This weekend some of the Man Venture crew went out on a hunting expedition to IDAHO.

We were invited by Mark W's dad to come help them on a Depredation hunt near Weiser along the Idaho - Oregon border.

We all had a great time even though we didn't fire a shot the whole time we were there. We saw atleast 50 Head of deer and several cat tracks in the morning snow, but no sign of elk.

While trailering the ATV's up the hill on marks newly purchased flat bed trailer, one of the tie downs broke and an atv fell off the back of the trailer, we didnt even see it fall off untill 8 miles up the dirt road we stopped and noticed it had fallen off.

Luckily there was minimal damage to the bike and we were able to continue our trip.

Here is a few pics of our adventure.

Matt and John at the top of the mountain

PRETTY VIEW

Slight damage to the trailer

Slight damage to theATV

I am trying to come up with IDEAS for the next man-venture.

A few possible trip ideas to look at are:


SILVER STATE TRAIL - a route through nevada across dirt roads to explore abandoned mines and ghost towns.


Seven Sister Mountains and area 13 -  THis was where my deer hunt was last year, really cool day long ride.

Explore Johns Deer tag area - John got a tag out in northern nevada - this would be a reconnaissance mission.


Short ride to Virginia city - This would be a ride up to VC via dirt roads then back down the other side of the hill.

Hunter Lake to Tahoe Loop -  A one day trip unless we really want to overnight it.

Northern Nevada Trek - Up to windy gap and the Oregon border - This would be a longer trip and would require maybe three days to do it right.

Sierras Fishing Trip - Pick a lake in the sierras and get up there to go fishing.


Let me know what you guys think and we will start planning the next Man Venture!

Who ever wants to go on a ride In two weeks from now let me know and we will pick one of these shorter routes!

Pictures from the Man-Venture - HPR

We met some bikers from texas who came up just to ride the sierras. Cool guys!

Beautiful meadows just before Webber Lake

Jackson Meadows res

John at Jackson Meadow Res

The group at Henness Pass

Old Yeller Loaded Down

Downiville Grocery Store

Getting gas at downiville

Brian Had to use gasoline to get the fire started, what a boyscout!

We camped at the perfect spot, it was warm all night despite the rain

Found this old mine outside of Aleghany, filled with water but pretty deep!

Cliff diving at Plumbago Crossing

It took us a while to warm up after swimming but we got back on the road

Cool bridge at Plumbago Crossing/ river view drive

This was our swimming hole

My LRS Universal windshield worked wonders for me on this trip

lots of little waterfalls like this one. 

A little pond just north of meadow lake. 

Found an old fisherman at the bridge where we stopped to rest. 

Little Truckee river.

Its almost time to get on the road, 3:45 - 4:00 at Point A on the map, Verdi Ca.

Im so excited I cant even concentrate at work!!!!

All packed and ready to go!

Route Update

Route Update:

On saturday morning after we reach point G on our map, Marcus and Matt will split from the group and ride up to Tahoe to meet our families. The Rest of the group will proceed back to the vehicles and trailer the bikes back home. Anyone who has a highway worthy ride can come on this Tahoe portion.

If anyone has questions we will go over it tonight at the trailer loading. 5:30 Matt's house.

Here is the new route

Papa smurf, old yeller, dr vader. 

Marcus w's dr650 all ready to go.

"Papa Smurf", aka Jeremy's new KLR joins the ride...

I had an aging Yamaha Raptor that was very fast, but not real fun to ride or useful. So I decided to turn to the adventure bike dark side and buy a 2008 KLR. I found a smoking deal and it has literall 600 miles on it. So "Papa Smurf" will be joining the ride this weekend instead of the Can-AM. Here's a picture of the new beast on the trailer from Roseville last night.

WOW - I almost had a bad day today - I went to pick up my bike from the Shop that installed the clutch and they had left the petcock on and my bike was flooded. I soon remidied that but couldnt get it started. .... Finally after two new spark plugs old yeller is running like new.

New clutch added a ton more power.


Just another reminder to charge those batteries and get ready to meet at Matts house tomorrow at 5:30

Clark is in

Brian Clark is officially attending this weeks man-venture. So there will be room for tents and gas on the ATV.

See you guys on Thursday .

The Matt G Special Edition iPhone Mount

Matt came up with a clever handle bar mount for iphones for the bikes. He made it using a clip holster, a windshield bracket and a hose clamp. Go iPhone McGyver.

The Matt G Custom Built iPhone mount

Matts Bike Mods

Old yeller is at the Shop right now getting the last touches put on a new clutch and cable, plus I have asked them to install a 12v accessories plug so that I can run the GPS and compressor off of it.

I am excited to pick it up this afternoon.

 This is the 12 adapter plug they are going to install. I got it from the Western Marine supply store. Apparently it is made to get wet.

 Here is old Yeller all torn apart.

UPDATE - TRAILER LOADING

After speaking with Jeremy we have decided to load all the bikes on one trailer on thursday night. Jeremy has a big one that should fit all the bikes minus the Green honda ATV which I will pull out on my small trailer or possibly put in the back of his truck.

I will update the schedule with this information.

Everyone will meet up at 5:30 - 6:00 Thursday night with all their riding gear at Matt Gardners house.

The reason for using one trailer is that there is not much room at the trail head and rather than park 3 trailers it is better just to use one.

The for sure attendees are:

Matt
Marcus
John
Steve
Jeremy

Brian has yet to confirm if he can attend but was hopeful on Sunday.

Weather Conditions

Weather for this weekend might be a little colder than we had previously thought.

Weather in the sierras overnight might get into the mid 30's so be prepared for near freezing conditions overnight. We do not expect moisture but being prepared for it is never a bad idea.

That means bringing a winter coat is a good thing if you can fit it in your gear.

If you plann on sleeping under the stars make sure to bring somthing like a balaclava or beanie to cover your head.

We will all probobly want to have gloves on at night.

most importantly make sure to pack your mickey mouse pillow case and flashlight cause this man-venture is going to be awesome.

Just a loving reminder to all the Man-Venturists, Thursday night we are loading up the trailers.

Before then you will need to:

CHARGE YOUR BATTERY!!! - at the last camp out three of us had to push start the bikes.

GET GAS CAN FILLED!!!

CHECK YOUR TIRES!!!

CHANGE OIL IF NEEDED!!

In preparation for this next ride and other man ventures to come I have my bike (nicknamed old Yeller, 96 dr 650) in the shop getting some work done.

Besides an oil change, I am also getting a new clutch put in, durring the last trip to Santa Cruz Old Yeller fell over while in a parking lot ( the wind was very strong and I was parked in the wrong place). Long story short I ended up driving about four miles with the front brake on due to the hand guard pressing in on the front brake. The clutch burnt up to where very little was left, none the less old yeller made it home just fine after I adjusted the clutch controls on the clutch cable.

Its a good thing I took it in. The mechanic told me over the phone that that clutch would have gone out on my next ride for sure and I would have been walking home. A new sprocket and chain and old yeller will be ready to ride. I hope to go pick the bike up on monday.

Old Yeller - 1996 dr650

Hoping for another DR 650 for the trip!

Jeremy may be selling his Raptor tonight if luck is with him, and picking up a DR 650 this weekend! Everyone cross your fingers that the Raptor sells tonight!

Reno rodeo night

Bowman Lake Rd.

The second half of our journey on the HPR will take us up on the Meadow lake and Bowman Lake Rds.

This is a popular place for adventure riding and Geo caching. Along this section of road we will pas 13 - 14 lakes and rushing rivers, and there will be several water crossings, should be fun!
The altitude at Bowman Lake is about 6000 feet. 

One particularly rocky and rough part of the trail is named Hells Acre, I am excited to see if the road is complicated or just part of a steep mountain.

There are a few mines up there we can stop to look at, one of the most famous is at the Bowman Lake. Behind the island on one side of the lake is a still standing mine structure.

I also found this website of adventure riders who frequent the sierras. It would be fun to hook up with them for a ride some time. http://www.sierranevadaadventures.com/?p=4790