Three of us hit the HM trails Monday. Riders were Luke on a 550 XP/Nolan on a850XP (new ride for him)/and Larry (Pirate) RZR1000 (new ride for me). This was our 7th trip to HM. We have ridden Brimstone 4 times and Windrock 2 times. We were hoping the dust wouldn’t be too bad. It wasn’t.
Monday Day 1. left Indian Ridge trailhead and hit several trails on the way to the IR/PC connector. Exited the connector at the bridge and rode the OL trails to the "View" and on to Sterling Drive In. Totally worth the ride. We had maps but no GPS but navigated over there anyway. Didn’t take the left to head to Reed Junction and rode the red and came out about five miles above Sterling. Thanks to BobT for all his help and maps and also the guys at "The View" with WVsxs shirts on for directing us. They beat us to the drive in and told us how to find the short way back. Came by Reed Junction and back to IR. Got in 96 miles on day one. A little dust but not bad. We ask for a little rain that night and got a quick shower.
Tuesday Day 2. Left lodging at Browning Fork Trailhouse off Rockhouse trail 19 and headed to Buffalo Mtn by way of Devil Anse connector. New dirt but great trails. A little narrow in places after you cross hwy52 but scenic and good trails. Fifty miles to the intersection at Buffalo. We rode about ten miles of Buffalo, ate a snack, and headed back. Clouded up, started raining, (pre-flood storm) and we rode in the rain back to 52, where it quit. Got gas and headed home. Got in 112 miles. Damn good day. No dust but some mud after the rain. New trails were a little slick in places.
Wed. Day 3. Trailered over to Pinnacle Creek and hit the trails there. Made our way over to the area where we hoped to find the "OL Creek Trails". We found a lot of non HM trails but not exactly sure we were on the actual creek trails. New trails for us anyway. Rode more PC trails on the return and ended the day with 97 miles. Great dirt conditions, no dust. We hate dust!
Thur. Day 4. With the weather forecast we considered heading home on Thur. but decided to wait out the weather and see if we could get in some riding in Rockhouse near the Browning fork Trailhouse.. It stormed about 8:30 and we waited it out. Looked like a window before a serious storm came through and it was a little north of us. We got a lot of good trails behind us and headed into Man for a Wendy’s about 4:30. Ate and headed back. No hurry since we have light until 9. Didn’t happen. Clouds move in a it was DARK in the woods. No problem, but there is no direct way back. We looped our way around and got back to Trail 19, our trailhead trail about 6:45. It’s dark for 6:30. We have about ten miles to go. Lightning and thunder, but it didn’t hit us, just near us! We pick up the pace a little. Then the rain came. It dumped on us as hard as I have ever seen. We were basically riding the trails that seemed like creek riding. My son, who was our leader all week, trudged forward. We just tagged behind him. Visibility was seriously about 20 feet. Goggles were useless but you couldn’t open your eyes without them. We have logged many, many miles since 1973 on a bunch of different types of machines but this was a first. We just pushed forward and eventually got to the cutoff to home. I’m gonna tell you, that square post looked damn good. Another mile to the lodging and we walked on the porch. I recalled being wetter. It was on a scuba diving trip. We never got up tight but I couldn’t help but think about several groups we had run across that day that had a lot of kids and others with riders with no experience. Hope all were home before that rain hit. Got in 85 miles that day and 10 of them I will not soon forget.
Had a great trip and am already looking forward to our next trip. Just can’t beat HM.
Monday Day 1. left Indian Ridge trailhead and hit several trails on the way to the IR/PC connector. Exited the connector at the bridge and rode the OL trails to the "View" and on to Sterling Drive In. Totally worth the ride. We had maps but no GPS but navigated over there anyway. Didn’t take the left to head to Reed Junction and rode the red and came out about five miles above Sterling. Thanks to BobT for all his help and maps and also the guys at "The View" with WVsxs shirts on for directing us. They beat us to the drive in and told us how to find the short way back. Came by Reed Junction and back to IR. Got in 96 miles on day one. A little dust but not bad. We ask for a little rain that night and got a quick shower.
Tuesday Day 2. Left lodging at Browning Fork Trailhouse off Rockhouse trail 19 and headed to Buffalo Mtn by way of Devil Anse connector. New dirt but great trails. A little narrow in places after you cross hwy52 but scenic and good trails. Fifty miles to the intersection at Buffalo. We rode about ten miles of Buffalo, ate a snack, and headed back. Clouded up, started raining, (pre-flood storm) and we rode in the rain back to 52, where it quit. Got gas and headed home. Got in 112 miles. Damn good day. No dust but some mud after the rain. New trails were a little slick in places.
Wed. Day 3. Trailered over to Pinnacle Creek and hit the trails there. Made our way over to the area where we hoped to find the "OL Creek Trails". We found a lot of non HM trails but not exactly sure we were on the actual creek trails. New trails for us anyway. Rode more PC trails on the return and ended the day with 97 miles. Great dirt conditions, no dust. We hate dust!
Thur. Day 4. With the weather forecast we considered heading home on Thur. but decided to wait out the weather and see if we could get in some riding in Rockhouse near the Browning fork Trailhouse.. It stormed about 8:30 and we waited it out. Looked like a window before a serious storm came through and it was a little north of us. We got a lot of good trails behind us and headed into Man for a Wendy’s about 4:30. Ate and headed back. No hurry since we have light until 9. Didn’t happen. Clouds move in a it was DARK in the woods. No problem, but there is no direct way back. We looped our way around and got back to Trail 19, our trailhead trail about 6:45. It’s dark for 6:30. We have about ten miles to go. Lightning and thunder, but it didn’t hit us, just near us! We pick up the pace a little. Then the rain came. It dumped on us as hard as I have ever seen. We were basically riding the trails that seemed like creek riding. My son, who was our leader all week, trudged forward. We just tagged behind him. Visibility was seriously about 20 feet. Goggles were useless but you couldn’t open your eyes without them. We have logged many, many miles since 1973 on a bunch of different types of machines but this was a first. We just pushed forward and eventually got to the cutoff to home. I’m gonna tell you, that square post looked damn good. Another mile to the lodging and we walked on the porch. I recalled being wetter. It was on a scuba diving trip. We never got up tight but I couldn’t help but think about several groups we had run across that day that had a lot of kids and others with riders with no experience. Hope all were home before that rain hit. Got in 85 miles that day and 10 of them I will not soon forget.
Had a great trip and am already looking forward to our next trip. Just can’t beat HM.
