The storms held off, though the humidity sure didn't. Collectively, I don't think any of us has sweated that much. I went through about 180 ounces of liquids...and started off carrying all that...ugh. Felt great on the long climb out of the first river bottom...NOT!
And the bugs...OMG...
More reports and pics to follow, but we survived with no carnage, two flats and only one light dying out on the trail...
Oh, and In-and-Out Burger at 1 am...PRICELESS!
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Bumper sticker I want: My Marine Can Beat Up Your Honor Student
1. Ready to go
2. Rainbow
3. "River Crossing"
4. At the top of the long climb
5. Hope those thunderheads stay away
6. Rally point
7. Ray
8. Last riding pic...got too hot and sweaty after that. Way to touch the lens with a sopping wet glove, Walt...
9. What kept us going towards the end
10. Burgers never tasted so good...
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Bumper sticker I want: My Marine Can Beat Up Your Honor Student
Thanks for hooking the ride up Walt. Your rides always kick @ss no matter how much they hurt.
Sorry for bailing on the burgers. I was fading fast and needed to get home.
Bob
Wow, great ride and cool pictures. Thanks for pulling it all together. I've attached a Google Earth KML file for those google earth enthusiasts (you'll have to save it with a .KML extension to run it). Hope to do another ride soon, just not too soon...
Wow - was that fun! And sweaty. Holy crap was that a sweat fest. I drank 120oz of water, 2 beers, 2 gatorades, and a lemonade...and I still woke up with a throat so dry it hurt.
Riding at night always adds another dimension to the ride, and riding at night at BCT made it an entirely different ride altogether! Even with the moon, it was *dark* out there with the lights off. And those long climbs...ugh...that was hard without knowing how much farther you have to climb. But that added mystery made even more fun.
We gotta do this again...preferrably when the humidity subsides.
I don't think I've ever sweated that much. I had sweat dripping from my arms all night which was very annoying. By the time I got back I was soaked to the skin. I must say, the night really added a whole new dimension to the ride. Kinda spooky...especially when you hear 'things' crashing in the bush next to you and you are JRA. I picked up the speed and looked nervously around at those occasions. But, it also brought out some really interesting things too!
The symphony of bug noises made the night come alive. And bugs galore were attracted to the HIDs. You could barely stop as they inundated you if you did. Some of the trail critters that I saw: a cute frog/toad hop across the trail. A beautiful little hopping mouse with a long tail...a kangaroo rat? Except that it was grey w/black tipped tail and white underbelly instead of tan...he was cute and scurrying alongside the trail. A nighthawk or common poorwill sat in the middle of the trail and only took flight when I got within a few feet of it. Enough time to really get a good look at it. But I am not sure exactly what it was. Big black eyes! And strange bugs that had glowing spots or eyes. Like bright red pinpoints! And the dersert tortoise. One guy said he saw a fox take off out of a hole as he crossed a rock bridge.
This trail is always deceiving in the amount of work you have to do to get through it. A ton of climbing...very long climbs! Thankfully, there was some breeze. The lightning in the distance made me hurry on the way back cuz I was skeeered! Plus I didn't want my light to go nor my water supply. Being so remote out there and much of the ride is spent spread apart, the ride was somewhat spooky.
The 1am In-n-Out burger definitely hit the spot. Once home, we just put the Xterra in the garage, went in and crashed. This was definitely the Sweatiest Ride EVER!!! But good stuff. Thanks all for the ride. And Walt who did all the organizing! Good call on going ahead with it. We got lucky it didn't storm and was it was somewhat cool out there. The desert was beautiful and the stars amazing!
Oh yeah...the trail was in amazing condition! Despite the heavy rains that we've had, the trails held up and were not muddy. They were perfect and tacky! The only issue was the catclaw that sprung up alongside the trail. The trail hasn't been used much and the catclaw was abundant and evil in its skin ripping ways. bad, evil stuff!
Bob looks tuff with those tattoos. Almost like a scary dude.
Was sitting on my porch last night with the kids, looking north and seeing mainly clear skies, thinking, man those guys must be having fun...the weather is perfect right now...
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McLovin?
Yeah.
Great name.
It is, it just rolls of the tongue.
‘Sounds like a sexy hamburger...
great times. we started w. 14, weather was mild and it felt good at the start. Upbeat and chatty at the beginning, nice to be fresh for that big first climb. 2/3s of the way up Gangi in his diplomatic style goes "have you been riding much?" and then pulls away from us all uphill. that was cool it picked up the pace and that hill was behind us promptly! ~4 miles of fast downhill, I saw Helimech for about as long as it took me to almost go over a cliff. The conditions were excellent and packed. We got to the top of Little Pan right before dark, Su Ling, Andy, Gdub and Bob turned back.
i jumped out before everyone and that worked great as I could get my flailing with lights and night-eyes sorted out through without a bunch of knuckleheads in front of me flailing with their lights and a bunch of knuckleheads behind me flailing with their lights. That was cool since I got some of the washes I've missed through there other times.
The river crossing was a bug pit and i was already soaked so i just walked on across and got the hell out of that foulness!, a pattern i repeated for the other 2. One downside of the route we took is you started the climb back over the mesa on the return of the loop before you are recovered from the climb out of the river. Not being able to see the top, along with forgetting my GPS, caused me to just space out and get through the climb. It was kinda like sitting in a hottub and spacing out after a ride, except it was very hard.
Around now we started seeing all sort of lightning off in the distance, and i wasn't too worried about the storm hitting us, but, with all the crossings i think it weighed on everyone a little bit to keep moving. Bugs were swarming constantly plinging into us like a heavy snowstorm, and i could have formed a small Cliff Bar with the protien i pulled off the back of my neck while Steve and Ray dealt with their mechanicals. My pack had 140oz, 2 batteries, all the other night riding crap made my back and neck just wear down. We were sweating standing around. The conservation of water and lights drove us on - it was a pretty brisk ride for a big group in the dark. About from the 3rd crossing to the top of the loop it seemed everyone kinda got into their own happy\unhappy endurance place. Except Jeff and Doug - don't believe any of their b***s**t about being tired.
I have not a good idea of how long the ~4 mile climb took, i kept a short distance behind Chongoman and that worked for about 7 songs until I bonked during a nu-metal cover of "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood...I couldn't make this part up if I tried. Eventually it ended, the DH was awesome, the crossing was businesslike, and then finally there was beer. All the challenges - not too hard by themselves - put together made this a really tough night. yoga this morning, followed by pancakes transitioning smoothly to beer right about...now!
correction: it was the original version of "Relax". i'm embarrased to admit it was on my player, but it kinda makes the whole thing that much more surreal.
Is anybody else suffering from severe itching today? I was fine yesterday...no visible bug bites and the cats claw scratches were just scabbing over...but today...holy sh!t do my legs itch. I must have developed at least 50 bug bites on each leg, and now those scratches from the cats claw bushes are itching me too. Why this showed up today and not yesterday, I have no idea.
The bug bites look terrible -- they feel and look like chigger bites. I don't know what bit us in the river bottom. Nothing is stopping the itch either. It's driving me crazy.
Is anybody else suffering from severe itching today? I was fine yesterday...no visible bug bites and the cats claw scratches were just scabbing over...but today...holy sh!t do my legs itch. I must have developed at least 50 bug bites on each leg, and now those scratches from the cats claw bushes are itching me too. Why this showed up today and not yesterday, I have no idea.
The bug bites look terrible -- they feel and look like chigger bites. I don't know what bit us in the river bottom. Nothing is stopping the itch either. It's driving me crazy.
Thx...Doug
YES!!! Did you give me chiggers, Doug? I had zero itch yesterday, but this afternoon my legs are on perpetual itch mode!
Jeff's Jungle legs seemed to have come away clean. Nothing can get through that hairy-ass growth...
Whats with the Itch. . . ive been getting it when riding. . . had it real bad when I hiked Fossil Springs the other week. . . are they bugs? Gnats? I had one bout on my legs that would flare up at random for about 2 weeks. . .
You all have problems or have been seeing the wrong poeple. I'm good with just some little wait-a-minute bush scratch. Maybe its the continuous JET-A I have in my blood stream that keeps the bugs away??? Later.
Whats with the Itch. . . ive been getting it when riding. . . had it real bad when I hiked Fossil Springs the other week. . . are they bugs? Gnats? I had one bout on my legs that would flare up at random for about 2 weeks. . .
Gnats! You don't think they are biting at all and the bites don't come out for about 2 days, but when they start to itch then they itch so badly you want to go to the emergency room. ugh... one of the reasons I have not backpacked along any of the rivers for the last couple of years. I was in such bad shape after this one trip that I was out sick for a few days, but not until 2 days after my exposure to the nasty little gnats.
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- See www.durtgurl.com for my pics and videos.
- Avatar image reproduced with permission of photographer Joanne West.
Wow! Nature! I'd love to try this someday. Do you need lights? What about a full moon ride?
We had lots of cloud cover for the ride so wee needed lights around 8. I really want to do this on a full moon. It would be sketchy as there are some surprises in the trail and some exposure, but I hope to do it without lights some time soon.
I'd be sure to ride it during the day first though.
goes "have you been riding much?" and then pulls away from us all uphill. that was cool it picked up the pace and that hill was behind us promptly! ~4 miles of fast downhill, I saw Helimech for about as long as it took me to almost go over a cliff. The conditions were excellent and packed. We got to the top of Little Pan right before dark, Su Ling, Andy, Gdub and Bob turned back. 
Not being able to see the top, along with forgetting my GPS, caused me to just space out and get through the climb. It was kinda like sitting in a hottub and spacing out after a ride, except it was very hard.
I had zero itch yesterday, but this afternoon my legs are on perpetual itch mode!
Linear Mode
