dirt dame

You have to take every opportunity that is afforded to you while the weather is warm because between November and April there won't be much of any chance to hit the dirt, as it will long covered in snow.

For the 4th of July, Kim and I did a ride up Little mountain which is not too far south of my place. Friends were camping for the holiday weekend up there, so we took our DS bikes up for a little socializing and consuming of grilled hamburgers. On the way, we stopped at an old homestead to have a peeky-see around. It was not right at the road's edge and a gully and creek separated us from the ruins, so we had to trudge in on foot, in our riding boots....an adventure, to be sure. After that side trip we made it to the top of the mountain, where it became evident that weather was going to move in sooner or later. Luckily, it was later, but we still cut our route short to make sure we were exposed to as little inclement weather as possible on our return trip...and by inclement weather, I mean lightning. It was pretty warm on the way back, and we were often under the cloud cover. There were squall lines all around us, but except for a few random sprinkles, we were spared any extracurricular storming. It was an excellent way to spend the fourth.

We also use Avenza when we ride. But mostly, I like to use Google Earth. I like to start dropping pins on routes and features as soon as I get home. It helps me with future routes and connecting the countryside.

I have heard of Onxmaps. I think my local riding partner has that app installed on her phone. We still manage to get lost or follow dead-end trails using it.😏 The area that I was riding was crossing into the Wasatch Uinta area, very close to Wyoming. Not too close to Vernal. Closer to Manila, only further west and south. Most of the time, I explore stuff not far from Dutch John.

Couldn't decide between fishing the Uintas or riding the Uintas when I woke up Saturday morning. Riding won out, and the clear bike choice was Bugz Beta for exploring a new area, especially with a long rocky climb to get to the trails I was interested in. The area war quite beautiful, maybe the prettiest spot in the Uintas. I rode around until I came to a spot where I decided to take a video. At that point, I realized that the clouds were gathering quickly, and not wanting to caught in a thunderstorm, it was literally the turning point for me. So I headed back down to the staging area. There must be other access points to the area. It's difficult to tell on Google Earth because the trails become obscured by the tree cover. I have some paper maps, but sometimes there are trails shown that don't exist, or none shown where I find a trail. At any rate, it's always an adventure up in the mountains, and I am sure I'll find a through route in that area soon.

The following week, Kim joined me to have a look at the area. We tried to reach Three Corners, but it was getting late in the afternoon, and I grew somewhat weary. We did make a nice loop route though, and I hope to expand on it soon.

Shortly thereafter, I felt bad that my 501 hadn't been out for a while, so I loaded it up and headed for northern Colorado which is also just a hop, skip and a jump over the border. I found the Diamond peak, Three Corners area very conducive to exploring and enjoying the scenery.

There's at least 5 months that you can count on to not be riding weather up on the ol' prairie. During that time, if the Flaming Gorge isn't frozen over, I go fishing....even when it only 18 degrees. But once all the snow melts in the mountains, it's time to hit the dirt again. My first ride of the season was a short local shakedown ride to try out my new Beta Factory forks that I just added to match the Factory shock I installed a couple of years ago. The balanced suspension felt really great and the little Xtrainer finally felt like it was handling the way it should. Soon after, it was time to head back up into the Uinta mountains just over the border in Utah. Great weather, and snow only on the highest peaks made for a fun day of solo riding.

I have spent many a happy hour catching trout, bass and crappie at that lake.

Gives new meaning to the term "adventure bike".

I guess that I am as safe as anywhere else, with my Spot device. True, there are few populated areas or services nearby, though I am only several miles From Dutch John up in the mountains where there is fuel, food and lodgings. I'm friends with the rangers in the area also.

You can rent goats if you are hunting. They come complete with collars and red nylon panniers. My bike was not running and it was parked, but the white goat did not want pass by it, so much so that he lay down and wouldn't get up until I rolled the bike about ten feet further away from him.

Another year passed by, and I haven't been able to spend nearly as much time riding motorcycles as I used to in California. Of course the winters here play a part in that, but even in summer I don't get out that much. Luckily, there are some nice mountains nearby to play in, only about 80 miles away. That's about the same distance that I used to drive to get to McCain valley for a few hours of leisure trail riding. So on my birthday, I requested a day off from work, applied for PTO and did what I usually do on my birthday....go riding and stop for supper on the way home afterwards. The Uinta mountains were beginning to respond to the colder nights, and the leaves were starting their fall color change. The kokanee salmon were heading upstream to spawn....and bowhunting season had just started. So riding on a Monday wasn't as peaceful as I thought it might be. None the less, it was a good day. Sunny and windy, not too cool, pretty much perfect weather. A stop at Flaming Gorge resort just down the road for a dinner sammich hit the spot to wrap up the day. Sheep creek, and a few kokanees lingering below the bridge. On the166 ATV trail, and I could see Manila down in the valley from the ridge I was on.

I've been doing quite a bit of solo rambling lately, as my usual riding buddy's haul vehicle has been down with a broken engine for a while. So on Labor day weekend, I hauled my TE up to the ranch, and Kim and I departed on two wheels, headed south on the rolling hills and plateaus of southern Wyoming. It was uncomfortably hot weather for the most part, but there were few rain squalls that provided occasional relief. We visited Maggie's spring, which had been taken over by sheep, then headed south until we saw an abandoned ranch cabin down in a valley. We made our way down there and then headed over to the main road to make our way back homeward. There were herds of cattle, scattered bunches of wild horses and an odd antelope or mule deer here and there. We spotted an old bridge abutment off the road a bit and followed a cow trail over to it for a few photos. It a good day without any crashes or mishaps, and interesting venues to be explored.