Scouting trips

I used to know my way around all the back roads in these parts. The problem is the years slip by. Things change. Some of the dirt roads I used to drive now have good sized trees growing in them and washed out bridges. There are new dirt roads that look like super highways. Heck, some of those dirt roads are no longer dirt but have been paved. 

Thanks to GPS mapping it’s easier than it used to be to drive back roads. Just the other day I was thinking a side road looked like it might connect to another road I was familiar with. Fortunately, I called up the maps on my inreach device. Not only did that road not connect, it wandered off a long long ways before disappearing into a large bog. 

My poking around revealed some interesting surprises. The first is the number of houses that have been built out in the middle of nowhere. The second is how many new dirt roads there are since I was kid. Some areas have been logged heavily. It’s good to know how to get around using fire and logging roads if the main roads are blocked. 

It’s been really interesting to see how my area has changed. The population hasn’t increased much over the years. People are living more spread out. There appear to be more vacation homes too. 

My little scooter has been great for checking things out. After driving around all afternoon I put a bit over $5 of gas in the tank. It’s also good for getting around locked gates. It’s not that I ignore locked gates; sometimes they get locked after I go up the road. While a scooter isn’t exactly a dirt bike, if I go slow it handles just fine. 

-Sixbears