The Satyrs Motorcycle Club of Los Angeles
Badger 2019 Review
The following review was made for Badger 58, before Covid-19 hit.
Nearly every kinky man reading this publication has been to an event where leatherfolk gather for their annual rite of passage debauchery. You name it: Folsom, Folsom Europe, Mid-Atlantic, Black Party, CLAW, IML, Wet 'n Hot, Up Your Alley or some local leather week somewhere in an ever-expanding universe of gay events in a city near you. You seek a wild connectedness in a community of hot men, great times, lots of music, dancing, debauchery and boozing while surrounded by booth after booth of colorful sexual marketing grabbing for your gay dollars. And while you come back home hung-over from a crazy weekend of fun, you still post on your Twitter, IG or Facebook feed a few days later your yearning for a sense of real community. That's just crazy. Enter Badger Flat, the one event you likely haven't been to but heard from many hot men over the years as the event that holds a special place in their hearts. And this annual Labor Day Weekend event, now 58 years strong, didn't fail to provide again, better than ever. Yes, the legendary event, the Satyrs Motorcycle Club created in 1961 after years of weekend debauchery in the 1950s that got them kicked-out the state forests and parks, continues to this day on Federal forest land. (And the Rangers support and protect the Satyrs for it...but don't tell Trump). The imagery of bikers in the forests you've stared at and and jacked off to through Tom of Finland drawings over the years is the same. The Satyrs is the oldest gay men's club in world and the granddaddy of all clubs today. But hosting a group of 150+ leather men, bikers, non-bikers, puppies and hot kinksters coming from all over the United States and sometimes around the world is no easy feat even at 8,500 feet in the Sierra mountains of California. The Satyrs who have mastered the art of creating a communal event that connects men in ways that leatherfolk only ever talk about and yearn for, happens organically annually and creates lifelong friendships where conversations pick-up where they left off the following year.
This year, the U.S. Forest Service threw a curve ball at the Satyrs with the closing of multiple campsites through-out California due to years of drought-driven bark beetle infestations that are dangerously felling trees in the State. Mitigation by the Forest Service includes prioritizing clear-cutting large areas to reduce the dangers of falling trees on campers, forced the Satyrs to relocate the infamous Badger Flat Run for only the second time in history over the 58 years, to a campsite not as far up the winding road of the secluded Badger Flat Group Camp, this year at Midge Creek. The first time was in 1988 due to an outbreak of bubonic plague.
Any other club would have thrown their collective hands in the air and called it quits. But the Satyrs, the granddaddy of all men's clubs, has the reputation of moving mountains to make it happen. And surprisingly, the lakeside town folks of Huntington Lake rose to the occasion to make sure that the Satyrs event continues as it always had before. The Satyrs have always made their major perishable food, ice, water, gas, propane, firewood, trash hauling service and small item purchases locally for years. The Satyrs did not fail to deliver a stellar event for 2019 that would have done in any other club. And as the host club, the Satyrs make sure guests never see the behind the scene club stress and problems, the signs of being a great host. The local town people provided a "firetruck" to supply water for the outdoor kitchen area, the hot outdoor showers and for the bonfire fire safety. Badger Flat has the luxury of a flowing stream that the Satyrs pump the water through an elaborate set-up. But Midge Creek had a stream 300 feet straight down a vertical embankment that couldn't be reached.
Local mountain folks for 58 years have known of the wild, crazy, sex-driven activities of the bikers and their friends at Badger Flat for 57 previous years and it was not going to end just because of bark beetles. So local folks ensured that generator gas, propane, water and general supplies would be accommodated for the Satyrs despite the ski resort mega-corporation takeover of the old general market.
Local mountain folks offered up their locally owned businesses to help. This is what 58 years of making an economic impact to the local economy creates community. As for the event itself, long-time leather men and kinksters and newcomers had more fun than ever. Even early arrivers pitching to help the Satyrs get everything set-up, built, the logistics, the show stage, the outdoor full serve kitchen built, music sound systems, the water distribution systems for hot outdoor shower and the kitchen dishwashing among other things all completed before opening day and the arrival of the guests. It's like "burning man" without the need to haul it and barter. One hot muscular man from San Francisco said, "Man, I finally found my tribe I've been looking for". Another young first timer said, "Wow! This really is that community feeling I wanted. I get it now."
Men were openly having sex around the colorful and magnificent bonfire without fear of judgment from anyone. Even before and after the closing night's entertainment, "Finding Kinky Boots in Neverland", the Satyrs Players mash-up of several musicals on an elaborate outdoor built on-site stage. Camaraderie and bonding of distant folks creating organic connections of new friendships, meaningful conversations and a connectedness that leatherfolks yearn is achieved at Badger Flat. Young and old, leathermen, kinksters, puppies and every kind of wicked fetishness was on full display among men who appreciated the sexual openness and permitted display of our sexuality celebrated by all in attendance. No matter how deviant, how depraved your sexual nature is...no one is "performing" at Badger. Because the community of like-minded men you seek are here at Badger celebrating with you who you really are, free from the restrictions that exists at your local leather street fair and an eye for primal appreciation.
It's a fairly inexpensive weekend as well at $250 that includes eight delicious meals, 24-hour full bar, entertainment, and buttload of so much more. Just bring your tent, sleeping bag, clothes and kink gear. Most of you drink the price of the Badger Flat run just at a bar at your ubiquitous street fair alone. Think about it...that didn't even include the hotel, travel or shopping. Plus, you still didn't find the connected community you went out of town in search of in the first place. Furthermore, truth be told about street fairs, you're there with the same old friends you find back at home, and you spent big bucks to get away from them only to be bombarded with the marketing booths you see everywhere. Before you go posting on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram your next complaint about "community", try getting off that merry-go-round for once. The community you seek is at Badger Flat and has been for countless men, thousands and thousands of men over the last 58 years. You stare at it every time you look at a Tom of Finland drawing of bikers in the woods. You know you want it. To this day you will see the lifelong friendships forged years ago returning to the community that fills their heart annually, but only at Badger Flat. So, mark your calendar and visit the Satyrs Motorcycle Club's website. Or you can do the insanity of the same old bars, the same old street fairs, the same old leather get-a-ways with the same old marketing booths you see at all of them looking for something different that you call community. Yeah, now that is insanity. Badger Flat 59 is September 4th to 7th, 2020. Don't miss this legendary event. It should be on every leatherman's bucket list. Badger is an amazing experience. When you're at Badger, you're able to reconnect with extended brothers - the ones that are "there for you" when life gets rough. Here, we're actually FAMILY. We make the effort to come together from all across the country just to celebrate all the ridiculous, meaningful reasons WHY we are all that we are. Few things kick-start brotherhood faster than banding together to build a base for a few hundred of your future brothers! Whatever you're looking for, TRUST me, you’ll get what you NEED up at Badger. The memories and lasting connections you make are just bonuses - the kind that tends to stick with you forever.
Draven Torres
XXX
This year, the U.S. Forest Service threw a curve ball at the Satyrs with the closing of multiple campsites through-out California due to years of drought-driven bark beetle infestations that are dangerously felling trees in the State. Mitigation by the Forest Service includes prioritizing clear-cutting large areas to reduce the dangers of falling trees on campers, forced the Satyrs to relocate the infamous Badger Flat Run for only the second time in history over the 58 years, to a campsite not as far up the winding road of the secluded Badger Flat Group Camp, this year at Midge Creek. The first time was in 1988 due to an outbreak of bubonic plague.
Any other club would have thrown their collective hands in the air and called it quits. But the Satyrs, the granddaddy of all men's clubs, has the reputation of moving mountains to make it happen. And surprisingly, the lakeside town folks of Huntington Lake rose to the occasion to make sure that the Satyrs event continues as it always had before. The Satyrs have always made their major perishable food, ice, water, gas, propane, firewood, trash hauling service and small item purchases locally for years. The Satyrs did not fail to deliver a stellar event for 2019 that would have done in any other club. And as the host club, the Satyrs make sure guests never see the behind the scene club stress and problems, the signs of being a great host. The local town people provided a "firetruck" to supply water for the outdoor kitchen area, the hot outdoor showers and for the bonfire fire safety. Badger Flat has the luxury of a flowing stream that the Satyrs pump the water through an elaborate set-up. But Midge Creek had a stream 300 feet straight down a vertical embankment that couldn't be reached.
Local mountain folks for 58 years have known of the wild, crazy, sex-driven activities of the bikers and their friends at Badger Flat for 57 previous years and it was not going to end just because of bark beetles. So local folks ensured that generator gas, propane, water and general supplies would be accommodated for the Satyrs despite the ski resort mega-corporation takeover of the old general market.
Local mountain folks offered up their locally owned businesses to help. This is what 58 years of making an economic impact to the local economy creates community. As for the event itself, long-time leather men and kinksters and newcomers had more fun than ever. Even early arrivers pitching to help the Satyrs get everything set-up, built, the logistics, the show stage, the outdoor full serve kitchen built, music sound systems, the water distribution systems for hot outdoor shower and the kitchen dishwashing among other things all completed before opening day and the arrival of the guests. It's like "burning man" without the need to haul it and barter. One hot muscular man from San Francisco said, "Man, I finally found my tribe I've been looking for". Another young first timer said, "Wow! This really is that community feeling I wanted. I get it now."
Men were openly having sex around the colorful and magnificent bonfire without fear of judgment from anyone. Even before and after the closing night's entertainment, "Finding Kinky Boots in Neverland", the Satyrs Players mash-up of several musicals on an elaborate outdoor built on-site stage. Camaraderie and bonding of distant folks creating organic connections of new friendships, meaningful conversations and a connectedness that leatherfolks yearn is achieved at Badger Flat. Young and old, leathermen, kinksters, puppies and every kind of wicked fetishness was on full display among men who appreciated the sexual openness and permitted display of our sexuality celebrated by all in attendance. No matter how deviant, how depraved your sexual nature is...no one is "performing" at Badger. Because the community of like-minded men you seek are here at Badger celebrating with you who you really are, free from the restrictions that exists at your local leather street fair and an eye for primal appreciation.
It's a fairly inexpensive weekend as well at $250 that includes eight delicious meals, 24-hour full bar, entertainment, and buttload of so much more. Just bring your tent, sleeping bag, clothes and kink gear. Most of you drink the price of the Badger Flat run just at a bar at your ubiquitous street fair alone. Think about it...that didn't even include the hotel, travel or shopping. Plus, you still didn't find the connected community you went out of town in search of in the first place. Furthermore, truth be told about street fairs, you're there with the same old friends you find back at home, and you spent big bucks to get away from them only to be bombarded with the marketing booths you see everywhere. Before you go posting on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram your next complaint about "community", try getting off that merry-go-round for once. The community you seek is at Badger Flat and has been for countless men, thousands and thousands of men over the last 58 years. You stare at it every time you look at a Tom of Finland drawing of bikers in the woods. You know you want it. To this day you will see the lifelong friendships forged years ago returning to the community that fills their heart annually, but only at Badger Flat. So, mark your calendar and visit the Satyrs Motorcycle Club's website. Or you can do the insanity of the same old bars, the same old street fairs, the same old leather get-a-ways with the same old marketing booths you see at all of them looking for something different that you call community. Yeah, now that is insanity. Badger Flat 59 is September 4th to 7th, 2020. Don't miss this legendary event. It should be on every leatherman's bucket list. Badger is an amazing experience. When you're at Badger, you're able to reconnect with extended brothers - the ones that are "there for you" when life gets rough. Here, we're actually FAMILY. We make the effort to come together from all across the country just to celebrate all the ridiculous, meaningful reasons WHY we are all that we are. Few things kick-start brotherhood faster than banding together to build a base for a few hundred of your future brothers! Whatever you're looking for, TRUST me, you’ll get what you NEED up at Badger. The memories and lasting connections you make are just bonuses - the kind that tends to stick with you forever.
Draven Torres
XXX