2006 Yamaha Banshee SE
2005 Yamaha Wolverine
200? John Deer Buck - Yes, a John Deer "Buck"
2005 Polaris Sportsman 800
2005 Polaris Sportsman 600
The Location:
"Hydro Line Mountain Run"
Lanark Highlands
The Hosts:
Chad & Brian.
Skill Level:
Advanced
Considerations:
No gas stations on or near trail.
There is a restaurant if you head East of Darling road. Some highway running is required to get there.
The Trail:
This was my first time riding the Lanark Highlands and boy what a treat I was
in for. It was a beautiful sunny day and with a recent rainfall there was no dust. Good friends, amazing conditions - this had all the makings for an perfect day.
We departed from Darling Road, this is outside Clayton, Ontario. See map.
(http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Clayton,+Lanark,+Ontario,+Canada&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=0,45.191460,-76.326880&ll=45.217357,-76.492653&spn=0.094681,0.222473&z=13) From this location we hit the Hydro lines and headed West.
The first part of the trail weaves in and out of the bush and up and down massive rolling hills. The scenery is beautiful.
There are rocks throughout the trail and this makes for a lot of rear chain gaurd contact on the Banshee. Luckily, I'm running DG rear-gaurd protection. The other ATVs had no trouble because they have greater clearance. After riding for a while we came to a water crossing where there
was also a massive mountain/hill where people have climbed. Unfortunately, photos never provide a proper perspective, but here is a shot any way.
Rider Tip!: This type of hill is very dangerous and should only be attempted by experienced riders. The risk of flipping the bike is high. Learn by attempting smaller hills. Shift all your wait to the front of the ATV and ensure that you have adequate momentum & acceleration to make it to the peak.
At the foot of the hill the trail crosses a beaver damn with a fair amount of flowing water. Crossing to the North of the damn meant lot's of water. Crossing to the South meant dealing with the run off from the beaver damn. The 4x4s easily drove through the North side of the damn. The wolverine also made it, but was close to taking in water. Being on the Banshee and seeing this made my decision clear -
I crossed to the South.
Rider Tip!: All ATV's have air intakes. If water comes in contact with the air intake your in for trouble. So, take note of where the air intake is located on your ATV and make sure water doesn't get sucked in.
We continued on the trail travelling up and down massive hills with lot's of rocks, ruts and beautiful views until we hit highway 511 where we headed North for about 5 minutes until met up with the hydro lines again. On this part of the trail we where met with more water, even more rocks - which meant lot's of rear-end contact for the Banshee, and even larger climbs.
The highlight of the ride was when we reached the base of the Bonache mountain. The climb was incredible. Very steep with lot's of large lose rocks. Not an issue for the 4x4 bikes, but for the Wolverine & Banshee this meant picking and line and going for it, while keeping enough speed to bounce of the large rocks that would easily hang the bike up.
Reaching the top yeilded an amazing view of Almonte, the Gatinuea Hills and everything inbetween. The hosts told us how amazing it is to come to the top of the mountain and wait for nightfall at which point all the lights from people's homes start lighting up for miles.
After taking in the scenery, we headed back down. The ride down was just as challenging. As with most rides, we started out staying relatively clean and dry, but on the way down we wasted no time so we hit the mud and water with little hesitation. We made it back to the truck, loaded up and headed home. No mechanical problems. An amazing ride with good friends on a perfect day.
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