[SierraNevadaCCW]

Saturday was Field Day for Ham radio. 20 miles from my house on dirt roads is a place called Crystal Mine and a few friends were up there with their radio stuff. My kids wanted to take our utility quad up there, even though it was a long drive. My quad is a Polaris 500 Sportsman and it's 12 years old.

Well, I drive it with my two kids as passengers up on the trails all the time. I'm careful, safe and even made a custom seat belt for us while we ride. My kids always wear their helmets and goggles.

That said...I know that if I am ever stopped by Forest Service Law Enforcement, I'd get a hard time for having my kids on my quad -- and that's what I was worried about since Crystal Mine is so far a ride.

I took my helmet and packed it, but didn't put it on. It gets in the way and bangs on my daughters helmet...plus I can't hear or see as good. I don't drive fast or take risks...just cruise carefully and breathe in the fresh air.

Just like I suspected, an hour into the ride and 20 miles out - a Forest Service LEO got behind me and did the aggressive following thing, so I pulled over. As soon as he walked up, my 2-meter HT, with Motorola speaker mike and morse code identification code coming over the radio, caught his attention. I had my Alinco radio with me to call the guys on the hill when I got close so they could give me directions.

"Oh, are you with those guys up on the hill?"

I told him I was. He asked me if I knew what I was doing wrong. I said, yes. (I don't think I was doing anything wrong, but Yes was the proper answer...trust me). I informed the officer that I am a former LEO. He asked where. I told him. He asked where my helmet was and I told him.

Long story shorter....He gave me directions and told me to be safe. And asked me with a "Please", not to ride with my kids anymore. I never informed of being armed. We took off and then I realized that I lost my seat belt on the road somewhere. We looked everywhere and never found it.

After a nice visit up at Crystal Mine, we left after dark. I started the quad and one of my headlights didn't come on. The two lights in the bumper lit up fine. I started to worry. It was a long trip back and pitch dark out in the forest without light. In my pack was my Stream Light in case of emergencies.

We headed out. At the bottom of the road in complete darkness was a man shouting at us. I stopped and put my Stream Light on him. He had a flat tire, but said he didn't want to trouble me with it because I had kids.

We continued on as the wind grew colder and my kids began to whine about wanting to go home and how cold it was. I put my arm around my daughter and made sure my son had his arms around me.

Suddenly, a giant owl swooped at us from the tree tops. I swerved and then stopped. We looked for it, but it was gone. An Omen? We drove on.

About 12-15 miles from home, my other two head lights burned out. It was so dark, we couldn't see two inches in front of our faces.

"Oh crap."

I turned on my Stream Light. Good, it had enough battery for a while - even though my daughter was turning it on and off before we left earlier in the day. I took it from her and explained it was for emergencies and wasting the battery before we leave was a bad idea. She learned her lesson as soon as all the lights went out. I told her everything would be okay and I'd get us home.

With my neck on fire (I have a metal plate in my spine and it hurts all the time), I held the flashlight up over our shoulders to light the dark dirt road ahead of us. I prayed the battery would last. It was another half hour to an hour home. I had no cell phone service to call anyone. We were just going to have to make it...period.

The road seemed bumpier without lights. Every little groove, rock or sandy gravel felt more dangerous. The Stream Light flickered and dimmed, but held steady. I pushed the throttle and felt the ice-cold wind bite into my exposed arms. I couldn't put my arm around my 5 year old daughter because I was steering and holding the light. Guilt set in. Then I re-named "Field Day" to "Ride from Hell".

Another few miles, more blind curves and another complaint from my 7 year old son sitting behind me. I told him we were almost home.

When we got to my gate, my wife was waiting. She was worried enough to stand outside for us in the dark at our gates. After I pulled into my driveway, she lectured me on taking the kids on adventures with our 12 year old quad.

She was right.

Today, I noticed my sunglasses are severely scratched from taking them off and putting them in my bag to put my helmet on for the ranger's benefit. So I lost my custom seat belt, ruined my $80 dollar sunglasses, burned out three halogen light bulbs at $15 bucks a pop and probably lessoned the life of my Stream Light bulb...

With gas, the trip cost me around $165. Do I know what I was doing wrong? Yeah... Next time I'll take the truck.