Phantom Trail II

[bikeslut 1]

Sdl said as much on another forum... he thinks it crosses private land or something...oh well, i didn't really ride that trail anyway; it was boring

[carguy 1]

Some political issues have come up. Still investigating ownership. Waiting for my new computer.5-10 days.

[Dirtfocus 0]

Dude, that kid can ride! yeeeeeeeeeeHAAAAAAAAAAAW! OH YEAH ! ! !

The trail sure was in nice shape back then.

That rut is like 6 feet deep now! mawAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH !

Yup, Had him on a bike since he was five. Besides, he's on the best kind of bike out there... a borrowed bike!

We may try again with some Yamaha Rhino's (with winches & anchors for good measure). they are good rock climbers within reason, but I have buried all four in stuff like that...

[motoxusa 0]

This is an adventure you'll talk about for a long time. It's hard to forget the fact that you might have been a picnic for a bunch of buzzards. Those kind of rides build character.

[bikeslut 1]

Welcome- I must applaud your selection of bikes. I was already a character... It was definitely a learning experience... famous last words "If he can walk it, I can ride it"

I dropped my cocky quotient.

Bob

2005 V Strom

2005 DRZ400S

[sandiegoland 0]

Great story! ...about two months after posting the “Phantom Trail”, my neighbor told me...

Thanks for dropping by and adding your comments to our report. You of all people understand why we decided to post what happened as accurately as possible. At the risk of looking like we made a lot of mistakes, we thought it might help others stay aware of what can happen on a ride.

The more I look back on this ride, the more I think that less actually went wrong on this ride, we took less risk on this ride, we suffered less collective damage on this ride -- than what happens to us or most of our "critics" on any hard riding dirt adventure. In fact if you knew bikeslut, you would know that it was really a fluke that he hit the wall. A few circumstances different and there would have been no story.

Anyway, please join us soon. If not for a ride... to just poor over some maps and share some knowledge about the county. Ride safe!

[Dirtfocus 0]

Thanks for dropping by and adding your comments to our report.

In this instance, you where able to see the danger before someone got hurt, & having traveled that very same trail, I know how hard it was to figure at what point you’ve begun to go over your head! I figure if John’s article helped in any small way, it did its intended job.

An interesting thing about the “Phantom Trail” story is that I had asked John if he wanted go up to McCain Valley & ride. He though it was a funny I asked & sent me the story. After I read it, I thought it was something that had happened month or even years ago, it never dawned on me he was writing about the previous weekend & was still recovering! Since posting, it keeps getting a healthy number of hits every week, so the word is getting out.

Thanks for the invite. I sold my soul to the devil by offering to sell my dual-sported 650R for a 660 Rhino. I have the Rhino now, but the wife has accused me of dragging me feet on the sale of the bike…Do you guys ride Baja as well?

[Marbee40 0]

Since posting, it keeps getting a healthy number of hits every week, so the word is getting out.

WOW! I've had a few close ones over the years, but those hills look STEEP! That is NO JOKE! You guys get two thumbs up for sharing. You just KNOW I'm gonna go find that trail and take a peek. If any of you decide to revisit, lemme know cause I wanna go borrow a helo!

I look forward to riding with this intelligent adventurous bunch soonest!

[sandiegoland 0]

Just in time for our 7-month anniversary of this ride...

The soundtrack is courtesy of Billy Midnight, a really outstanding local band

=====

Shut Up and Ride

Leave No One Behind

[SCHWINN 0]

Having only heard rumors and stories of the events told,it had to be the worst cuz i consider myself to be a pretty good rider having ridden about 38 years of my life, i have had the pleasure of riding with carguy,pyro and bikeslut ,my hats off to you guys for everything you went thru and knowing you guys now, i will ride with you guys anytime.

[darylhunter 1]

Wow, just found this story through the link in the 1000th post thread.

Quite a read!

Because I ride by myself a lot, I carry my ham radio, but I've also been considering a PLB for some time and am now seriously thinking about the SPOT.

http://www.findmespot.com/les8em.aspx

Lets you send status and tracking messages by satellite as well as a help message, or a "911" message if things get really bad.

Performance doesn't sound quite as good as a PLB in terms of getting a message out if you're in any kind of tree cover or other blockage but seems more versatile for every day usage. The PLB's really just for when things really go South and it's truely time to call in the SAR folks.

Just curious too, what ever happened with checking out the route from the bottom up, did it end up being a problem with private property preventing access from the bottom?

[bikeslut 1]

yeah- a few of the guys went to try and find the bottom, and found obstacles and fences/signage

That was my first ride with this forum... what an introduction, huh? Everybody was great that day... really... I'm NEVER "that guy"... that day, I was

riding bikes and motorcycles for 30+ years, and I've never been in an ambulance, much less air lifted... lots of breaks/scars etc., but always rode out... did half of Noble with a dislocated rib... I'm not a quitter

I had NOTHING left that day, after lifting the bike out, then bulldogging the bike a half a mile.

The only different I would do today is: save my energy for an early morning... walk out that day without my gear and leave the bike; come back with a plug and a battery and a paddle tire... some more ropes and some come alongs and some stakes

get to the bike at o dark thirty, and start putting in the effort before the sun got up

I learned a lot that day... including a lot about carguy, SDL, pyro and woody

couple of days later, les walker from ADV rider (whom none of us had ever met) drives out from fallbrook, spyder drives out from SD, and les rides all of the bikes out that had keys (not mine...) so i learned about the type of people that are out there in the motorcycle world and on-line

[christi20 0]

Wow! I am glad this story was revived. A good lesson for all of us for sure. I am so glad all made it out ok.

I too have been thinking about getting SPOT.

and though I still think of riding alone....I WON'T do it. Not even for a seemingly short easy ride.

[Joliet 0]

I carry the spot, I am quite happy with it so far.

The day before the desert dash a few of us (Schwinn, Ride Orange, Carguy and myself) started up from the bottom of Phantom Trail in the rain. The gate was open and it was not posted. I whimped out when I fell with the new Husky, but I have wanted to go back many times. Ken

[darylhunter 1]

I bought the SPOT today while out at lunch. I'll unbox it tonight and get the thing registered and probably go for the tracking option along with the $8/yr insurance thingy.

I try really hard not to get in over my head while riding, but accidents happen, or I could have a mechanical problem while way out in the boonies.

I do have the tri-band VHF/UHF ham radio with which I've usually been able to hit a repeater somewhere, but it'd be just my luck that when I really needed it I'd be in a RF hole.

[RogerTOWM 0]

I bought the SPOT today while out at lunch. I'll unbox it tonight and get the thing registered and probably go for the tracking option along with the $8/yr insurance thingy.

So sir you are not going to tell us where you got it or how much we could expect to pay for said item? I think Ken and you both have a good idea and the beast master…err….did I say that out loud… I mean wife….might feel better if I had one as well.

[darylhunter 1]

I guess I could have added that helpful bit of info.

I paid $149.95 at REI, which will add to my REI member account and I'll get some back in REI bucks later on.

The subscription fee is paid through the SPOT site and is $99/yr for the basic service and another $49 for the tracking service - though they did tell me today when I called that you can get a 50% discount promo rate on the tracking service for the first year so I may try that. The SAR insurance option is another $8/yr on top of that if you go for it at registration time - otherwise it's like $150/yr.

[OUTERLIMITS 0]

I read this story with great interest quite some time back. I've looked on Google Earth and understand why it was attempted. Question, has anyone tried this from the bottom just to see how far up you can go? Or is it behind a locked gate or something? This looks far more doable than the original Phantom trail out near Mccain Valley.

[dirt dame 561]

I carry the spot, I am quite happy with it so far.

The day before the desert dash a few of us (Schwinn, Ride Orange, Carguy and myself) started up from the bottom of Phantom Trail in the rain. The gate was open and it was not posted. I whimped out when I fell with the new Husky, but I have wanted to go back many times. Ken

Here's Kens post about when they looked from the bottom.

[carguy 1]

I'm not a quitter

I had NOTHING left that day, after lifting the bike out, then bulldogging the bike a half a mile.

I don't think anyone can see the whole story without being there. The temps, how steep and loose the hill was or how many trips we made up and down.

Bulldogging the bike 10 feet was like bench pressing a Harley.

We all know you did not quit! I was spent too. I don't know how I went that far, guess just the will to get home.

I will still ride anywhere with you Bob, er..ah, Mr. Slut!

[sandiegoland 0]

The bottom is referred to as Cottonwood Canyon and was purchased by The Conservation Fund for future transfer to the Bureau of Land Management which intends to manage the land in concert with adjacent wilderness areas.

What that means today is likely it's BLM (or close to it) and is on the docket to be added to the Sawtooth Wilderness Area. If anyone is further interest we should open up another thread to discuss...

[bikeslut 1]

let's open another thread...you first this time

[Pollo 0]

I was riding al Lark, but was on the East side of the main road and did some exploring. I found out later after seing some signs that it's off limits. I won't ride there anymore. But there are trails there and I came down on some steepies going into the desert. Looked promising and I found one that snaked down this shoot, kinda like a water slide formation. Anyway, there comes a point especially when alone which I was to know your limits for a sure return. It is here that I walked it down, came back up and went for it. After dropping down with the Berg the trail continues towards the desert but I turned around to make sure I could return. Got up in the twisty, steep sandy area and was able to step off and throttle it up and out of there never to return.

Pollo

[bikeslut 1]

FN-

Does pollos trail sound familiar?

[sandiegoland 0]

FN-

Does pollos trail sound familiar?

Phantom Trail the original?