007 The Extraction 06-05-2010

Before we get started. We are happy to be alive and have recovered Mikes KTM!!!!!! many thanks to Scott. Some of you may know him from KMA Fabrication he is one hell of a great guy and saved our ass!

A few of us DBA's decided to take a ride and see if we could reach the snow. This adventure started out with the following, Mike in Fresno, Nat, KTMRack, Rack Jr, Onelugnut, Lug Jr, Carl. By the end of the day we had a few spectators and had to call in reinforcements. My neighbor Scott ended up with us on my wifes quad!

Today was also my sons first ride on his new to him 2007 Yamaha WR 250 F! So we headed for the hills!!

Here is Onelugnut talking to Rack Jr

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Lug Jr

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Group photo just before we get to the fun part of the day

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Here Mike educates us on the water crossing. Beware of the current and the slime on the rocks!:prof:

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Mike entering the water crossing :thumb:

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oooppss!!!! :foul:

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This is where things got a little dicey....

At this point Mike is yelling for help cuz the current is hauling ass. I jump off my bike, drop my camera and try to help.

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We have been on the trail less than an hour when we got to the first water crossing. Lug Jr picked up my camera and started snapping photo's!:thumb:

In the water is Mike, KTMRack, Onelugnut, Carl, and Nat :banghead:

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I had a tow strap in my backpack that someone pulled out so Nat could get it around the handlebars and try to keep the bike from going down stream.

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No luck at all. The bike, Mike, and KTMRack go for a slide down stream and over the waterfall :wave:.

At this point everyone is watching us slide away and over the side. This is insane!

I saw Mike go over first then the bike. I was worried that the bike would pin him under the water. I was right behind them and the first thing that popped into my mind was Bear Gryls! So I rolled to my back put my feet forward and went for a ride. Holy shit!!!!!!!!!! I ended up clinging to a tree and Mike was on the other side of the river/stream holding onto a rock. We are so lucky that we did not get pinned or wedged in between rocks or trees when we went over the side.

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Well it turned into a rescue the two guys down stream and over the waterfall day. The camera went to the dirt and all hands scattered to help Mike an me.

Once everyone was safe and back on dry land we started snapping more photos.

Here is Mike shedding some cold clothes

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After we all gathered our senses we put a plan together to recover the KTM that went over the falls. Carl headed back to his truck to head home and get some rock climbing gear. My son and I headed to an area to get cell service and call my neighbor Scott to bring a Jeep or my wifes quad to give us a hand. Mike, Onelugnut, Lug JR, Nat stayed behind to enjoy the scenery and try to figure out where the bike was.

About an hour and a half later my son and i arrived with Scott and the Grizzly 700. A picture of the stream/river looking back across where we started

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Rack Jr and his new ride. In front of his handlebars you can see the trail that we were supposed to use to cross the stream.

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Here are the guys looking over the situation and making their way down to the waters edge

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here come Mike to assess the situation

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Nat moving into the water where he thinks he felt the bike earlier. This is the tree I was hanging onto when Nat and Onelugnut helped me out of the frigid waters.

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Lug Jr throwing his baest gang sign

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Nat spent a good hour in the water trying to find the bike. It seemed like the bike should have been swept completly over the falls with Mike and me.

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Scott hanging onto a tether attached to Nat. This was a very dangerous process.

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Onelugnet with another tether on Nat

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Here is the tree where they pulled me from. Many thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Scott going down for a closer look

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Nat is trying to swim back and forth across the bottom of the falls trying ot locate the lost KTM. We used ropes to help him float from one side of the stream/river to the other.

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Trying to get a glimpse of orange color

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This is the rock Mike clung to at the bottom of the falls

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Nat and Lug Jr making their way closer to the falls to get a better look.

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Nat getting ready to take another dip in the frigid waters

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Watching from the other side

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jug Jr has a hold of Nat

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This turned out to be one crazy day.......

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Lug Jr lets go of the line once Nat makes it safely to the other side

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Time for one last look

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NOTHING, NADA, cant find the bike!!!!!!

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Typing at the same time Rack was, merged now.


Water Hazards or" How to submarine a KTM"

Went with KTMRACK, his son Patrick, ONELUGNUT and his son Mitchell, Carl and my ride bud Nat. Went to Bass lake area and hit the trail called "007". It was all good and everyone doing OK. We got to the last leg and the stream crossing.

There had been local weather high water warnings for the streams and rivers in the Sierras. This crossing Ive done lots of times in the past. It has a flat spot one tire wide, but the solid granite bottom is covered with green slime. Perfectly smooth, no traction, so you have to idle across with your clutch in and barely moving or it will slip the wheels down stream.

I eased into it and got about half way across. The front slipped, but I caught it. Here is where it goes bad. Since I have done it so many times before in 6" of water I thot 12" was no huge difference. I eased it out another two feet and now the full force of the water was on me, the tire slipped and I tipped over to the left, the uphill side. The bike started to go down steam so KTMRACK jumped in and we held it there on the flat rock. All good for now. Guys started getting a tie down out to hook on and help.

We got it around the handle bar. I was told to crawl out from under it and get to shore. My left foot was wedged under the motor area. I finally got it out. It gets real bad now. Apparently my boot was giving traction to the metal of the bike like a conduit to the rock. When my boot came out the bike was on rock and started to slip down stream with the force of the water. Not much traction steel to rock. I grabbed the tie down to try and pull myself out, but no traction on my knees in the slime and current. It slipped more, Nat started to get pulled in too and he had to let go. Down I went.

This area has about a 30' fairly flat solid granite rock area. A gentle slop down stream. It then gets steeper and steeper til it drops off in steps at 5' or so drops until it then goes vertical in a 5' drop and then an 8-10' drop. WHITE WATER. FULL FORCE. I tumble backwards end over end. I had my gear on so it didnt hurt when I hit my head on the rocks.

I grabbed a breath and went under again. I grabbed another breath as I rolled up. I then went over the drop still tumbling backwards. Time compression, as I thot about the upcoming water fall I knew was there. I thot what if I break my neck then thot about having my helmet on. I bounced and then was in deep. It took about 5 seconds for me to come up. I was at the bottom of the falls. I got another breath. I saw a bush at the bank and got to it and then pulled up on the down stream side of a rock and stood up. I was safe for now.

I looked over and saw that KTMRACK had come down too. He was right at the base of the falls at the far side. He too had a hold of a large bush, but he was still in danger due to the white water all around him. He hung on. Nat ran around and got down the rock face and into the water in an eddy and went upstream 15' to help him. Meanwhile he got his helmet off and threw it in the bush. I then saw his eyes from 20' away. They were BIG!!!! Nat got him and out of the bad spot he came. Nat got the helmet and then saw a breakfast bar floating and "what it that?" His GPS floating in its cordura case in the eddy.

We got out of the water. Nat thot he felt the handle bar right next to where Rack had been. That is when I learned the bike had come down with us. No rope or way to get it out of there. Now what? Couldnt see it either.

After a half hour or so Carl, RACK and Patrick rode out to get cell phone reception and Carl to the trucks to get rope and such. Rack n son came back in half an hour and had called a neighbor with a quad, rope, block n tackle, etc. We dried out like lizards. Carl kept going and when Rack went out to the road to meet the neighbor Scott, Carl's truck was gone. Where did he go. Damn!! He has my truck keys. Hope he left them where I can find them. He talked about going home and getting rope n such and only lives half hour away so maybe thats it.

We dried, looked for the bike, drank water and snacked. We lost our shade and started to get burned so we got dressed again. Rack and Scott showed up. No Carl. We got together and crossed the stream to get the bike out.

Nat went in with a rope around him. He fished around with his feet, looked under water, dove in, swam back n forth across several times and never found the bike. We could smell gas once in a while, kinda like an outboard motor smell. It was deep and white water in the middle and it must be in there. Nat had been in for 45min now and came out hypothermic. Shaking, couldnt talk right, skin real red, etc. We talked about leaving it there til the late summer or fall til the water slowed. Nat said we couldnt leave the bike. After all I was riding my wife's 07 250XCFW with 300 kit and she would kill us if it doesnt come home with us. I was thinking a grappling hook is what we need.

We thot about it, looked over the edge, etc. Earlier while we waited we had seen a dry, 6' deep hole 3' across, straight down that water had carved out of the solid granite. We now saw that there looked to be the same kind of hole right where the falls were the steepest and the water the fastest. Mitchell being young, strong and a little light headed, said to lower him over the straight drop off and into the hole.

We tied him off, he got down there and found he could stand. He stood there for a few minutes and saw nothing. There was a hole in the center of where he stood. He felt somethng hitting his foot or leg. He saw a flash of yellow. The tie down we put on the bike earlier was yellow. He went down into the hole and felt a stick or something. It was springy. He stuck his head under and saw orange. It was the front fender. The bike was vertical in a hole, front wheel straight up.

Extraction and pics later. Im too sore to type moer for now.
 
So if the bike isn't at the bottom of the waterfall where in the hell is it?? :noidea:

After a little discussion and trying to get Nat thawed out it must be up on one of the two ledges that we slid over. Rack Jr wants to get tethered to the rope and be dropped over the side. HELL NO!!!!!!!! So Onelugnut vounteers Lug Jr. I guess he doesn't value his kid much :smirk:. There was no way in hell my kid was going over the side and into the water!

I made my way up stream and crossed over to get some pics from a differnet angle. This IS NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess who is at the end of that line...........

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It's Lug Jr :banghead:

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But guess what he found...................... A KTM dirtcycle!! :banana: Scott fed him a line that he could get around the front tire.

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Time for Lug Jr to come out of the water. He has secured the dirtcycle

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