Western US Tour

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I'm heading out in the morning for a 15 day trip. (I'm getting pretty excited to say the least.):hotpepper

I'm planning on camping as much as possible and am not carrying a laptop, but I'll try to find a way to post a few pics from the road.

With as many ST's on the road this summer, hoping to see some of you guys out there.

 

[Mellow]

Nice... ride safe.

 

[redst05]

Be Safe and have some fun along the way

 

[Mark]

Looks like a great route!
Ride safe!
Mark

 

[fitenfyr]

Well as a suggestion I would go a bit further north on 101 up the Oregon coast before you head east again.

Once you get out of the Redwoods there is some mighty fine riding to be had and places to see along the Oregon coast in my opinion.

We are headed down to Depoe Bay on Monday for a couple days ourselves.

I assume by looking the NE portion of your trip is at Glacier National park?
Whitefish is also a really nice area. Take a trip up to Hungry Horse Resevior while you are there.

Have a fun trip.

 

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Got in last night around midnight. 13 days and 6,653 miles. I'll try to get some pics and videos up and a ride report to follow.

Saw some great sights, rode some terrific roads, and met some FABULOUS people.

 

[Earache]

Good God man ... we need pictures!!!!

(Most of us can't read, ya know)

 

[CruisingDog]

Coolio! Have a fun time. I'm sure you'll love the desert rides.

Keep re-hydrated. BTW a sure sign of dehydration in the desert is that you start feeling really hot for no apparent reason. The actual reason is that you're not sweating and you are getting really hot!

Just like Christmas, drink and be merry!

 

[sparkinator]

Good God man ... we need pictures!!!!

(Most of us can't read, ya know)

LOL
Here's day one Arcadia to Amarillo. Wound up working all night before leaving out a 7am.

Camped at Amarillo KOA. Little pricey, but convenient. 600 miles.

 

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Day 2 Amarillo to Taos, New Mexico
Got up early and detoured to Oklahoma to get a shot of Oklahoma state sign.

Between Eagle Nest and Taos ran into rain a hail. Temp got down to 42. Found a room in Taos to ride the storm out. 345 miles

 

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Day 3 Taos, NM to Moab Utah
Excellent day. Rode through Chama, Pagosa Springs, Durango, Silverton, Ouray (Million dollar highway). Simply stunning. Got down to 32 degrees before I reached Chama. Thankful for the heated Corbin seat.

Turned off 550 at Ridgway toward Utah. Road followed San Miguel river down out of the mountains. Great ride. Ate lunch at Norwood at the Lone Cone tavern. Rode into Moab for supplies and the went to Arches NP. After Arches, I rode up and over to Canyonlands NP. It was getting late and hardly no one else on the road. These 2 parks left me speechless. Camped at Arch View campground. Never new there were so many stars in the sky. Day 3, 563 miles

 

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Day 4 Moab, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada
Left out early up to I-70, then over to 24 south. Rode through Capitol Reed NP. Then hit highway 12 OMG through Escalante. I'm beginning to think they should set aside the entire state of Utah as a national park.

You need to ride 24 and 12 once before you die. The scenery is stunning. The best part is riding through it. You're not looking at a distance at the landscape only.

Once leaving Escalante, I rode onto Bryce NP and Zion NP. Both should not be missed. After leaving Zion, I rode to Las Vegas to spend the night at my uncles. Day 4 573 miles.

 

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Day 5, Las Vegas to PCH Los Padres NF campground
Headed out early to avoid the midday desert heat. Rode through Barstow and around Bakersfield. Glad i made it through the desert early. Ran highway 58 (No traffic, and a great road) to 101 and then 1 to Morro Bay. I could feel and smell the cool breeze off the ocean long before I saw it. Rode up PCH (OMG) a few miles and set up my tent right beside the ocean. Didn't even use the rain fly (living dangerously). Met some great folks who were camped there also.

Traffic on PCH wasn't too bad. I got behind the occasional slow-poke, but not as bad as I had anticipated. I got off the road about 7 pacific time because I was scared of the fog, but it never really got that bad. 500 miles for the day.

 

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Day 6 PCH to Benbow Rec Area (Redwoods)
Started out early again. (I'm waking up central time and going to bed pacific time. This won't last many more days, but for now I'm too pumped up to sleep much.) I was scared the fog would have me socked in, but the fog never seemed to leave the shoreline. Rode Big Sur and got a few gallons of gas to tide me over ($4.99/gallon). Stopped for breakfast at Carmel (peanut butter crackers and cup of coffe). Not many pics for today. My bike charger for my camera was acting up.

Rode into Salinas and CHP lit me up. Only keeping up with traffic I told him. Come to find out, he really just wanted to talk to me. Go figure. He told me he rode a BMW and was curious where all I was headed. I told him my route and he said to be careful and keep my speed down. I almost had him talked into calling and in going with me. Almost.

Crossed the Golden Gate and met some really nice people. Camera battery finally died. Took 101 to Cloverdale. Then 128 to Hwy 1. I ran up the coast few miles to 20 and took it back to 101. A guy I met at Zion suggested this route. Both were really good roads, but I especially enjoyed 20. The road weaves in and out of the redwoods as you cross the mountains. I wound up getting sleepy on 20 and taking a nap in the redwoods. Camped at Benbow Rec Area and ate a dang good meal at the Calico diner (right across the street from the Hemp shop) in Garberville. 460 miles/day.

 

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Day 7 Benbow Rec. area to Goose Lake
Started out on 101 to Valley of the Giants. I could only ride through half of the park due to a mud slide but the trees were most impressive. I took 101 to Alton and then turned east on 36. Talk about a pig trail! My nerves were pretty much shot by the time I got to hwy 3. I rode 3 to 299. I stayed on this road to Redding where I stopped for gas and a bite to eat. 36 is scenic, but the road is in bad need of repair.

I continued on 299 to 395. A few miles up 395 I stopped for the night at Goose Lake State Park. One of the nicest parks I visited. Grass campsites with water and electricity for around 14.00. I got a new 12 outlet at Alturas and wired it up on the bike whenever I got settled in. Supper was a can of tuna and (you guessed it), peanut butter crackers.

If you stay at this state park, be sure and bring plenty of mosquito spray. The lake is alkali and does not support many species of fish, but the mosquitos must thrive in it. 460 miles for the day

 

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Day 8
Goose lake to Hells Canyon
As carefully as I called myself being while wiring my 12 volt socket the night before, I ran my battery down and the camp host let me charge my battery. I charged it long enough to get the bike to crank and then I headed to Lakeside to get a new battery. It was 4 years old and had let me down a couple of weeks prior, so I figured I'd get one at the first opportunity. the guys at the Polaris dealership in Lakeside, OR were great. They let me pull my bike around into their shop and change it out. Didn't quite fit, but it wasn't going anywhere. I headed from there up 395 to Burns. I stopped at an Apple Peddler restaurant for lunch (not bad), and stopped at a Big R for some better tent stakes. While gassing up in Burns, my helmet fell off my bike and broke the ratchet mechanism on the shield on one side. The shield would stay on on only one side, but, oh well, I rode with it up most of the time so I took it off.

From Burns, I rode to John Day and Baker City. Met a lot of great Beemer riders who were in the area for meet at John Day. These were mostly desert roads with some good panorama shots with a few hills thrown in. Mostly cattle country and I saw a lot of ranchers.

From Baker City, I took 86 to Oxbow. I was back in the rolling hills leading to Hells Canyon. A great ride. I rode about 20 miles down beside the lake at Oxbow. Great road with excellent scenery. I camped at Oxbow at a nice campground with access to the river just behind my tent. The only real downside was it was the weekend and the camp was packed. Nice park though for about 10 bucks. 424 miles for the day.

 

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Day 9
Hells Canyon to Missoula, MT
I packed up camp and headed to Hells Canyon National Forest. This road reminded me of California 36. The road is in pretty bad shape and tight and twisty. The view was worth the effort, but I was pretty worn out after 8 days on the road. Looking back, I should have stayed an extra day at Oxbow to rest up, but live and learn.

The other side of Hells Canyon, I came down out of the mountains to Joseph. A really nice town and I got some gas and stopped the local grocery store for some deli chicken. I ate it on the curb beside my bike. The grub was OK, but the view couldn't be beat. Joseph is in green valley surrounded by snow peaked mountains. From Joseph, I rode north to Washington 129. What an incredible road. This is another road that should be put on your list of things to do. It takes up and down several times as it twists you through the Wallowa mountains. At Lewiston, I took 12 east to the famous Lolo pass. Another beautiful ride and I had to get a picture in front of the famous '77 miles of twisty road' sign. From Lolo, I rode into Missoula for the night. There was a storm brewing and I found a motel room for $50.00 at the super 8. I unloaded the bike and started looking for some place to eat. I settled on the Mustard Seed. The waiter told me it was 'Asian Fusion,' whatever that is, but it sure was good. After supper, I went back to the motel and got some needed rest. Mileage for the day 410 miles

 

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Day 10
Missoula, MT to Yellowstone
It was raining when I left Missoula so I left town on I-90 to Garrison. I didn't have a face shield so I figured I would try to get to Yellowstone quickly. The rain let up by Garrison so I headed out on 12 through Helena to Townsend. I took 287 from Townsend to I-90 and left I-90 for 191. 191 took me into Yellowstone through the west gate. The rain came and went throughout the day. By the time I got to Yellowstone it was raining pretty good. As I was riding through the mountains of Yellowstone, the rain turned to snow and the temp dropped down into the 40s. I found the first campground that had a vacancy and threw up my tent. I grabbed a quick nap and woke up to find the weather had cleared. I jumped on the bike and made a quick jaunt up to the north gate.

One of the views I had been looking to find was the golden gate entrance to the park. I found it just at dusk and took a few photos if the bike with the golden gate in the background. I then went back to the camp and passed out. I knew it would be cold the next morning to I bundled up good before passing out. Mileage for the day 376

 

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Day 11
Yellowstone to Glendo State Park, Wyoming
I did well to bundle up the night before. I awoke to the coldest temperature I would face on the trip. It was 28 degrees and there was frost everywhere. I packed up everything and headed out early to beat all of the traffic. I headed around to the north gate and ate breakfast at a little diner in Gardiner. On the way to Gardiner, I passed Mammoth and saw a herd of elk grazing in the middle of town. I don't know how many elk or buffalo I saw, but I saw a herd of about 40 elk in one spot and 3 buffalo held me up by standing in the middle of the road for about 5 minutes.

After breakfast I went back into Yellowstone through the north gate and traveled to the Northeast entrance. This is hwy 212, also known as the Beartooth hwy. I was told they had worked on this road last year and I found it in pretty good shape. This may not have been my favorite road, but it was the most scenic. There were motorcycles everywhere. When I got to the top, there was some slush on the road and it was 30 degrees. The views were terrific and it was all it had been billed to be. I'm thankful I finally got to ride it. I took a lot of pics, but they really don't do it justice. I rode down the other side to Red Lodge and stopped for coffee and apple pie. I met some really nice people at the diner and filled my camelback for the day ahead.

Stepping out of the diner, it had already started to rain. It didn't last long. I left Red Lodge on 308, a stark contrast to 212. It cut through the green rolling hills and it also was a joy. I took a right on MT 72 which changes to 120 in Wyoming. I rode this down through Cody and Thermopolis. In Thermopolis, I realized I was going to have to get a new rear tire and rear brakes. I had printed out a copy of the RAN list before leaving and found a member in the Denver area (thanks Tony) who hooked me up with Sun Motorsports. They had my tire in stock and a set of brake pads. I wanted to get there early the next morning so I had a lot of riding to do.

I headed to down 20 to I-25 at Casper. I ate at Casper and headed out as far as I could get before nightfall. I had to pull over at Glendo State Park to find a camping spot. It wasn't as far as I wanted to get, but I wasn't going to ride through Wyoming in the dark. It was a good thing, because it was only 3 miles to the state park, and I almost ran over 3 deer in different spots before I made it to the camp.

This was the most basic camping spot had to camp in during my trip. It was on a nice lake, but dirt roads in and out and no running water. The tent spots were dirt also. I made do and took a bath in the lake. BRRRRR. Mileage for the day 523.

 

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Day 12
Glendo State Park, Wyoming to Capulin, NM
I headed out early to make it to Denver early. I packed up and made it the 180 miles to Denver by 8:30. Sun Motorsports treated me incredibly well. They had me out by 10:30 with a new BT021 and new pads. While I was waiting, I made a comment to one of the workers that I had a HJC helment that needed a new ratchet mechanism. He said if he didn't have the part in stock, he would try to fix my old one. He didn't have the part in stock and worked on my helmet for over an hour. He had a temporary fix on it, but when we moved the shield, the super glue didn't hold it and the sheild popped out. Oh well, I APPRECIATED the effort. Sun gets a big thumbs up in my book. Check them out if you are in the area.

Anyway, I was way off course and my schedule (loose as it may have been) was off as well. I had planned on coming down through the Rockies all the way down to New Mexico. While talking to my wife while waiting on the tire to be installed, she commented, "Hey, if you're in Denver you're only 2 days from home." Well thats not how I was calculating it, but she had been extremely generous and understanding for allowing me this time, so what the heck. Besides, I figured if I beat curfew and made it home early, she should let me go again next time. Anyway, I headed out of Denver on 285 south down to Poncha Springs. It couldn't compare with the other Colorado roads I had ridden on the way out, but they weren't too bad. The cops were everywhere and traffic was pretty heavy. I then took 50 to Texas creek and 69 to Westcliffe. These roads were nice and the traffic was starting thin out. I then took 96 to 165. 165 took me to Colorado city. I loved these 2 roads. Fantastic scenery, no traffic, good roads, descent amount of twisties and lots of sweepers through the hills. The Good Lord was giving me one last good mountain ride before having to hang it up for the flat lands on the way home. At Colorado City, I took I-25 through Raton Pass. Best looking Interstate I've ever ridden is through Raton Pass. Once in New Mexico, I settled in for the night at Capulin RV park on hwy 64, but not before stopping at Dairy Queen in Raton (just had to see what all the fuss was about. ). I hated dark caught me because it felt like I was catching my second wind on this trip. Miles for the day 597.