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| Once
again our seasonal trek into the outer reaches of NY proved to present
all kinds of adventures, from winding through the countryside on vacant
dirt roads enjoying the vista's and color of Fall's breathtaking presentation.
We arrived at the Hill
Top tavern after a 5-hour drive from Pennsylvania, to be greeted
with fine food, drink and conversation. Scott Matthews set up quarters
for our stay and the courteous staff introduced us to a new fall
menu.
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After good nights sleep our group embarked on the first day of
our adventure, the beginning of the day started out covering about
30 miles of remote dirt roads winding around many parts of Lewis
County. Venturing from changing conditions on dirt roads to side
trails marked as cross points connecting massive the trail system
in an ever-changing environment
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Our first stop was at the Tug
Hill Inn where we caught up with the locals and discussed
happenings going on since our last visit. It turns out that
many of the restaurants we visited this day are expanding
to accommodate larger crowds of tourists, now year round.
As we ventured from watering hole to watering hole we encountered
many riders catching a great day of riding before the winter
season set in.
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| One particular great
place to visit is the NY State Gorge, tucked away in a remote
unexpected place where you can wind around large stands of pine
stop, and view a drop off where you actually get nervous going
up to the edge and looking over. This gorge created thousands
of years ago almost seems out of place to the local surroundings,
it is about the depth of a ten-story building and the same breadth
across. |
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We stopped for awhile and were soon greeted by local riders enjoying
the day, Many were discussing the days adventures and planning
where to go from here, even though it is not legal to ride down
in the gorge it is a fantastic vista to visit
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Enjoying the day also were equestrians who also joined in
the conversation discussing everything from the weather to
inquiring about the machines parked near by. All embraced
the day as one of falls finest, and probably one of the last
we would see this year.
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| Our
next adventure took us to a harrowing trail connected
at the ends by two dirt roads, this trail proved to be one of
the most challenging of the day, (my pick) and riddled with
standing water crossings so filled with quad sucking muck that
none escaped it's grasp. Being the lead dog on this trail, I
wisely pulled my faithful stead off to the side of the trail
upon viewing what looked like a bottomless pit of mud ahead
of me. |
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| Seeing me pull over
Chuck and Eric seeing an opportunity to get by me cruised on
past at light speed picking separate lines, one around the holes
and one going full bore through this waiting trap. But, no sooner
then they passed me; the trail swallowed them up without mercy
sucking them both into its grasp. Down and down they went, buried
to the frame with no hope of escape spinning and spinning to
no avail while I just enjoyed the wise decision not to be the
first in. |
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This trail granted no quarter, and would
end up being a two hour event to get every one out and back on dry
land, all hope was gone of the riders getting out of this one without
getting soaked to the bone. Chuck was the first to escape with the
help of his warn winch but Eric, ahhhhh Eric, was dead center in the
middle of a 60 foot long standing mud pit from hell with mud so slippery
that any tire would have loaded up and provided no traction or dug
a hole to China.
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| Eric's fleeting thought
of getting out of this one clean was soon replaced by the thought
of loosing his boot off his foot sucked two feet under the quagmire.
It took almost half an hour to extract Eric's 89 pilot with
the help of the Warn winch on Chuck's Honda plus four of us
piled on the Honda turning the quad into a fixed position anchor
from which to pull from. Even with four of us on the quad and
the brakes clamped on, the stuck Pilot still tried to pull the
Honda into the hole. After we got it out, a well-deserved rest
was taken while inspecting equipment and viewing across the
hole that could not be crossed. |
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After that episode our group ventured
through more county side passing and stopping at multiple restaurants
including, The Timberview Lodge(large
Picture)where we gassed up and sat down for some Burgers and drinks.
The
Timberview Lodge also has a Polaris dealership in it along with
a restaurant and a motel where you can book reservations for a stay. |
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| The food was good and
the conversation plenty but, by this time it was getting dark
and it was time to head back to the Hill Top. Our trip back
turned into a great 40 miles of night ridding weaving through
the pitch back of night down ever changing trail conditions.
The stars were incredibly bright illuminating the turns guiding
us back. |
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| What was really cool about
this trip is that we discovered an ATV map of this trail system that
you can purchase from the Lewis
County ATV Association. This map lists all the trails and participating
restaurants that support this trail system. For the small price of
$6.00 you too can own a copy and guide yourself on a vacation that
you could stretch out for a weeks worth of adventures. The fine folks
of Lewis County ATV Association assembled this map with the goal of
bringing more legal ridding areas to NY and bringing tourism dollars
to Lewis County and have worked hard to make all this happen. |
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| (Editors note)
I would also like to say thumbs up also to
Kawasaki and Polaris
for helping to fund this fine map, and of course, no help from Honda
as usual in local communities |
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