the facilities are maintained by contractors and it’s both well done and happens when I wasn’t around. Also, I’ve ridden all over creation without a single sighting of game warden or whatever. I’ve seen a few woodland fire trucks but they were legitimately actually looking for woodland fire.
It’s an optimistic possibility that demographics, economics, and changing society means there are less people hired to be in the forest wearing a uniform and waiting to personally hassle me. Or maybe it was just too damn hot. Or maybe the scary woman on the ATV ate them. Who knows?