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The Legends of the Kiamichi

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Posted by: tx246---------------------

here is how this little story goes. a bunch of dirtbikers started to plan this thing right after an attempt to ride Kiamichi in April of this year. most folks dont know it but there are hurricanes in oklahoma and there was one on the weekend we tried to ride, swim, float ect. anyway we regrouped and set a date in sept. there was a bunch of "im gonna be theres" and " wouldnt miss it for the worlds". heck there must of been 150 replies in the planning thread and over a thousand hits. after all of the bs , the cream rose to the top.

attendees included enduronut, mudslinger, ghostrider32, JMD, seldon(cant remember your screen name), tx246 (thats me), hlguthery, and a friend of his who we will just call insane for now. as it was, i did not arrive until sat am while a few of them had been in camp on thursday. camp was at the talimena oklahoma state park situated in the kiamichi mountains of south east oklahoma. as i pulled up i noticed harleys bike was up on the stand and it looked as if it needed a front end. turns out all he needed was a new tire. the rocks had worked over his doughnut like a muleskinner on ahhhhh...........mule. i meet insane and he and harley throw food at me in a nice way. aka they offered me breakfast. it wasnt long when JMD, seldon, ghostrider and mudslinger come rolling into camp. seems JMD had to get home so they went for the early morning ride. JMD loads almost as fast as i unload. im kinda thinking that he is avoiding me at this point. harley and insane work on the tire installation while i take out on a quick trailride with mudslinger on point. seldon is one of the few ive ever seen that make the big xr600 seem small. sledon is a tall guy and seems perfectly at home on the thumper. mudslinger takes us in about 7miles before i realize that this trailride might be a bit too long for the amount of gas in my tank. i was trying to burn up the old stuff before topping off. at my request, we turn around and head back to camp.

we sit around and b/s a bit. eugene the park ranger, has left mudslinger a treasure map of trails . seems that there is an old railroad bed that has numerous trails cutting off of it. this has become of intrest to the group. of course we load up and take off without the hand drawn map that had mileages and detailed directions. you see eugene is an avid atv man and has room to carry odometers and paper/pencils unlike us motorcycle guys. we are already down the trail when we realize we left the map at camp. thats when the debbile possesses me. i pull out my handy dandy GPS unit with topos for the area and yessiree bob there is the railroad on the GPS. for those of you who think you know...GPS doesnt mean anything about global positioning blah blah blah. it really means Getting People Stranded. as it were, we could see where the railroad bed was on the unit and we decided the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. (a little geometry for those who doubt). of course pro trailriders call this bushwacking but we arent pros but dont tell our bikes. we head down this steep section. well its steep enough that your toes get all wadded up in the tip of your boot. harley is the guinea pig and works his way to the bottom. there is a mostly dry creek bed just as the GPS said there was but damned if that GPS didnt disclose the nice little 7 ft ledge with a barbed wire fence between us and the railroad bed. insane was right behind harley on his xr400 when we decided to turn out and give up on this railroad bed of dreams. harley and insane decided to go up a different way than the way they came down and off they went. i walked back to where the rest of group was when we noticed that mudslinger was a sufferin. seems that this man wasnt going to miss this adventure because of a massive sinus infection. he was on bigtime doc pills and did have a questionable breakfast of nyquil, tacos, and other daytime sniffling, coughing so you can ride medicine. seldon worked his way back up, followed by enduronut and ghostrider. mudslinger was looking whiter than my legs in midjanuary. he was showing signs of heat stress. enduronut walked back down and helped me get 'slingers bike out. we gave him some water and cooled him off a bit before walking up to the top of the ridge.

eventually, we all make the top of the hill except for insane. he has been missing for awhile now. harley pulls off his helmet and ques his nifty walkie. seems insanes clutch gave up 400yrds DOWN the hill. mudslinger is still shaky so we send the group back to camp. i wait with harley on the ridge. seems insane is going to try and disasemble the clutch at the bottom of the mountain and try to get some traction out of those plates. after an hour we get a radio call that is a big NEGATIVE. no go on the clutch rebuild. insane walks up to the trail on the ridge and points to the bottom. we rappel down the side of the mountain until we find the wounded xr. we pick it up and hitch harley the mule on point with the tow strap, insane is holding the bike up and im pushing from the rear. every 10-15 yrds up this hill makes my heart rate jump off the scale. we push, we rest, we push, i clutch my chest, we push, i spit up a lung. really, it wasnt that bad. only 200 yrds straight up to go. this is when i start thinking about taking the bike apart and hauling it piece by piece. the terrain gets a bit easier and harley thinks he can pull it with his bike. insane and i are hoping this is true. harley makes it back with his bike and off we go. basically harley is doing a pretty tough uphill without a trail while dragging a xr. harley is pretty good at it because before long he is going faster than we can run with the xr and we have to let go. yes the xr hits the ground pretty fast. harley pulls it long enough that the handlebar plows a nice row. we make the trail on the ridge. harley motions me to take point as i have the GPS which marks the way home. im thinking man, this is going to take awhile. probably 1st gear for 7 miles. then i hear that 426 thumper behind me. i speed up to an indicated 22 mph and harley is on my tail with an xr 4ft behind him. insane is standing on the rear brake. this is why "jody" is called insane in this story. they go over rocks, logs, uphill and downhill at crazy speed for towing. i decide to follow because im used to everybody else watching me crash and i just know that if one goes down the other will too. a two for one bonus. never happened on 7 miles of trail. they bobbled but never went down.

finally, everybody is in camp and muddslinger is feeling much better. seldon decides to head for home while the rest of us hit the showers. some really great food found its way to my plate and then i washed down that food with a couple of cold beverages. next comes conversation about how much bandwidth costs. i dont know .........you gotta ask ghostrider about it. he seems to know fer sure. sleep comes easy after this hard day.

sunday breaks with harley, me and enduronut going out on the singletrack. it is a bit dusty in the back but it is a really good ride. after trips to moab, the rocks of kiamichi are barley noticeable. harley takes us way past what we had managed on the april trip before turning back to camp. everybody has had enough and nobody has crashed their brains out. we call this trip a success and load up. while riding home i notice something out of the corner of my eye. damn a hanglider cruising the ridges............but that is another story for another time.

a great big thanks to those who attended and for all of the memories.


Posted by: Green Horn---------------------

So the infamous RR tracks were never found?

Good read. Sounds like a fun place to ride.


Posted by: hlguthery---------------------

Great write up Gene.

Prior to Gene's Arrival on Sat morning Insane and I had already put down probably 70 miles in two days. We spent thursday morning loading and dragging Enduronuts toybox from Plano up to Talihena. Arriving sometime around lunchtime we unload and decided to take a short little ride. Turned into about 20 miles. Everything went great. We woke up around 7 Friday morning cooked breakfast and then JMD showed up around 8:30 we all get dressed and decide we are headed to Muse OK. This trip would include rocks, rocks, rocks, rocks, and did I mention ROCKS. Perfect I love riding rocks. Most of the trail (Probably 70-80 percent) is single track the other is two track or 4 wheeler trails. On one of the before mentioned 4 wheeler trails I notice my bike is making a little more noise in the front end then I am used to look down and sure enough... I have a flat. So a little trail repair and the tire is back together oh wait it is leaking again. Pull it apart a second time and get it all sealed up. Man thats a good thing since I just used my last C02.

We continue on and probably make it another 5 miles or so and I notice my front end pushing something fierce. If you guessed flat tire then pat yourself on the back. At this point we are probably only 5 miles from Muse and manage to find a road to ride the rest of the way into town (I use the word "town" loosely there is a grocery/gas/hardware/library/movie rental/feed store and according to the sign out front they were having the community meeting there later that night (all of this fit into a space no bigger then what a typical DFW type gas station). We eat and wonder about the tire... Should we 1. Pull it off patch it again then air it up?
2. Go buy fix a flat and see if it holds or
3. Just ride it back on the road like it is

Well we did a combo 2/3 when fix a flat did not fix it (Big Surprise) we ride the road back. This is the first time I have ridden an extended length of highway with a flat front tire. Let me tell you turning at speed is a little scary. I managed to stay up for the entire trip back but not with out multiple close calls. We arrive and Ghostrider and Seldon (Sgifford) are awaiting our arrival and are ready to ride. Insane and I decide to tend to our bikes and let JMD take them out. A little later Mudd Sliger showed up and got unloaded about the time JMD and crew found their way out of the woods. A huge BS session along with some dinner took up most of the evening and then it was off to bed.

The next morning is when Gene showed up so just go back up and read his story again because it was better written then mine.


Posted by: Keetoman---------------------

Great write up Gene! Wish I could have made it. I like watching Hardley and Insane work on flat tires. Harley, why does that flat tire story sound familiar?


Posted by: Danman---------------------

Good write up Gene. I wish I could have made either one. Also no DW this year either


Posted by: Enduro_Nut---------------------

That was great! We need to do that soon...I can see it now...50 degrees and...!


Posted by: hlguthery---------------------

Keith I dont know what my flat tire problem has been lately. I guess I enjoyed the rear tire so much the first time I decided to give the front a try (unfortunately with the same results). oh and by the way you met the other insane (Jared) this time it was Jody (aka really insane)


Posted by: Enduro_Nut---------------------

They have just the thing for flat tires - Michelin bib moose($150~) or SMS in Denton has a close out on the Moose "semi bib"(part foam insert and a small innertube) for $38.99~... that's the ticket Harley!

Harley...interested in Stillwater? Friday/Saturday?


Posted by: hlguthery---------------------

Roger, I might be interested if we can just haul the bikes up there and stay at the lake. I have a guy coming over on Friday to fix the paint on my wifes truck and am not sure how long it will take him. I would also need to check with the wifey. I should probably just pass since I was gone all last weekend and the weekend before. Let me see.

When were you wanting to head up??


Posted by: Enduro_Nut---------------------

I'm heading up Friday am, returning Saturday pm and then heading up to Muenster on Sunday...yes sir, a 3 day trip to mecca!

Muenster on Sunday?


Posted by: JMD---------------------

Nice write-up, Gene. By the way, sorry I didn't have time to talk much Saturday morning. I was under instructions to get home in time to help get ready for a party my wife was throwing. As it was, I didn't get home too early. I passed Roger on Highway 43 just past the dam. He was coming up as I was leaving. He flashed his lights and hit the gas; didn't even stop to say hello. Just afterward, I noticed that my oil pressure was low and fluttering wildly--not a good sign. Then the temperature started rising. By the time I hit a little gas station at Daisy (the only gas station or sign of civilization on that highway), the temperature was pretty hot, about 210. I stopped and popped the hood and found a leak in the top of the radiator spraying hot water and steam. I cooled the engine with a garden hose, filled the radiator again, and bought a couple of tubes of Barz-Leak and put them in. Headed out toward Stringtown, 20 miles. It overheated before I got there, though it never went into the red zone. But when I pulled in to the Choo Choo Cafe, the only commercial establishment in town, my oil pressure was zero and the engine sounded like a cement mixer full of bowling balls. The head gasket must have blown and sent hot water into the oil supply. The engine was toast.

I was sick; what a nightmare. Still 100 miles from home with a dead motor on my full-sized conversion van. I made phone call after phone call trying to get help. Called Roger and Harley all day, but they must have been busy working like plow horses dragging motorcycles up impossible hills. My thought was, as long as I can't get home on time, I might as well ride. But nobody answered his cell phone.

Mike at the Choo Choo Cafe offered me a place to keep my van and my trailer, with the bike on it, until I could get up to pick it up. I parked it in his front yard, behind a wooden fence, locked the bike to the trailer, and left it. Mike promised it would be OK, that crime was almost nonexistent in Stringtown. I'm not very smart, but I've always been a good judge of character, and Mike just seemed solid, a salt of the earth type. And he turned out to be just that. My van was perfectly safe for a week or more, until I could get it towed home.

While I waited, I met Brant McFarland, who's running for Sheriff in Stringtown. Nice guy, who is campaigning on a platform of running the marijuana growers out of the county. Says the current sheriff is in cahoots with the druggies. Turns out Brant is also an enduro rider. Rides a KDX in the 200A class on the Blackjack Enduro Circuit. Fast guy, apparently. He's got my vote, if I could vote.

Anyway, my oldest son, Scotty, came up in the Buick and drove me home, just in time for the wife's party, but I got out of doing all the chores she had wanted. Terri didn't give me a hard time about blowing up the van--she's a real sweetheart.

On Tuesday, my youngest son, Jimbo, drove back to Stringtown to get the trailer and the KTM, not because I was worried so much, but I just wanted to ride it. But the van had to wait a week, until my new Triple-A coverage kicked in, giving me a free tow up to 100 miles. That was sure better than the $350 everybody else wanted to tow it.

So my van is at home, waiting for me to save the $4,000 it will take to get a new engine in it. It was an expensive trip to the Kiamichi, but you know what? I can't wait to go back.

By the way, the folks at the Choo Choo Cafe were all very nice to me; they let me sit around all day in their air-conditioned cafe, let me use their phone book, and cooked me two delicious meals. I was there for lunch and didn't get out until dinner time. I recommend the place highly, as much for the friendly people as anything else, but the food is good, too. Mike wouldn't take a nickel for helping me out when we picked up the bike, even though we insisted. Stop by and spend a few bucks there, if you get a chance.


Posted by: hlguthery---------------------

Jim, What can I say???? THAT SUCKS AND I AM SORRY!!!!! I wish I could have got your phone call because I would have been on my way to help you out. Heck if nothing else I could have picked the KTM up for you. If I can help in anyway at this point let me know. Did you leave me a Voice Mail? If so please let me know I am already a little flustered at my service provider so that may be the final nail.

THAT SUCKS


Posted by: Dewster---------------------

I've done some riding up near Cass, Arkansas and White Rock Mountain. Our next trip was going to be Wolf Pen Gap but the trails near Muse, Ok sound pretty good to. Not being from that area, can someone give me some advise as to quality/quantity of trail in these areas? Wolf Pen Gap? Muse?

Thanks,


Posted by: JMD---------------------

No worries, Harley. It's tough to get a signal back in the boonies. Seems like every time I drive the van to Oklahoma something goes wrong. When I went up for the Zink enduro my fuel pump died. This will be more expensive, though. Anyway, I still can't wait to get up to Talihina again.


Posted by: hlguthery---------------------

Dewster SE Oklahoma is littered with trails. The problem is it is an adventure sometimes because nothing is marked very well. I have ridden out of Talimena State park no less then 20 times however I still cannot get over to Muse by myself. I just naturally get turned around. If you decide to ride Talimena to Muse be prepared to do some looking for the "INT" aka Indian Nation Trail. It is mostly single track for about 30 miles one way. Be prepared for rocks, creeks, hills, and some pretty narrow trails. Really a great ride. If you are interested I will try to get a map (how good it is I am not for sure) of the trails to muse. I have never been to Wolf Pen so I cannot speak of them.


Posted by: JMD---------------------

I can vouch for what a great ride the INT to Muse really is. Lots and lots of rocks; big rocks, little rocks, planted rocks, rolling rocks, round rocks, square-edged rocks, rocks on top of rocks next to rocks stacked on other rocks. And there are precious few areas to rest, where the rocks thin out. My suspensio works fine at Muenster, but I'm going to get it re-valved to handle the rocks a bit better, because I want to ride the Kiamichi a lot more. Harley, sorry you can't make it Sunday.


Posted by: Dewster---------------------

Talimena to Muse sound good. Are there places to camp? We have an RV. I looked up the Talimena State Park but it didn't say anything about OHV riding. Is there enough trail for about 3 days of riding?


Posted by: GhostRider32---------------------

Gene, Harley, Jim, Enduronut,

Great writeup's guys. Darn, I can talk for a long time but I can't write for a long time so this will be short...... I had a great time. Those rocks beat me to death for some reason, (might be the 3 extra pounds I'm carrying) but when we get together, I always have fun. I'm not sure if Kiamchi is my favorite place or not but I go because it's a joy to share in the comarade with you all. Every time I go, when I leave, I tell myself it hurts too much up here but after about 30 minutes, I say to myself, I'm ready to go back with the guys again.

Harley, I'm saving the bandwith conversation just for you next time.

Jim, sorry to hear about the van and that you couldn't get ahold of us.

Gene, I told my wife about the Colorado trip and she's cool with it......good thing, I hate cracking the whip...... When are we going?

Enduronut, I enjoyed riding with you, Seldon, Insane, and Muddslinger. Let's do it again real soon.


Posted by: Mudd Slinger---------------------

Ok, you are making me home sick for the Pine trees. Good story never die, they just get better eveytime the story gets told.

Maybe next time I will have a full tank of energy instead of starting with a near empty tank and pushing it for all I am worth. I would do it again before I would miss a trip to the mountains with this bunch. As usually, I went back home with a ear to ear grin and a story that I will never forget. Thank eveyone for the assistance and not leaving me and Yamie for dead on the side of the mountain.

JMD, sorry to hear about the van. I wish we could have helped or did something for you.


Posted by: hlguthery---------------------

Dewster, You can ride out of the back of Talimena state park in about 3 different directions. Your best bet would be to ask Eugene (the camp care taker) for his maps. I am not sure how accurate they are but they are better then nothing. The just explore. How many miles are you looking for in a day?? There is enough riding there for 300 days but knowing where to ride is key.

P.S. The camp ground has RV electricity and water hookups


Posted by: Mudd Slinger---------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dewster
I've done some riding up near Cass, Arkansas and White Rock Mountain. Our next trip was going to be Wolf Pen Gap but the trails near Muse, Ok sound pretty good to. Not being from that area, can someone give me some advise as to quality/quantity of trail in these areas? Wolf Pen Gap? Muse?

Thanks,


I rode part of wolf pen gap. I never found my way around the entire trail system. The trails are 4 wheeler wide in most areas but there are some good technicial areas with some big rocky hills (over looks) thrown in. I camped in the big camping area with cabins. The 2-3 man lean-to type cabins were clean and cool (middle of summer). They also had large cabins with kitchens and tent camping. There are some web sites with maps and information. I seen a new proposal on one web site to enlarge the trail system. I think it is still in the planning stages.

Overall, I enjoyed riding there.



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