23.   The May24 Holiday weekend finally arrived, and although we didn't have a cabin trip planned, we did manage to set up a great ATV run for Saturday.

22.   That morning brought sunny skies and mild temperatures so Maffer and I loaded up our bikes and met Danny, Frank, Brian & Carl at Wendy's in Mount Pearl, then headed out the highway with our bikes in tow.

21.   We dropped the bikes near Middle Gull Pond where we crossed under the highway to access the old railway track.  Maffer was riding his new CanAm 800, I had old faithful Project Foreman. The rest of the crew represented most of the major manufacturers, Suzuki, Arctic Cat, Honda and an older CanAm.

20.   We rode approximately 6km before Maffer had his first stuck! For his first stuck he tipped his CanAm Outlander completely on its side in a rather deep bog hole, soon after getting it out he buried it again in another hole! Danny started the game of spraying him with mud during the extraction. 

19.   From there we continued on to Whitbourne stopping to pick up lunch supplies before continuing on to Placentia Junction. Here we took the left fork and continued on to Argentia, the right fork continues on across the island.

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17.   The ride down to Argentia is beautiful, the scenery, hills and trails are very pretty, and the ride is pretty easy over all. The trail is really bumpy in places, there is a lot of water and a few wash outs to be careful of but nothing that really requires 4wd (unless you go off trail like we did in places).

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15.   Along the way we stopped for lunch on the side of a large pond. The wind was breezy here which kept the flies at bay. Danny broke out his cooking gear and set out BBQing hamburgers with fried onions & bacon on his combination Propane BBQ/Stove. It was an awesome feast, especially in the middle of the woods.

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13.   After lunch we continued on to the old US Military base, and crossed the highway taking a tour around old gun barracks, down to the beach and up to a high cliff lookout. On the way back to the base Danny got stuck, and Maffer got his revenge by spraying him with mud during the extraction! We headed back to the base and the old track to head back towards town.

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8.   On the way back, we stopped to play in the mud and that's when the trip got tangly. Maffer got stuck and managed to snap a front side axel, Danny was nice enough to pull him out, not before completely burring Maffer's bike in mud! Luckily the broken axel didn't affect ride ability, so he could finish the trip with ease.

7.   Next Frank's Arctic Cat broke down and wouldn't re-start. The battery was flat and the bike wasn't charging. We managed to boost the bike and slightly charge the battery, but he only made it a couple miles before finding himself on the end of a tow strap behind one of the crew's Honda 420 IRS.

6.   On the way back we stopped to top up our tanks, we each carried extra fuel, I don't think project Foreman would do the round trip from Middle Gull Pond to Argentia and back on one tank. We continued on making pretty good time all the way to Whitbourne. Maffer & Danny were behind me, but I lost them in the dust in Placentia Junction.

5.   We stopped and waited for the longest time before finally spying Maffer with Danny in tow. The oil drain plug fell out of Danny's '08 Suzuki King Quad 750 and the motor shut off. It didn't seize solid, but without a proper drain plug and 3 litres of oil they elected to tow the bike back to Middle Gull Pond.

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1.   Even with the slow down of towing two bikes, we still made it back to the trucks around 8pm, just before dark. It was an awesome trip and I look forward to the next one!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith