Exploring by Dirt Bike
Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 4:02PM When was the last time you went out riding alone or with some friends without having a “plan”?
Maybe, either a track you were going to ride, or a loop in an area that you probably already know or have ridden many times before.
I recently had the opportunity to ride a couple of areas, mostly desert, that I have only ridden once or twice. What I found was that there are some things to ride and learn in those areas we don’t go explore much that you can end up feeling like a modern day Columbus on a motorcycle.
During these “explorations”, I have come across defunct 22,000 acre ranches, old abandoned cabins that you could spend the night in, Mineshafts and Mines straight into the side of the hills, Gold Miners camps, a man made “Bat Habitat” (no kidding), Historic buildings and markers with history listed on site, panoramic views that are absolutely incredible and people living in places that make you wonder what in the heck they are thinking.
The interesting part of these places is that none of them were known to me when I started each ride. They were treasures I found somewhere along the route by just waiting to see if I should turn left or right at the next intersection. It has started to turn into such a good time riding a motorcycle and exploring that I had to get a bigger Camelbak to carry more water, food, small flashlight (for the caves) and a notebook with pen to write things down. There were so many things I was seeing I wanted to start making notes to find my way back another time!
It seems the more I look around the more there is to see. There are BLM markers in places that you would have no idea existed unless you ran across them exploring. The reason I say this is because since taking off on these adventures, I have gone to a BLM office to see if I could buy a map that would show all these places I had been to.
Lo and behold, they didn’t have any!
They have had plans to have them printed since sometime in the 90’s but it has not happened yet. The sad part is, I have come across these markers that mark trails with assigned trail number designations, but in order to find them you have to be out sometimes miles from an access road. There have been very few OHV signs pointing the way to the areas that are clearly marked as ATV/Motorcycle friendly trails. It almost seems like it is a game of hide and seek with some of our off road trails. I intend to keep seeking, to see what I can find! I have my pencil and paper and will be keeping notes since it could be several months to years before I get back to some of my “finds”.
So again, my point is………..Go Exploring!
Happy Trail Exploring,
#33
Reader Comments (1)
Howdy Eric, I thought maybe you should carry a Gps so You could pin point the locations and the the turn a person need to take, I use my Gps for my mining claim locations and if they have a phone that is capable of using google earth they can look at the screen and make sure it looks like the trail ahead, It works great! Hope to ride with you soon . Wayne