Pachaug camp and ride picture story

[R7]

The plan was to meet Sean at Mt Misery camp area around 5:30-6pm friday evening to set up camp. Tom was supposed to pick me and my gear up to take one truck there. As expected, Tom was late Here I am waiting...and waiting......and waiting!



I had plenty of time to admire my new knobs



Finally get loaded and make the 30 minute drive to the state forest where sean is eagerly waiting for us. Sean waist no time and had the fire going before we got there, even though we were bringing the firewood. Unpack, set up camp with what little daylight we had, and it was time to eat and drink Thanks again to Sean for cooking over the fire.

It was a chilly night for camping but overall was a pretty good sleep. Tom was up first and had a small fire going to try and warm up a bit before the coffee pot got brewing.
My tent is bigger than yours...



Now there's a couple cool bikes..



Well, from the Mt Misery area we start the day on the hero sections of Pachaug. It wasn't long befrore gravity took over to bring us to the ground at some point. The powerline trail is always a killer and seemed in much worse shape this time than in the past.

Tom...which way is best? None, they all suck!



A much needed rest at the top of that trail...less than 3 miles into the loop.



Next up, was the ledge trail. I don't know, I like this trail but Sean hates it? This is the same trail myself, Tom and Evan did over the summer on the motards...though I don't recall the gravity being as strong then as it was today??



Why isn't the headlight on? Oh, your stuck!



And again



Ok, lets take another much needed rest....it gets easier ahead anyways



One of the step ups, yeah Tom did ok on it...



But Sean gets the coolness award for this one!



Stuck again Tom? The right grip turns and makes the bike go...just sayen!



Sean had had it at this point and wasn't in the picture mood anymore.



Group shot..I'm sure Sean will have something to say here..



I had this crazy whistling sound that I thought were the brakes on my bike, it had been happening for quite a while. We just got off this road section that was kinda long and took a rest. I happen to see wings sticking out of my visor...this is what was making the noise. It was still alive as well, though not sure how much longer it lived after we set it free.



We're on our way again...what's this, a big puddle? It's been very dry and Pachaug was the driest I have ever seen it, even with the 2.5" of rain we had 3 days before. Tom, has found the water...and still unsure why he decided to stop there? It ended up being fender depth.



After a few missed turns and some backtracking, we finally made it back to camp. About 67 miles for the day and we were all exhausted.

Leah was chatting with someone in the parking area as we pulled into the camping area and before you know it, we had another guest. Nice to have met you..but I forgot your name?



After we settle down for a bit, it's munchy time.... This pic is for you KB...and they are amazing tasting cooked over the fire. You suck for not showing.

And wow, the pie that Leah made Thank you so much for that, that was a surprise for sure



Sean and his magic over the fire..yet another amazing meal cooked over the campfire



After a quick cleanup, it was time for some fire..



It was a cold night and I slept like shit. Bundled in a sleeping bag with 2 sweatshirts on, pants and a winter hat..I just couldn't get comfortable. Then there was the awefull noise coming from a tent nearby...who the fuck was snoring that loud?
Next morning it was a balmy 32 out..and the field showed it as it was covered in frost.



The new guys bike wouldn't start after several tries, if you're here reading this, did you ever find out what the problem was? Toms new KTM also needed a little boost to get going..but rest assured, Seans and My Yamaha's started instantly
We picked up a few more riders from the parking area. Today, we decided to skip the hero sections, which was fine with all of us.



After 25 or 30 miles, we waited a bit for Leah as she had made a wrong turn in the trail. Sean went back to see what was up and came back with a happy Leah a few minutes later.






We were not sure if the other guys waited at the end of the trail or not..then Sean said, they will be there, they don't know where to go! Sure ennough, they were there.
Sean lead the way up the road section and flagged them by once in the trail. Shortly after I hear Tom beaping the horn. I look to see what's up, says my signal is ready to fall off. Crap, another trailside fix. Sean says "I can fix that"! haha With the help of a stick, and 3 zip ties, I didn't lose my turn signal



Once we get going, it wasn't long before we came on this older couple walking their dog. Wow, did we get a nasty look from them even though we were on a designated motorcycle trail!
Anyway, we carry on without incident.
Time for a trail side lunch..



One of the last sections, it's fun and has some nice burmed corners. It also has some of the most single...single track trails. There was this one tree that blew down though that Leah had a minor issue with. No worries, Sean was there to get the bike over in style again...



Just random while we were waiting..very tight trail section.



And an uneventful ride back to camp. The weekend ends with exactly 124 miles on the clock.



Great time and great company! Can't wait to do the next one

[MysteriousR1]

Great write up! What a fun time. Even though I was told how spolied I was with the trail conditions, it still kicked my ass. I cant wait to go back, it was that much fun. Power line...insane, step up...fun!!

Few things I noticed on the bike was I was always reaching down for the bars standing up. Which in turn almost made me lean foward, found that is...bad. Bar risers needed.
I am still bottoming out the rear suspension causing it to smash into the license plate, sounds bad when it happens. New rear spring is needed for sure.

Had a blast trying to keep up, thanks for letting me tag along guys!

[theothersean]

Pachaug the weekend in review

I had friday off from work and headed to the mt misery campground to get a spot for the weekend .


mark called and said they were running late, so I figured I would get dinner going






roasted potatoes and pulled pork on the menu ,

I had to go forrage for fire wood , as mark was responsible to bring the wood for the weekend

then I sat and waited for them to show up





finally they roll in , as its getting dark ,

tom gets his tent going




while mark sets up the tashmahall











having the trailer is nice, sleeping up off the ground is a bonus


Sat morning we take our sweet ass time getting going , no sense getting out of a nice warm sleeping bag on a cold morning any faster than you have to .
Being at Mt misery we are going to warm up in the nasty stuff right away

Mark decided that he has been too nice to the boys lately and they needed some punishment .
YouTube - pachaug ball buster

tom took the easy way , ( if you can call any line on the powerline trail easy )
YouTube - tom powerline trail
even the down hills can be a work out
YouTube - pachaug after powerline

stop to catch our breath



then onto the step up trail , my least favorite part of the loop , loose baby heads mixed in with rock face step ups, but we made the best of it , I crashed( fell over ) 3 times in 100 feet .




YouTube - pachaup step up
YouTube - pachaug step up 2


YouTube - pachaug step up 3

YouTube - tom stuck step up


couple random shots





mark and tom saw me get hung up on a log



and decided to go around





I got a small flexible tri pod and put it to use for a group shot



and now we come to the behind the scenes portion of our ride report , where you get to see the making of the picture taking process, using tripods and camera timers

first you have to set up the shot





then you set the timer




and run like hell


we finished out the first day doing the entire loop minus the greens falls water crossing .

pull into the camp ground to find Theotherwife talking to a guy with an ADV sticker on his truck, turns out he is week early for an ADV camp n ride scheduled for next weekend . We invited him to camp with us , John was his name .



he got set up as the site was plenty big



time for dinner agian , marinaded grilled chicken, fire grilled garlic bread, caesar salad and ziti





a bit of after dinner bench racing and atmosphere





sunday morning we wake up to a chilly morning , I fully expected to see a cord of wood cut up near the fire to burn as it sounded as though there were chainsaws running all night , but only a few logs were there .

for some reason there seamed to be some bike starting issues .
I couldn;t gets theotherwifes bike started, but a quick drain of the float, and an adjustment of the idle and it fired up . Tom had issues but a quik jump off the truck got him going , John on the other hand just couldn;t get it to work and didn;t get to ride with us


too bad , hope he got it figured out

we got up to the parking area to find out rob had bike issues too forcing him to the sidelines. We picked up 3 other ADVers and head out to avoid the hero sections












we hung out with them for the first half of the day

getting through some mud






theotherwife found the log that I got stuck on yesterday



as did these guys

YouTube - Pachaug 10-10-10


shortly after we turned off 165 we stopped for a bit of McGuyver action to get marks turn signal back together , a stick and some zip ties









while we were stopped we realized that theotherwife has lost a turn signal herself


we figured at that point that we had lost the others so wes topped for lunch



tom was praying to the water gods for keeping the place so dry for us


then more logs to deal with



random group shot


a bit further into the loop, tom decided to take a break

YouTube - tom pachaug water

and theotherwife showed us how to ride a down hill

YouTube - leah pachaug down hill

we did roughly 120+ miles for the weekend , and man am I sore , good times were had by all , we may have to make this an annual thing.

[breakdirt916]

But Sean gets the coolness award for this one!

bad ass

I like the look of that rocky trail after the ledge...was it too rocky to hold some speed and skim across the top of them?

[R7]

bad ass

I like the look of that rocky trail after the ledge...was it too rocky to hold some speed and skim across the top of them?

The best way for me to describe that trail so you understand, picture a 4' wide alley filled with bowling balls and try to ride over them. If you think you can skim over them, let us know and we'll be ready with the cameras

[MysteriousR1]

"Well that was a silly place to stop" I am still a little puzzled why my bike ran out of the water and then stalled and was hard to start. Air box was dry for sure, I even checked behind the filter. Oh well, Atleast it started
Yeah, skim across them....I dont think the pictures do it justice of just how hard that trail is. The rocks are huge and move everywhere. Come show us how its done.
Great write ups guys, almost brings you back there. And the food was awsome, very much appriciated.
Fowarding to my folks overseas on vacation...

[jbunceiii]

All joined up over here now. Thanks again for letting me camp with you this weekend, gonna tear into the WR soon and figure it out!

[R7]

"Well that was a silly place to stop" I am still a little puzzled why my bike ran out of the water and then stalled and was hard to start.

It's a KTM thing...sorta like trying to start them when it's cold

John, it was nice to have met you and welcome to the forum
Let us know what the problem with the bike was. One of the ADV guys said your auto decomp was stuck, said pull the spark plug out, soak it in gas and put it back in? Sounds funny but said it worked?

[breakdirt916]

ahh, I can see now

the pictures don't do justice, but the videos sure do...those trails look knarly! not sure the XR suspension is up to handle that...

those water crossings always make me nervous...you can never tell how deep they are!

[R7]

Please tell me I'm not the only one that slept in until almost 9am this morning, and was pretty sore just about everywhere

probably wasn't the best day to move and restack 4 cords of firewood...

[theothersean]

Please tell me I'm not the only one that slept in until almost 9am this morning, and was pretty sore just about everywhere

probably wasn't the best day to move and restack 4 cords of firewood...

not only did I sleep until after 8am , I also took a nap today, and yes I am sore , my original plan for the day was to go for a ride on the KLR but that didn;t happen , I feel like I usually do at the begining of the riding season , not towards the end. I did not get too much accomplished today.

[gregp]

Great picture thread! One of these days I will get out there with you guys. I have never been to Pachaug, except for the one time, many years ago, that I rode the NETRA Pachaug Rock Ride turkey run.
My local riding area's are very similar, with a lot of big, loose rocks, and steep rocky hills. I am thinking about trying one of those trials tires next, since my KDX needs a new rear tire soon. I am nervous about how it will perform in all of the leaves, though.
Great pic's and clip's!

[Paul_E_D]

That place is screamin for a trials tire. I'm sure 124 miles in 2 days there would have kicked my ass as well. Nice job guys. Looks like a blast.

[TTD]

Damn! I remember now how much I hate rocky sections! You guys handled it pretty well, I'd say.

I'm going out this weekend - hopefully to an easier place since this will be my first real ride of the year.

[typeone]

looks like a blast! i miss riding woods...

[R7]

That place is screamin for a trials tire. I'm sure 124 miles in 2 days there would have kicked my ass as well. Nice job guys. Looks like a blast.

I almost bought a trials tire, the only reason I didn't is I've read they aren't good while leaned over. And riding mostly in my own back yard, it's full of switchbacks and burms that are growing by the day. If I could find another 18" rear wheel for short change, I'd probably try one.

Damn! I remember now how much I hate rocky sections! You guys handled it pretty well, I'd say.

I'm going out this weekend - hopefully to an easier place since this will be my first real ride of the year.

As rocky as the place is, there are also some really nice flowing trails there. We pretty much only stop and take pictures in the bad spots..haha

Where are you heading this weekend? The thought crossed my mind of making a return to Pachaug, if only to ride the step up trail again
Just watching the weather, looks like a soaking rain storm on Friday so Pachaug may not be the best place..


Just looking at the pictures again, I have to explain this one..maybe you just had to be there but it was funny...

Tom.. I may need some help here!
Me.. Check out this badass picture!
Tom.. Cool, whatabout some help?
Me.. My camera is on and ready, just twist the throttle
Tom.. Huh?
Me.. Go!!

[MysteriousR1]

The thought crossed my mind of making a return to Pachaug, if only to ride the step up trail again

In! That fuckin trail is fun. Kicks your ass, but fun.

I think that quote should be along the lines of
Tom "I might need a push"
Mark "What the fuck do you need that for?"
....

[Paul_E_D]

Will this thread EVER get to page 2? I can't sit through the bouncing pictures one more time. Lol!

[R7]

Will this thread EVER get to page 2? I can't sit through the bouncing pictures one more time. Lol!

You need a faster connection

[breakdirt916]

I do too...the last response also keeps bouncing around as the pictures load

but I do the pictures

if I can't get out to ride, taking a few min break and looking at these pics are the closest I can get, so keep them coming!

[nt650hawk]

Thanks for the reminder Mark. Now that i have a DB this looks great.

Maybe in 12