2016 bonus pie run

Another bonus run in the books and they just get more fun each time.

Mike and myself left out bright and early Friday morning headed for the Forest service Shores lake camp ground. this like the other FS camp grounds in the area is a first come first serve Facility, they don't do reservations.

Mike got there first and scored us a perfect double site towards the back.



we got set up and I took Mike up to the top of White rock Mountain to check out the view.





on the way up to Arkansas I had this feeling I was forgetting something, GAS! I forgot to gas up the bike on the way up so we decided to run into town in the morning and get gas and ice, and after a night in the mini motorcycle packing friendly tent I added a stop by Walmart to get a taller tent!



we spent the week end exploring the wonderful roads and trails, while out riding we came across west fly gap road and it was marked with two signs " road closed" and High clearance vehicles only" I am not very good at taking a hint that just maybe we should not go that way and off we went.

I kick myself, HARD, for not starting the video on this trail, it was not long but going up and going down the other side were extremely rough and full of big frame, case smashing rocks.
at the top the view and the swimming hole made the climb worth it.





Pie day had the four of us all show up in red


mmm the oreo pie hit the spot!


after a big tasty lunch and pie we should have found a cool shady spot for a nap but instead Mike and myself went and found a rugged challenging and muddy goat path.



I did manage to shoot some video and have it posted up HERE.

Looks like you guys had a great time!

Keep me in the loop for next year. (schedule conflict this year) I finally got a little bike to fit in.

might do some plotting for destination tonight at burger box.

I don't have much in the way of pictures to add, but I did have a great time on this trip. I'm a fairly new dual sport rider and this was my first dual sport trip to Arkansas. It's easy to see why people like going there.

I haven't camped much in many years and this was pretty good weather for it. It was a bit hot during the day, but cooled off at night allowing for better sleeping. Leon did a great job fixing us breakfast in the mornings and he also did the route picking and leading. I thought he did a fine job.

We had a great meal and pie in Oark. The pecan pie was some of the best I'd had in a while. I'd have to say that all of the folks we met and dealt with in the little stores in the area were very friendly.

We rode some great black top roads including the Pig Trail as well as a variety of gravel roads and trails. The gravel roads vary in condition. Some of them are better than many paved roads while others are more off the beaten path, get much less maintenance and can be a bit difficult. Using Richards (TXADV) classification, we rode stuff from easy class 1 to difficult class 3. I gained a lot of experience and learned a lot on this trip

Unfortunately, I managed to be a klutz and dropped the bike and injured a wrist on Monday afternoon and that cut the trip short by a day or two. The wrist is healing rapidly, but I'll always lament the days of lost riding and I'm sorry that it affected Leons trip as well. This was a good trip and I hope to go there again soon.