Postaldave's ATV ride report of brimstone in June 2008

BRIMSTONE JUNE 2008

REVIEW:
We were able to find every single trail on the map. The transformation since they lost half their land seems complete and it was done well. There are still countless trails not on the map but clearly on the land. We are told these are either dead ends, private land or trails to be.

quality:
I still think these are some of the smoothest trails you can ride on. Even the tallest, sickest trails are still rather smooth. The ground down at brimstone is similiar to clay City in Kentucky. A mix of clay and sand makes for a great park.

red:
The trail marking system was very good. red means red. Almost every red trail has one or more REALLY steep hill climb on them. Other than the few hills they are the same quality as the blue trais.

red-Y
We rode a few trails labeled "red-Y" we didn't understand what the Y stood for but by the end of the weekend we all agreed they should be labeled red-XXX or call them black trails. blue:
truly the highlight of this park, not rutted out(yet), challenging yet do-able is 95 going from the top of 49 over to 8. it is a wonderful ride but both climbs will probably turn this into a red trail once it is rutted out. the picture above is me coming off of 95 landing on one. best of all they are building tons of news trails and they all seem to be rated blue. one greatest wish is they maintain these blue trails so that average riders like myself will still be able to use them. One of my favorite trails in the park is trail 89. Why it is not a red trail is beyond me but that is one fine trail.

green:
nice smooth gravel or hardpack etc. do not skip the green trails, some are just plain roads but other are REALLY fun trails. here again i would re-label the trails.I would make the roads something like white and keep the green "trails" green.

3 is a great way to come into the park. my only real problem i had with any green trail was trail 1. it is a 4 lane gravel highway that goes from one end to another. it would be a great way to get from to trail to trail however it was the most miserable road i have ever been on. the whole thing is softball sized gravel that beats the dog crap out of you. if you are on a rhino or something with great shocks it will be fine but i would rather walk than ride my kodiak on that road. On this trip i decided to keep up with the big boys and run the road at 40mph. the ride was actually much better and a break neck speed.

staff:
Met "the kid" again. he was at the office to check us in and we met him on the trail Saturday as well. We also met "Duddly?" out on the trail too. He is just a nice old man creeping along in his rhino. Hard to believe he makes it down there. The thought of him on a rhino going up some of those hills is just plain hard to believe. He must be one hell of a rider. All in all, this place has one of the finest staffs you could ask for, even stakk.(smiles)

camping:
the town and the park is beautiful. it would be rude to compare it to other places. there isn't a lot there, you just have to pull off of a green trail like 3 or 1 and make due. the place could use some bathrooms but then again it keeps the sissies from coming out when it's this rugged. you will need to bring EVERYTHING that you need. there isn't much there in huntsville that you can get to via a quad. there is however a yamaha dealer across from the office. a short drive in the truck up the road and you can get whatever you should need from gas stations and food joints. Very Happy

overall:
i still love this place and our camping spot rocks. I do love old castles. Once again i didn't buy a yearly pass but i don't mind giving more money for such a nice place.

CAPTAINS LOG Thursday:

Leaving my house I decided on not using a trailer this time and try loading everything on the truck. Haiti bus taxi anyone? We started the trip meeting at Mikes house out in the country. My uncle, Derek chose the time and place and as usual he was late. I've never seen someone so willing to get an early start on things but show up so dang late. I didn't lose an aunt I gained another aunt.(smiles)

While sitting around waiting on my aunt Derek, Mike had an axe to grind. We finally got on the road 2 hours late. That would have been so bad but Ryan was waiting for us a couple of towns over.

When we met up with Ryan at a Walmart(you can always find a walmart in Ky) I decided to reach into my tub and pull out some grub. OOPS! houston we have a problem! Dumbass here forget all my food. At a stop at a shell station I loaded up with grub and bummed off the boys for the rest of the food. I think I owe Ryan two potatos and a six pack of beer.

We got set up and kicked back and watched the cool air come in. We also had a good fire going due to the large amounts of firewood we brought in. I'm going to have a good night of sleep. Oh shit! I forget my sleeping bag! What the hell did I do all day when I was packing for this trip? My aunt Derek gave me an extra heavy sheet to sleep in. I am family, so I guess he had too. Of cource he waited till midnight to tell me he had it.

My aunt Derek

Mike

Ryan

Friday:

First thing in the morning we headed up to the shack and registered. "The Kid" was working the desk and gave us the low down and what trails to hit. Mike and my aunt Derek where looking for the stupid stuff......and we found it.

We started the day on red81. "The Kid" warned us about the stair steps and how they caused lots of wrecks. The last time I was here I swore off red trails all together. After several trips to the MP center in clay city i've built up some skill and was ready this time. red81 did have some steep stair steps but going southbound wasn't bad at all. I would "never" go north on the trail.

Start of red81

Local girls going for a dip?

After red81 we headed east on blue2. It looked boring on the map but this trail was a lot of fun! It is basically an old country road that got rutted all-to-hell. Now it has about 3 different trails criss-crossing the road like some crazy ass scramble from hell.

Watch that first mud hole, it's a deep one!

After blue2 we took blue4 to blue88. I don't recall blue4 but blue88 was a FUN hill climb. I think it should be a red trail if you compare it to others. We then descended down red102. Red102 is a LOOONG steep hill with countless waterbreaks. It truly sucked going down that trail but it was a must do for going up. At the bottom you got three choices. 87, 87 or 87y? well my aunt Derek and Mike acting like 10 year old boys amped up on jolt cola started boucing up and down wanting to go on 87y. One quick look at the map guide and you noticed something. All the trails have names like "billybobs hill" or "jimmy johns holler" but this trail had the ominous name "STEEP".
Being i'm the natural born navigator i'm the one assigned the task of finding these trails that I really don't want to go up. After a long climb up the side of the mountain I came to a stop when the trail started going straight up. At this point, my heart was pounding so hard that I thought I might be having a coronary. Looking up I would say it was about 10 storys up and we were already several stories in the air. Mike blew past me like a drug induced kamikaze pilot and HE....WAS.....GONE......... Only the sound of his engine could be heard and it drifted away like a small plane at the airport.
Next my aunt Derek on his Can-am launched up the hill. At this point it was just Ryan and myself. I knew the boys wouldn't be coming back down. No one would come down that hill. My last hope of living was Ryan and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "what the hell?" and he was gone.
I sat there for a while and stared at the mountain climb. The grade wasn't any worse then I had ridden at the MP but those were just 50 yard hillclimbs. This one went on FOREVER! You could not see or hear the guys at the top. I finally manned up, punched that little kodiak 400 and climbed all the way to the top. I AM SUPERMAN! well, at least for the moment.

At this point I've got the taste of blood(red trails) in my mouth and I wanted to go visit some old demons of mine. Off to red49 we go!

We started down red49 heading north towards red48 to do the ride from last month in reverse. I was kicking ass and taking names when a sudden daylouge of water came crashing down. All of the sudden I was feeling too brave and Ryan and myself wanted off this ride. At that time Mike took off red49Y, remember what the "Y" stood for? and we where looking to turn back. Derek knew this said meet us at "the jump". The jump is our place marker for the top of blue95. They would be coming up red49Y and us up red49. They are only about 50 yards from each other and the top of blue95 is about 100 yards the other direction.

Ryan and myself sat at top of red49 for about 15 to 20 minutes in the pouring rain. Once it stopped we thought it was odd that they hadn't gone by yet but maybe they beat us to the top. This wasn't hard to believe. We headed down to red49Y and then back up to blue95. They were nowhere to be found. Those pricks! We sat for another 15 to 20 minutes doing jumps and sliding around and gave up on them. We assumed that mike kept riding the red trails with my aunt Derek in tow. Well screw them! Ryan and myself headed for some other trails.

After about 30 miles we decided to go back for gas. We also figured the boys would do the same and we would meet up again. So we headed back, got our gas and had a drink. It was a surprise to us they were not there, it looked like we were tracking their tire marks the whole way back.

Ryan realized he had lost his camera and he knew it was laying in the dirt on the top of blue95. We kicked it into superman mode and toyko drifted all the way back to the spot and found his camera. At that time the boys FINALLY showed up. Aperantly Mike had crashed on the top of red49Y and rolled his quad all the way down the hill. The trees there are covered in scars from similiar falls. Mike had crushed the front end of his bike down until it the front rack had lodged against the tires. Handlebars bent, steering stem bent and all the plastic was off. So the boys spent those several hours repairing Mikes bike while we rode.

this is the top of red49y. Pictures never do justice but this hill is steep and nasty and if your wheels land in those ruts at the top you are not going to make it.

with the crew back together we headed off again. Only to stop later to fix Mike's grizzly again. The bike is really tuff and can handle about anything but it has a major flaw. The reverse sensor loses it's ground and the bike goes into cripple mode. this happened twice to us last time and now it's happening again. It's a common problem that no dealer has ever heard of but they seem to always have replacement sensors in stock.

We got that working and headed out to what we call "the flatlands" it is blue43 and we run it at top speed. All was doing well until Mike did a backflip coming out of a corner. I don't know if it was those tires he had on or the fact that his tow-in was ALL screwed up but his rear end came around and was heading backwards at full throttle and at speed. The tires hooked up and like a F1 car this baby was airborne.

Well at least he picked a good place to wreck this time. It is beautiful up here!

We all headed back to camp at this time. We took blue89 back which is my favorite trail at brimstone. This really should be a red trail with the mud bog hill climb in the middle. At some point we got seperated but we all met back at camp. The boys took off ahead of us but as Ryan and myself got back to camp first. Good navigating beats fast riding every time.(smiles)

Once back at camp the tear down of Mikes bike began in hopes of getting it back to par by morning. Everything went well except the steering stem which was very much fubared.

Time for some sleep, we did 70 miles and i'm tired!

SATURDAY:

Saturday started out with a bright blue sky and plans on leaving one of us behind. Mike gave up on fixing his quad and decided to find the part on one of the many dealerships within driving distance. Once he left on his parts hunt we slowly started getting ready for our ride. About this time we were pulling out Mike came back and couldn't find the part anyway.

At this time Derek graciously decided to stay at camp and help Mike put his ATV back together. Ryan and myself decide to head out without him and hit the trail.

We started out on red81 and were going at a comfortable pace. This is in stark contrast to the manic pace that we ride with Mike and Derek. At some point I think our riding with the boys started to rub off on us. Once we completed the downhill stair step section of red81 we stopped and pondered if we could make it back up. I learned something that day; never ask a former marine if you think you can make it. I made that mistake and Ryan replied,"only one way to find out, lets go." Unlike the boys Ryan and I have stock low powered Utilitily Quads, not race bred speed machines. We also don't have the extreme riding history of the boys either. None of those facts had any impact on us and we turned and rode the hill going up. Both of our quads rared up like a spastic unbroken horses after being struck at by a snake but we made it none the less. After thee victories over the forces of evil we tore off and and ate up the trails with a vengance.

At some point we stopped and I had to call the boys and see if Mikes quad was back together yet. All was going well until I realized my piece of crap motorola phone stopped working AGAIN. It stays on but none of the keys work just to screw with you. In an effort to try to hook up with Mike and Derek we blasted back at Dakar rally speeds. Throughout this trip i've learned to master powersliding my little kodiak. While going into a corner I squeezed the front brake while increasing the throttle while in 2wd. This will set the bike into a perfect 45 degree drift. At some point Ryan had figured out this technique as well. At some point I looked to my side while drifting into a corner and noticed Ryan just a few feet away drifting as the very same angle and speed. Later that day we often bragged that we were the fastest "looking" quads out on the road.

We had done about 20 miles so far and made it back to camp and refilled. Mike was ready so we headed out for a long day of riding. With his quad back together and his toe-in set correct, Mike was soon back into the groove. The pace reached near blitzkrieg status and we began a scorched earth policy across every red trail we could fine. It was very long until Mike exclaimed we were now going back to red49y. what? we are going back there, his ATV is just now running again. well, we did head back to the scene of the crime and it wasn't long until we were facing the beast in all it's glory. Now on a clear day you can witness why this small hill climb has been the achilles heal for many a great rider. It is steep, so many of the hills around here are, but this one has something waiting for you at the top. Just when you are at the steepest angle there is a one foot trench with a solid rut going across it for each tire. Your only hope is to not let the tires go into the rut.

Mike soldiered up it in full stride and with a small stubble he quickly landed at the top. Climbing off his quad he stood there like Rocky after climbing a hundred steps and pronounced his great joy in his accomplishment. I sat at the bottom in fear, not wanting to go. Derek waited briefly and jumped onto his can-am and fired that yellow monster up. With one short burst of throttle he lofted to the top making the whole ordeal seem trival.

At this point my last chance of living rested on the shoulders of Ryan to do the wise act of going around and meeting them at the top. No such luck. Ryan had it in his mind to do some cross rut off camber climb from hell. Some sense was talked about his planned route and he then decided to follow Mike and Derek's line of the hill. So here I am at the bottom not wanting to try this in light of Mike's brutal crash not 24 hours earlier. If Ryan made it I had to go. Damned if he didn't just rockstar right to the top. That just leaves me.

I knew I didn't have power to gracefully walk up like the others. I didn't have the skills to have confidence drag me to the top. My only chance was my little knowledge of the laws of physics. Gravity? hell no, that law needs repealed. Thermal-Dynamics? nope, to far from to be nuclear power plant to be useful. All I had left was the law of enurtia. An idoit in motion will stay in motion until he REALLY screws up bad. I walked down the hill to my quad, climbed on board and yelled "fire in the hole!", "I'm coming up hot, so watch yourself." One last thought of "the kid" telling us early friday morning, "yeah, some guy on a kodiak crashed REALLY bad up on 49y." Comforting. I had three spotters and a good runway to spool up. what's the worst that could happen? By the time I got near the top I knew I clearly had enough speed to make it barring an act of God. I had this overwhelming feeling of joy knowing I really would make it when I noticed the look of panic on my spotters. While only worrying about total speed I lost control of my Kodiak. Apparently it was jumping around like a jackrabbit being chased down by a bushhog and it wasn't going to be pretty. The time I spent bouncing out of ruts and off of trees was pretty much a blackout. The only memory I had of the top of the trail was Mike shoving my quad back onto the trail when I was airborn. Great reflex Mike! The climb ended with a sudden stop. My front right tire hit a small tree jamming my handlebars into my chest and throwing me forward onto the bike. I quickly jumped off with my collapsed lung and bleeding shin and a sudden realization came to me. I AM AN ATV GOD! This of course was said in my inner voice which strangely sounds like Stewy off of Family guy. By the end of the day these visions of granduer would soon be dispelled.

We continued on to every red trail we could. The boys were like two hunting dogs off the leash. They had me lead the ride but I was doing this from the back of the back. This really didn't work well, often ending in group seperation. I really like navigating but this was the last time I do this. All was going well until a trip down red87. This a twisty narley little trail with some pretty wicked small hill climbs popping up. On one such hill I had taken the left flank while Mike and Ryan when straight. Surprisingly I made it to the top first. Immediately I realized something had to be wrong. I never get there first. Mike was hung at the top of the hill and needed me to jump on to the front of his quad so that the front would dig in. A great little trick on a utility ATV. Ryan during this time launched up the hill in true marine style but somehow didn't notice the tree in his way.

Ouch!

After some more riding when stopped for a rest on trail 3.

What the heck is Derek doing?

While hanging out "the kid" showed up and duddly came by as well. This really is the nicest staff of any park. Mike and Derek started drilling duddly as what is the hardest trail in all of the park. So like bloodhounds on a prison break the boys headed off to red75y. Honestly it was the most wonderful trail i've been on. A long twisty endless hillclimb through some older growth trees. My wonderful day dream ride soon came to a crashing stop once we hit the top of 75y. What maniacal twisted SOB came up with this excuse of a hillclimb? After traveling hundreds and hundreds of feet in elavation the trail ends going straight up for hundred feet climb only to climb thirty more feet even steeper. I think at that point I went into a full on panic attack. Mike tried to make it and failed. This is the first time I witnessed Mike fail at a hill climb. He ended up wenching the rest of the way up. After getting off his quad he began prodding Derek to give it a try. Now take note, you don't just crash down the first hundred feet. You are going ALLLLLLL the way down to the base of the mountain. Derek succombed to peer pressure and mounted up and decided to go for it. With a howl of the V-twin renegade engine Derek stormed up the hill with the grace of a white swan landing on a cold mirrored lake. Truly a perfect climb. By this time I really thought I was having a heart atack. Did I mention I am deathly afraid of heights? It's a long f^@#$ing way down to the bottom. Ryan rode about half way up and winched up the rest of the way. I however was panic stricken at this point and gave the guys two options. Someone could ride my quad up to winching distance or I am riding down the hill. Derek choose to ride it which was fine with me.

If they would build a ride around for this hillclimb at the top this really would be the best trail in the park.

We had seventy miles on the clock and my bike was already sputtering out. We were running out of gas fast. After that hill everything would be a let down and sun was going down fast. We started our trip back to camp but the group would soon be seperated again. Ryan and myself lost the boys around blue95a and waited there for a while. Not knowing if they went down the trail or went on we decided to head on. We were after all running on fumes. Once we got back to camp the boys were no where to be found. Ryan headed out for drinks and ice and still made it back before either Mike or Derek showed up. After some time Mike showed up but had left Derek somewhere on the trails. Sound like the last trip when he passed me going back to camp after I ran out of gas. Feeling guility Mike headed back but first had to put some Gas in. Derek at some point puntured a tire on trail 1 but was allright. He came sooooooo close to a perfect weekend and would have been the only one who didn't crash, get stuck or break something.

By the time Mike and Derek got back Ryan and I were washing our quads in the river beside the camp. It was clear and cool and flowing well. It was the perfect end to a day. At some point some locals came down to wash off after a mud fight. I felt like I was in high school again. Eventually Mike and Derek came down to the river but at that time a MAJOR storm rolled in and we headed for the tents.

After some considerable rain the creek behind the camp started to rage with storm water. That wouldn't have been a big deal but some local had his truck stuck down there. We kinda laughed at the idea until the water started to reach his headlights. At this point we felt sorry for him and went down to rescue him. Our attempts had failed but a friend of his came with a truck to pull him out.