Might have an offer to tag along with a couple I met thru one of the clubs, with invitation to camp in & ride from Clear lk campground. They also ride 4x4's, and ride pretty often together. Not sure if they can do all 3 days but will try after getting back late from Chicago tomorrow. I was hoping to do Baldwin trip, but just seems like there's always something, pulling me back to ol St Helen. Like children of the corn kind of dilemma lol Might pay extra for electric site with some very cool nights, but 70's during day! I have a tiny 6x6x6 sm size heater, that really puts out the heat of some of the larger units, 1500W

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Quicksand....mud lol

Still not sure with my camp/trail riding destination this week, with little interest so far finding anyone with time off during the week yet rain predicted for next 2 weekends, not looking good then! but still leaving out early in morning tomorrow, or else it might be the last good chance to do a comfortable few days out! Hate miserable cloudy dreary dank days lol Just called North Country Store and Campground in Baldwin, w/electric, showers store $25, great price saving on having to haul my furnace n hooking it up! Rustic $15. This is where I camped w/Chris this spring right on main highway near Atv dealership, and just a few miles into Baldwin. Great restaurants close to trails! Better join me, take off work if you have too just get there no matter what it takes, or you'll regret it/hate yourself if this it the end of descent days to ride, for 8-9 mo's LOOOOOONG! You going?? Not you Ken....good luck tomorrow w/ wife's surgery, meet you hopefully, still this mo. further on down the trail lol

Got back from Baldwin last night, rode for 2 days from the same campground I stayed at last spring, with Chris & Ed at the Country Store n campground, electric site, only $25 since I just stayed 1 night, would have stayed a 3rd day, but its pouring down rain right now at 5:30am expecting rain all day, and in 30's brrrr! Hated leaving there in bright sun, with temp in 70's, but I covered both southern half of Little Masnistee & all of Tin Cup, leaving the northern half of Manistee, Lincoln Hills, & Little O for another trip, ran out of decent weather. Didn't look forward to riding alone, big baby lol but once I got on trail it just seemed so right and the feeling of being alone totally went away and I extremely enjoyed the entire trip, and looking forward to doing it again alone if others are unable to catch a good weather trip in the future. Chris advises to stay at Big Bear campground when doing the northern trails. Talked to the trail groomer, while I was pumping gas in Caryville, when he complimented me on how new n clean my quad looked, and I complimented him on how great the trails were, and they were perfect!! He said I could find a quick way to Tin Cup trail by going thru the city of Luther, just a few min. from the gas station there, and mentioned how good the sandwiches were at the tavern there, while passing thru, with this great old town atmosphere, which it really was, didn't stop for lunch but intend to on next trip while out riding with others! That was a good tip, got me over to Tin cup in no time, vs having to drive way out of the way down Kings highway doing the 25 mpr speed limit, BORING, not fun, rather be on trails instead! Glad to be back with time to unload van and clean n put away everything before rain rolls in this afternoon. GREAT TRIP INDEED!! This trip marks the 9th trip this year....SO FAR!! Not over till the fat lady of brutal winter sings lol Might get a couple more in yet!! Fingers X'ed, still plenty of fall color left for a couple of weeks yet up north, to enjoy....weather permitting!

You should work for the tourism dept. Good write-up.

Thanks, Great trip indeed!

Cargo box arrived just in time, for the trip to Baldwin, big enough for extra jacket, waters, tools, snacks etc. and color matched real well, too. While I was gone the Rotopax Fuel Pack Mount arrived, and it should mount well, attached to front rack. Ready for fall color trip, much better equipped than last year, with windshield, heated hand, and throttle grips, snowmobile helmet, and with some great heat blowing up from engine!
Had an issue with this quad, so I called a friend while out on trails, that is very familiar with these larger Polaris machines, and owns 850 SP, he advised to ride in deep sand in 4x4 mode, after I told him the trouble with my vehicle feeling unstable in deep sand, with it sliding uncontrollably, feeling like a bowl of jello, on 4 wheels, wobbling, feeling real loose like the body wasn't attached to frame! freaking me out, worried with its out of control motion could possible wobble me into an object, like a tree, rock, stumps! After switching into 4x4 mode, fixed it right up, like a Jet ski on steroids, it pulled the machine right up and out of the soft sand and took the wobble right out, with unbelievable power, the power I was expecting from my very first ride after buying it, almost afraid to hit the throttle, not knowing what to expect, power wise, but was never there, not until now, by keeping it in 4 wheel drive, that is! He said I can keep it in that drive with no extra wear on belt, or on differentials, which was something I was very concerned with! If this is the case why isn't this recommended in the Polaris manual, would have possibly saved my life, the way it was moving way out of control, and BIG loss of power!! Shouldn't it say its safe to drive it at any speed in 4x4 mode, especially in deep sand, which is pretty much all there is in this state, fun now safely cursing down any type trail, and when tackling a hill, wants to eat it up with ''no hesitation''! Great machine, now that I hopefully found out and understanding its intended design. I figured that 4x4 was to only be used in lower speeds to get out of thick mud, or climbing hills, but to switch back to 2x4 as soon as your out of a tight spot, Any thoughts on leaving the machine in 4x4 while on trails, and 2x4 on road, highway use? Sorry I'm new to 4x4's. Been on Sport quads way too long lol

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I see inspector gadget is at it again. I always keep my machine in 4wd in loose sand, tried to explain that last time we rode. Having both rear wheels driving at the same time can make steering sloppy in loose sand. Using 4wd full time should not be an issue at any speed, however diff lock (yours doesnt have) should not be used full time! The cargo box looks better than the other storage boxes you had.
By the time you get all your heated accessories hooked up and plugged in to stay warm, are you gonna need to mount a generator on the front rack?

Yes!!

Bu the way hows the wife doing since surgery, feeling less pain yet, or too soon to tell after body still trying to heal?

Wasnt a surgery, just deadening the nerves that were causing the pain. So far not much difference. It appears as though they treat one area then the pain moves up into another area. Getting pretty frustrating.

This Thur n Fri full sun up north, Baldwin 50-60's, St Helen 40-50's. After that RAIN for next 2 weeks. Just saying! Time for excuses, lets hear em lol Anyone, going?

Baldwin Mi. Quick way to Tin Cup. On Little Manistee trail at Carryville, catch fuel for quad, then catch fuel for you, in Luther, at tavern in town, then head out of town on State rd. to Tin Cup. Total trip....discounting belly fill up lol less than 15 min.

Excuse my sloppy overlay on map lol

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Thought you hated Tin Cup, and was never going back. You went on for days about how narrow and nasty the trails were. Why send anyone else there?
Baldwin trails sound cool but not Tin Cup, unless you are a fan of extremely tight, twisty turny root covered trails...

You might have forgotten, its Little 0....never go, it rhymes lol, Tin Cup is wide n smoothe going, and approved for larger ORV vehicles, Little 0 if you remember ''mister Ken'', was once a Cycle trail converted over to 50'' or less, yet we were getting stuck in between trees this last spring, maybe by now they've opened it up a little better, plus that's why my quad rolled over on me, since the trail is still narrow n deep, where front tires easily catch side of trail riding you up flipping the vehicle before you have a chance to correct its roll! Another rider commented on same thing happening to him on the same weekend where he also broke his arm, by flipping over! All the other trails are connected and extremely wide n safe, well groomed! Main trail and longest Manistee, Northern trail Lincoln Hills, Eastern trail Tin cup, which is also with most elevation, but nothing aggressive, just a good break away from the flat trails just like at Maumee, but way wider plenty of room for passing other riders, without having to pull to the side to allow passing others. You going....huh? Thur n Fri full sun, temps up to 60! Get there Wed evening, to be ready to ride both days....ready to roll lol Peak Color too!

Sorry, got my trail names mixed up. The good part is that Mich has so many trails that getting the names mixed up can be a good thing! Like your rime, will make it easier to remember, little O dont go....or go to StHelen and come out yellin.....from having so much fun!! Might be making a trip to Kentucky in another 2 weeks, not sure yet...time is running out!

Ollie's has the heavy horse stall mats now, $12 with the woven membrane molded in-between for durability, 4x5', enough to double up, if needed for 5-6' plow

Thanks Steve

Whomever joins you would have to be a brave daring sole.
I wouldn't be able to keep up with ya so I'll pass. Thanks though.

Trail report today, Baldwin trails

Just got back from Baldwin, rode all the trails twice, except for little 0....what I like to call the Big NO! lol Too tight for most 4x4's. at least in my mind, its where my quad rolled up and over on me breaking ribs, and also pinned us between trees scratching plastic this last spring, on this bowl like trail, once used for cycle use only. Great trail conditions on all other trails! Was a little disappointed, still another week or two before full fall color, I like it when there's as much color on ground as in the trees lol!

BREAKING NEWS I stayed at Country Store Campground, and was told by owners that its been sold, and their last day is tomorrow, Monday, and they said new owners have plans of building new cabins, and have also bought the 2 homes behind the office, which will be renovated and rented out for short stays as well as the cabins. They will then own the entire parcel of of land as a campground, from inside highway 37, W 16th, & S James rd. She mentioned it should be up n running by next season. Great place to head out from, to the trail head/ATV parking as soon as you cross the st. leaving campground, allowing you to head out from the southern end of Little Manistee & Little 0, and just a short ride N E on Little Manistee to Carryville/Luther
then just short scoot s. to Tin Cup. I can see it doing well, with needed improvements, and talking about location, location, location, just a few miles N of downtown Baldwin. How can they go wrong! Good luck to them!

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Trail grooming news

I'm glad we don't have places like this here to ride....I might take a chance n try it, and end up killing myself lol

Hey Ken, and whom it may concern.
Was alerted by VVmaping to update their maps, so I asked VVmaping if they could send me the updated Micro SD card. They sent it right out next day N/C.
Chris is headed to Kentucky next weekend for The Fall colors run. Are you still hoping to go down yourself?

Was going to be this weekend but I opted out, just a ride park similiar to Bundy hill, not worth the drive in my opinion. With more cold comming in, gonna put the MH to bed for the season.

Missed a couple of great weather trail riding days, up at Baldwin, Mi., pic taken yesterday.
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Well maybe nearer my age, with grand-kids lol

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Get them plows on tonight!! 3-6'' expected! Then will stick around, with temps below freezing until next warm up on Thursday. Also Got both snow blowers out today on standby. Maybe a little over kill, but so impatient! Weather forecasts predicting TONS of the white Gold this winter!

Lol... 70 here... lol

Just the weather folks getting everybody excited...again..! Probably get a good dusting at best, did get the little snowblower out in case of any small drifts. All the forecasts about a heavy snow this winter is another way for weather forcasters to feel and look more important. When March rolls around listen to all the complaining about another poor winter snow fall.

Where is here?

Sorry!.... That I prayed for soooo much snow, at one time, totaling 6''! but so Wet, very Sticky, Nasty Stuff! I still made my rounds helping all my surrounding neighbors out first, to get them done before they got home from work, but then I found myself really buried! wondering where to push this Heavy/Wet/Lard Clay like mess! Since the temp was at 32, it left the driveway gravel soupy n sticking to it!
News Alert....First time, that we have had this much snow, this early on, since 1951! :thumbsup: I remember that year, my boot got stuck in the mud, right after moving into a new subdivision, soon after construction!

Your lucky, we have mabey 2" or a little more, but wet sticky slush, not really good snow. Not enough to even worry about, by friday and sat it will be all melted!!

Hell of a week!!

First with the sewer line clog, lasting 4 days, using buckets to go-go in lol. and still on going with open trench, covering with a lumber yard of const. material, tarps, boards! possibly needing a deep dig 12' down to main in alley, if line break is found! but so far still flushing! Fingers x'ed

Then next day after unplugging sewer line, day 5....''vehicle not starting'', after a simple tune up w/ new plugs, rotor, cap, wires, then trying to diagnose no start, watched hours of You Tube vid., also forum help, manual reading/study, for 2 days, nearly day n night really concerned/worried knowing winter storm was on the way! ! Then suddenly van started right up, first turn of the key, early the next morning, thinking possibly a gas line air gap, after jacking van up to remove front tires to get to the plugs. Running fine now! Fingers x'ed ''again'' lol

Things run in 3's....right?

Day 7 day after van fix/started, this hard winter storm hits with a vengeance, lasting over 24 hrs, then after snow stopped wind blew back over onto everything next day, covering fresh plowing! leaving same amount of deep snow as day one, needing another hard plowing ''by hand''!!!

Then this morning adding insult to injury, just happened to be trash pick up day at nearly 0 deg temp., with the only place to put out 20 bags/cans of fall leaves/compost/trash/garbage was packed in one tight spot in front of drive since a large snow plow had a mechanical failure having to leave it parked in the only place where we have room for our trash pickup, with snow piled high at both sides of driveway/curbs! Then just before city trucks show up for trash pick up, a wrecker shows up moving all our rubbish out into our drive in order to pick up the parked plow truck, then having to relocate trash out into the street just in time for pick up! Whew!! It feels good just to be able to do finally do nothing, just relax, hoping the roof wont fall in on us with so much snow setting up there! lol

My Polaris plow worked flawlessly, tires never slipped once, and could push thru all that heavy snow at high speeds! Did all the neighbors twice, but with my drive with its soft wet gravel, was of no use, having to hand shovel it twice! :go crazy:

Just raise your blade, so what if you leave an inch or even 2 on the drive, your vehicles will easily get thru that. Why take a chance of a heart attack...snow shoveling is the number 1 cause !!! Moved my large trash can to the road for pickup, then some idiot ran into it, set it back up, with automated pickup, the can needs to be upright and next to road edge..
We were supposed to have 4 in, but that might be stretching it some. Probably had an inch plus that melted early on. Gonna warm back up to fall temps next week, that was one short winter!!!

yes, I was hoping I could plow drive that easily, but graveled driveway was super soft, since it never froze, and gravel was like soupy oat meal constancy, and with these aggressive tires would have churned it up into the soft snow, and would have left driveway all plowed up after thaw and gravel pushed into yard! My only option might be to blacktop drive allowing for a clean plowed surface. Doing drive/sidewalks by hand is definitely a heart attack on its way, by overdoing it one day, as I get older n snow gets heavier!!

Polaris 1000XP Sportsman. Top speed on dirt n paved rd. I don't think so, my son clocked mine going that fast on a narrow, rutty, grassy trail and still had plenty of life left in her! lol I never have opened it up yet! I'm not a show off. My son passed me up like I was standing still, and he was on whoops with grandson in with him! Maybe next year when Ken and I are racing again, its hard to keep up with him too, but after all....he's driving that car like SXS....cheater! lol

Hi guys. I hope you and the families are all doing well. I really don't have time to read the forums but wanted to post a few pics real quick. It seems like I've been packing to ride and unpacking for half a year, but haven't gone very many times. And now that I'm done for the year I'm working on my guns and some other things. I got a bigger monitor to make it easier on these old man eyes. Actually, when I saw how cheap I could get a refurbished Dell I couldn't say no, and I'm using the other monitor on my old computer. And I see someone was jealous of my 570 SP, huh, Steve? I hope she's good to you. I love mine so far. I finally got a cover big enough to cover it all the way down to the ground, and then some. It's a waterproof cover for a 2-person swing. And I have a 3'x7' airbag under the cover to keep rain and snow from pooling up between the handlebars and the racks. I let a bunch of air out to get the front end out of the air but will let some more out whenever I take the cover off. I'll take a pic and post back soon if I remember. I finally threw away the old cooler I bought to match my green '97 500, and bought a new one. I just couldn't be seen with that raggedy old thing on such a nice looking quad. It's an Igloo 18-pack cooler and instead of cans 3 wide by 3 deep stacked 2 high, I put 5 quarts of Powerade in it standing up and they're just snug enough to stay put. It's a perfect fit like it was made for that. Gatorade bottles are a little bit wider and fit better if you flip the one in the middle upside down. I had a denim jacket bungeed on my front rack one day and my buddy said, is that going to be okay there? I told him it would be and it was until during one of I breaks I was like, hey, my jacket's gone! We backtracked but couldn't find it. Either it was buried in the dust or someone picked it up. I never liked that jacket anyway and got a Wrangler on amazon I like a lot better.

Here are some pics of where I went camping for most of my life, before it was all logged off. When I said I went camping in the middle of the woods I wasn't kidding. The first pic is 1:6,000 scale, the second is 1:25,000, and the third is 1:100,000. All 3 pics are centered on the same spot. There's a creek running diagonally starting at the bottom left corner of the first pic ending about an inch below the top right corner. I just noticed, it looks like someone is stopped in the washed out section halfway down the trail, but I may be just seeing things. The parallel dirt roads you see in the second and third pics are fire lanes that are a mile apart. The water at the bottom of the last pic is part of the Au Sable River, and the last mile and a half of paved road I take is to the left of that. I have to zoom out even farther to see the 2-lane highway that got me that far. From my house I drive 80 miles on the expressway, 46 on a highway, 4 on a blacktopped road, 5 miles of fire lanes, then down a two-track, and the rest of the way by donkey path. Okay, it's not a donkey path. I was just checking to see if you're paying attention. It's a 2-track that used to be an old logging trail. It's about 7 miles off the paved road to the dead end at the creek, which is in the shade and very cold all year. You could tie a six-pack to one end of a rope and the other end to a cedar tree and use the creek as a refrigerator. I've been to where the creek seeps out of the ground a couple of miles west of there. I knew it was in that one square mile and started walking upstream from the last place it crossed a road. It was just mucky ground with little puddles everywhere until little trickles started here and there and they started to come together into bigger trickles, and so on, until it was a creek with trout in it. There was a big frog pond by one road until the county road commission filled it with dirt. They must hate nature. But there were still woodcocks, deer, coyotes, coons, porcupines, mourning doves, and all kinds of other critters around there.

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Big Frank, you have been gone for awhile, I sold the 570SP months ago, for a Po-Po 1000XP lol, loved the 570 though, great machine, but couldn't pass up the even better deal I got, buying the XP and all the Free extras it came with! First off only 400 miles on odometer, then Free stuff, 3 yr. warranty, $500 Wench, Hitch, Free $400 windshield matching perfectly, also Red in color! under fender LED lighting, controlled with Smart phone, New Bumpers, Cargo Racks. Frank where is this area your mentioning/pic of? Are you thinking we might eventually figure it out, with so little info? Or is this a secret place, only you will ever know about lol I got a few of those kind of places myself....Nope, ain't telling either, don't ask lol