For 19 years now my Aunt and Uncle have been hosting a Labor Day weekend deep pit barbecue to family, friends, and oh yes, us dirt bike riders. I have made it to most of them, even when I drove up here from San Diego when we lived there. Any excuse to ride in the sage brush and "eat dirt," right? This year was different because of the Jackass Flats fire. I happened to be camping at Lake Topaz when the lightning stuck and started the fire. It also hit the neighbor's house behind my aunt's house. This poor senior lady was baby-sitting her son's dogs when the lightning hit the roof, making a hole in the ceiling and then traveled down the corner bead and knocked it off the wall. I just thought she was just a messy house guest until she told me the story.
Most people reading this story would probably figure the fire didn't affect any houses, so it burned some trees, so what? Well it ruined a wonderful sand wash we use to cruise up. The erosion was just unbelievable. I felt like we were driving on the moon. It was just all gray and dead, all of the beautiful Piñon pine trees burned, there were huge areas of washed out trails.
This year riding in the Desert Creek, Mount Patterson and Lobdale Lake area was different than normal. There weren't near as many people camping in Desert Creek, but there were more two-wheelers, three-wheelers, quads, dune buggies and four-wheel drive vehicles riding around than I've ever seen. You might say, we had traffic. This is a very beautiful area to tour. You have to mind the rules of staying on the trails, do not make new ones. If you have traffic coming toward you, make sure you show them on your fingers how many more riders are behind you. If you break down, leave the bike behind a tree and come back for it later. Never split up. Carry water. Most of all, be responsible.
Our first ride was Saturday to Masonic Mine and Bodie, by the Flying M Ranch. The men were disappointed Paris Hilton wasn't out ready to wash their motorcycles. We logged in close to 150 miles that day. Yes, you could say the riders were tired pups with sore muscles. Sunday was the open day where three different groups went out and actually met at the big uphill even though they all went different routes. That was a 70-mile day, but harder riding.
Thank you Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Ray for another wonderful year of riding and good food. We're looking forward to next year. Hopefully the BLM or someone will go out and replant all the trees that were lost in the fire.
n Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.
