Motorcycle adventure from Potrerillos to Boquete, Panama
Mar 15, 2025
This is the final installment of the quest to find the hidden path connecting Portrerillos to Boquete. I wasn't at all prepared for the type of riding we ended up getting into on this day. I thought it was going to be a quick easy ride, and I didn't take any water with me. We ended up muscling our way through the jungle on a small horse trail. My bald tire was giving me a very bad time on the trail. Our path was covered with leaves, that were hiding big exposed roots, and rocks. Once you got through the leaves the ground was a bit damp, so there was some mud to deal with as well. I had a very difficult time making any progress, Gary with is little 2 stroke had a much easier time. The list of broken motorcycle pieces added up as our day went on. My KLR650 lost a footpeg, mirror, fairing, and the handle next to the seat. Gary's Yamaha DT lost a mirror, and a rear blinker. In the end we were dehydrated and exhausted, but we found our way through and had a pretty awesome adventure.
I'm gonna go first because Gary's two-stroker and I don't like breathing the exhaust so
and also I think he prefers that I go first because I don't mind crashing and he likes to avoid it.
Take the high road here. This is a huge mistake. Okay, nice and easy.
Oh man that looks bad right there. That looks really bad right there.
Walk this sucker through this section here. Nice and easy. If this road just ends we're
never getting out of here. That's for sure. Nice and easy. Oh man it's steep right there.
Problem is not only is this steep, you broke something. We have to go on right underneath
this ginormous nest of bees or wasps or some sort of very ferocious territory looking insect.
And the road is right underneath it.
We're going to push before he breaks himself. We had a few casualties coming down that road.
I lost this little aluminum handle. It snapped right off when I fell and it hit a rock. I also
lost my left mirror and Gary lost his right right mirror. So we're having quite a collection of
spare parts on this ride so far. Fine mess you got us in this time. But we're convinced that
that was the last difficult part on this on this trail and the rest is going to be we're going to
be home free after that. The day that I don't bring any safety equipment. No first aid kit,
no water. There's a creek right there. If we get real hard up I'll be headed back to that creek.
That little creek crossing really took a lot out of us. Gary's backpack had water.
I didn't bother to bring any. So his backpack is lost and good grief I almost broke myself.
Massive roots here and rocks. Holy moly.
This is how you go down a hill when you're in the middle of nowhere and you're a coward.
You don't want to break yourself. Feet on the ground. Turn off the engine. Leave it in first
gear. Drop the clutch. Just let yourself down. Keep control. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Okay. Stop. Stop. Stop. Up the other side. Make sure Gary makes it part of the jungle.
We're lucky if we make it out of here without cannibals taking a slice out of us.
Probably being stalked by a jaguar right now. Made it. Good job Gary.
That was the last rough spot on this trail. I'm sure of it. I'm positive. Oh boy.
This is the last spot that's difficult. We're home free after this Gary. But I tell you
every time I'm out somewhere and getting my ass kicked on a motorcycle
a guy on a horse comes trotting by like it's no big deal.
Yes I'm on. He's trying to trade the horse for the motorcycle.
Yeah.
Doesn't have a name. It's the horse. Down here they're just they're just tools.
Okay amigo. Go ahead.
No.
Okay.
Sounds like we're very close to civilization. We've had this last hill. We're home free.
I hate that guy so bad.
Scared. Very scared. I'm going in the middle. Not doing it. I can't make that corner man. I'll have
to slow down too much. I don't know what to do. That horse went right at the middle like it was
nothing. They've beat me before. Wouldn't be the first time a horse beat me. Damn it. Did better
than I thought.
Guy on the horse says oh yeah it's easy from here on. That means there's probably a road
that gets us the rest of the way out. Try this going the other way. This is rough stuff here.
I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that one of you is on YouTube watching this video
from a Starbucks drinking coffee and this is probably where that coffee came from.
Dude there's a giant bug right here. You see this?
I'm gonna put my safety shield on here.
It's just the shell. It's just the shell of a bucket. It's growing or something.
So we're on the Palmyra side right here. We came down this trail right here from Potaraos
and we've connected. We made the connection. That is the trail that we've been searching for
forever and I came down here with a buddy a few weeks ago and we went this way thinking that this
was the way to Potaraos but you come to a river down here and it just ends. The trail ends. So
I would have never known to take this because it looks like well it is. It's a horse trail.
It's a horse trail and people say that quads have taken it before but man it must be really
tough even for quads. There's spots where the trail is only that wide so I don't know how quads
do it but they must. But we made it. We found it. So it's the happiest day of my life. You're gonna
die content.