6:10 to Yuma

<<<<<<<<< I have a 14 Yr Old Dalmatian. He's been having a lot of trouble getting around lately, so a year ago he got "retired" to Yuma to live with my mom.

The other day she called to tell me it was 'that time' and so I had to go to Yuma for a visit.

I really didn't (don't) want to think about it. So I've been doing therapy (ie denial) by planning a trip from LA to Yuma on Dirt.

Ever just had one of those days that didn't quite turn out right?

Sorry to hear about your dog Aaron. Look forward to the report!

Man's best friend Dog/Motorcycle they both go hand in hand.
Sorry about your Dog. That was me 2 years ago with my Lab,but a new puppy sure does help.

Thanks for the warm wishes. I'm in Yuma now, going to the vet tomorrow.

I'm enjoying him now though.


He's sleeping now, so Let's get on with the report!

First stop was to Samy's where I picked up a new Camera just for you FF's! (Olympus 8000 Tough) Ok, it was a little bit for me too, I figured this was more motorcycle appropriate since I broke my canon 10-22 in HALF the other day

First off I stopped by H8Chains for new Tires. My front was seriously Shot.


For the price of a burrito you get a full shop, with all the extra's like a tire changing machine, friendly knowledgeable staff to help when you need a 'third hand (you're S.O.L. if you need four though ) And free Tire disposal!

After a few hours of swearing and pinched tube I was on my way

move along... nothing to see here... move along

several hours later I get to somewhere sort of interesting:



This was my first time using the camera... I was kind of disappointed to find it doesn't have a shutter priority mode. Sigh, maybe a little pre-purchase research next time.



I was in this spot last year on a trip to Baja with my buddy SenoPeligro. Back then I got blown off my bike; TWICE! This time it was a little mellower so I went across the mesa sightseeing. I sort of figured out how to take control of this camera, if I change the mode to something like 'candlelight' I can get a little longer shutter times. It's not super convenient, but the camera is SOOO much smaller than my 20d I'm sure my action shots will improve.



After the day's manual labor I was beat, I found a hotel with really convienient parking.



I just got a room in Palm Desert and ordered from the healthy vegan menu at Domino's:



So after this, I went to sleep. Go figure


That's the end of the first day.

Sad stuff.......

Jeeze if you think the Chicken wings are sad wait til you read about my Chain breaking and how I got attacked by a giant Toad!

pet ownership brings a lot of happiness, but like everything else, there's the separation and sadness...




bring on the 2nd day...

Well rested from the night before, I woke up @ about 5:30 and hit the road. If you know me, you know this is really weird.

I was forced to go to Wal-Mart and buy a new set of earphones, and replenish the Beer. They only sell canned beer by the truckload. I just couldn't stand the thought of buying a 12 pack and wasting 6. So I got a single big Foster's. This was my first major error of the trip The checker didn't speak English, like not at all. She kept pointing at the beer and saying "six"

"six paks are on sale?"

"No, SIX!"

"six Dollars? That's pretty high"

"No, SIX!"

"six, tine, no"

"Oh I can't buy beer until six AM?"

"Si" :dog

it was 5:59 when we started this completely unnecessary conversation and Now my beer was legal

I hate Wal Mart for completely unrelated reasons. I'm sure my disdain colored my perception of the place, but seriously, they have one checker, about a mile and a half from the door, and if they paid a few cents more than minimum wage maybe they could get somebody who speaks English AND Spanish!?!? I try and avoid it whenever I can, but sometimes especially when traveling they are the only game in town, literally.


I was rocking my new tunes on the freeway and I wanted to swing by a post office to mail myself the bulky box/instructions to the camera. The garmin drove me around in circles for a while, and by now I was really jonesing to get this show off the road as it were.

The Husky and I had the breakfast of Champions, Premium and a breakfast Burrito. Nothing but the best gas for both of us You gotta love one stop Shopping! (except Wal-Mart I know I make no sense)


Finally! Just a mile or two later I aired down and hit the dirt


THis was a 70-80 Mph road. In no time I arrived at a bit more challenging terrain, the entrance to thermal Canyon.


I could not have been a more beautiful day. It was strange to be surrounded by such beauty. The pictures do not do it justice. I was immersed in my surroundings and was not depressed for the first time in days.

Next we came to the intersection of Pinkham Canyon.

I'd been to Pinkham once before, about a year ago on our way to Baja SenorPeligro and I got the crap beaten out of us in this hellish craphole.

Ever since I've wanted to go back there. :huh

I didn't take too many pix as I was still getting used to the sand, and the new Tires, and the idea I was finally out here.



Growing up I never liked the desert. I never appreciated how stunning it really is if you just pause for a moment and take it in. Last time I was here, everything was in Bloom, this time it's Fall, but there's still amazing vistas every where you turn.

Great Ride Report!! I hope to see that place someday . . .

Btw, about your post on your new camera: "I was kind of disappointed to find it doesn't have a shutter priority mode. Sigh, maybe a little pre-purchase research next time. "


What exactly is "shutter priority mode"? Does anyone know of a good thread that talks about the best camera features for dualsport riding?

I love my dog
Looking forward to your story

Great report and photos.

Sorry about the reason you had to make the trip, though. There was a thread in (I think) JM a while ago, titled something along the lines of 'what happens when you get to heaven?'. Amongst all the predictable stuff, someone posted 'you get all your old dogs back'.

Looking forward to that.

Had similar circumstances (different breed) this September with a dog we had for 15 years. Broke my heart.

Afterwords, the vet's office sent us a sympathy card that had this poem...

The Last Battle​

If it should be that I grow frail and weak,​

And pain should keep me from my sleep,​

Then will you do what must be done?​

For this - the last battle - can't be won.​

You will be sad I understand,​

But don't let grief then stay your hands,​

For on this day, more than the rest,​

Your love and friendship must stand the test.​

We have had so many happy years,​

You wouldn't want me to suffer so,​

When the time comes, please let me go.​

Take me to where my needs they'll tend,​

Only, stay with me until the end,​

And hold me firm and speak to me,​

Until my eyes no longer see.​

I know in time you will agree,​

It is a kindness you do for me.​

Although my tail its last has waived,​

From pain and suffering I have been saved.​

Don't grieve that it must be you,​

Who had to decide this thing you do.​

We've been so close - we two - these years,​

Don't let your heart hold any tears.​

Author unknown​

there's basically three things that make a picture:

the sensitivity of the film, this determines how much light is needed for a proper exposure. this still applies in digital cameras.

the aperture, is like the iris of your eye, it controls how much light hits the film.

and the shutter which controls for how long the light hits the film.

the camera I bought has easy to use modes like "candle light" or "portrait" which is great for most folks. But for me, I'd prefer 'shutter or aperture priority". Which means you set one of them and the camera decides the rest.

In my case, because the windmill was spinning I wanted a slow shutter of 1/30th a sec or so so that the windmill blade would blur a little more. Most consumer cameras want to pick a high shutter speed because people can't hold still for a slow one, but sometimes you want the blur, or you want more depth of field in the picture etc.

As for your question about best for dualsporting, the Stylus tough has some pretty good features going for it. It's waterproof, Shock proof, and crushproof. And it takes pretty good pics :)

HTH

I don't cry. Like ever.
That made me cry.

Jeeze you guys are making it hard to ignore my problems! On with the ride report...

Thermal Canyon is quite a nice ride with varied terrain.


I found it quite difficult not to target fixate on the fresh tracks I had been following. Deer?


Have I mentioned yet that I hate sand? I'm not good in sand and this place is sandy!

The first time I attempted Pinkham on the Dakar it took 5 hours and I crashed 6 times. This time, it's personal!

Then:


Now:


This time I'm on the Husky and it was a vastly different experience. I was able to get floatation with Much, Much less speed and while I won't say it was 'fun' I'm almost getting to like it.

1 hour 4 Minutes, including lots of picture stops. No crashes. F you Pinkham Canyon! :fyyff

Cruising along I heard a flapping,and knew instantly what happened. You see this is becoming a recurring theme with me. I used to have some Rok Straps that just worked, but I haven't been able to find the right size so I've been resorting to lesser strapping systems and this is the inevitable result:

Noob!

Well, fortunately it happened in a nice spot and it forced me to stop and smell the flowers. This is something the new little camera can do that my SLR doesn't. Here's the first Macro shot I've taken in years. I keep meaning to buy a good Macro lens for the SLR but never get around to it.


Nothing much was in bloom like it was last time I was here, but it's still just stunning out here. If you've never been to Joshua Tree, I highly recommend it


In this picture I didn't notice a problem with the bike, that would bite me in the ass later...


I felt a major sense of acomplishment getting to the other side of Pinkham Canyon without crashing.
The first time we were so tired, out of water, and I don't know about Andy but I was wondering a little bit of WTF am I doing this to myself for?
I decided right then and there to sell the Dakar. I'm sure glad I just got something else instead of giving up on the sport altogether.
The Husky is a good 100# lighter than the Dakar and boy does it show in sandy stuff. Little did I know that the nice gravelly sand I'd experienced in Death Valley, Mohave or Pinkham is not really sand!:huh


Next up was another long straight high speed bit, powerline road.

They really put together the brain power to name that one creatively eh? Well, it is exactly what they say it is:wink

My repacking job earns me a big fat FAIL!



I took this as a sign from god that it was time to start drinking... At 9:30 AM... on a weekday

Hey, if you wanna drink all day long you gotta start in the morning!

Saw this on the can and I thought thought "fucking A" man, I made it through Pinkham, it's a beautiful day, life is good.


I thought of this...<object style="height: 344px; width: 425px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/f0Iu2CAwQaU"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/f0Iu2CAwQaU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></object>

Got a little full of myself actually, until I saw this:


twenty eight piddly little miles!? "Man up" ha! what a pussy! Feeling all smug about 28 miles of mostly easy dirt.

To add insult to injury this little bastard was manning up too! Stealing his beer like a real 1%er!


Powerline road goes a long way and I was blasting along pretty good so I missed the turn for Red Canyon trail.


parralleling the 10 I was making pretty good time... Funny how one minute you're excited about making good time, then you break down in BFE and start wondering how long it will take to walk 15 miles...

Yes, yes...and then?

Something fall off the bike?

Red Canyon started to get interesting


I was busy sightseeing and wasn't paying attention.


This is where I made my big mistake. Actually my first mistake was not buying enough beer @ Wal-Mart... So this is my Second Mistake, the one that really bit me in the ass l8r. I noticed that I forgot to tighten up the axle adjusters when I mounted the tire. I figured the axle was tight and it had held up fine so far so I decided to fix it "later" when I got to a gas station or something.


The bees were going berzerk over the bush I almost hit


My pace was suffering because I kept stopping for pics.


Red Canyon is very GS'able there's a couple small sandy bits but most of it is like this


The sandy parts were mercifully short


The actual canyon was closed


Even though you can't get too close it's still VERY pretty.


So I parked the bike and went for a hike to check out the canyon


Sadly these pictures just don't do the place justice. Really subtle hues of green and red. Absolutely stunning.

Patience young grass-hoppa! All will be revealed, when you are ready...
Or when I'm good and ready so deal with it

Uh, yeah Kinda. It stayed on and i WISH it had come off