Terra-izing the CDR

Very well....you convinced me (or I have a bad case of FOMO.....Fear of Missing Out). But I think I need a 3-cup model for the house. Guess I'll buy both, so I can get free shipping.

Thanks for the tip. I've actually been wanting one of these Italian versions for quite a while, and never could settle on one.

HF

1) Thanks!
2) Not sure. 10Cup gave them to me....he needs to answer this one. Seems he mentioned a combination of Cannonshot & BigDog versions. But then, we kind of went out there and made our own anyway, eh? If I new how to post them on this Thread, I would. I'll see if I can figure it out. Being a "Printer", I'm more of a map & compass guy.
3) I think the maps were Trails Illustrated version. Very impressive maps with compass rose and all that jazz. Comforting to have along, even if they didn't get used much on the trail.
4) No Mooses for me.....I'm disappointed to say. Didn't really see much wildlife myself. I think it was raining so hard they weren't allowed to come out & play.

HF

Thanks HF, that was great!!

Best wishes from Down Under!

Shane

Great report, you are a good storyteller.....the one of you at the ranger station questioning why camp grounds were closed had me in stitches.....and just your look on things......gotta get in on some ridin before trails are gone (sad thing to say).........thanks again for ridin, story tellin and pics!!

Scott- Enjoyed your report. Like the Husqvarna.

Do the snake skins go over the rain fly or is it separate from the wrapped up hammock you show in your pictures?

Thanks.

Good Stuff Scott!

What were the temperatures like.

I've only got the Snakeskins sliding over my hammock, and I think that was the intent of the design. I fold up my rainfly separately. I've deployed the rainfly by itself before, so it's handy to be available for that. However, my adventure buddy, Monty, has slit the ends of the Snakeskins on his hammock to be large enough to slide over both. So, I know it can be done, if desired..

Temps on the trip ranged from about 28 degrees on cold mountain nights at a high altitude to 100+ when crossing the panhandle of Oklahoma. Along the trail, it was probably 50 - 70 range most days, depending upon whether it was raining or not.

HF

Reflecting on this ride has caused me to update my Avatar. I've replaced my title from Bike-aholic to Never Tap-Out. Seems appropriate.

Thanks to everyone who has rode along in this RR and provided comments.

Until the next time.....cheers! And, keep it upright!

HF

As always HighFive, humorous and engaging... and some pretty fine pics as well. And add a mental note to check out hammocks. The military taught me how a tarp/fly can be home, but age is suggesting perhaps there is a more comfortable way to sleep.

I did notice this:

Perhaps some would assume so, and my impression is that is simply more of your amusing style of storytelling, rather than an actual comment of belief or criticism.

However, I do know a fair number of Rangers. Locals; meet them doing assorted pedestrian stuff like whitewater kayaking, winter ski touring, and search and rescue. I don't know the lady you spoke with, her being further south, but one of the somewhat elderly female rangers here doesn't even have a road to her home during the winter - she has to ski in and ski out if she feels a need to go to town, gets bored chopping firewood or whatever. I don't think they're too anchored to their RVs...

I also am not familiar with the bear situation there, but up here where you ended your trip, draw a 250 mile radius around that and we have a bear chomping about every ten months or so on average. I can think of about three last year, offhand. Few of which happen to folks just outside their RV, and most of those who end up on the losing end are locals quite bear aware, not tourists passing through.

The other component of closures is that when a bear and people come into a conflict, the bear always loses. Even in a situation where it could be argued all the fault was with the person, the bear (and often that means sow and cubs) gets shot. Just the way it is, and generally the wardens, rangers, etc would rather avoid having to shoot bears as a result of bear/human conflicts. Particularly when it is a sow with a young cub or cubs. Having to kill all the habituated grizzlies and blacks that start coming into yards and sometimes into peoples' houses is bad enough.

Bottom line is that closures to avoid bear/human conflicts are not frivolously done (at least in my experience growing up and living in the middle of bear country).

However, if somebody wants to roll the dice as they think the risk is minimal, I have no problem with them doing that. We have more than our fair share of the government dictating what is good for us and how we must safely live our lives as it is. If we wanted to live as safe as possible, I imagine first at the top of our list would be getting rid of all the motorcycles...

Just wanted to offer a serious perspective on closures due to wildlife activity... after they just shot two cougars who killed and were eating a deer near an elementary school in a nearby city.

Thanks for the compliments, Jäger. I'm glad you enjoyed it. As always, I just tell it like it is.....with a bit of dry humor, I guess. It's natural, I don't force it really. Just try to share the thoughts and feelings of the moments as they passed by. Always fun to re-live them, well most anyway.

Appreciate sharing your bear awareness and/or experience. Don't think for a minute that my "Pucker Factor" wasn't high on the scale when departing the Ranger Station. My radar was on High Alert, I can assure you.

I did indeed go right to the spot she pinned on the map, or at least my best guess of it. I know a thing or two about bears. Have had a few up close & personal encounters of my own. Most of the time, they want nothing to do with humans. That's a generalization, I realize.

My secret to avoiding bears is to not camp in an established campground, or even close to one, when in bear country. It's not a sure bet, but as good of one I can make. I prefer to find a spot never or rarely used in the middle of nowhere. Then, run a very clean camp.....hanging all my food (including every crumb & spent wrapper) in a roll top, dry-seal bag at least 100 yards or more downwind way up in a tree (15' high and 10' from the trunk, if possible).

AND I will not make a fire in thick of bear country. Just a personal preference. I dislike signaling that I'm there whether flame or smoke. Granted a bear has one of, if not the BEST sense of smell in all the woods. Something like 10 times stronger than a blood hound! So, they can smell you anyway, from nearly anywhere. I never pack Beef Jerky into Bear Country, for example. I seal all my foods in gallon size Zip-loc bags as an extra scent barrier. They can probably still smell it after all these precautions.

DON'T forget to zip-loc the TOOTHPASTE and stash into the hanging food bag! Man, do bears ever love toothpaste. Let's don't talk about how I know, and just say we did.

They like Mountain House Blueberry Cheescake dessert too.....A LOT....as I've learned.

HF

P.s. No....I don't think Rangers are chumps. Not at all. But there is a tendency in the National Parks to "over sell" some things to the public. I've witnessed it many times.....as if it would enhance the experience. It's all I'm saying. So, I take some of it with a grain of salt and gauge the risks when I can.

Excellent report!

I don't think I've ever read anything you posted on any of the forums that wasn't pretty amusing from start to finish. Ride report or how-to tech article, they're always amusing. I gather you have moved on from the WR250R, but I suppose we've pretty much benefited from all the experimentation and adjustments you were going to do by now anyways.

The avoidance strategy of camping where humans seldom are generally works pretty good; no danger of bears who are habituated to people, or worse, people and food. However, when you're traveling in a popular NF area with campsites that look like Starbucks signs to habituated bears, you're not where people seldom are to begin with. You're just the next one passing through. And when it's known that a bear/bear with cubs is hanging out in a particular spot because they have a food source... first, it ain't remote or there wouldn't be multiple people reporting bear sightings in that spot. Closures aren't put in place based on "Hey, guess what, we saw a bear!". And if she's particularly protective because a boar or wolves are trying to get her cubs, that doesn't improve things any.

Second, when a bear has found a spot they like because there's food there, wouldn't matter how remote, there's a bear/bears, food, and you. The two guys here that got chewed up along Fairie Creek last year were in a remote area, having bushwacked their way up to the open subalpine through nasty alders, had no food on them whatsoever. They were forestry workers, were talking and making lots of noise, and they still got chomped when the bear who was fattening up in that area decided they had wandered into the pantry far enough. And then of course the wardens got sent out to kill the bear and cubs - the bear always loses, and especially when they win the first round.

Yes, bears like toothpaste. They also seem partial to chain saw oil. Snow Seal. CLP. Roofing tar. And so on. Only thing they apparently don't like is alum (I would have paid money to see that).

I worry more about cow moose with calves in the bush than I do with bears. But when there's a bear known to be hanging around a specific area feeding or whatever, my choice is to stay away - for the bear's sake as much as my own. I don't want to have to let the air out of a bear when I can avoid it.

yeah...I bought a Husaberg FE390 for trail riding, and an F800GS for bigger trips. Just wasn't riding the WRR much anymore. The Berg feels like cheating in the woods. Its awesome!

Haven't been riding the F800GS much over the last year, either. Due to an improbably test ride on a Husky TR650 Terra. I was sold in one mile!

Sure do love that bike, and its the one I used on this CDR trip, obviously.

There's been plenty of garage antics with it. All can be found/followed in the Thread I started in Thumpers: "Husky TR650 - New Owner's Stupid Questions"

Its grown past 350,000 views in a little over a year. So, there's been a lot of interest in the bike. We've made that Thread a pretty good technical resource for the bike, since there's not many options elsewhere (other than at Cafe Husky).

So yeah, the beat goes on...

Cheers,

HF

p.s. Thanks for props, Yooper-Bob. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I need a "do-over" without the rain!

Well done HF!

Great RR!

Fantastic report! I've been studying the CDR myself, dreaming of going sometime next summer. Loved the pics and you tell a great story, thanks for taking us along!!

Thanks Docking Pilot. I figure I would rather ride it when it was fun and I didn't need to skip any of it! Think I'll start up in Banff next year maybe.