Got in over my head..almost died!

[The Yeti]

OK, I may be exagerating a bit, but I'm still not happy with myself...got into a situation WAY over my head this Saturday and if it wasn't for pure luck, I woulda been screwed!  I shoulda known better than to go down the trail I went down.  Seriously bad move.

Anyway, I went to explore around Spearfish Canyon on Saturday. If you take the turn to Roughlock Falls and just keep going, after a couple miles you'll come to this nice little road:



Just rocky enough to be fun at speed, but not too rocky to be annoying     :







The fall colors were at just about their peak for this season:







So, I stay on this road, slowly climbing the whole way. I see visions in my head of getting up on to the rim of Spearfish Canyon...that would be WAY cool. I wasn't that far off....







As I get closer to the rim of the canyon, the road starts to narrow and get a little more vague. The map said that the road stopped here:



I continued "off the map" and was rewarded with THIS view!









After riding the rim of the canyon for a couple hundred yards, the road headed down into a valley:







Stayed pretty easy, until I get here (this is where I shoulda turned and run):



Trail was covered in leaves with loose rocks and ruts hiding underneath!    I kept pushing on....





Trail became more and more vague...on my way down, I passed a woman and her teenage son. Asked them if they thought I could make it down and where the trail ended up. The mother said "Sure, you can probably make it down on a dirt bike, but I wouldn't do it in an ATV". I said, "Well, this ain't like your normal dirt bike, she's HEAVY!  I'm gonna give it a shot, but you may see me coming back up this way very soon!".  I headed off again, eventually coming to this:



Past those large rocks is a VERY steep hill covered in leaves, leaving the terrain somewhat a mystery. I decided I was turning around, but had nowhere to do so.  Pushed and pulled for a few minutes and just dug myself in deeper. Got off the bike, sat down and thought about my predicament..."Man, I'm f*ckin screwed!".

Then, the rest of the family belonging to the mother and son I saw earlier came hiking up the hill!  I really regret I didn't get any pics of this family, because they really did save me...I woulda been walking out of there if it wasn't for them....

Anyway, we tried to push and pull the BEAST for about 10 minutes, and just couldn't get it turned around on the VERY narrow trail...fortunatly, I eventually dropped the pig on her left side.    I said "Perfect! Now we can just spin her around til the front wheel is pointing uphill!", so, with the help of the dad and the son, we got her pointing in the right direction (caused a little damage to the crash bars, but way worth it) and picked her up.

After thanking the family profusley, I was on my way back up this b*tch of a hill...was WAY easier coming down, I'm telling you. Had to take more than a few breaks, and at one point, thought I'd burned my clutch out...but, I was in 2nd gear     At one point, I was breathing so hard, and my heart beating so fast, I thought I might pass out. Had to strip off all my gear and sprayed my camelbak on my head for a few minutes before I felt right again...was a scary couple minutes right there.  I've said it beofre here, but I am REALLY out of shape! This is the first time I came close to using my SPOT, almost pushed the button...







Oh yeah, did I mention that my rear tire is almost bald???  Makes trying to climb a leaf strewn, rocky, rutty hill just that much more exciting!

I can't tell you how relieved I was when I came over the crest of that hill and saw this:



I felt like I'd just escaped from the jaws of some giant beast...I was completly wore out, beat, spent, whatever.....it was at this point that I realized that if it weren't for that family out hiking, I could have been in a much worse situation.  I felt...really good!



When I made it out of there, I went back down the way I came past Roughlock Falls. According to my GPS, I was not far from the walking trail to the falls when I turned around, somewhere in this valley (this pic taken from the parking lot for the falls):



Lessons I learned: 1. Don't go down a trail when your gut says NO  2. If you REALLY need to turn around on a tight trail, lay 'er down and spin 'er around!!   

[fringefan]

Looks like a good time.

[Jared]

Great report, glad you're okay!  We'll have to tackle that trail with a few of us next time.

[Hank]

Nice pics Alan! Glad you didn't have to walk home or get eaten by a mountain lion!   

Yeti says:   "I almost DIED"

Fringefan says:  "Looks like a good time"


LOL sorry but that's pretty funny. 

[fringefan]

Some times when your back is up against it, those are the times you remember most


Would have been nice to have a buddy with though, misery loves company.

[The Yeti]

Yeti says:   "I almost DIED"

Fringefan says:  "Looks like a good time"


LOL sorry but that's pretty funny. 

Yeah, I thought that was pretty funny, too. Just goes to show how different attitudes can be. 

Great report, glad you're okay!  We'll have to tackle that trail with a few of us next time.

Not too sure if anyone could get down that hill, maybe Brett and his TTR, but I think anything bigger would just not make it, you guys are welcome to try while I take pics/videos!    Even if you do make it, it comes out on a walking trail (i.e. no motorized vehicles allowed), but it's only about half a mile to a bridge that comes out on the road...if you go real fast you probably won't get caught.   

Some times when your back is up against it, those are the times you remember most


Would have been nice to have a buddy with though, misery loves company.

Those are the ones I remember most, but not fondly!  A wingman would have been very nice when I got stuck and couldn't turn around...if that family hadn't happened to be hiking by right then, I'd probably been walking down to Savoy to make a rescue call.

Maybe if I had my suspension set up like I do now, the ride back up that hill wouldn't have sucked quite so bad...I'll never find out cause I'm not goin back!   

[LittleJacket]

that sounds exactly like the trail that James, Dean, and Steve took in June.  They said they had to strap logs on the back of the bikes and walk them down the hill. 

Also, I'm sure Brett or Brian could to it, but definitely not the rest of us!  No credit man-no credit!

[The Yeti]

...strap logs on the back of the bikes and walk them down the hill....

That's freakin genius! I shoulda thought of that.

[flexlarson]

WOW sounds fun. Im glad u r OK. I could have talked you through it man. It'll be OK....It's easier past this point. This is the hardest part and before you know it you'd be done.

Really though .........BE CAREFUL
I'm a one upper so here it goes.

I fell one time out in the middle of nowhere (near Grand Lake Co) while I was riding an old railroad line that washed out on the right side. Bike fell on me while trying to cross over and ride in-between the tracks. Stupid accident but the DR pinned my leg between motor and track. Even with Boots it really hurt.  I had to kick, lift, push the bike off my leg, then unload bike, and try to get it turned around. (A task doing this in an area slightly wider than a railroad track.  Ankle swelled up and I couldn't walk on it. And it was sleeting out.  uphill both ways JK it wasn't up hill. I had no cell reception and I was feeling what others refer to as nervousness. Despite the scare it is and was very memorable and lets you know you are alive. I proceeded to get a nice hotel for two nights and enjoy the locals. 
Keep livin it up Allen.

[The Yeti]

WOW sounds fun. Im glad u r OK. I could have talked you through it man. It'll be OK....It's easier past this point. This is the hardest part and before you know it you'd be done.

Yeah, I've heard THAT before:  "Hey, Brian, is this the worst of it?", "Oh, yeah, it gets a lot easier from here on.  There's just just easy bit, then a little hillclimb...no sweat."

Really though .........BE CAREFUL

I try to, but then I think "What would Brian do??"   

I fell one time out in the middle of nowhere....

Holy shit!! You ARE my hero man. 

I was feeling what others refer to as nervousness

Oh yeah...I know what you mean....I think some would call it, ummm...STARK TERROR! 

Keep livin it up Allen.

You know it! (But it's Alan  )

[Crizzay23]

Glad you're ok Alan.

One time while riding from my garage to the mailbox, I noticed a 1/8" wide crack in the asphalt and God willing, I dodged it.  Terrifying to say the least.

[The Yeti]

Glad you're ok Alan.

One time while riding from my garage to the mailbox, I noticed a 1/8" wide crack in the asphalt and God willing, I dodged it.  Terrifying to say the least.

[Hank]

The only thing that would have made this post better is a picture of the lady and the little boy helping you get your motorcycle turned around.


   I'm just ribbin' ya.   It's a great post and I'm sure it was ..er.. mm .. exhilarating to say the least.   All this shit talk from these guys riding wee little 650s.  HA!

[The Yeti]

It was a lady, TWO pre-teen boys and a teenage girl! Even when dad showed up, we couldn't get it to move until I dropped it...   

[Trl_Rdr]

I think I may have gone that way a few years ago.  (On a XR600R) Ended up on a hiking trail for a few hundred feet    before getting to a gravel road.  The GPS showed that the road was there.