Giant Loop - Oregon, Nevada 08

We got to the other side of the Playa and Stihl was gonna be needing some fuel to get back to Fields. Little Husky doesn't carry quite as much as the Supertankers:



Looking towards the Alvord Playa, it's hot and some of us are out of water:



We get into Fields finally and Stihl immediately takes off his boots. Remember when he was doing the depth test for us?



Reminded me of a fetal pig I dissected in Advanced Biology... :eek1

This little girl was showing off for us by ghostriding her bike into the side of the building. She's some relation to Sandy at the store, not sure what...



Elvis Pastrana (that's what my boys call me when my hair looks like this)



We chow, ice up and head back the easy way from Fields.

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Thanks guys, absolutely stunning.

Howdy all, Now that we hit day 2 of the ride I finally have a contribution to make.

The original plan was to ride my 950 s with the boys out to the Alvord but, my rear shock had other plans and started to leak a week before we were supposed to start. I couldn't get the seal in time so I was not going to make it. Then N2moto calls up and offers me a ride out in his camper. So, I spend a few days prepping the 450 and off we go.

So, day 2
We Made base camp in the valley below


checking out the sights


crossing the top of the first mt. range



Down the hill and up the other side, it was a little dusty out there.


Wox


Spongebrad on his BRP fueltanker,



N2moto is definately enjoying the ride,



Pegs before he got his nickname,



Springtime in the mtns. makes for some sensitive moments,




I love spring!

Homestead stop,


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Beauty shots J!

Keep it going!

Ok, I only have these two shots left for day 2.

This is the Giant Loop pit stop for a tire & oil change.
N2moto and Wox gettin it done,



The 525 awaiting new shoes,



Alrighty, next---day3-- who's up?

Keep it comin'. Great pics. You picked the perfect time to ride this area.

DAY FOUR

I don’t care what bike you are riding,any machine is better with BRAND NEW KNOBBIES! I’m all jacked up on fresh rubber, the weather, knowing the route (I’ve been dreaming about this one for a few years but never been able to put it all together) and the crew, it’s a perfect mix. We roll this familiar powerline to the ‘Crossroads’ and head norte.





We've ridden this and know that it can be horrific silt beds but we are some of the first tracks through here this year and it’s perfectly baked biscuit bottom conditions. I roll out a mile or two and set up these shots, each rider knows he can blaze as fast as he wants.



Check out N2Moto hammering it on the rev limiter -







Always wondered where this track went and today we find out. It goes to an old Hollywood cowboy movie set - except it’s the real thing.



Works to our advantage as Pegz has broken a bolt on his - you guessed it, foot peg. Lots of wire and flotsam around here to rig up his bike.
From there we continue across an untracked desert road towards the playa.



Old SpongeBrad is feeling all spunky and blows by for a photo op’ but on his way back the balding 908 let him down. “I caught that cool guy!”





Here come those Huskies. The radios are a great help if guys are within eyesight or about 3 miles.



The Husky is patched up and Pegz has a bunch of good wire to continue repairing the foot peg until we can get back to N2Moto’s fully rigged trailer for proper Easyout™ and tap job. This is only the beginning of an all-star day!



Full-on sand - awesome!





Don’t even think about crossing this water. Well, I won't anyway - freaks me out!



So we roll playa and head up into the hills. 15 years ago I met this interesting fella at the hot spring. Riding an old 70’s era Yamaha 175 enduro with a coyote hide seat cover and 10/40 dripping all over the chain, he told us about his favorite one-way loop. Me and my friend Chalkie (an Aussie on an old XR 500) did it and were blown away. I guarantee it will be shut down before long by one group or another but today our goal was to put it together as Carl would have.



And that we did.



This is not GS country, much steeper than it looks. I just didn’t want to walk down for the shot angle.





The crux was several hundred yards below this and inspite of it being much easier than it used to be (thanks to Qwads, qwaddling up through here) it was still a challenge and there was no way I was walking down to take shots unless one of the fellas needed a hand - which they didn’t.
Stihlrigg:



The payoff -













This is the part that won’t translate but the smaller the machine the better off the rider was.







This was the 4th time I’ve been through here - twice solo - WAY better with some good buddies on a sunny day like this.









Yeah, some guys actually drove a cat’ up here and built a furnace. Firewood still stacked and ready to start the distilling process. Rugged.













Time to head down and back to camp.



This was supposed to be an easy day off sort of ‘tour’. N2Moto and SpongeBrad have some other photos that contradict that theory.



Gotta kind of freeball this one little down hill section.



But it gets you to this old mining track and you’re good to go.



Down to this little feature. I was actually kind of hot and took the time to soak my jersey. A welcome coast down to another hot spring for a quick rinse off before we rally the desert back to the beer coolers!



I'm out of memory again and took no more shots. I will confess to screwing up the ride back to camp and 'losing' the group. Once N2Moto and I figured out the guys were ahead of us though, we fuking stood on it for a solid 45 minute rally back to camp. That was really fun and I'll never forget that romp across the desert in the evening light. Sorry, no photos.

Originally I was planning to haul back to Bend with N2 and Stihl in the motorhome. Got some stuff to do with work, kids and wife miss me etc etc... but I also wanted to press on into NV with he and Pegz...so Wox is pressing me daily with what my intentions are. I was on the fence still. So he tells me that TODAY was gonna be an easy day.





Peg work:



Hollywood movie set:



Buncha hooligans:



N2 thinking about it:



The Alexander mine and orchard above the Playa:



Down below the rocky climb, waiting for Pegz to finish 'er up.



Super loose and big rocks:



Top of the first little climb:



Stihl:



Pat kinda stuck in a creek while on a scouting mission:





Wox says he knows this route, yet immediately we start bushwhacking. Stihl has a big getoff on the way across, not sure if anyone has any pics, but it was kinda gnarly. I missed it dangit.

Anyway, me, Pegz and N2 hang out on the edge of this gully thinking there is no freakin' way we're going up and out of the creek below us. Stihl and Wox come back up the hill after about 45 minutes and say "we found it, let's go" WHATTTTTT? All we can see is some obscure track which we KNOW is gonna be super soft. Oh shit.





Good conversation...



Where we are headed...



The track up and out:



Souvenirs:



Now I'm no "A" rider like the rest of the crew. AND I have the heaviest bike with the worst tire (next to Pegz' ) and I have to admit I was scared of this climb. I think I mentally F'd myself. But first...

Mr New Rubber Wox:

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Pegz:

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N2 and Stihl made it up no problem too. The trick was you had to make a bit of a hard left turn past a little tree and goose it. Did I mention it was really soft??

Well just as I figgered, as soon as I goosed the pig my 908 lost traction and I dropped it into the hill. "Little help please?"







Little clutch/throttle action and a couple of mules pulling and it was a piece of cake!

The payoff:











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What a great ride!! Thanks for sharing!!

I'd love to check this area out sometime. Looks like you hit it at the exact best time of the year.

Back down the hill we stop at another abandoned mine:



Then we boogie across the street to the Alvord hot spring. Cover your junk!



We finish up at the HS and fuel up Stihl's bike, blaze down the playa to find some water as we're all a little low. We find a land sailor guy who obliges us (thanks dude) and then we motor back across the playa as fast as our bikes would take us. We're all hungry and thirsty and wanna get back to camp mach schnell.

I was following close behind N2 and Wox, but I had to do 100 across the playa to make it so. At some point I lost sight of them thru the scrub brush and decided to wait for Pegz and Stihl. Two big tracks up the dune told me they went thata way...





We absolutely rip back thru the monkey dunes and double track thinking we're behind N2 and Wox. At the crossroads we see tracks and still think we're behind, not knowing that now they are actually chasing us...

About 7/8 of the way back Pegz breaks the OTHER side of his bike. A quick bailing wire fix again and he's gonna noodle back to camp.

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Okay, here's the policy because it's bound to come up again. Sharing the GPS tracks for this area would get me in a shit-storm of trouble. Most of it would be super easy to piece together by yourself with some maps and a GPS. Other sections... not so much. Wox has been riding this area for about 14 years and has done all the leg work. The rest of us just followed along. I wouldn't want to cheapen his efforts, so to speak.

OTOH I highly recommend visiting the area and stopping at all the little towns, Plush, Fields, Adel, Denio as well as Burns, Wagontire, Brothers, Riley and every place in between. These people are taking a royal beating because of gas prices. People just aren't driving out there anymore. So get on your scooter and go buy as much as you can at these places because one day soon they could just be a boarded up building by the road. Then what'll we do?

Guys...a great trip and write-up! Excellent photos. Oregon has some of the best riding in the world.

DAY FIVE

We were originally thinking about a dive way south into Nevada but spending the 2 days ripping around Fields country sort of ate up some miles. Honestly, I was kinda beat and was looking forward to an easier pace for at least one day. Plus, all the camping stuff on the bikes will definately slow us down a little.

Stihlrigg had some Husky issues, a get-off the day before and just wanted to hang out with a book at the hot springs so N2Moto, Pegz, SpongeBrad and myself decided to head back up into the mountains for a mellow tour down to Denio, NV for lunch. It was another spectacular high desert day.



These mosaic snow patterns are mesmerizing to me. I almost ate it several times looking at them instead of the track.





Rolling down this beautiful canyon through freshly leafing out aspens an young grasses poking up in the road was very enjoyable.



Blue and yellow bike in a blue and yellow (and green) world.



Couldn’t remember exactly where we were until I saw this little landmark.



Got all turned around up here once and spent the bigger part of a day hitting deadends at private, gated, signed properties in Nevada. Not today though, we put this together nice and easy.



This didn’t suck.





The last break before we drop out of the cool mountain air. N2Moto spied this crazy dam. I’d never seen this before.









Down out of the mountains into the desert heat.



We rolled into Denio for lunch and fuel. This gas stop will have to get us through our route in Nevada to Adel, OR.



It’s kinda busy, there’s all kinds of bikes stopping in here today.



We said goodbye to N2Moto and he pulled this gigantic wheelie up the highway on his way back to his rig. It was cool but I wish he was continuing the ride with us. At least we talked SpongeBrad into tagging along. There’re 2 more days of stuff I want to show these guys.

This road is all up hill for several miles and is an absolute gas. Super fun waterbar airs and nicely laid out contoured corners.







Crappy light right now but the rocks up in here are really cool.



We called this ‘Alpen Camp’. I think we were near 7000’ just above a small reservoir and surprisingly, there were no mosquitos.



Nice sunset.





Another full moon, I slept like a mummy this night.

You guys Rock! Awesome pictures...thanks

I was up for an easy day too. Mega-miles punctuated by lots of alcohol, heat, dehydration and less than perfect sleep over the last several days have taken a toll on my body. An easy cruise to Denio with the boys will be just fine.

Luckily for Todd, aka Pegz, N2 got his Husky dialed with some JB Weld the night before:



We decided after this that N2 will be coming on all our rides.

We ate like cavemen while N2 wrenched:



Random shots heading towards Denio. Another spectacular day:











We fuel up the bodies and bikes again and bid N2 adieu. We goaded him into a grand exit (3rd gear standup wheelie):

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As he tells it, right as he set the front end down some "official" looking truck turned around and chased him out of town. In sticking with his hooligan roots he did not stop and high-tailed it back into Oregon. Nice one .

Heading towards camp we spied some wild burros:



Our destination for the evening:



Right as we pull into camp Pegz' bike decides it doesn't like gas anymore and starts puking it all over his hot bike. Very scary moment. But if he was going up in flames I was getting the shot!



Epic sunset:



Scenery around our campsite:









So Wox' wife apparently bought him some off-brand freeze dried food. This was Mexican "style" rice and beans. From the instant he poured the hot water in we all knew it would be bad. We had a huge teary-eyed laugh for about 10 minutes when he produced this "meal"...



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"My name is Cornholio, I need tortilla for my bunghole!"

Jeez, now I'm way behind.

Catching up,


We start out day three with this great desert crossing over some mtns that are all rocky and gnarly. Lot's of 2nd gear riding, but then we come out into the bottomland on these hardpack playa roads that are super high speed if you want it.

Here we are at the crossroads getting on the high speed stuff.


The goods, quite dusty; we had to spread way out.

Pegz


Spongebrad


Wox



First viewpoint after the tough climb--all rocks.
Fixin the pegs on the 610



Going up there, what an amazing ride so far.



Smelled like a flowershop,



So, yeah I had a pretty big getoff right before we found the little trail that connected the two roads thru the little canyon where the blast furnace was.
I was going down this soft hill and my rear wheel hit a rock just right and I sailed into the air like I was riding a bull. I swear my legs were over my head at one point. I was going real slow so I somehow landed on my feet next to the bike and at the same time was full on whiskey throttle down the hill. I new if I let go my bike wouldn't stop till it hit the bottom of the canyon. I held on for all I was worth and bulldogged the bike into the dirt. Unfortunately I nailed a rock with the top of my knee, and another on my hip bone. I am always ATTGAT so I come out ok with only a few scrapes and bruises.

Here's a few shots of the connector trail.
Going down





Going back up.
I'm standing next to the road where the connector trail meets up.
Wox


N2moto


N2moto heading up the old road.


Worth it, supposed to be a panorama.


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After taking a break in that big mtn. meadow we headed to one more view point before descending to the hotspring for a well deserved break.

The road to the viewpoint,



The view point



The view





On the way down--all sunflowers, the'll be gone in a week.


old mine shack


inside-- t&g floor-still in pretty good shape


No more pics for the day

That nite when we got back to camp wefixed up the pegs on the 610
drillin


tappin


JB weldin the bolts in place.


Sure was great to have N2moto as team mechanic, and his portable pitstop along with us. He said he wouldn't have even tried had I not had the JB weld with me. The holes were all wallowed out so the JB was really the only thing holding the pegs on.

So I played with the camera a little that nite and got a couple of cool pics.
Wox checking out the route for the next day,


moonrise over camp


The next day everyone went to Denio, but since I was pretty sore from the crash the day before I decided to stick close to camp.
After the guys had taken off I decide to cruise the 30miles to Fields and have lunch and a milkshake. I followed the boys tracks for a few miles then turned onto the main gravel road. After about 5 mins. I was bored stiff so I found a turnoff that headed to what I hoped would be the crossroads. Since I was alone and nobody knew where I was I rode mellow and just took in the scenery.







Seems like there was a fire here 2 maybe 3 years ago.




I was right--the crossroads


I came from over the hills in this pic


road to Fields


next stop more road to Fields


Made it to Fields no problems. After eating lunch I am sitting in the shade enjoying a strawberry shake and a good book when these guys pull up on their bikes. 3 dudes 2 bikes, all wearing assless pants. I thought it was the village people. Thats a new Beemer behind the Hardly.


Turns out the dude on the right; his New Hardly broke down about 10 miles away and they didn't have cell reception to call the free roadside assistance program that Hardly is tacking on to new bikes these days. I wonder why they need free roadside assistance on a new bike?

I ran into this dude on the dirt to Fields, he was taking the roundabout way to L.A.


That's it for me. I retraced my rte. back to camp and hung out with a few beers till N2moto made it back from Denio. It looked like it might rain, it didn't, but since we were camped in a dry riverbed we thought it best to mosey on down the road just in case. N2moto was on a roll and we made it to Burns before he needed to crash for the night.

Showers and egg sandwiches in the morning and we were home by noon.

Thanks go out to Woxs for leading us around, and to N2moto for haulin his big rig out there so we could have some big time comfort in the desert.

Till next time, Ride while you can.

Nice shots there J - wish you both could've kept riding with us. Next time.

Okay, I MUST find a way to get on the invitation list for next year!

The new 530 is in, and by this time next year I should have an Exon Valdez class tank like the rest of you... I promise I can keep up!


I've been practicing being the sole of discretion in terms of passing the "less enthused" folks as well... (Insider joke there, Brad and Dave know whereof I speak.. Speaking of - put in pretty hard 330 miles on the 530 this last weekend, and I'm generally sore like a desk jockey, but I'm finally free of pain from "that incident"... )

Anyway..

Please please??

Great ride report - I caught myself drooling at least once.. Hard on the keyboard, that stuff...

Makes the "Officially sanctioned Dual Sport events" that I've been attending seem like a pansy outing to the local ice cream store.. I lust for more, MORE, I tell you!