ATV 1

This adventure is being presented in 2 part. I had this jacked up work schedule and was unable to be absolutely sure that I could do a big ride. As it turned out I was at work until 11 PM and by the time I got home and went to sleep I was destined to leave late for my Saturday ATV ride. As it turned out it was more like a ½ a ride and not worth posting. The following weekend was my birthday and you know how that can screw you up, so I did another ½ ride at the same place. ½ + ½ = 1 ride !

The Mazatzal's are located just west of Mt. Ord. The wife really wanted to play in the snow. After our late start this seemed to be the place to go, only about 35 minutes from my house. FYI- Mazatzal is pronounced Mad-as-Hell, seems an old miner got lost in this mountain range for a really long time. When the miner got out he was as “Mad as Hell” but they weren’t much for spelling !

The wife got to play in the snow. As you can see she think almost like me (but not as clearly LOL)
“ You don’t stop playing because you get old ,,,, You get old because you stopped playing !

We did some side trails within the limitations of our ATVs and common sense and still managed to find a mine site. I just don't remember ever being on this trail or seeing this mine ???? This area had a major fire a few years ago and is pretty bare of trees or vegetation.

One thing about this area, within a few miles the terrain and vegetation changes dramatically.
(Above) Is the big sky view that could almost make a person from Montana jealous. You seen the snow, you seen the barren burn out area. Below is a great camping spot along the edge of Sycamore Creek. I guess the altitude runs from about 3000 feet to 6500 feet. With this combination of altitude and access to multiple side of the mountains, variety is just a few miles away.

(Left) Never cross into areas that are closed to ATV's and motor vehicles. There's plenty of places to ride without breaking the law.

So as you can see the 2 part ride was 1 big ride. Mt Ord, Mazatzal, Pine Mountain are all the same general area. The sweet thing is this is really close to my house.

Of course I'll be back when I need a quickie ATV fix with limited time.

Yes, it's not quite dark yet but I have a birthday party to go to --- Mine !

We went deep into the woods on the north side of the mountains. The north face with almost no sunlight retains all the snow. In a few places I made Connie wait while I did a test run down the hill to see if I could get back out. About 1 more inch of snow and it would have not been passable to climb the hills coming out. It was a close one, by letting the air pressure down to 1 PSI on Connie's Polaris and it seemed to just walk on that snow!

Reducing the air pressure makes a huge difference, something to remember!

FYI - We suck at making snowmen ! He looks evil ,,, an evil snowman ????