SLINGSHOTS IN HELL!!

    We just got home from the 1st annual SLINGSHOTS IN HELL rally and it was truly epic! It's going to be billed as the northwests largest Slinshot rally of 2020! 100% of the preregistered riders battled their Covid pandemic fears and made the trek to show their support and to tackle the Devil's Tail! Twenty two miles twisted road with rock walls on one side, and steep dropoffs on the other.


    Caryn and I headed out Friday morning to meet up with SlingLow and his lovely bride Sarah. We then started our 300 mile journey east along the north side of the Columbia river taking in all the most beautiful scenery our country has to offer. About 180 miles in we crossed the river heading southeast ending up in the historic mining town of Baker City, OR.. After checking in to our hotel went out to enjoy all the bustling nightlife Baker City has to offer. We rolled into the downtown area, and after a couple trips up and down the main street, decided to grab a couple parking spaces and search out one of the finer dining establishments. Sadly..every damned one of them were closed! The entire town has had to close due to lack of business from the Covid virus. Fortunately we found a brewery open with limited seating and a friendly local was willing to give up his table so we could enjoy a beer and some pub food. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for good likker and comradery.


    Saturday morning the four of us loaded up and made the 60 mile trip to Copperfield, the head of Hells Canyon and the start of Devil's Tail. Surprisingly the was almost no traffic. Even with this pandemic I expected to see hundreds of motorcycles. The weather was perfect and the Hells Canyon is usually a huge draw. We rode that tail like we owned it! Actually we almost did own it. We only met 2 or 3 motorcycles an a couple of cars the entire 22 mile stretch. It was like pure magic.


    After a few hours of riding and picture taking we rode off. Headed back to Baker City and went sight seeing over to Sumpter, Oregon where they had a well restored gold dredge that's huge! There's miles and miles of tailing piles between Sumpter and Baker City that can be easily seen on google satellite.


    This morning we made the trip home. All in all it was a great rally. Next year Baker City will hopefully be open again. I expect the rally to be at least double in size and we'll have plenty more to see and do.


    For being the first year, this rally was a total success!!


    As one of the attendees I have to agree that this was a totally EPIC journey! After cancelling all of our summer travel plans including our 3rd annual trip to Sundre Slingfest with our friends Slingshot Garage and SundreSlingQueen we were honored and surprised to hear about this local event put on by BryanL . As a charter member to Slingshots in Hell it will definitely be on my calendar next year and every year until one day when I'll just be waiting for you at the gate. With everything going on in the world there was no reason to expect the phenomenal response we got for participation on this trip. I chalk it up to our pre-registration where you asked me if I'd like to go and I said yes. Against all odds you put this together on short notice with 100% of the registrants available and ready to go. Of course you did retire 18 days 19 hours and 43 minutes ago so what else ya got to do?


    It was a wild weekend and things got a little crazy from time to time.


    And that was when we were sober. Because there was no traffic we were able to stage up and take the pics we wanted.


    Social distancing.



    And good friends. Life is good!


    I know you'd like to double the size of this event next year and we're all in but do you think there will be 4 Slings in the Pacific Northwest by next year?


    One final shot. My bucket 'o gold!

    This post is dedicated to mytoy . This is what it's all about!

    Remember folks - this isn't a rehearsal, this is The Show!8)

    Edited once, last by SlingLow ().

    Thanks for the invite as I would have increased attendance by 50% 😬.


    Oh wait, I don’t even have a ride right now...lol


    Hopefully it will be back soon as supposed to start it’s journey late next week

    Here's some more shots of the gold dredge. Now I want to do a little research to find out how long this dredge operated, how and where it was built, how many guys crewed it and how much it produced. Sumpter is steeped in history and I find it very interesting.

    Remember folks - this isn't a rehearsal, this is The Show!8)

    I hear it now: Doo do doo do Doo do doo do. You're entering the Twilight Zone! That was the one show that scared hell out of me and gave me nightmares as a young boy.


    Now what the hell's canyon did you do to my Sling?


    Here's my skillz:


    Remember folks - this isn't a rehearsal, this is The Show!8)

    An example of a guy in the twilight zone...


    (This gun store owner posts videos on YouTube of some of the whacky customers that come into his shop. Funny & scary at the same time)


    Slingshots: making children out of adults since 2014