....Part 2.
I felt a bit like a heel. Mike thought maybe he should go back to Silver Dollar for assistance, or at least run up 642. I didn't think either was a good idea, and I was really surprised my bike was still stuck.
Yep, still stuck.
We discussed the pulley system and looked around at very little options. Then Mike had an idea.
Dig a hole...
Cut down a tree..
We basically made a lever, and I guess we could have dug multiple holes to use as anchor points, but honestly, that ground was a ***** to dig. Very sandy and rocky. For the lever hole we had to pack rocks at the front as the hole was eroding. It worked like a charm.
By this time, we were pretty tired and quit taking pictures.
My hair began to turn grey as we sorted out our next move and I wondered how I was going to tell Mike the bike had been in 2nd gear.:huh I assume it upshifted one of the 2,819 times it fell over.:dunno
Do we camp? I was too tired to camp, cook, or do much of anything after that last few hours. Doesn't seem like a such a big deal now, but at the time it was a major buzzkill.!!
After this wash out the railbed gets very over grown. You'll be ducking under trees and getting smacked in the face by smaller ones. There is a swampy looking area just after the wash out that could be a potential water crossing, but was bone dry and lumpy when we had gotten to it.
Again, no pics. But, we crossed 642 and hit a dead end on the rail bed.
Apparently this "private road" gate is new and not legal. There really wasn't a way around, but I didn't look very hard as I am not about to recommend trespassing on the TCAT. I was told that the owner of Discovery Lake Lodge has closed it without permission or purchase of land. So that's what I know. We were bummed after passing the wash out and being prevented from riding the rail bed into Sioux Lookout. We rode 642 all the way in, I'd say we were maybe 20 miles from town.
We chickened out and stayed at the Forest Inn, so we don't know where a good camp spot would be near Sioux Lookout.
It was nice to be in a hotel room and get a chance to dry out maybe one pair of socks and underwear. We smelled bad, we were hungry, and we were slap happy. I do not recommend the pizza at Desperate Dicks and Durty Nellies. But I liked the bar at the Forest Inn. The bartender was a pretty neat girl and told us stories of fishing and hunting with her dad. We had some errands to run the next day before making our way to Ear Falls.
Heading out to look for a big *** logging road that would take us to Ear Falls. Better known as Vermillion River Rd or the "Old Bush Road".
Lots of locals told me to watch myself in the turns as the "natives" have no driving laws and will hog the road. I was more worried about the logging trucks and the sky.....
The road was a nice, well maintained road, but had tendencies to collect sand in weird areas. So mind the sand pit, the road is all one color so it was hard to see where the sand may be.
It was a fairly uneventful day to Ear Falls. The only bummer was the rain and the falling temperature.
We had to stop and put on some extra layers, but there wasn't a whole lot of cover.
Lots of small bridges on this stretch.
We got into Ear Falls as the heavens opened. We spent a bit of time inside of a gas station and car/truck/tractor/snow machine/motorcycle repair shop. The guy gave us some great directions to a favorite camp spot of his about 1 hour outside the city.
Stay to the right when you see this intersection.
QUOTE]
