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So, the plan was set... a bunch of guys set you meet up in the Southern Sierras for a few days of fun, riding, camping, cooking, and trail maintenance.

The day we were to start I got a text... "maybe we should camp lower in the mountains, nighttime lows may be in the 30's"

Well, are we not adventurers? Are we not men? Are campfires allowed? If so, we've made too many agreements already to back out now... we're moving forward.

So, I drive to Brad's house with my truck, my bike and my gear; prepared to drive if I must, we see the situation is well in hand... Brad has a big rig; a 2500 diesel, with 6 speed manual and 4 wheel drive. Alan is caravanning up with his shelled Ranger, and we attach Alan's trailer to Brad's rig. 4 bikes in the trailer, along with some tables, firewood, etc.

our home for the next 3 days

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Jon's (pastapilot)transportation device and sleeping accommodations

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Jon's trail weapon

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Josh's (jbw) transportation and open air bedroom

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and his "light is right" steed

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Alan's (MCtrails) room and bike

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Brad's bike

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and the rig

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your humble cook

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the campsite

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Kato and his reliable dual sport... 1994 ATK 605; he and the machine tackled some NASTY trails, fast fire roads, and twisty blacktop... neither skipped a beat the whole time...

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First day of action, Jon trying to start his injected motocrosser... after talking smack about the awesomeness of fuel injection, he just could NOT get the thing fired up!!!

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so, that requires a little more investigation

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IT LIVES!

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some trail dust the first day

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lots of different trail barriers... here is a natural curb along the trail; this may be the longest straight section all day

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after a brief break, it's back to the riding

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first BIG obstacle on the first day... it IS steeper than it looks

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Jon executing a flip turn

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Jon getting over a rock pile... this was the beginning of the toughest trail (for most of us) the entire weekend

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steep, silty, rutted, slippery... fun

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I got it, I got it!

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I lost it

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Kato after dropping his beast

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and. he's back on the move

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and we'll just park it here for a second

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Josh taking advantage of Kato's rest to change the jetting on the smoker

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and slutbike resting as well

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Kato taking a well-deserved rest by a creek

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Josh

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Brad

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trailboss Jon

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and Alan

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we were deep in the woods

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some of the trails were MUCH tighter... Jon assured us this was legitimate singeltrack, none of that bootleg stuff

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Kato with the beast showing that gravity is not just a rule, it's the law

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Alan taking in the views

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another smoker getting rejetted

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we climbed a bit

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up to a lookout tower on the top...

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more views on the way down

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Jon figuring out what is next

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at some point, I was ready to get back to camp, so Kato rode with me back... we borrowed Jon's map and headed out... On the way we saw a "warming station"... Inside were blankets, a wood stove, some firewood, etc. It would come in really useful if you didn't get off the mountain before dark

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kato

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inside was a log for trail notes... at some point somebody saw a bear, but we saw a few deer; that's it

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we come back to camp, and the Boy Scouts have moved in... with a portable zip-line... the scout leader was kind enough to warn us about the decapitating potential behind our campsite

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and... that's the end of day one. Jon and the others ran Bull Run Trail, and assured me it was a blast

this is my foot... that's just setting my foot down... it was LOOSE

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day two begins with Kato checking tire pressure...

and not finding any

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while he works on his tube, I cook breakfast... fake bees like grease

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more views

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a gracious greeting from Alan

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the lookout we rode to yesterday

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a nice meadow

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all smiles today

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moo

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here cow... come 'ere cow...

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they were watching us... I was going to try and sneak up on them, but they were on to us

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Kato emerging from a trail

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Kato in a BIG OLD TREE

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Slut standing in the gash of the Sequuoia

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Alan silty and happy as hell

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obstacles

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a little trail work

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many ways to keep a bike upright on off camber trails- portable stand

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well placed tree

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oh hell, just lay it down

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"all good?"

"all good"

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Alan through Deer Creek

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and... Kato... with a flat

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---- bob... stop taking pictures of my problems!

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"glad it's not me"

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we stumbled upon lady bug heaven

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a nasty section of trail... repeat after me... "it's steeper than it looks"

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but gave us views like this

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and some easy, but with high risk for failure trails

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some tight stuff

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and some legit tight stuff

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opening up at the top

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end day two

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begin the final day... you may notice the lack of Brad and Josh in day two; they went to tackle the Rincon trail... I've heard enough stories to JUST SAY NO... So they will have their report of that day and their death march

final day on Wagy Ridge Trail overlooking the Lake

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Brad back with the group, fighting a nasty head cold and soldiering on

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Josh?

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back near camp, some logging still going on

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stopped to get some pizza after loading up... mmmmm... pizza.... delicious and healthy

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.... maybe I'll just have two slices

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Thanks bikeslut, mctrails, Spaugh, kato and jbw for taking time off work and coming out to ride. Despite my bike/personal frustrations on Saturday morning I had an incredible time. All bikes, regardless of their induction systems, start considerably better with the fuel line connected. :coolio:

Sunday ride was my favorite loop, but Monday's views were amazing.

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Our videographer and photographers have a few hundred photos and 3 or 4 hours of video to share.

It's too bad about the dust and the Boy Scouts and hunters were a drag. That really is the most traffic I've ever seen up there.

I might be heading back in a few weeks for a Stewards of the Sequoia trail work day. Any volunteers?

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WOW... latest addition to my bucket list. Thanks for the report! :party:

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Slut can you say Wow, nice pics and write up .

Thanks..

Glad I didn't go because I would be pissed I had to come home.

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Guys...this is just the tip of the iceberg. Alan has lots of pictures and video...kato took some pictures; I think Brad did too

I was running facebook report from camp, so i'll cross post it over here when I get a chance

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Excellent report BS. Looked like you got what you were after. Thanks for sharing.

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Guys...this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Tip of the iceberg of pictures AND trails. I'll be sure to pull your chain before your Memorial Day work rush season for a damp soil Spring ride.

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bob i saw you today heading east on 8. i just got on the 8 from the 805. i tried waving and getting your attention but the traffic was to thick to really mess around

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bob i saw you today heading east on 8. i just got on the 8 from the 805. i tried waving and getting your attention but the traffic was to thick to really mess around

I was supposed to be off work, then got a call the Health Department dropped in to inspect today...so went in for 10 hours

I was kind of irritated by it, so if somebody would've waved to me, I probably would've flipped them the bird

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Very impressive ride and not one photo was posted sideways, even more impressive BS!

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bob i saw you today heading east on 8. i just got on the 8 from the 805. i tried waving and getting your attention but the traffic was to thick to really mess around

I was supposed to be off work, then got a call the Health Department dropped in to inspect today...so went in for 10 hours

I was kind of irritated by it, so if somebody would've waved to me, I probably would've flipped them the bird

lol still had your bike in the truck.

thats how i knew to look for you

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Awesome! Don't need to say much more... Glad you guys had a great time. Look forward to more pics and vids. (Oh, and I want in on the next one!)

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Kinda gives me PTSD flashbacks of AZ. Nicely done.

I will tell you straight up...much more challenging...harder sections, more of them, and longer days

I still consider myself low intermediate, and I was DONE at the end of each day...no crashes for me, and my knee is STILL swollen and sore

And I didn't ride Rincon, and cut out early all3 days

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Wow! Spectacular trip...

I can't wait to get the dirt bike camping trips rolling again...

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As bikeslut mentioned Brad and I went up the Rincon trail on day 2 of the trip.

This trail is considered one of the more technical, it really does not present any single obstacle that cannot be passed without help but a relentless array of difficult rock gardens, rock step ups, hillclimbs, log crossings and off camber hill sections. It starts at the Kern river and heads up and over multiple mountain ranges and then back to an upriver portion of the Kern. A truly epic ride.

Getting to the trail was a bit troublesome as there were a host of fireroads packed tightly right near the entrance, We knew the general direction and we managed to pick the right combination the first time and ended up at the trailhead.

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Initially you start out near some smaller tributaries with a whole lot of rocks. A decent set of the rocks are not very "clean" and they require some footwork.

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The first risky obstacle is just past Salmon creek there is a boulder that sticks out and an off camber climb. This is not particularly difficult but the risk factor is fairly high.

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Another obstacle of note is the start of a grueling hillclmib climb, up what is an incredibly steep hill, the run-up is only about 15 feet and as with many pictures it is much steeper than it appears.

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Yet another rock field.

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Rock step up.

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Stream crossing + limbo

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Continue on the way up

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Trail continues past many mountain passes (you can see it going up the mountain in the distance).

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It was getting late (started this trek too late) and gas was looking to have been used faster than usual and we were way out in the wilderness, it seemed a good idea to turn around even with only 1-2 miles left to reach the Kern.

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Heading back

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A slightly off camber section with a narrow trail to test the nerves on the way back.

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A seemigly simple tree to make turns out to be much harder when at such a great angle. Took three tries to make it over.

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I had a great time, I would even consider going back starting earlier and carrying some extra gas to make it all the way with some extra confidence. On the way back we were even getting low on gas and just hit reserve before rolling up to the truck. According to the map we had gone about 35 miles of pure singletrack which means our bikes got gas mileage much below normal as reserve is usually hit at over 50 miles.

The whole trip was amazing, the variety of trails within the forest and the trek out was quite an experience.

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yea what a trip, good test of skills endurance and confidence on this one I gotta say.. choke at the wrong moment somewhere inthere and you, your bike, or both could be a goner. And boy did we breathe silt and dust, but Bob's cooking every evening & morning kept us healthy and ready to go the next day, thanks man. good times everyone. and thanks for leading Jon. Hope I'm able to visit the sierras again soon.

Bad camera but here's just a few more, nothing crazy but we need some slut in this post.

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(yes, he's somewhere in this pic)

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Good Job Guys !!!!

I was in Utah and thinking some of you may have liked trails we were on .

Brad ,Alan have you been on Kane Springs Trail ?

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