Mapping the unmapped Omkoi beauty

[KTMphil]

Two locals trying to move a huge concrete pipe alone

A bit of help and they got it done

 

[KTMphil]

Cold, misty mornings, trying to keep warm

Early morning starts, you get rewarded with this

 

[KTMphil]

We had to stop every few minutes for the new Kodak moment

 

[bsacbob]

Yeah but I am not sure if it is done in a constructive way as it looks like that the "competition between the players" is becoming increasingly unhealthy. As a result the division between the people interested in enjoying a ride in uncharted territory has become even worse in particular when I see statements like this on Facebook "..... ....... better stay the f@ck out of our way! *_^.

Personally I am so fed up with all the crap going on that I will have a very hard look at what is going on and may decide to pull out of mapping this area and possibly other areas as well.

Fortunately it looks like the the offending comments have been removed from FB, let's get back to the riding folks.

Nice pictures BTW Phil.

 

[KTMphil]

Last fuel stop before we're off into the unkown

We'd talked to the locals several times in this area and they confirmed there was a backway to Mae Long Noi, they seemed hesitant each to time confirm it, which normally means its a nasty trail with gradient

 

[KTMphil]

Fortunately it looks like the the offending comments have been removed from FB, let's get back to the riding folks.

Nice pictures BTW Phil.

Havn't seen it myself, but seems pretty immature from what i'm hearing.

 

[KTMphil]

So off we go into the unkown ...still slippy in the shaded areas, looks like these areas might not ever dry out

David and Chuck down with no problems (real steep and slippy turn the bike off)

 

[KTMphil]

This one's a real steep one

Everyone up without any drama's

I'd been having with my gear shifter coming loose the day before, tightened the end bolt and it seemed to solve the problem. About 10km in it come loose again, I try tightening the end bolt a little and it become loose, its sheared.

Not sure what gear its stuck in, tried needle nose vice grips on the remainder of the shaft, wouldn't budge, turns out it was jammed in 4th gear, getting out will be interesting.

Photo: David Bailey

 

[KTMphil]

Lots of rpm's and lots of clutching, I managed to get the bike out in 4th gear, not sure if there's any clutch plate damage will check



The splines had almost completely worn off from the inside of the gear pedal

So, a lot of stones left unturned down there as we didn't finished what we had planned for this trip. It's good to see what interest we have sparked, looks like a lot of riders are now interested in following in our footsteps, its a fun area for sure!




Below - stuck in 4th gear for 300km back to Chiang Mai

 

[bsacbob]

Last fuel stop before we're off into the unkown

We'd talked to the locals several times in this area and they confirmed there was a backway to Mae Long Noi, they seemed hesitant each to time confirm it, which normally means its a nasty trail with gradient

Phil did you try that track north of the new concrete bridge ??

 

[Captain_Slash]

The splines had almost completely worn off from the inside of the gear pedal

Thats a real bummer early on in the trip

 

[Pounce]

What a difference a month makes.
Here's Bob in the same spot on Christmas Day.

 

[KTMphil]

Yes, we did half of it Bob, it does go through.

Phil did you try that track north of the new concrete bridge ??

 

[bsacbob]

What a difference a month makes.
Here's Bob in the same spot on Christmas Day.

Hey that's pretty spooky why was the picture taken by both in the exact same spot, handsome looking rider in the earlier shot though 3

 

[Pounce]

Having 2 photos taken at different time in the same place of the same view means the NT GPS map, by unwritten law, now has to have a "scenic" waypoint icon at that spot.

 

[Fishenough]

What a difference a month makes.
Here's Bob in the same spot on Christmas Day.

Having 2 photos taken at different time in the same place of the same view means the NT GPS map, by unwritten law, now has to have a "scenic" waypoint icon at that spot.

There was a fence there 4 years ago;



Highly enjoyed this the ride report, thank you to all - though all the pictures and tracks are giving me violent travel pains whilst enduring a northern canadian winter. Explored the Omkoi area often and the Mae Ngao was one of my favorite rivers to fish.

 

[KTMphil]

3 photo's from the same spot!!

 

[Fishenough]

3 photo's from the same spot!!

4. Same spot a year earlier

 

[bsacbob]

This is too weird Kevin, four pictures, same location but i can't recall any good reason why Pounce stopped during our trip other than i was riding by.....

 

[KTMphil]

This is too weird Kevin, four pictures, same location but i can't recall any good reason why Pounce stopped during our trip other than i was riding by.....

5 from the same place at different times - this one was when Sallows tagged along

 

[KTMphil]

Managed to drill the broken bolt out without damaging the threads, the 2 smoker all fixed, so back off to Omkoi with Mr Bailey in a couple of days to finish up the mapping.

 

[KTMphil]

All packed and ready for another mapping trip in the Omkoi region. 3 bottles of Mount Gay rum to leave in the pickup base for emergencies. Looks like we'll leave the pickup near Mae Long Tai & use that as a base to save coming in and out of the fun area.

Looks like there's some really fun stuff south of the Sop Moei region to link up, we were looking at it today and it looks like it might go right through to Sop Moei, but we can't see how we get across the from the south yet.

 

[KTMphil]

Found a young, hungry, guy at Chiang Mai University really interested in compiling some Omkoi trail trail data, let's see how he does!

 

[Lone Rider]

All packed and ready for another mapping trip in the Omkoi region. 3 bottles of Mount Gay rum to leave in the pickup base for emergencies. Looks like we'll leave the pickup near Mae Long Tai & use that as a base to save coming in and out of the fun area.

Looks like there's some really fun stuff south of the Sop Moei region to link up, we were looking at it today and it looks like it might go right through to Sop Moei, but we can't see how we get across the from the south yet.

View attachment 26316

Try from the So Baerakla Monastic Residence near N17.68992 E97.95528 as that seems to go through all the way (3 Karen villages and after that through the agricultural fields and then on to the Refugee camp and over the suspension bridge to the north side of the Yuam river.

 

[KTMphil]

Ready for more fun

 

[Captain_Slash]

Better luck this time Phil

 

[KTMphil]

One more in the same place

4. Same spot a year earlier

View attachment 26215