Mapping new trails in Nan with C,H & C

[KTMphil]

Mapping new trails in Nan with Con, Heinz & Colin


One of the most fun 3 days riding we've has this year, even forgot about the smoke in the air as we were discovering new trails and linking routes that we didn't know would go through.

 

[KTMphil]

Colin was already over in Nan and has spent a couple of days scouting around, Con, Heinz and myself had arranged to meet him there, filling up for the ride over to Nan

We decided to take the southern route to Nan from Chiang Mai using R 1291 & 1091 as in the map below:

 

[KTMphil]

1st time Heinz had been on R1091 - he loved it.

Heinz with speedy Con in the distance

Towards the eastern end of R 1091 there was still some subsidence work underway getting ready for rainy season

 

[KTMphil]

Towards the eastern end of R 1091 the viz was getting bad, you could just make out the dirt trails through the hills

R 1091 a fun ride to Nan

Heinz on the Lifan

 

[KTMphil]

We get to the Amazing GH in Nan around 4pm, ample time for a shower, then try and find Colin. 350 bht with aircon., the Amazing is a good deal

Fish and chips at Tonys Place in Nan, Tony is back from Papua New Guinea, great to see him in Nan

 

[KTMphil]

The new happening place to go drinking in Nan is the "Kad Nam" area. It's located on R 1080 just north of town, about 1/2 km north of the Grand Mansion GH next to the Nan Oil fuel station. There's a bis Siam Commercial Bank sign at the entrance.

Lots of live music and "PG's", great for an evenings entertainment

That didn't last very long

 

[KTMphil]

Next day we meet up with Colin and off up R 1080 to poke around some new trails

End of the tarmac, time for some fun

Colin having some fun in the dirt

Heinz

 

[KTMphil]

Con in the dirt

We stumble on an unexpected, beautiful viewpoint

As we're standing there a small vortex whizzes by

It was a beautiful viewpoint even in the smokey haze

Then onwards down the trail, there seemed to be less smoke for a while

Around each bend there were more great views we'd never seen before

 

[KTMphil]

Fisherman having lunch down by the river

The direction we want to go in doesn't look good, one of the local farmers shows us where we should head

Off we head over the top of the mountain, lots of burning around us

The trails we have taken look fantastic from the top of the mountain

 

[jb2112]

Absolute fun!
Ah, the beauty of seeing an orange Lifan that has actually been motoring about. ;-)
Great stuff, great photos!

 

[KTMphil]

Virgin ridge line trail none of us had ridden before

Hill tribe village on the next mountain

MORE TO COME




Then up onto R 4001 NE of Nan

Collecting firewood

Down onto another trail that dead ends at this beautiful traditional structure

Off on another unknown trail, plenty here to keep Auke busy mapping

 

[KTMphil]

MORE TO COME

 

[Ally]

Great photos & sights of you guys enjoying the dirt, the bikes, the views & the chivas.

Keep them coming.

Ally

 

[KTMphil]

We didn't do this trail

We did this one

As far as we knew from Satellite images, this was as far as the trail went, luckily in the dry season the river is low enough to make the crossing a nice surprise

There were some big old pebbles under the water throwing the bike around

Heinz going across

Colin

 

[KTMphil]

The burning was quite dramatic

Heinz's chain came off the Lifan, no drama, easy fix

The views of the trails we had done were excellent

Smokey mountains

So the trail we had been on did go all the way through to the 4001, great to link it up!

R 4001

We'd ordered roast pork from Tony in the morning, it was huge and waiting for us when we got back to Nan

 

[KTMphil]

Tony, owner of Tony's Place on the left, Heinz on the right]

Next morning back at Tonys for b/fast and we find out that one of Tonys friends takes Socks the dog for a ride every day.

We're told Socks absolutely loves it, she only has one eye which was lost in an accident

 

[KTMphil]

Con had to shoot home, so it was just the 3 of us for the 2nd day of exploring

About 60km of tarmac north and then onto the unmapped trails

Some fantastic views of some orchards on the way through the trails

We try and close a loop that got us confused the day before & we see why the locals were saying go the other way, the bridge was gone

We go further down and find that we can get around in the river bed

The we get on the trail which is unused an overgrown

We get within about 1km of linking the trails, but it gets too overgrown and a gate is in the way so we turn back

Heinz had had enough anyway!

Onwards in a more NW direction and more great scenery

We bump into this farmer mid burning

 

[KTMphil]

The views went on and on, none of us had seen this before

The river we had to cross before

Heinz had a slip on some rocks, no damage

The trail ahead

A locals bridge next to R 4001

The old bridge across the river on R 4001 has been washed away

This is the replacement

 

[KTMphil]

Evidence of the burn-off was everywhere

Views of some of the trails we had done

 

[KTMphil]

Great viewpoint overlooking the remainder of R 4001

 

[KTMphil]

Back to Tonys Place for the massive portions of roast beef that had been ordered the day before

We would all HIGHLY recommend ordering at Tonys Place the day before, he can produce fantastic food if he knows what you want


Next morning we said goodbye to Colin and headed back on R 1148

 

[Stokes70]

Great pictures Phil, what camera were you on??

 

[Captain_Slash]

Glad you enjoyed the two days riding as much as I did Phil, it was fantastic

 

[KTMphil]

Coming back along R 120, I did a bit of mapping of some trails Auke didn't have, on one of them ran across this giant Buddha

On another, didn't want to chance this bridge

Found a better bridge option further along

This one kept going and got kinda boring

Back on the black top, always chuckle at the short time hotel on R 120 approaching the Wang Nua area (near the junction with R 118) - love the "car curtains" and the location right next to the farm processing company!

 

[KTMphil]

In Mae Kachan at the Shell fuel station, the Fai Bakery has replaced what was the Black Canyon (which is now at the PTT)

Gave the Fai Bakery a try, they have great cakes and a nice cup of tea

Looks like they have an expensive coffee machine too

In the PTT fuel station in Mae Kachan, the World Class Hamburgers has been replaced by "La Cuisine", Jim aka KMA was in there, we'll have to get a report on the food from him

 

[KTMphil]

Great pictures Phil, what camera were you on??

Panasonic Lumix LX5 with the vivid cranked

 

[KTMphil]

Maps of the trail riding in Nan.

Day 1






Day 2

 

[bigntall]

Great ride guys. The scenery looks fantastic. It should look gorgeous in rainy season.

So who was responsible for the Google Earth research for this ride?

 

[KTMphil]

Great ride guys. The scenery looks fantastic. It should look gorgeous in rainy season.

So who was responsible for the Google Earth research for this ride?

The Captain

 

[KTMphil]

Route back from Nan via R 1148






Managed to map some new trails off of R 120 on the way back, look like it might be fun to see what they link up to

 

[NZStu]

Looks like some great tracks. I hope I will get back and have a chance to ride them some time.