Waterfall trail

me and the girls got out last Saturday, decided to try the waterfall trail, which up here is known by many to be a challenging trail with a scenic reward at the end which is Eska Falls, it sits above the tree line in elevation, not sure but guessing 2800' maybe? @ossagp maybe he can help me out with that. Anyways we got to the parking lot and unloaded, thought I was prepared but noticed both fork seals were leaking on my daughters KX 250, so I cut up a pop bottle and cleaned the seals out, jounced it a couple times and it looked at least better so I gave it back to nancy and got the other bikes ready. That's when I opened the Petcock on my 300, it poured gas out of the carb vents, so I shut off the gas, started the bike,turned on the gas and blew rocks in the parking lot. That Seemed to shake the float loose or unstick the needle. The little KX 125 aka "the green turd" had no issues and started right up.....anyways we got our gear on and down toward the trail with no other issues.
When we started up the trail it was about 75 degrees, and no matter what that feels like in the lower 48, me and any one else whether they are a resident or not will tell you it feels 15 degrees hotter anywhere else. Maybe the angle of where we are to the sun, I dunno.....but it was hot. As it's become a tradition in recent years, we bring candles and ding dongs on rides that are on or very near one of our birthdays. Becki's bday was in a couple days and Father's Day was the next day. So We stopped at a clearing where the shot up car is at the bottom of a hill that splits into 2 paths.....(Andy and @VMax know where this is) and Dug out the ding dongs, lit Becki's candles and sung happy birthday then wished me a happy Father's Day, she blew out the candles and we ate our ding dongs, got some water and got back on the trail. This trail can be very slick when there's been rain, but today it was very good traction and most of the hills didn't require a lot of effort but were fun. Of course there are a couple sections that can be a challenge. But that's still to come.
The sun is still heating us up, but luckily not a lot of dust, and it'd been good riding so far, as its dry when we got to the mud pit which at times can be problematic, we picked our way around the deep mud and rode by the quads and side by sides, that were pulling each other out from being stuck.....yup them 4 wheel machines sure can go where we cannot,so we left them and continued. The girls had a little problem at the boulder field, but after a couple runs and a couple spills, they made it thru, which again shows the improvement they have made as riders as rocks and boulders usually kicked their ass....oh yeah, they didn't break any control levers there either!
So now we have come to the hill that defines the ride, Becki is on her 125 and has never made the hill unassisted, Nancy is on her 250 but has trouble with hills, and so I wasnt sure what would happen. I picked my line and got my bike up on the first run, parked it out of the way and went down the hill on foot to coach them up. First run was Becki on the turd, I could only hear her from where I was for the first half of the run but I heard the motor was carrying rpm's and could see a smoke trail. I became concerned though when I heard the motor drop in rpm, thought that was it for this run, but she grabbed a handful of clutch and saved it from stalling. It was at this point I saw her coming around the corner with momentum, cheering and whooping it up. She had made the hill on her first run! She shut down the bike, threw it on the ground and did her victory dance :banana:
Next was nancy, she got a good start the first time. And was looking good but a rock kicked her sideways and stalled her momentum where she could not recover. She turned the bike and rode down for the second attempt. Good start good speed, hit that damn rock again kicked her sideways and the run was over. This time it took more effort to get the bike turned on the side of that hill, becoming quite tired,she rode back down for round 3. I tried to convince her to take the line I chose but while the grade wasn't as steep,there were more rocks than her preferred way and she decided to take the same line another time. This time she made it past that damn rock but in avoiding it she got her front tire pointed wrong and layed it over just a few feet from the top.now I could tell she was burning a lot of energy and didn't want her to shoot her wad on this section alone so I gave her the choice, try again or have me ride it up. And in my mind she pretty much made it as she only had a couple feet to the top. So she gave the bike to me. I hit the side of the hill that I had run the first time and got her up there, after burning calories here We rested at the top visited with another group of riders, that were there as well I actually knew one of them (Old Barry on his KTM, he's72 now, the last time I saw him was on a ride 10 years Before at Eureka where I thought he was gonna die from a heart attack, obviously he lived) after we rested shot the shit and got hydrated we were back on the bikes.
So by now the waterfall is pretty much a garantee, as we've cleared the biggest hurdle. But shit can still happen, like a mechanical right? I was waiting for the girls at the last section before the falls, along they came, but Becki said the turd was making noise, like rattling.....well shit I'm thinking, we're going to lose a motor now. I told her to stay with my bike and I started hers then took off. I heard her concern but knew it was just a rattle from the chassis and not from the motor or transmission the bike can live with that, So I brought it back and said with relief that she could continue, which we did, as we got to the clearing at the top, the waterfall was just on the other side of the next rise, we noticed it had become much cooler and the wind had picked up signicantly, which was good for us, as we finally started to cool down. The girls at this point realized that they were about to reach their goal and were becoming very excited.
As you get to the top of the last rise you first notice all the squirrels running around on the moss covered rocks, which is weird because you don't see one squirrel until your above the tree line, I'm pretty sure that makes these ones ground squirrels......just guessing. Anyhow now we can see the falls, or I can, not sure where Becki and Nancy were then as they took the other way to get there. When I got there I waited, after a few minutes I saw team green making there way to me. Big grins and another accomplishment, as this wasn't their first time there but the first time they made it unassisted. I tell ya watching them progress as riders and develop that love for enjoying the outdoors on two wheels is a real kick for me.....well we spent some time there taking pictures and relaxing. The way back went well, and when we made it back to the truck, a friend of mine riding with a different group was there, we crossed paths on the way to the falls. they were asking what I had done to the bikes, the girls bikes in particular. I told them just maintain them,they thought I had added flywheel weight or lowered the gearing....nope I said, well then, he Said......these two are easily the best female dirtbikers here. They were impressed. Every time I've been there I've not seen any other females that had ridden bikes there, I'm guessing there have been but it's not often I'm sure.
Either way it was the best ride I've seen them on.

Seems just yesterday when I was watching them wind out that yz85 at 12 mph in 1st gear at the track all those years ago.

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Yup we were there Saturday, Easy as pie, but it still was a hurdle for my kids. Were you fishing the Kenai?
Took some stuff down for my house that is under construction, my reliable as stone ax fork lift quit running TODAY. of course i was here and my help didnt get it going yet. so hard to trouble shoot over the phone with a carpenter.
 
Way to go dad! Looks like a nice ride day and just can't beat quality time with the kids.
Gotta love those SXS getting stuck and getting unstuck seems to be the cost of admission for them. Seems like a lot of work to me.
 
Way to go dad! Looks like a nice ride day and just can't beat quality time with the kids.
Gotta love those SXS getting stuck and getting unstuck seems to be the cost of admission for them. Seems like a lot of work to me.

Every time I go out there I see either see one of those rigs stuck or broken. One SxS dude who Was trying to get his buddy unstuck was pretty upset with the fact that I was able to buzz around the pit he was stuck in and started yelling "you've only got 2 wheels, you can go where you want, try going thru this" I looked at him like....yeah right.
 
me and the girls got out last Saturday, decided to try the waterfall trail, which up here is known by many to be a challenging trail with a scenic reward at the end which is Eska Falls, it sits above the tree line in elevation, not sure but guessing 2800' maybe? @ossagp maybe he can help me out with that. Anyways we got to the parking lot and unloaded, thought I was prepared but noticed both fork seals were leaking on my daughters KX 250, so I cut up a pop bottle and cleaned the seals out, jounced it a couple times and it looked at least better so I gave it back to nancy and got the other bikes ready. That's when I opened the Petcock on my 300, it poured gas out of the carb vents, so I shut off the gas, started the bike,turned on the gas and blew rocks in the parking lot. That Seemed to shake the float loose or unstick the needle. The little KX 125 aka "the green turd" had no issues and started right up.....anyways we got our gear on and down toward the trail with no other issues.
When we started up the trail it was about 75 degrees, and no matter what that feels like in the lower 48, me and any one else whether they are a resident or not will tell you it feels 15 degrees hotter anywhere else. Maybe the angle of where we are to the sun, I dunno.....but it was hot. As it's become a tradition in recent years, we bring candles and ding dongs on rides that are on or very near one of our birthdays. Becki's bday was in a couple days and Father's Day was the next day. So We stopped at a clearing where the shot up car is at the bottom of a hill that splits into 2 paths.....(Andy and @VMax know where this is) and Dug out the ding dongs, lit Becki's candles and sung happy birthday then wished me a happy Father's Day, she blew out the candles and we ate our ding dongs, got some water and got back on the trail. This trail can be very slick when there's been rain, but today it was very good traction and most of the hills didn't require a lot of effort but were fun. Of course there are a couple sections that can be a challenge. But that's still to come.
The sun is still heating us up, but luckily not a lot of dust, and it'd been good riding so far, as its dry when we got to the mud pit which at times can be problematic, we picked our way around the deep mud and rode by the quads and side by sides, that were pulling each other out from being stuck.....yup them 4 wheel machines sure can go where we cannot,so we left them and continued. The girls had a little problem at the boulder field, but after a couple runs and a couple spills, they made it thru, which again shows the improvement they have made as riders as rocks and boulders usually kicked their ass....oh yeah, they didn't break any control levers there either!
So now we have come to the hill that defines the ride, Becki is on her 125 and has never made the hill unassisted, Nancy is on her 250 but has trouble with hills, and so I wasnt sure what would happen. I picked my line and got my bike up on the first run, parked it out of the way and went down the hill on foot to coach them up. First run was Becki on the turd, I could only hear her from where I was for the first half of the run but I heard the motor was carrying rpm's and could see a smoke trail. I became concerned though when I heard the motor drop in rpm, thought that was it for this run, but she grabbed a handful of clutch and saved it from stalling. It was at this point I saw her coming around the corner with momentum, cheering and whooping it up. She had made the hill on her first run! She shut down the bike, threw it on the ground and did her victory dance :banana:
Next was nancy, she got a good start the first time. And was looking good but a rock kicked her sideways and stalled her momentum where she could not recover. She turned the bike and rode down for the second attempt. Good start good speed, hit that damn rock again kicked her sideways and the run was over. This time it took more effort to get the bike turned on the side of that hill, becoming quite tired,she rode back down for round 3. I tried to convince her to take the line I chose but while the grade wasn't as steep,there were more rocks than her preferred way and she decided to take the same line another time. This time she made it past that damn rock but in avoiding it she got her front tire pointed wrong and layed it over just a few feet from the top.now I could tell she was burning a lot of energy and didn't want her to shoot her wad on this section alone so I gave her the choice, try again or have me ride it up. And in my mind she pretty much made it as she only had a couple feet to the top. So she gave the bike to me. I hit the side of the hill that I had run the first time and got her up there, after burning calories here We rested at the top visited with another group of riders, that were there as well I actually knew one of them (Old Barry on his KTM, he's72 now, the last time I saw him was on a ride 10 years Before at Eureka where I thought he was gonna die from a heart attack, obviously he lived) after we rested shot the shit and got hydrated we were back on the bikes.
So by now the waterfall is pretty much a garantee, as we've cleared the biggest hurdle. But shit can still happen, like a mechanical right? I was waiting for the girls at the last section before the falls, along they came, but Becki said the turd was making noise, like rattling.....well shit I'm thinking, we're going to lose a motor now. I told her to stay with my bike and I started hers then took off. I heard her concern but knew it was just a rattle from the chassis and not from the motor or transmission the bike can live with that, So I brought it back and said with relief that she could continue, which we did, as we got to the clearing at the top, the waterfall was just on the other side of the next rise, we noticed it had become much cooler and the wind had picked up signicantly, which was good for us, as we finally started to cool down. The girls at this point realized that they were about to reach their goal and were becoming very excited.
As you get to the top of the last rise you first notice all the squirrels running around on the moss covered rocks, which is weird because you don't see one squirrel until your above the tree line, I'm pretty sure that makes these ones ground squirrels......just guessing. Anyhow now we can see the falls, or I can, not sure where Becki and Nancy were then as they took the other way to get there. When I got there I waited, after a few minutes I saw team green making there way to me. Big grins and another accomplishment, as this wasn't their first time there but the first time they made it unassisted. I tell ya watching them progress as riders and develop that love for enjoying the outdoors on two wheels is a real kick for me.....well we spent some time there taking pictures and relaxing. The way back went well, and when we made it back to the truck, a friend of mine riding with a different group was there, we crossed paths on the way to the falls. they were asking what I had done to the bikes, the girls bikes in particular. I told them just maintain them,they thought I had added flywheel weight or lowered the gearing....nope I said, well then, he Said......these two are easily the best female dirtbikers here. They were impressed. Every time I've been there I've not seen any other females that had ridden bikes there, I'm guessing there have been but it's not often I'm sure.
Either way it was the best ride I've seen them on.

Seems just yesterday when I was watching them wind out that yz85 at 12 mph in 1st gear at the track all those years ago.

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Awesome!!!
 
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