Salter Fell 30th Dec a few pics

[scotsy]

mwmschris and myself went to do salter fell this morning so here a few pics of the day out, hopefully chris may add a few that he took as well

After meeting at belmont we rode up to the A59 for fuel and a brecky

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passed by sawley abbey on the way to gisburn forest/stocks resevoir

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there we started hitting slush and ice

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[scotsy]

this carried on for a few miles but was ok

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chris led for a while

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and as we neared the A59 the ice and slush was almost gone so we carried on towards Wray and reached the gated section of the route we planned towards Slaidburn

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[scotsy]

Snow that had been rained on and froze over greeted us and i think i managed about 10 yards before i lost the front and laid the bike down. chris was pissing himself laughing as we picked up the bike but it was just a sign of things to come over the next 20 odd miles of lane

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We had so much fun and were laughing at each others bambi impressions so badly that we needed a couple of breaks to catch our breath.

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The icy puddles had a 2" thick surface that had another 2" of frozen snow over it with a layer of icy water covering the whole slippy mess. As soon as the AT went on it the ice broke and the front end plunged 6" which was OK but then when the front got up again the rear broke through and then kept getting jammed up by chunks of ice which made it difficult to get out again.
Thank god for Goretex boots

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[scotsy]

At times up top the ice was all across the trail and we had no option but to chug along slipping the clutch with both feet sliding along the ice to try and keep upright, the downhill bits were frightening so we tried engines turned off and walking them down using the clutch as a back brake but we couldnt even stand up ourselves so we just cracked on for another few exhausting miles.

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we obviously didn't stop for pictures on the worst sections so you'll have to imagine the scene

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I stopped to take a pic alongside the witches 400 stone(?) just before the 'rocky' section that i was dreading doing

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[scotsy]

We got down the rocky part OK and ended up with the AT having 3 lies down and the KTM only the 1.

The one of chris's was special as I had slid across the track and he couldnt slow down and ended up going arse over tit into a ditch

As we were dropping down the hill now it got a LOT easier as the temps rose and the ice was turning into mini streams which we tried staying in for grip.

In Slaidburn we had a brew and a scone before setting off for home near Manchester

A very enjoyable day where both riders escaped injury and both bikes survived without damage as well

Hopefully nwmschris will upload some pics and a video later?

Happy New Year fellow Adventurers

Ian

[anthony29040]

looks like you had a great time,hats off to you both.

cheers tony.

[nwmschris]

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[chunky butt]

Respect guys......looked bloody freezing, great report

[scotsy]

[Rederic]

Well Done Lads