It was Epic for me thats for sure. I have never riden on a long cross country like that. Went well and Bill and I had a great time. Saw some beautiful country. Wyoming was quite an experience, mostly because of the weather. It was touch and go there for a while when we were riding thru the wind, lightning, rain, and hail. But like they say What doesn't kill ya will just make you stronger. I will remember that experience forever because it is burned into my skull Thanks for your comment. Temps at night were mostly in the 60's. We hit it just right as far as the weather. Elevations were mostly in the 6500-8500 range with an occasional 9500 once in a while. No frost. The weather has really turned since we left. A cold front started to come thru Labor Day weekend and Georgetown on Saturday was 35 degrees in the morning. My friends just emailed me and said it was raining up Berthoud Pass and snowed 2" at 12000 feet.
I thought it was time to finish my ride report and post the last day of the ride. Took off from Rawlings early Thursday morning and planned to get as close to Georgetown as we could by the end of day as we were planning on heading out Friday and at least driving halfway home. It was another windy one as we headed south out of Rawlins and were doing the lean to the right. Still open range to the south for a ways until we get into the Medicine Bow National Forest. The antelope were in abundance on this morning. At one point we saw about 30 in a herd not too far from the road. I love to watch these animals run. They are way smarter than deer. This is open range so there are no fences. They come a running up on us at a diagonal and we would speed up to cut them off and they would veer back on their side of the road and run right along side of us. Once the leader got across and we cut him off from the others that were following. They run more like a horse, very level no jumping or bounding like a deer. I am told they will not jump a fence. They prefer to go under the fence. I would like to see that. Next stop Jack Creek Camp. I believe that is the camp in the background. Getting into the Medicine Bow National Forest. Beautiful country. Bill and I leapfrogged each other most of the day which is what we did the last few days of the ride. He would be leading and stop to take a photo and I would pass on by then I would stop and so on..... We came up on this tracked vehilce and a log across the road. We could hear the guy in the picker working back in the woods. So we sat there until he came back out dragging a cluster of logs. He drags the log that was in the road off and we pass on by. 10Cup had texted us about a road closure east of Aspen Alley on our route and suggested that we take Hwy 70 south when we hit it to avoid that road. I guess he had to reroute and rode thru some pretty rough stuff getting to Riverside where he spent the night. I took a few of these photos on the fly as you can see by the blurriness. We stopped at Battle Mountain overlook on Hwy 70 and took a few photos. I guess there were a few battles with Indians and Trappers at this location. About the time we are ready to head out a hired hand walks a horse and a couple of dogs down the highway. They came up the moutain from below. Further down Hwy 70 we come along an area where the highway had just slid down the hill. Down in the valley below. I am not sure if they are cleaning up a rock slide or it is just a good place to get rock. Once we tie back into our route from Hwy 70 we ride down Slater Creek on Co-1. There is a cattle rancher, the Hendricksons hunding lodge and a big house on the high plateau owned by a man named Porter. This valley that the creek runs down is really gorgeous. This is a maintenance building that is a part of the Hendricksons Lodge. We stop to make a pit stop and we hear someone yell "HELP" real loud. Couldn't figure out where it came from or exactly what was yelled. He yelled again so Bill and I begin to walk toward the maintence building. I yelled "YO" and he yelled again and we asked him where he was and he kept yelling until we found where he was. He was on the roof of an little old schoolhouse that was sitting on a skid on the other side of the maintenance building They had brought it from Meeker to set down there on some concrete pilings. The ladder that he was using had fallen and he was stuck on the roof. Bill set the ladder up for him and down he comes. He was glad to see us and offered a cold drink at the lodge but we said we had to be going. What a hoot! So we are off again having made our rescue for the day. We come up on this whole herd of sheep some of which are just laying in the middle of the road. I had to ride right up to them to get them to move. We didn't spook them in the least. We ride into Hayden about 1:30 or so and we realize that we can make Georgetown by 6 pm or so. We stop and have lunch in a park there and press on to Kremmeling. The Yampa River runs right by Hayden. Bill tried to tell me there was some drop dead gorgeous lady in a bikini down swimmin. Sounds like a Mikey story to me. After we passed thru Hayden we were enroute to Kremmerling via part of the Routt National Forest, Oak Creek and Phippsburg. The Last Chance Ranch. Oak Creek The Black Dog Inn in Phippsburg that was closed for the season. Black Dog absorbed all my light for the photo. From there we pretty much slabbed it to Kremmerling. About 13 miles outside of Kremmerling on Hwy 137 coming down the North Fork Pass Bills rear wheel bearing decides to go out as he is making a sharp curve coming down a pretty steep grade on slab. I go back to see why he isn't joining me at the bottom of this descent and find out he can only travel about 10 MPH with a distinct wobble in his rear wheel. There is no cell service on this side of the mountain so we decide that I should go ahead and call our friends Keith and Sue and have them bring Bills truck and pick us up. Once I get to Hwy 40 I have cell service and call and Sue begins to search for Keith. I went on to Kremmerling to wait for them to call me back with a plan. I get a call from Keith about an hour later and says he is on his way. Kremmerling is only about 45 miles from Georgetown so I head back to where I last saw Bill and as I am heading out of town I see him off to the side of the road. He had limped into Kremmerling by that time so we wait for Keith to come pick us up. We got the bikes unpacked and when Keith arrived we loaded the bikes and headed back to Georgetown. When we gpt back we went to the Alpine Lodge next door to the Mountain Inn where we stayed the night and ate pizza.And believe me we ate the whole thing. Man, I had the best time on this ride and I look forward to doing something similar to this next year. Thanks to Bill, The Toyman for hooking up and riding this route with me. I couldn't have asked for a better sidekick to ride the Trails West. Thanks to 10Cup for putting the route together and inviting me along. Too bad his schedule got messed up and we couldn't have ridden some of the route together. And thanks to my good friends Keith and Sue for being so gracious to take the time to show us around and make us feel welcome. Well that about sums it all up. I will hopefully see you all down the trail.
Hey Oleary, great pictures. I had the same problem with logs across the road. Had to wait for them to clear the road so I could pass through. Good stuff my man!
Sorry for my slow posting, I am out of town working and will finish my report this weekend. Oleary leaves me some big shoes to fill when it comes to ride reports.
No problem Bill. Take your time. There is more than one side to every story and yours is worth telling. I look forward to seeing you photos and your side of the story.
Great report Oleary, glad we did separate reports as you had some different areas and experiences and it was great to hear about them. Toyman, can't wait to hear your report too. I got stuck on the East side of Blackhill Mountain so I didn't get to ride the Hayden stretch, glad you did and now I get to see it too. All good.
West Coast for something different. Same theme, but Wash/Ore and coastal northern Cali and gold rush country.
I grew up around the gold country. If you want to ride those trails, you better be aboard a KTM 200 smoker...
Sorry for the delayed report, We pack up and get ready to head out of Meeker We head out with Oleary in the lead, all of a sudden my bike starts coughing and sputtering and dies, I coast to the side of the road. I tear into my tool pack and check to see if the carb bowl has fuel, wooo water in my fuel when I drain it, still won't start so I pull the plug and it has some deposits, I clean them off and stick it back in and she fires right up, my that was luck. Just as I am getting it put back together Oleary is looking for his lost sheep. We head out and it stutters some more and my maximum speed is 45 to 50 so I lead and Oleary follows. What a beautiful moring! Yup he is still back there Another great View Kenny Reservoir north of Rangley, Co. As Mr Oleary stated this mud hole was a challenge and we finally figured a way around it through a shorter section to the east of it and it was still a challenge. Only to find this one around the corner, does not look like much but that was one slick and mucky mess and we made it though sith ease and a few rooster tails flyin More beautiful scenery Oleary still hot on my trail Little did we know that this was the beginning of the most breath taking views of the trip for us. Breathtaking but there is more! Yup here comes This is what memories are made of Oleary taking it all in Even my Pig enjoys the view Oleary getting a closer view of the Yampa river Echo Canyon Camping area Heading out of Echo Canyon Storm a brewing to the west We just rode through this rain storm just south of Vernal, could not see the front fender of my bike at times. We pull into this scenic pull off on Hwy 40 and dry out We head on into Vernal and find a place to stay and food, what a wonderful day of riding and with a good riding partner Oleary.
Great Pictures and report there Toyman! Glad I missed the mud, not sure where you guys got into that but I didnt' have any. Instead I got into 8" silt and that was a huge mess.
Well we load up and get ready to head out and we visit with a guy that is riding with his freind on Harleys We don't get very far and Oleary needs more insulation in the brisk cool morning Looking back on Vernal Oleary takin in the cool morning and the veiw from atop of the hill Taking in more vistas Oleary getting close to the old building for a photo. Off we go to Marshalls Draw We finally make it out and stop for a snack break along the rocks, just plain Awsome! If you look behind my big head you can see the draw we just came out of, very impressive draw. Green River and as far as the eye can see is the Swinging Bridge, there were some guys fishing just above the bridge, what a fine day to do so. Looking back to the mountains where we came through Marshalls Draw Short pavement section over the hill to Flaming Gorge Another view of Marshalls Draw from the overlook My partner in crime Upper end of Flaming Gorge lake The Dam, notice it is getting dark and then it starts to rain, did I mention it has rained on us every day. We out run the rain and get to Red Canyon Lodge and enjoy the outdoors on the deck and have a great lunch Oleary taking care of Business More rain coming so we wait it out for a while and it passes And we are off to Mustang Point campground and take a few photos along the way Home sweet home away from Home, we make camp with a beautiful view. Oleary tending the fire, which felt good when the sun went down End of day three, we hit the hay early, but the Chanting music was too much so I listened to my Ipod and slept so good that Oleary beat me up the next morning. Whew it has been fun thus far.
It rained pretty good overnight when we were in Meeker. I think it was just silty mud that had run off from the rain the night before. It was like a slurry that had run across the road.
Nice job Toyman! The photos are outstanding. Its funny how someone elses photos put a whole new lite on the trip. No more photos of me eating tho Man. That is gross!