Tuesday, July 30/2013

I am up early and the camp is quiet.  I wonder when all the little lovies finally went to bed last night?  With the day being a riding day, I got some of the stuff ready and then started breakfast.
Before too long, we were on the machines and headed down the trail.

Kimmy and the "old truck"

Heading down a rather obscure trail.  One we have not been
on for a few years.   

In the trees on top of a hill near Otter Lake.  One of Kimmy's
first steep climbs of the day.  

dragonfly

Resting from the return trip from Otter Lake.  Too early
to go home.....where to next?

We headed over to Five Corners and decided to take the trail that would lead us to an old camping spot on the shores of Otter Lake.  We had not travelled this particular trail for several years but since we were with the kids and they like a bit of a challenge......off we went.  It wasn't too long before we were breaking trail in an attempt to traverse several fallen trees and a few nasty mud holes.  The trail obviously had not been used in some time as it was riddled with a million face slapping branches!!  It was just plain nasty!!  Of course I knew this was a dead end trail and truly hoped that the one steep climb we could take to get off this particular trail was passable and that we did not have to make the return trip on this same trail.
We eventually came to the first steep hill and of course the boys had to take it so that we could all have a much needed "refreshment" stop.  I remember climbing this hill when Jace and Casey were little and sitting on the top of the hill thanking the powers for getting the boys to the top without incident.  Of course getting back down was another issue!!
Kimmy managed the hill well but was real nervous about the descent.  John and I went first and with my machine, there is so much engine breaking that I actually had to use the throttle to keep up my momentum.  Kimmy came soon after and managed fine until Kellen came screaming past her practically out of control!!  Jesus, Mary and Joseph!!   Miraculously, everyone made it down safely and we soon found out selves at the lake.  There were some real challenges on this trail but no one was too eager to take the same trail back so Jace said he would climb the last big hill first to make sure it was passable for the rest of us.  This hill was steep and long and Kimmy was definitely NOT looking forward to it (neither was I)!!
We got the "all clear" from Jace and we all started up it, one quad at a time.  We all made it without any difficulty and were soon on an awesome well used trail that would take us to another camping spot near the end of Otter Lake.
John was in the lead and when he turned out of the many corners on the trail was lucky enough to see a wolf.  They are rather elusive characters and it is not often that they are seen but he believes that this was a young one.  The tracks that were in the mud showed a much bigger set and I am sure that Mama was not too far away.  What a site to see though and I wish it would have been me that saw it as well.
This too was a dead end trail so we doubled back and soon found our way back to Five Corners.
It was too early to call it a day so we decided to try out another trail that we had not been on in some time.
This trail proved to be the most challenging of the day as it came with antics of a rather industrious beaver.  He had been busy dropping all sorts of huge trees on the trail and many of them just had to be crossed.  There was lots of water on this trail...some of it quite deep.  Kimmy did her first water wheelie through the deepest water of the day and did awesome.  Me, well I took the edge of the water and actually Casey drove my quad through some of it.  He is a much more aggressive rider than I and  sometimes that is a good thing.
Chris had a bit of an issue while he was crossing the water and somehow ended up standing his quad up on its end....filling his box with water so that had to be dealt with when we stopped!!  I think that his quad is starting to think that being up on its end is a normal position for it!!
Eventually we accessed another well used trail and headed back to Five Corners.  I was exhausted by this time and was only too happy to be headed back to camp.  I think the "old Grey Mare" thing has hit me again!!
With a final stop at Deer Lake so that the kids could wash the mud off their quads, we finally made it back to camp where I was the first into the shower.  Oh to be able to just sit and relax in the lawn chair was so totally awesome.
John cooked supper and the kids got the campfire going and the evening was warm and beautiful.  All in all, it was a great day spent with the kids making all sorts of good memories.    Priceless!!

Why not another obscure trail that we have not been on
for years!!