Horsethief 99 (1999)

Photo Gallery Archive
On Aug 5, Tom Myers, Helge Pedersen, Chris Poland, Perry Murray and Touratech's Alex Guth embarked on a 5-day on/offroad camping trip in the Cascade mountain range of Washington.

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Photo 1 of 42
Cabin Creek
First obstacle of the day was a makeshift bridge across washed-out Cabin creek. Helge manuevers his wide load over the smooth angled surface. If wet, this bridge would have been impossible.
First obstacle of the day was a makeshift bridge across washed-out Cabin creek. Helge manuevers his wide load over the smooth angled surface. If wet, this bridge would have been impossible.
This part of the bridge was an old flatbed trailer. Whitewall tires are still hanging on the axles. --photo by Helge Pedersen
Morning, DAY 2 Steep ups and downs on the North Ridge trail.
Alex, our meticulous german friend, wiggles the RMX between a rock and a hard place.
Helge manuevers his wide-load around tight switchbacks on North Ridge trail.
Helge breaks out into the clearcut. Such a relief to get out of the trees.... .......he\'s twistin\' that thang!
.....dang!
I waited at the top of this hill to see if Helge would make it. It was steep, rooty and difficult. Really! But in the picture, it looks level. It takes a good photographer to realistically portray the steepness of a trail. In this case our best photographer was raising a plume of dirt and a hack was running the camera. Perry waits in the background.
Perry making his way to the top. Photo by Helge Pedersen
Chris zooms past panoramic views and alpine flora enroute to Windy pass. In the far backgound is Snoqualmie pass looking NorthWest.
It appears that Helge is pausing to take in the rugged beauty of the Cascades. The professional photographer is actually thinking of f-stops or how he might use his new gyro-syabilized telephoto lens. He\'s lamenting the ever-present burden of trying to decide if it\'s worth digging a camera out.
Alex is getting the hang of the RMX as he winds along along the Manastash ridgetop towards Quartz mountain. Hint - if you want Helge to take your picture, ride stylishly past gnarled, bleached evergreens. Photo by Helge Pedersen
Manastash ridge trail edges past unseasonal snowbanks on the last rocky hillclimb to Quartz mountain. Alex has a fair amount of experience riding heavy motorcycles in rocks. Tomorrow he\'ll ride a light motorcycle up a clay hillclimb with crappy tires. Fun! Photo by Helge Pedersen
Towards the end of DAY 2. The trail down from Quartz mountain meanders along the Manastash creek thru Hereford and Keenan meadows; enroute to Buck Meadows to camp for the night.
Morning, DAY 3 Alex climbing a snotty hill on a sniveling two-stroke. Actually the RMX is a very effective woods bike. But Alex learns firsthand how difficult it is to jump from a BMW R100GS to a race bike and then climb a steep, slippery hill carrying a backpack and tent. Notice that his tent prevents him from moving back on the seat for traction on this wet clay hill. A rear cargo rack would have provided more seatroom. A rear rack is essential for this kind of X-country riding (no support truck). Photo by Helge Pedersen
At the top of the climb (from Manastash lake). From now until Horsthief basin we\'ll be on faster two-track roads with great scenery. They are smiling again. It appears safe for their illustrious leader to rejoin the group.
Helge and Alex blow some carbon on Manastash ridge road.
Alex crosses a wisp of Whiskey Dick Creek in the Shaake Wildlife area (north of Vantage).
Tom finds a swamp in the middle of a desert and crashes in it. Photo by Helge Pedersen
Middle of the third day. Alex, Helge and Tom clean up in the Columbia River at the mouth of Whiskey Dick creek. Helge wonders why the young couple in the speedboat left so hurriedly. Most likely they had never before shared a secluded bay with a naked, bellowing Norwegian. As multicultural director of the Horsethief \'99, Tom informs the two europeans of the term used in the USA to describe their red asses. We call it \"monkeybutt\". Chris picks up a camera and dutifully records this historic ethnic exchange.
Yesterday Chris was huffing and puffing in a dense forest. Today he blows some carbon, leaving behind spectacular views.
Towards the end of DAY 3: Tom zooms by, fully loaded. Photo by Helge Pedersen
We came over the hill on the Brewton Gulch road (notice the switchbacky road above Helge\'s head) and zigzagged down Tarpsican creek. We saw coyotes and a herd of elk.
Alex ran out of gas again! It\'s only seven miles on pavement to the gas station (in Malaga). Rather than mix up some more gas, Chris breaks out his TowDowns. TowDowns are a pair of packable tiedowns that connect to form a 12 foot towstrap. They got lazy and towed with only one section (six feet). Sloth turned to bravery as Alex continued to give the thumbs-up at 50 mph. Photo by Helge Pedersen.
What a view! On Forest road 8100. It\'s thirty miles from from Manson to Safety Harbor trail. Chris is twisting it, Helge\'s looking back towards Lake Chelan. Photo by Helge Pedersen.
The first log, South Navarre trail. Forging ahead over logs such as this is very difficult. If there are enough people in the group to get you over logs like this, then there are also enough to outvote you.
Another log.
Back on the bikes!
What a view! On the South Navarre trail, looking toward Stehekin. Photo by Helge Pedersen.
South Navarre campground. Mechanized wood-gathering hints toward a decadent campfire. Photo by Helge Pedersen.
End of DAY4: Alex the German (a Frankfurter eating a hotdog).
DAY5: The group has split up. Helge, Alex, Cris and Perry headed back towards Seattle. Tom forged on ahead, solo into Horsethief basin. Horsehead pass (7600ft) is in the distance (center) and is the entrance to Horsethief basin from the Foggy Dew side. Tom\'s cockpit: Touratech rollchart holder, GPSIII+ and BarPack take care of navigation chores. Ahead on the numberplate is the Glovebox.
The Forest service has reamed out Switchback 3 since last year. Take a look at switchback 3 from last year.
The meadows around Boiling lake were lush and green.
Mad River trail blocked by deadfall.
Dinner. The old standard 24 oz can of Dinty Moore stew is great DualSport chow. It seems to be available at every mini-mart so you only have to carry it for a few hours in the afternoon. The wide squatty can is easy to stand in the fire, and it has real (?) roast beef chunks. I bought a small onion and a carrot, boiling the fresh vegetables in the can. Just a little bit of freshness does wonders for canned food.
Day 6 The fantastic Entiat Summit road is a Washington DualSport essential. Spectacular views make up for the easy ride. There\'s access to many challenging trails if you get tired of the view (unlikely). Here the road passes thru the recent Mad river burn.
Found an abandoned train tunnel. Solo. Hear that you buncha weenies? I\'d been searching for some kind of punishment for the rest of the crew (for desertion). This should be sufficient. .....hmmmm what to do? I went into the pitch black, eyes could not adjust to the darkness. My pitiful 35w headlight was like a candle. I turned around and rode out. I removed my Spare-tube Fenderbag and stuffed it behind my headlight cowling to point the light more downward, and plunged back into the abyss. I stopped and waited a few minutes for my eyes to adjust. The GPS screen said \"poor coverage - ENTER to acknowledge\". Sounds good to me!
Door #1 (double doors) Partway into the tunnel, the tunnel was sealed off with a concrete wall with a double door. As I arrived, I noticed the doors were nonexistent. Vandals being what they are, don\'t allow such anomalies and had ripped the doors off the hinges. This was good (for me). It was an eerie feeling passing thru the door (wondering if there was a bear on the other side?) There was some kind of wood and corrugated steel structure built on the other side, but it was burned and torn apart too with lots of debris on the ground
Further in, there\'s Door #2 which was still on the hinges. The exit is visible thru the crack in the door, the proverbial \"light at the end of the tunnel\". I opened it and went thru. No bears but the sound of lots of water pouring into the tunnel.
A pile of timbers blocking the exit. No problem - the exit alone was a welcome sight.
Back to the daylight after a remarkable 2.6 miles of tunnel! But it\'s not over yet. This railroad bed has degraded into a running stream. Following the railroad is not an option as it\'s covered with tangled trees and running water. It\'s a fairly difficult hillclimb up the bank to get out of here.
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