KTMrad

Day Six - Wednesday. After breaking camp and loading up, it was time for breakfast. Kennedy Meadows is a historic place, it's been there for years, and many movies have been filmed here. As I was checking out all the historic photos and plaques on the wall, the waitress told me there's a cabin in the meadow that was used for the opening scene for the old TV show, "Little House on the Prairie". I didn't have time to go see it. Here's a couple of friendly hound dogs just waking up on the porch. I love dogs. Friendly little guy. After a great morning ride through the twisties on route 108, I took 49 south towards Mariposa. Here, the fantastic twisties wind down a mountain and cross Don Pedro Reservoir. And wind their way up another mountain......REALLY FUN riding !! Historic Marker I got to Oakhurst in the afternoon and called my friend Robert who lives nearby. Asked him if he had any cold beer at the house. He said no. I said I'll bring some over, and he asked, "Why, where are you". I said I was in town, so he said to come on by. After hangin' with Robert for a couple of hours and telling him about my adventures, it was time to get to my destination for the day. I had some county maps of the area, and found some great, twisty one-lane roads that you'll only find on a county map. I took Italian Bar road from Bass Lake to Chawanakee, then Jose Basin Road to Auberry. Cool one-lane bridge. I got up to Shaver Lake and stopped for fuel. I asked the woman if Kaiser Pass was open. She said it was still blocked by 12 feet of snow. I now had to change my plans of going to the end of Kaiser Pass and Mono Hot Springs (missed it last time I was up here 2 years ago also). I took Dinkey Creek Road to forest road 40 to the end at Wishon Reservoir. Plaque at Wishon Dam. Along the way, stopped at the McKinley Grove of Giant Sequoia trees........ Looking up at the Sequoias. I tried finding a dirt road that heads down the spectacular Granite Gorge from Wishon Dam, to Black Rock Reservoir and to Pine Flat Reservoir. I started down one dirt road and wasn't sure if it was the right one, so I stopped in a campground and asked some people with 4 wheelers. One guy said he had hiked down the road a ways and there was a downed tree, he wasn't sure if I could make it around. With further contemplation, I decided to head back the way I came. I checked out a couple of other dirt roads I knew go down towards Pine Flat, but there was still a lot of snow in the forest. I continued back to lower elevation and took a road I was familiar with, which headed to Pine Flat. This road is a forest road with broken pavement and dirt for about 30 miles. I was now on my last dirt of the trip. Here is the last dirt photo as I dropped down towards Pine Flat Lake As I got down to Pine Flat, the road along the lake is nothing but constant twisties for about 20 miles. There are hardly ever any vehicles on it, so I used it as my own, personal racetrack, blasting my way towards the town of Piedra. From there, I rode more twisties to the town of Squaw Valley, on route 180 west of Kings Canyon. I got a room at a motel there and went for dinner at the local pizza joint. I was so hungry, I ate almost a whole pizza myself, what a pig !! 328 miles for the day. Squaw Valley Motel

Day Five - Tuesday morning. I woke up after a good night's sleep and saw that my sweaty riding gear had dried out overnight. I studied my maps for a bit, and it was time for another day of exploration. I loaded up the bike and had my plan of attack for the rest of the day, then headed for some grub. After breakfast, I rode south a couple miles on 395 to find the turnoff to Horse Meadow. Saw a guy in a pickup truck on a dirt road and stopped to ask him if this was the right turnoff. Yep, then asked him if he knew if the trails were blocked by snow. He said clear all the way. So I headed up towards Lower Horse Meadow, then south on the 4WD route. I took a turn west on a trail that was not in the book. I knew it would dead end, but I needed some good exploration first thing this morning. It was just another fun trail with some more great scenery. There were some downed trees across the road, so I had to ride off the trail around them. I was worried about the ground being too soft in some spots, but there were 4 wheel tracks to follow, so knew I'd be OK. Further up the trail, there was a huge mud puddle and the 4 wheelers had rutted up the trail in this spot. It looked really soft and deep, so I detoured around it through the trees. Didn't foresee this........ The forest floor was softer than I ever imagined. Hmmmm, what to do now ? I couldn't push or lift the bike out. I decided to pull up on the rear and lay the bike on it's side, resting on the pannier. I contemplated dragging it to the trail, but that was about 15 feet and the bike was pretty heavy, so that idea was out. When I looked in the hole that the rear wheel had dug, I saw water actually flowing beneath the topsoil, no wonder it was so soft !! I used my boots to stomp the dirt down as much as I could and stood the bike upright. Fortunately this worked, I was able to rev the crap out of the motor and ride the bike back to the trail. This little incident only took me 15 minutes to get out of this time This mud would stay on the bike until I got home. I rode to where the road dead-ended. No spectacular view this time, but the riding to get here was well worth it !! What a Poser !! After my little 2 hour exploration, I rode on a dirt road before getting back on 395. I saw 2 horses in a field, and I don't know if this was coincidence or not, but it seems that when they saw me, they both started into a full gallop, running in the field along with me. I imagined they saw me on my mechanical horse, and had to race me through the field !! I stopped to try to get a photo of that, but they were too fast. Coincidence or not, I thought that was great. I had to get back on the 395 north. I wanted more dirt after a few miles, but there were no trails that I knew of. I found the next best thing for getting off the highway. I saw the old road paralleling 395, so I turned onto it, just so I could get off the main road. The old road was broken pavement with some dirt mixed in. I also explored a couple of side trails that didn't really lead anywhere interesting, so decided to keep heading north. I had to face the fact that today I would have to burn some miles on 395. I rode down some paved, dead-end roads heading west. One was Lundy Canyon and the Lundy Lakes area. Ahhh, towards the end of this road I found more dirt. I rode a couple of miles along some interesting lakes. There were different lakes along the road, at different levels (like different steps, hard to describe) as the road climbed in elevation. I continued on until I reached a huge mud puddle about 75 feet long, across the road, and no way to get around. It looked like a lot of snow runoff had been running across the road, and I was worried there might be some deep holes or rutts that I couldn't see. I threw some small rocks into the center of the puddle to try to see how deep it might be. Grabbed some larger rocks and threw them in. Looked like it might be deep or rutted in the center, so I decided I didn't want to chance getting stuck or falling over in it. I turned around to head back. Shot before I turned around. Interesting, someone painted an Indian Head on this rock. It was time for a break at this raging stream. All of the streams, creeks and rivers were raging, due to tons of snow melt from the mountains. Heading north (again) on the 395, I was not in a rush, so I rode the next route west to the Virginia Lakes area. There were many trails I could see off the road, but the elevation here was very high and still lots of snow. I knew they would be impassable. I rode to the end where there was a "Pavement Ends" sign. Unfortunately, this is also where they stopped clearing the road. Here is one of the lakes.......still partially frozen. The Virginia Lakes Resort. Looks like a nice place to stay sometime. On the way east, there was one dirt road called Dundeberg Meadow that I really wanted to ride; supposed to be awesome. But as I figured, it was blocked by snow within the first 100 yards. I knew that for the rest of the trip, there would be no more off-roading along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra on the west side of 395. I had to continue north on 395, fortunately there were some twisties and great scenery along the way to Bridgeport. I had to bypass the turnoff for the ghost town called Bodie (I was there 2 years ago, so wasn't too worried about missing it this time), since I needed fuel. Stopped in Bridgeport for lunch and gas. Asked the guys at the restaurant if the dirt roads going into the Bodie Hills were clear. They said probably, but I might have to deal with some mud. Alright, time for some more adventure !! Just outside Bridgeport, I took the dirt roads through Aurora Canyon and to the Bodie Hills, heading towards Masonic Ghost Town. I came to a severe looking mudbog in the road. It was rutted out from 4 wheelers, but looked like it had hardened up over the last few days. I decided to give it a go, I was not going to turn back !! I Felt the bike sinking a bit, but stayed on the gas and made it through, no problem. Came to this section, where I couldn't decide if the road was a stream, or the stream was a road !! As I was stopped for these photos, a guy on a quad rode up and I asked him if the road was passable the rest of the way. He gave me a thumbs up. He told me to get ahead of him, but later he passed me as I stopped for more Kodak moments at the Masonic ghost town. Remains of mine on hillside. Miner's Shack. I enjoyed riding through the remains of this mining town, but it's nothing compared to Bodie Ghost Town. If you're ever in this area, don't miss Bodie !! The road continued into Nevada, here's the 950 at the border. The road eventually led me back into California and I headed back to Bridgeport for gas, then north again on 395. I thought I was done with dirt for the day, but as I headed towards Sonora Pass, I knew of one more dirt road and when I saw it on the right, I couldn't pass it up. I turned around and rode up to Burcham Flat. This was a fun road as it was fairly well graded, had fun sliding the KTM around corners, and was able to ride at a good clip, much faster than all the dirt I had ridden so far on this trip. I had to stop for this shot, I'm up on a ridge about 2000 feet above 395, which is in the valley below. The road got tight and twisty as the switchbacks dropped me down quickly to the town of Walker. I realized the dirt road took me at least 10 miles north, out of my way, but since I was grinning from the ride, who cares !! South on 395 took me to the Sonora Pass Rd., route 108, which would take me across the Sierra Nevada to the west side. Deep snow still up on the pass. Rad Adventure Rider. They always try to get this road open and clear the snow before Memorial Day Weekend, since the Tioga Pass through Yosemite is usually closed until July. I stopped later to absorb the views of all the snow around me. Here's a stream flowing UNDER the snow. Ahhh, cool, refreshing in the Sierra Nevada. My plan for the evening was to end up somewhere near Fresno and get a room. But, as I rode through the gorgeous pine forests and saw campgrounds along the road, I decided I wanted to spend another night camping in the mountains. I got to a little place called Strawberry, their store was closed, but I saw this and couldn't resist a photo. I'm getting a set of these tracks on my KTM for the next ride !! I backtracked east to a place called Kennedy Meadows (not the same KM that is down south on Sherman Pass) since I heard they were open. I saw a nice campground on the way in and headed to the store to stock up for the night and have dinner. Stocking up. Met some nice, friendly folks at dinner who were in the area doing volunteer construction at a local Christian Camp. The Touratech Panniers come in very handy....you can strap all kinds of stuff to them, like firewood !! River view at Deadman Campground I set up camp, started a roaring fire and thoughts of all the great riding I had done so far, flowed through my head. I retired to the tent earlier than expected to get a good night's sleep. Only one day left, tomorrow, before heading home.

Day Four - Monday, Memorial Day. Woke up and heard Allen outside packing up his stuff, so I figured it's time to get up. We talked more as we both loaded up our stuff and then went into town for breakfast at Tom's Place. Allen at the campground. After a hearty breakfast of pot roast & eggs, Allen and I parted ways. If any of you are ever passing by Tom's Place, I highly recommend stopping at the restaurant for their awesome grub !! I wanted to explore an area called Sand Canyon, heading up towards Wheeler Ridge. I knew there would be too much snow on Wheeler Ridge, but wanted to go see how far I could get anyway. I started south from Tom's Place and rode some great, twisty roads until getting to the dirt section which led to Sand Canyon. There's a reason they call it that....some deep, soft sand for a few miles as you climb higher in elevation. The road was getting rougher, the higher I climbed. I saw the low fuel light come on.....damn, poor planning this morning, I didn't fill up the tank. I turned around, knowing I better not run out of fuel up here alone. This is a place I want to explore in the future. The book I was using as a guide says Wheeler Ridge is a scenic, moderately challenging 4x4 trail, so I am looking forward to riding it sometime. Got back onto the 395 and gassed up near Lake Crowley. Decided to hop on a two lane road that parallels 395 for a few miles. Then back onto 395 north. A few more miles on the highway and I turned off to go see Convict Lake. It was crowded up there, lots of tourists, but the view was nice. I only spent a few minutes at the lake, then headed back towards 395. I saw a dirt road to the left and couldn't pass it up. It followed along 395 and then towards the next area I wanted to explore, called Laurel Canyon, a 4 1/2 mile dirt road that dead ends at some spectacular scenery, according to the book. I turned up the road and it quickly started to climb some tight switchbacks and was fairly rocky and rough. YEEHAW, I knew I would enjoy this !! Oh no, not another snowdrift !! Luckily, clear passage around this one. I came upon the next snowdrift, made it across since the 4-wheelers had already gone through. Another mile and had to stop at this one.... I hiked across the long snowdrift to get a view of what was ahead. Once I got to the crest, I was treated to this majestic view..... View east. After soaking up the views, I climbed aboard the mighty 950 and rode back down to the main dirt road, turned north and headed towards Mammoth. As I was riding along, I just happened to turn my head to the left and noticed a bike on a trail. I turned around to go meet the guy and be sociable. When I pulled up to him, I noticed he had a problem. He was wet and he had his helmet on the ground. There was a tiny stream crossing that didn't look like much, about 3 feet wide. BUT, what he didn't see was a hole about 3 feet deep in the stream. Of course when he tried to cross it, he fell over with the bike and fully submerged it. He couldn't get it started and had NO tools with him. I got my tools out and we drained the float bowl on the carb, checked his plug, stood the bike on end to drain the water out of the tailpipe. The bike still wouldn't start. We did what we could, then he had to use my cell phone to call his wife, since his phone wouldn't work after it got wet in the stream. He thanked me for the help, and I asked him if there was anything else I could do for him. Nope, all was good, luckily he wasn't very far from town. I continued through some beautiful, lush pine forests and into the town of Mammoth for gas. After gas, I headed towards the east side of 395 and into the mountains. Saw 3 dual-sporters riding back to their trucks, so stopped to talk to them and ask them about some of the trails in the area. I followed some of their advice combined with the route in my book, to head towards Lookout Mountain. I ended up on a marked route called the Lookout Trail. I was expecting this to take me to Bald Mountain Lookout, but soon realized I was riding in circles. I did ride some neat trails, with one steep, loose downhill-uphill....of course the KTM got me through without any trouble !! I followed many forest roads, some marked, some unmarked, so I used my sense of direction to lead me to the dirt road up to Bald Mountain. I had to check it out to see if I could get to the lookout tower at 9,104 feet elevation. Had lots of fun getting there, but up at the top, guess what.....snow blocking the road again !! Well, it was worth the ride up.....spectacular view from up there. View East Near the top of Bald Mountain, used my cell phone to call my friend John in San Diego to tell him where I was, just to rub it in. After all, what are friends for ?!! View looking north with Mono Lake in the distance. After leaving Bald mountain, I rode through pine forests in elevations around 6000-8000 feet, and had to dodge snowdrifts for a few miles. Here's one where I fell over while crossing it......... I continued past places called Pilot Spring and Crooked Meadows, then came upon this barren area of volcanic ash and pumice, left over from volcanic eruptions a long time ago. Late in the afternoon, I had to hit pavement to get to the town of Lee Vining for the night. I turned west on route 120, but still saw some more 4WD trails on the map I felt the need to explore. One dead-ended, then I found this one as it headed towards Mono Lake. The trail was fairly hardpacked for miles, but as it dropped down towards Mono Lake, it got much softer. I realized I was riding in deep volcanic ash, which is much finer, and tougher to ride in than sand. My original thoughts were to follow this trail around the entire lake. I had to change that plan quickly. As I turned west on the 4x4 trail, some sections of this ash were really bad, about 6" to 12" deep. I dumped it about 5 times within 3 miles of riding in this crap. During one fall, my right foot bent backwards and got trapped underneath my saddlebag. Luckily, the ash was so soft, I was able to wiggle my foot out from under the bike. At one point, I saw a 4x4 track drop down onto the lakeshore. I decided to give this a try, since I was wearing myself out in the deep rutts on the trail. Down on the shore, it was still soft, but no rutts so the bike just squirmed back and forth. It was a little less work as long as I stayed on the throttle. I knew I shouldn't be down there, and saw the 4x4 tracks head back up onto the trail, so I followed them and had to endure the soft ash for awhile longer. FINALLY, I got to the main dirt road which headed to pavement. WHEW !! Pavement was a welcome sign after riding through that last section. Pulled into Lee Vining at 7:00pm, after 148 miles of riding, much of it off-road. Got a room at Murphey's Motel.....nice place and reasonable price. I peeled off my riding gear and boots, grabbed a cold beer and went to sit by the pool to cool off. This was my first room and bed since I left San Diego. Ahhhhhhhhhh, shower and a good night's sleep. I woke up refreshed the next day.

Day Three - Sunday. I crawled out of the tent early and loaded up the KTM. As I was talking with some of the Harley group, I learned that the couple who organize this yearly campout; the woman's son was on his way here from northern California and they just found out he was killed on his BMW near Lake Tahoe. That was truly sad to hear about a fallen brother. I took some time alone for a moment of silence for him, then finished loading up and got underway. After breakfast, I went to Dale's house to say goodbye to my new friend. He wanted to show me a good route on my maps, out of Bishop, and also showoff his bikes. My plan was to go into the White Mountains, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and up towards the White Mountain Research station. But, we learned from Dale's neighbor that the dirt roads were still closed due to much snow. Dale's ATK. Dale's cruiser with his version of a stove.....he carries a tin canteen, and when he needs to heat up water for coffee or cooking, he places it against the hot engine, this way he doesn't have to carry a camp stove !! After talking with Dale these last couple of days, we realized we both had a lot in common, including the passion for riding, and the need to support off-road organizations that protect our access to public lands. As I am, he is a member of CORVA and the Blue Ribbon Coalition, and he was very involved in local groups fighting to keep their local areas and mountains open to public and motorized access. I left Dale's house at 11:00am, rode north a few miles on route 6 and then branched off onto dirt roads heading into the Fish Slough and Volcanic Tableland areas. At one point, I noticed a neat jeep trail that headed along some marshland, so turned down it. Riding along, all of a sudden I heard a loud clunk behind me, looked in my mirror and there was my right side Pannier laying in the middle of the trail. I quickly slowed and as I came to a stop, I fell over with the bike. I laughed to myself, wish I had that on video !! I walked back and saw the one, lonely rock that my bag had hit. Don't know how I hit this one, it was in plain site !! I picked up the pannier and realized I couln't mount it back on the bike, it was bent and deformed as the impact ripped it off the bike. So I called Dale back in Bishop and asked if he would be home for awhile. He said yes, he was sitting around watching the Indy 500, and asked "Why, what's up ?" I told him what happened, he laughed and said to come on by so we could fix the pannier. Luckily I was only about 10 miles from his house, so I got on the bike and carried the big, aluminum box in my lap. I must've looked pretty hilarious, riding down main street in Bishop with the box in my lap !! At Dale's house, first thing he did was bring me a cold beer, a sledge hammer and a pop-rivet gun. 2 hours later, after some heavy pounding, the box was straightened and mounted back on the bike. Sat in Dale's living room, watching the last few laps of the Indy 500 race. Then it was time to hit the trails again at 2:30pm. Rode back north the same way I started out earlier. This time, I was more conscious of how far the panniers stick out from the side of the bike. In the Volcanic Tableland area, I came upon some very old Indian Petroglyphs. Rode west through Red Rock Canyon Then started to explore many forest roads and trails in the area east of Lake Crowley. I avoided the main, graded dirt roads and chose to explore many of the trails on the map, marked 4WD. These proved to be more challenging and fun. Here's a rocky, downhill on a jeep trail.... I rode in a general west direction on trails that had no route numbers on them, knowing eventually I'd find my way to Lake Crowley. I made it there late in the afternoon and it was time for a break on the lakeshore. I rode up to this group of vehicles parked on the lakeshore. I met Steve and his family, who lived locally and had a beverage with them and they offered me a burger. Man, I love meeting people on trips !! They even said if I didn't find a place to camp tonight, I could come back and join them. Steve pointed me in the right direction to head into town, so I took the trails to Lake Crowley Dam and crossed over the dam. Got to a little resort community called Tom's Place. Saw they had a restaurant and bar, across the street was a band playing live music and lots of people dancin' and groovin', so I knew I must come back here later after finding a campsite up the road. I checked out many campgrounds along route 12 going towards Rock Creek Lake, and rode as far as I could until the road was closed due to snow. I headed back to the first campground ("French Camp"), found a nice spot, pitched my tent while enjoying some nice, cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ales in the Sierra Nevada mountains !! Only rode 87 miles today, but it was relaxing, and enjoyed 50 miles of it off-road. I hopped back on the bike and rode back to Tom's Place as it was getting dark. Too Bad, the band was just packing up. So I had a great dinner, then headed into the bar. Met lots of fun, crazy people having a good time. I stepped out on the patio and heard one guy say to another, "Hey, there's a KTM 950, why don't you get one of those". The other guy shook his head and said that bike was not for him. SO, of course I had to chime in and tell them what a great bike it is and how good it works off road. Turns out one of the guys named Brian, owns a multi-line dealership, including KTM in Mammoth Lakes. He introduced me to his family and we talked for awhile. I must e-mail him a link to this trip write-up !! Later, I met another guy named Allen in the bar and we got to talking. Found out he had no place to stay yet, so I offered that he could share my campsite. He said great, and now I would have somebody to talk to around the campfire later. On the way out of the bar, I met another guy named Chuck, who was a member of the band. He said, "Hey, you're the guy I saw at the gas station outside Bishop yesterday". I laughed, because I was meeting so many cool people on this trip !! It was time to head back to camp, relax by the fire, check out the awesome night sky before crawling into the tent again after another awesome day !!

Day Two - At the campground, I unpacked everything I didn't need and got ready for a full day of off-road exploring outside of Bishop. I brought the essentials....camera, tools, cooler with beverages, and also my sleeping bag, just in case anything happened in the mountains and I would need to spend the night. I didn't have a tankbag for this trip, so I would need to leave my panniers on the bike. Riding to breakfast, the whole town of Bishop was bustling and busy getting ready for the Mule Days Parade. Stopped to get a quick photo of the famous Budweiser Clydesdales. As I rode down the street looking for a restaurant, I saw the guy who checked out my bike the afternoon before at the campground. Dale saw me ride by and waved. I pulled into a parking spot and was ready for breakfast. Dale walked over and said all the restaurants in town were packed and the wait would be at least 45 minutes. He suggested I go down the road to the country club, and assured me there would be no crowds there. Then he asked if I wanted to have breakfast with him and I said "Sure, that would be great". At breakfast, we talked about bikes, trips, rides, bikes, trips and rides....(and bikes). He was a real neat guy, full of great stories and information. After breakfast, I asked if he minded if I stay in touch with him. He gave me his number and told me to call him after I get back into town tonight, he wanted to hear about my adventures for the day. We parted ways and I rode out of town a few miles and found the dirt road which leads high into the mountains west of Bishop. I almost ran over this snake, sunning himself in the middle of the trail. I continued ahead, through a few miles of deep sand, and then the road started to wind it's way up steep switchbacks. Here's a shot looking back at one twisty section of the dirt road. Heading up into the mountains. As I was having a great ride, enjoying the scenery, crossing ridges and valleys, I came to this snowdrift across the trail. I saw a single motorcycle track go along the edge of the drift, on the edge of the trail. I figured I'd give it a try, it was too early to quit. I rode the bike a few feet and got stuck. I knew I wouldn't make it across now, so I started to back the bike up slowly, but the rear wheel started to slide off the edge. Before I attempted this, I had a plan in case I didn't make it across the drift. So, now I had to execute that plan. I started to back the bike across the top of a ravine next to the trail, but I couldn't quite push it backwards all the way across. Front View of bike in ravine. Here's the Mighty 950 perched on top of rocks and wood that held it up before I had to bulldog it and turn it down into the ravine. After turning the bike to face downwards, I had to ride it down into the ravine, then out of it, through the thick brush, back onto the trail. This whole process took me about an hour. Here's the ravine after I rode down and out of it. As I was gathering my jacket, gloves and helmet, I heard a vehicle coming from the other side of the snowdrift. I thought to myself, "how did they get to the other side, there's no tracks across the drift". I heard the 4x4 crossing a ridge above me. It came down a turnoff about a hundred yards back. I had seen that turnoff, but thought it went up and dead-ended.....Oh Well !! They asked if I was OK...Yep. They had only gone a couple of miles ahead, so I was up for some more exploring to see how far I could get. I rode a few miles and dropped down into a valley for some awesome, spectacular views of the Coyote Flat area and surrounding ridges and mountains..... I explored all the trails in the area and went as far as I could, all of them were blocked by snow. Here's where I decided to turn back....I realized I wouldn't be crossing any more snowdrifts today. At one point, I was riding on an overgrown 2 track trail and crossed the brush in center of the trail. WHAM !! All of a sudden I'm on the ground, laying next to the KTM. I hit a rock larger than a bowling ball that was hidden in the brush. No major damage, just a good scrape on the right side engine case, by the rear brake lever. I developed a slight oil leak from this. Later, cleaned it off and didn't see any cracks in the case, so just kept an eye on it for the rest of the trip. I gots ta get me that skidplate !! The 950 posing by a pond formed by snowmelt. After spending some time absorbing the awe-inspiring scenery that surrounded me, I started to head back down the mountain. I explored every side trail I could find, knowing that all would eventually dead-end, but just had to see where they all went. View east towards the White Mountains. A fairly rough, challenging trail I explored which dropped down a steep hill into a green valley. I decided to stop at this fence, even though there was a narrow, single track cow trail going past the fence. I figured not a good idea on the 950 with wide panniers on it. Poser. Nice riding. Photo play. View northwest. Bloomin' flowers. After 47 miles and 4 1/2 hours on the trails, I dropped out of the mountains, back into town for gas. Then I continued west to the inspiring grandeur of Buttermilk Country. Pavement for a few miles, then onto a graded dirt road. Explored the White Cap Mine Site. Many more mineshafts in this area. Back on the main dirt road, I thought this was going to be a boring ride. BUT, soon I rounded a few corners and the road got rougher, started to climb in elevation, and the scenery got intense. Rocky Canyon At the border of the John Muir Wilderness Nice stream crossing. I walked into the stream to make sure there were no holes in it that would swallow the KTM. Another dead-end due to snow, but with an awesome view looking east. Raging waters and time for a break. Yet another trail to explore......my tracks going in and coming back out, no other tracks !! In many areas, I didn't see another soul. Hate to bore you with spectacular scenery.....just another 2 mountain peaks. Now, this was perhaps the best, most awesome, spectacular, incredible view of the trip, at about 10,000 feet. I continued as far as I could and stopped here due to snow. I am only about 1/2 mile across the valley from the base of the mountain peaks.... Looking south..... and east..... Now it was time to head back towards civilization....on a road that looks like it leads to nowhere. I knew I had to hit pavement after the last 40 miles and 3 hours of awesome dirt riding. So I took route 168 to the end to check out Lake Sabrina. It was cold and windy as the sun dropped below the mountaintops. The dam dam at Lake Sabrina. Saw this weird cloud formation along the way. On the way back to Bishop, sunset on the foothills of the White Mountains. After about 9 hours and 140 miles of riding, mostly in the dirt, I arrived back in town and had dinner. I called Dale after dinner, and he said to stop by for a beer and he wanted to hear about my ride. I went to his house and we talked until midnight. Lots of great stories back and forth. He is also a very experienced dirt rider, he used to travel the Nevada deserts on an old Honda Single, before they even made real "dualsport" bikes, so he is full of knowledge and tips for adventure riding. When I left, he said he hadn't been up 'til midnight in years (I found out he is 70 years young....I tell ya, motorcycle riding keeps you young, so keep on riding !! ). Back to the campsite, and none of the Harley people were up.....LOL, lightweights !!

Day 11 Last and Final Day. I looked out the door of my room at the Sunrise Inn to see rain clouds around the mountain across the street. Yep, raining again. Had breakfast at the restaurant and enjoyed talking to Bob from Yuma, Arizona. It's a small world, he was visiting Alaska to see his daughter in Anchorage, and also going on some wildlife photography tours. He has another daughter in San Diego, just a few miles from where I live. I also talked with the cute waitress who had a good story about the bachelorette party she went on with some friends. Their party consisted of hiking in the mountains, where they encountered a bear up close. One of the girls shot a .44 magnum in the air, the bear didn't even flinch, they were yelling and waving their arms, the bear just casually turned around and walked off. I guess that's what you do in Alaska for fun !! At 10:00am, I got on the road heading south down Highway 1. Later on, I was being followed by a State Trooper for a few miles. I got tired of having him tailing me, so I pulled off to let him go by. Where I stopped, I saw this sign and thought it was funny.......think he's trying to make a point ?!! I got to the southernmost town on the Kenai Peninsula about 12:30pm. Finally it cleared up for a bit and stopped raining. Uhhhh, here I am again. View from Overlook above Homer, with the piece of land called the "Homer Spit", jutting out into the bay. On the shore of Kachemak Bay, Road's End on the Homer Spit. View from the Homer Spit across the bay. My friend John in San Diego used to work a lot in Alaska, he told me if I make it to Homer, I must visit The Salty Dawg, so I did. Inside the Salty Dawg.... Enjoying a local "Homer Brewed Ale".........I should've called this trip, "Bar Hopping Alaska" Met more people, these 2 guys were renting a 4x4, touring Alaska, Bob and Bill from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And guess who I ran into.........Kevin and Pat, who I had met in "The Sluice Box" on the Denali Hwy. a few days earlier. They had already turned in their rental KLR's to Alaska Rider and were down visiting a friend from Homer, then going on a wildlife plane flight to photograph Grizzlies. They couldn't believe I was there and all the miles I had put on. They had an awesome ride on their trip also !! When I said I had to get a photo, first thing Pat said was, "Are we doing the SALUTE ?!!" Me, Kevin, Pat........ After running into Pat and Kevin, it delayed my departure from Homer back towards Anchorage by an hour. They said, "You're flying out tonight, and have to be back at Alaska Rider by 6:00pm ?!!" Yep, I was pushing the limits. I left Homer at 2:00pm and had 4 hours to go about 225 miles. I headed north again on Highway 1 and knew I had to make some serious time. It started raining again, so had to stop and put on the raingear. Luckily I encountered no Troopers, at the pace I was going. I arrived in Anchorage at Alaska Rider Tours to return the rental Wee-Strom at 6:02pm. Whew !! I just made it after 371 miles in about 6 hours of riding. As I was unloading all my stuff from the bike at Alaska Rider, Rob and Nicole saw me pulling all my stuff out of the Panniers on the bike and said, "Man, you sure made good use out of the Panniers. You keep pulling more and more stuff out of them". Rob and Nicole I rode 3877 incredible, awesome, spectacular miles in 11 days, and I toasted the tire on the rear that was brand new when I left. I highly recommend if anyone wants to ride Alaska, to look up Alaska Rider Tours in Anchorage. They had a shower to use after I unloaded, so I took advantage of it before Rob drove me to the airport for my 9:30pm flight out. I still didn't stop meeting people. At the airport cafe, I talked to 2 women, one was Maddy from eastern Washington. She's an Alaskan Native, who moved to Washington State. She still works in Deadhorse, doing catering in the summertime. She has 2 Harleys back at home. Maddy On the flight from Anchorage to Seattle, a guy named Kevin sat next to me. He was a bush pilot who lives in Seattle, but works in Alaska, flying supplies and picking up locals to air-taxi them into towns so they can go shopping. He had some interesting stories and was quite the character. On my next flight, after a 4 hour layover in Seattle, I slept most of the way on the plane from Seattle to San Diego and arrived home at 9:00am Thursday morning. Cody Boy was happy to see me......... Words can't even describe how great this trip was and all the interesting people I met, and the new friends I made. The scenery was spectacular and this is a trip I'll never forget. For anyone thinking about going to Alaska and doesn't have the time to ride up, I highly recommend renting a bike from Phil and the folks at Alaska Rider Tours....they're great people !! "And that's all I have to say about that."

Day 10 Today would be a long riding day, but not much to report and minimal photos. I first had breakfast at Fast Eddy's and saw a K75RT BMW sitting out front. I met Roger from Fairbanks, who was just returning to Alaska from a trip to Washington State. I saw him sitting alone at a table so we started talking and had breakfast together. Then it was time to hit the road....... Roger from Fairbanks I headed south from Tok on Hwy. 1 (again) towards Glen Allen. It looked like rain when I left Tok, but didn't put on my rainsuit, thinking positively for the day. But less than an hour down the road, I had to stop and put it on. At Glen Allen, I rode west on the Glenn Highway towards Anchorage. It started raining pretty good. I felt the bike hydroplane every once in awhile across the puddles in the road. At one point, I had to pass a Convoy of about 20 Military vehicles. I stopped for some photos of the Matanuska Glacier off in the distance on south side of the road..... When I got to the town of Sutton, I needed a break after hours of rain riding. I stopped for a beverage at a local tavern. Nobody but the bartender was real friendly there. I decided to call Moosekiller from ADVrider in Anchorage, but he wasn't home. I continued on towards Anchorage. I ended up passing that same military Convoy about 3 times. On one section, I passed the whole Convoy on twisty, wet roads, over the double yellow, going through the canyon on the way to Anchorage. I just couldn't sit behind them doing 30mph for miles !! When I got to Eagle River, I decided to see if I could find the house where the couple lived that I had met on the plane flight to Anchorage. I couldn't find their house easily, so I gassed up and continued towards Anchorage. I thought I might spend the night in Anchorage, but upon further contemplation I decided I needed to ride my ass off and see the town of Homer on my last day. So I passed through Anchorage heading south on Hwy.1. Outside of Anchorage, the scenery gets really good and the road parallels the shores of the Cook Inlet and Turnagain Arm. I was treated to some awesome mountain views along the inlet. Sun starting to go down...... I saw some cars pulled over on the shoulder of the road, and people looking into the water so I had to see what was up. Besides the sunset, there were Beluga whales swimming just off the shore. Couldn't catch them in any photos. This is definitely one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. A Wee Strom Sunset......... I took about 15 photos of the sunset (I won't post them all here) because the photo opps were so spectacular. I continued south in the rain and saw many places to stay for the night, but it was too early to stop. I kept on riding, and then it was getting late. I hoped to find a place by 10:00pm, and sure enough, at 10:00 I rode into the town of Cooper Landing and pulled into the first motel and restaurant I found. Room for $100, restaurant closed, but they warmed me up some soup and made me a sandwich. I retired to the room after 441 miles and 11 hours in the saddle. One more day left................

Day 9 I woke up the next morning with a bit of a headache, maybe it was from too much fun last night ?? Chris and I talked for a bit, but we both napped off for awhile longer. We got up to start loading up the bikes about 11:00am. Doc thanked me for paying for the room and he got his first real shower in 12 days. New friends posing with the bikes Doc's FULLY loaded GS-Adventure Doc had put on over 10,000 miles so far and today would slowly start to work his way back through Canada towards Ontario. Breakfast at Klondike Kate's We talked more at breakfast, we both had a lot in common. I found out what an interesting character Doc is. Since he's a retired dentist from Canadian Military, one thing he does in semi-retirement; he goes to 3rd World Countries, Bolivia and the Phillipines, for example, and donates his time to do dentistry on poor people's teeth.......the guy has a big heart !! I told him he should check out the ADVrider website, and he said he does not do the computer thing......I said, "Good for you." That's pretty unique nowadays also. Doc paid for breakfast, then we went to get gas. He wanted to fill my gas tank up, but I said he didn't owe me anything for the motel room last night. I went to pay for my gas, but Doc was stretching the gas hose from his bike to mine and already filling up the tank. He said, "California, your american money's no good here". What a guy !! We said our goodbye's and both headed into town to look around. Dawson City is quite the place, right out of an old western movie, I'm glad I went there. They have refurbished a lot of the old buildings, and anything new is built to match the old. Think this sign says it all............. Surprisingly, they're still standing Ferry crossing the Mighty Yukon River Back on the Top of the World Highway It feels like you're riding to nowhere on Top of the World Back at the Border Rocket Man (what Doc called me after we blazed up to the border day before) on the US side of Border Crossing Historic Jack Wade Gold Dredge Back in the nothing of a town called Chicken, Alaska !! Susan, the owner of the Chicken Saloon, Mercantile and Cafe I only planned on staying a short while, but as they mentioned, many people get SUCKED IN to the whole Chicken Scene.......guess what, I got sucked in. The more people that came in, the more stories kept flying, and the longer I stayed They have a steel pipe they use as a cannon and shoot panties, toilet paper, etc. out of it. Panties and other undergarments previously fired from cannon, hanging from ceiling Bartender Randy Tucker, the 3 legged hound dog These 2 couples I saw in a motorhome on the ferry at Dawson City, came in from Toronto. They were all originally from Estonia, some country near Finland. They were a hoot !! Olaf, Ann, Anu and Sulev Seems we all missed some action when the night before, a 76 year old woman shot her panties out of the cannon Met Louis and Joy from Knoxville, Tennessee, they ride Harleys back home After getting sucked into the Chicken Scene for 4 hours, at 8:00pm I left and headed south towards Tok. I passed up the opportunity to top off with gas in Chicken, since we had made it all the way from Tok to Dawson the previous day. That proved to be a mistake. I was doing another blazing pace down the Taylor Highway to Tetlin Junction, the fuel gauge getting very low. The bike started sputtering as I approached Tok and within a half mile of a gas station, the bike came to a stop. I laughed, thinking that was pretty stupid !! :clapping: I pushed the bike down the side of the road to the gas station. After only 200 miles and a great time spent in Chicken, it was 10:00pm and the Young's Motel was across the street. A guy named Steve from South Carolina asked me "how is it ?" I asked, "what, the bike or the trip ?" He asked about the V-Strom and where I rented it. He rode an 1150GS back home so was real interested about the rental and my trip. Afterwards, I got a room after dinner at Fast Eddy's. It had been an easy day of riding after a great time in Dawson City and Chicken, AK !!

Day 8 Woke up and got out of the tent about 7:00am, it was pretty chilly out. I was glad to see clear skies and this view from the campsite It was nice to pack up a DRY tent in the morning. This was the second and last night of the trip I would camp. Went to the Totem Inn for breakfast. Met Greg and Dennis from Los Angeles on rental Harleys. As I ate breakfast, talked with Ted from Idaho, who goes to Alaska for the winters to drive a big rig. He told me I should go check out all the dead salmon on the other side of the bay, so that's where I headed after breakfast. Thousands of dead salmon in the water and along the shore as they die after they spawn. Some salmon still flopping and jumping around before they die. Left Valdez at about 10:00am and headed back the way I came. More waterfalls along the road norhtbound. Up near the Thompson Pass, I saw a big helicopter in a gravel parking lot off the road. I stopped to get some photos. I wondered what they were doing, so I rode down to talk to the crew. They had just lifted a 10' x 24' building up onto the high mountain above us. As they loaded up the chopper, I told them their photo would be posted on ADVrider and people from all over would see it. Another chopper coming in for a landing. I hung out until they were taking off. The co-pilot was motioning something to me. I pointed, asking if he wanted me to move, I was only about 100 feet from the chopper. He shook his head NO. He kept motioning something to me, I couldn't figure out what he meant. As the blades rotated faster and faster, I figured out what he meant. I started getting pelted with sand and gravel from the turbulence created by the blades. I ran for cover behind the bike, and had to hold the bike from falling over. First my gloves blew off the bike, then my new helmet blew off the bike and went rolling across the gravel. I didn't know any better, I bet they were thinking what a DORK I was !! :clapping: I got this on video, but don't know how to post it. After wiping the dust from my camera, face and eyes, I hopped back on the bike and continued north. Destination today: Top of the World Highway towards Canada. After covering over 200 miles, I needed a break and stopped at this overlook with a historic sign about Allen's expedition through the area. I sat and pondered what it must've been like 150 years ago exploring the valley below. I got up to the Tok Junction later in the afternoon. After gas, I saw a guy ride by on a fully loaded BMW. I had to follow him to find out if he was from ADVrider and just to meet the guy. Met up with him in a store parking lot. I said, "Looks like you're on one hell of a trip". He said, "Looks like you're no slouch yourself". Me: "Where you headed". Him: "Top of the World Hwy. and Dawson City". Me: "I was headed up that way also !!" Him: "Looks like I got a riding partner." Chris was from Ontario, Canada and had been on the road 3 months since May 1st........too cool !! We rode east to the Tetlin Junction, then north on the Taylor Highway. I wanted a photo at this sign. We continued north as the pavement turned to dirt and had to stop at the World Famous Chicken Saloon. As we checked the place out, the bartender, another Randy, asked where we were headed. We said into Canada, and he said, "The border crossing closes at 8:00pm sharp, it's an hour and a half drive there. You're not going to make it, so you might as well pitch your tents, stay the night and party at the saloon". We laughed, it was 6:30pm and we knew we could make it the 70 miles to the border. We got on the bikes and hauled ass up the dirt road. This road was in pretty good shape. I stopped to wait a couple of times, make sure he was doing OK on his heavily loaded 1150GS. He was never more than 15-30 seconds behind, so I opened up the V-Strom to a blazing pace. Next stop was at a turnoff, where I decided to hide my Ruger .454 Casull cannon under a rock in the woods. Chris pulled up a couple minutes later, he was a little further behind this time since I had railed those last few miles. We got to the Canadian Border at 7:45pm with 15 minutes to spare, we rode 70 miles (mostly dirt and gravel) in an hour from Chicken !! Chris pulling up to the border Canadian Side of Border Female Border Guard: "Do you ever carry a handgun on your motorcycle?" Me: "No" Guard: "Did you stop anywhere before the border to hide a gun ?" Me: "Nope" (I had to stop myself from laughing) Guard: "You have any alcohol with you?" Me: "Yes, a couple of beers in the cooler". Guard: "How many is a couple, 2 , 3 or 4 ?" Me: "Let me think...I guess there's 3 left in the cooler". Guard: "OK, you're free to go". Funny how she wanted exact answers. We continued towards Dawson City for 58 miles on the Top of the World Highway. Since we weren't in a rush anymore, we took a little break and talked more. Chris was a retired dentist from the Canadian military, so his nickname was "Doc". Doc with his 1150 Adventure. Sunset on Top of the World Crossing the Yukon River on the ferry to Dawson City We were going to camp for the night, but it was 10:00pm, I didn't feel like pitching camp, and since Doc hadn't had a motel room in 3 months and no real shower in 12 days, I offered to pay for a room for the night. He was pretty happy with that idea !! After getting a room, we went to Bombay Peggies The band was packing up, but the singer sat and talked with us for awhile I forgot her name and didn't write it down, but she and Doc are in a deep discussion here We later headed to "The Pit", where it was crowded with younger people dancing to the live band. After having a little bit of fun, we headed back to the motel about 2:00am. We talked more until it was time to pass out. It was a long, 480 mile day of fun, awesome riding and meeting new, interesting people along the way.

Day Seven I woke up and looked out the back window of the cabin....WOW !! Nice scene and blue skies !! Cabin The only way I could ride the bike to the cabin was up this single track trail through the trees, my only single track of the whole trip, a whole 200 feet long Off to breakfast across the foot bridge View from bridge up the Kennecott River Breakfast in McCarthy M & M - Margaret (Ohio) & Megan (Palmer, Anchorage) I enjoyed talking to them during breakfast, they both work up there during the summer. Margaret had her laptop out, she said it's the only way up there to stay in touch with the outside world. Megan said she'd lived in Alaska for 8 years, and I'd seen more of the state so far on my trip than she had yet, poor girl. Old buildings in McCarthy with awesome backdrop After a good buffet breakfast and talking with the girls, I hopped on the bike and rode the dirt road for 5 miles to Kennecott mill and mine site...... The mill & mine was more than I expected.......... The richness of copper ore here sent the Kennecott Corporation on it's way to becoming a multi-national giant Inside the buildings, I saw scaffolding, planks and worker's tools. They are shoring up the buildings to prevent them from collapsing. The mine and mill was closed in 1938. I saw Randy & son Ethan from North Carolina again, who I had seen in Coldfoot a few days before. They couldn't believe they ran into me here !! They never made it to Atigun Pass on the Haul Road a few days ago. I told them I went to Deadhorse, they laughed because when I saw them in Coldfoot, I said I wasn't going all the way to Deadhorse. Glacial Moraine, which is debris leftover from when the glaciers carve their way through rock. The woman at the National Park booth said below all that debris is ice about 200 feet thick. Mountain and glacier view from Kennecott After an hour in Kennecott, it was time for me to head back.....destination today was Valdez. Typical scenery and road surface on the McCarthy Road These stacks of rocks are what's left after a glacier carved through the area Breaktime under the bridge at the Kuskalana River Gorge When I got out to the main road, I headed south for Valdez on the Richardson Highway. I got to the Worthington Glacier and had to stop to check it out. Closer view I guess I'm a Glacier Nut......too many photos here, but I think it's cool.........cool, get it ?!! err err err :clapping: Up close and personal with the glacier The valley below that was carved by the glacier over thousands of years Close-up of rock showing scrape marks as the glacier moved across it. Glacial Ice is at least 40-50 feet thick here. Glacial Rad Explorer Looking down at the very bottom of the glacier, where it grinds through the rock as it slowly moves across it. I found this all so interesting and amazing to be so close to it. This glacier has been there for who knows how many thousands of years. Leaving the glacier, I saw a dirt road and had to explore it, I couldn't make it across this stream....... At an overlook on the pass, I saw a two-track jeep trail going over a ridge, so had to check it out View from top of ridge towards valley below, leading down towards Valdez Spectacular view from top of ridge I think I was having a good time here..... Scenery posing with Me.... From the top of that ridge, I saw another two-track trail heading down a ridge towards the valley, of course I had to go down it...... I had to turn around because it got rocky and the little V-Strom didn't have enough ground clearance. Stream crossing Back on pavement towards Valdez, Bridalveil Falls I heard the scenery on the way to Valdez is great, and I was not dissappointed !! The road through a canyon on way to Valdez. Roads end, as far south as I could go in Valdez. Oil Tanker terminal at end of the Alaska Pipeline. View across the bay. Ferry coming in. Before I went to dinner, I called GusGus's house to let them know all was going well. His wife Mary answered and said he and FriarMike were on their Saddle Sore 1000 Ride today. I said I was in Valdez and she said they were ending up there today. I rode around town for 15 minutes looking for them, but figured they had already come and gone, so I went to dinner at the Totem Inn. I had an awesome Teriyaki Salmon dinner and talked with a few people sitting at the bar. Afterwards, I decided I was going to head north while it was still light out, and cover some more miles. On the way out of town, I saw 2 Beemers heading into town....I realized it was GusGus and FriarMike, COOL !! I hung a U-turn and we pulled over, they were glad to see me, as I was to see them. Friarmike led the way to his favorite restaurant, "Mike's Place" FriarMike and his BMW I talked while they ate dinner Friar, Rad, Gus Posers out front of restaurant: Mike, Randy and Don Friar and Gus saluting as they were homeward bound, 2 hours ahead of schedule on their Saddle Sore 1000. After hanging out with Mike and Don, it was late and I realized I wasn't doing any more riding tonight. I stopped at a local dive bar and hung out with some scruffy, tough local fishermen and oil workers. Had enough and then rode a few miles out of town to the Glacier Campground and pitched my tent. The clear night sky was full of stars. Total mileage today was a mere 235 miles. I just couldn't believe that the scenery could keep going on and on.......and on and on, it was almost overwhelming, but that's not a bad thing. More to come............

Day Six After coffee and breakfast at Meier's Lake Roadhouse, as I was packing my gear on the bike I checked the front tire. The knobs on the TKC-80 tire were getting REALLY low. I noticed the first day (after I left AKrider) that the tire probably wouldn't make it the whole trip. Today, I decided I would have to do something about it. Heading south, I stopped at the Gakona Junction at a store with a payphone. I called Phil from Alaska Rider Tours and told him my dilemma with the front tire. I was expecting some friction from them, but instead I got nothing but cooperation. Phil said he would call around to try to find me a tire. As I was waiting to call Phil back, I met little Mickayla She talked my ear off the whole time I was there, asked where I was from and where I was going, she was so cute and kept me company while I waited. After about an hour, Phil called me back and decided the best option was to meet me about an hour away, and we would swap bikes. I said, "sounds good to me". So I rode an hour west from Glen Allen, phil rode another bike 2 hours from Anchorage to meet me at the Eureka Lodge. As I waited in the cafe at the lodge, a guy working there told me I must see Top of the World Hwy. and Dawson City in Canada, and stop at the Chicken Saloon. I said I was thinking about it, and he reinforced that I must try to make it up that way this trip. Phil showed up on the Blue V-Strom (I liked the blue better !!) about 3:30pm. The knobby on the Blue Strom looked good, but the rear tire on my bike was better than the one on the blue bike, so I helped Phil swap the rear wheels. Phil (owner of AKrider) swapping wheels. Phil said he'd give me an extra free day on the rental, I said awesome, and I even decided to extend my trip another extra day on my own, since I wanted to see MORE !! A big thumbs up to Phil and Alaska Rider !! He said their goal was to make my trip enjoyable, safe and hassle free. After talking quite a bit while swapping tires, Phil said since I told him at the start of the trip about the ADVrider website, now he couldn't get his people at the shop off the website :clapping: They were into all the photos and trip stories. We parted ways, I thanked Phil and I headed east again. I was doing about 85mph and a Trooper lit me up as he passed me going the opposite direction. Dammit !! I watched in my mirrors and didn't see him turn around, then pulled over at a turnout. Waited a few minutes......he never came back, he must've just been giving me a warning...cool, lucky me !! At the Glen Allen Junction, it looked like nasty weather heading north, so I turned south on the Richardson Hwy. Wrangell Mountain Views along the Highway. Mount Drum - Elevation 12010 Feet Mount Sanford - Elevation 16237 feet Mount Wrangell - Elevation 14163 feet Further south, it looked dark towards Valdez, so when I got to the McCarthy turnoff, the weather looked clear heading east. I took the 95 mile road towards the mountains to McCarthy. Stopped at Liberty Falls Then at this Historic Bridge You're not supposed to stop on the bridge......... The gorge below Looking straight down from bridge at the sheer rock walls and river below Sunset on the McCarthy Road This road is about a 70 mile dirt road to McCarthy, and is known for sharp rocks and old railroad spikes protruding up from the surface. I was movin' along at about 50-60mph. It started getting dark and I thought to myself, "don't be an idiot, Slow Down !!" This road was different than the Denali and Dalton Hwy. This one was much narrower and the trees came right up to the sides of the road, so if an animal ran out I would have no time to react. I slowed it down to 30-40mph as it got darker. After 192 miles on the new, blue V-Strom, I arrived in McCarthy at 10:00pm and got a cabin at the Kennecott River Lodge. He wanted $100, but again, I chewed him down to $75. Only thing in the cabin was a bed, futon, gas heater and gas lamp. First thing I did was ride across the river on the walking bridge to find something to eat. As I pulled into the tiny town, I saw a bunch of bikes out front. I met a few of the riders as they were heading to their rooms. They were the other group from Alaska Rider. I had now met everyone renting bikes from AKrider on my trip......too cool !! The Golden Saloon was open, kitchen closed, but they still made me a sandwich with soup. I met and hung out with some of the crazy upstate New Yawkers who were riding the KLR's. L to R Me, Dennis, Tony Whenever I mention the ADVrider salute, they are always happy to oblige !! Good Alaskan Ale Bartender Rebecca and her pooch Scott, (originally from upstate NY) a local living 10 miles down the dirt road. He's been riding a Harley up and down the rough dirt road for years. He loved hearing about my trip. We all had a great time until we got kicked out at closing time. I rode back across the river to the cabin. Today was the first day I didn't even wear my rainsuit, so all my stuff was dry. I went to bed, looking forward to another fantastic day tomorrow. Rad

Day Five I woke up and had some coffee, juice and danishes at the continental breakfast in the motel lobby. I decided I needed to rinse the bike off, the oil cooler and radiator were plugged with mud and the engine and wheels must've had 10 pounds of mud on them. I used a motel hose and she looked a lot better afterwards. Mainly, I wanted the bike to run cooler and didn't want the mud wearing on any parts unnecessarily. I left Fairbanks at 11:00am (my typical starting times on this trip were running 10:00am to noon, I was in no rush, especially since I was riding about 12 hours a day most days). I crossed this scenic river and canyon on the way down south on the Parks Highway (I had to go back the same way I had ridden before, quite a few times on this trip). I stopped in the tourist trap of a town called McKinley Park and had brunch. After eating, I was on the road and I started to get sleepy, don't know why. I couldn't control it, I was starting to nod off, shaking my head to desperately try to stay awake. I finally pulled off the road near a little cafe, put down the sidestand, sat on the bike, leaned back against my stuff and took a nap. It must've looked pretty funny to people driving by.......what the heck is that guy doing sitting on his bike, not moving ?? I woke up, don't know how long I napped, maybe a half hour. I felt refreshed (power nap) and got back on the road, destination: DENALI HIGHWAY !! I've heard so much about this 134 mile road, mostly dirt, going from Cantwell to Paxson. Needless to say, I was just a weeeee bit excited !! Start of the Denali Highway Heading east on the dirt road..........Yep, you guessed it, MORE RAIN !! I didn't care, I was having a blast, riding through some spectacular scenery. Awe inspiring........ The bike wasn't clean anymore........ I love snow covered mountains, and the weather produced some fresh snowfall on them...... About half way down the Denali Hwy., I saw this place.....I needed a beverage after all the rain. Nope, this wasn't it............. Oh Yeah, I found it !! I walked in, my wet gear making puddles on the floor as I stripped it off. I hung everything near the stove. There were about 4 guys, a woman and the bartender. They all looked at me like they felt sorry for me. I turned to them with a big smile, and said "How's it going?" We started talking. Come to find out, these 3 guys were renting some KLR 650's from Alaska Rider (same place I rented from). L to R, Yours Truly, Pat, Kevin, Mike Pat was the father of the 2 brothers, Kevin and Mike. They were having a great ride so far. They were from the Sacramento area in California, so we talked quite some time. They were serving the beer since the bartender had to run out to tow in a broken down motorhome. Surprised he trusted a bunch of Californians with the beer cooler !! :clapping: I told them about the Adventure Rider website. Even though they never heard of it, they told me to tell y'all, FYYFF !! As you can see, we were having a great time !! They tried convincing me to get a room there, where they were staying, but I wanted to cover more ground tonight and start heading south after the Denali Hwy. They understood :cry We exchanged e-mail addresses, and we will certainly stay in touch. Kevin said there's some great riding up by where he lives. Somewhere near the end of the Denali Road, the clouds started to break up. Ahhhhh, a little sunshine between the clouds and rain. I was having fun, moving along at a really fun pace, but still wary of the sharp rocks in the roadway. This was not as well maintained as the Dalton Hwy. I was a-swervin' and a-weavin' to avoid them, lovin' every minute of it. I rounded a corner and saw this......... Look, it was Jo' Momma taking her kid out for an evening jog. You'd think she would teach her kid better manners, to stay out of the roadway.........some parents, I tell ya !! A couple of Moos-asses I yelled to see if they would turn around to pose for me.... Using the telephoto........she was a BIG MOMMA !! They moved off into the woods after a few minutes.......time for me to move on too. Summit on Denali Hwy. Most passes that you can take by road, are not very high in Alaska, but you feel like you're 10,000 feet up due to the awesome mountains around you. Awesome view of low-lying areas with mountains in the background Sunset on the Denali Hwy. A Glacier in the distance, at about 10:00pm I got to Highway 4 at the Paxson Junction. Saw a ratty looking motel, but figured I'd check it out. There was a R1200GS sitting out front, but nobody was around in the motel. It was raining again and I decided to continue south, and would hopefully find a place to stay soon. At 11:00pm, I found Atwater's Motel at the Meier's Lake Roadhouse, and man, was I glad !! Another 316 miles and 12 hours of great adventure !! Room was reasonable at $100, restaurant closed, so I got some packaged Tuna and crackers to eat for dinner at the room. Guess what......again, my gear was sprawled all over the room to dry out for the night

Day Four Woke up, packed up my stuff and went to the Coldfoot truckstop for the fourth and final time for breakfast. After a huge omelette (great grub at this truckstop !!), I remember a sign from Snowrider's Alaska trip report, and I had to find it and get a photo....... Found it in the lobby of the so-called motel Little sidenote about Coldfoot.....they had low recorded temperatures of MINUS 81 degrees F, and a high of 90 degrees F, that's a 171 degree temperature swing !!!! WOW !! Gassed up the bike and headed south on the Dalton Highway. I can't remember if it was raining, but I know it rained again later on in the day. Here's a photo looking north, back towards the Dalton Hwy. in a valley with the pipeline running along the road Couldn't resist a photo of this sign....What a name, eh ?!! :clapping: The ride south on the Haul Road was wet and muddy again, with some more rain. After many miles of hauling on the Dalton in the previous 2 days, I realized if I stood up while riding through the slick, wet dirt, I could keep up a faster pace, 50-60mph instead of 30-40mph the 2 days before. It did 2 things: One - while standing on the pegs, I didn't FEEL the bike squirming around under me as much. Two - The bike handled better while standing on the pegs and it didn't squirm around as much. Later, I stopped at the Yukon River for gas again. Muddy bike after many miles of wet, muddy road. Muddy boots. The Aerostich Boot Covers came in handy. Miles down the road, riding through more slick mud, I stopped for a photo of the slippery road As I walked back to the bike, I noticed this.......ROH ROH !! So, I dug out the tire plugging kit (which came with the bike), and my $80 Cycle Pump from Aerostich from inside the panniers. I had to strip the wires on the cycle pump so I could connect it to the battery. I pumped up the rear and couldn't find the hole. I thought maybe the tire slipped on the rim and broke the bead, but upon further investigation, I found the puncture. Earlier on I had ridden through a freshly graded dirt section, the dirt about 3" deep and all the rocks were scattered throughout. I could not see them or avoid them, that's how I figure I got the puncture. As I started working on the tire, a rain cloud moved in, and wouldn't you know, it started pouring on me. After plugging the tire, I pumped it up and it held air, so I packed everything up again. As soon as I was done, the rain cloud moved away !! I figured I would take it easy the rest of the trip, riding with a plug in my rear tire, but that only lasted a couple of hours. Soon, I was riding at my normal pace again, not worrying about the plug !! Finally I was near Fairbanks and stopped at the Hilltop Cafe and store. I met Roger Smith and his wife from Fairbanks. I asked them of a reasonable motel, and he suggested the Golden North Motel in Fairbanks. Roger's Kawasaki Concours and his riding buddies.... I asked the guy with the Triumph Tiger if he had taken it up the Haul Road yet, and he said no.....judging by his look, I don't think he would want to, the bike was all shiney and purty !! I arrived in Fairbanks, had enough wet riding for the day after 272 miles down the Dalton Highway. This was the earliest stop for the evening so far, it was 8:00pm. They only had one room left at the Golden North motel for $95. I chewed him down to $80 for a nice double room, with a spare room where I hung my stuff all over again to let it dry out. Tonight I ordered pizza for delivery and passed out early for the night.

Day Three I woke up in the tent and heard it raining outside. Oh well, a little rain mixed in with some Adventure Riding sounds good for the day !! I rolled up the wet tent and tried keeping my riding gear dry as I packed everything up. A lot of Alaska is arctic tundra, soft and wet in the summer, frozen in the winter, so most roads are built on gravel across the tundra......even the campsite was built up on gravel. It was so hard I couldn't use tent stakes, had to secure the tent and tarp with rocks........ I went back to Coldfoot to the truckstop again for breakfast. I was talking to the waiter, trying to decide if I was going to do the Bonsai run all the way to Deadhorse. He offered to go get a gas can I could borrow if I was going to do it, since it's 240 miles with nothing in between. I declined, thinking I would only go to the end of the Brooks Mountain Range beyond Atigun Pass. As I filled up at the pumps, I ran into a guy named Randy and his son Ethan, I had seen them the previous day at the Arctic Circle. I told them I was heading up to Atigun Pass, and they said they were going to head that way also. I got on the road at noon in the rain and headed north. It rained for the first couple of hours as I reached Atigun Pass. The Strom Posing alongside the muddy road...... The road up Atigun Pass, up high on the left side of the mountain in photo I went up over the pass and noticed how the guard rails on the side of the road were thoroughly beat up, looked like they were well used by the haul trucks. Here's one of the big rigs, they are not 18 wheelers, but many are 22-28 wheelers !! Many of the truckers were courteous when passing me, and when I was stopped on the side of the road for photos, I would hear them downshift to slow down while going by, but some continued on at their normal high speeds right by me. I saw many people waving, even some of the truckers, as they passed me going the opposite direction, so I started waving to everyone (isn't that cute ?). The Brooks Mountain Range after crossing Atigun Pass Jagged mountains as the Brooks Range dissappears into the arctic tundra As I went to the end of the mountain range, a little voice in my head was telling me, "go all the way, go all the way to Deadhorse".........Yep, I decided to finish the Bonsai Run even though I figured I wouldn't make it on the gas I had. I was really enjoying this ride, and the little V-Strom was working well at high speeds, hauling ass up the Haul Road !! An area called "Ice Cut", a glacier probably carved this through the tundra I stopped on the side of the road to see the same bikes I saw camped in the field the night before in Coldfoot Jason from Anchorage, and his dad from Montana, were out riding around on a little XR 250L, and a DRZ400. They looked at the comfy seat on the V-Strom, and the rain gloves and booties I had on, and said "wish we had all that stuff, your ride looks more comfortable" !! Yep, I'm sure it was They had a gas can strapped on their bike and said if they found me on the side of the road, they'd make me a REALLY GOOD DEAL on the 1/2 gallon they had left........ I continued on, my eyes scanning the dirt road ahead for rocks and potholes. On some of the paved sections, all of a sudden I would come across broken pavement and loose, deep gravel where the road had buckled. This was quite unnerving at high speed, so I decided to stand up a lot more, especially when going over a rise, so I could see further ahead. Slowing down a bit while standing, helped get through those gravel patches. I came across a group of about 6 Caribou in the road. When they saw me, all but one ran off into the tundra. The other one decided to casually jog down the road ahead of me, so I followed him, trying to get a photo, but was not successful. He seemed lost since he was separated from the rest of his group. He finally also ran off into the tundra. Further down the road, there were many bowhunters out hunting Caribou (you can't shoot a rifle within 5 miles of the Alaska Pipeline). One truck had five, 5 gallon gas cans on the back, so I turned around. I walked up to them, they ignored me for a minute as they talked, but then asked "what's up? " I asked if all their cans were full, they said yes. Asked if I could buy a gallon or two, they said sure. So I poured a gallon or two in the tank and they asked, "are you sure you have enough ? We don't want you to get stranded" I said yes and offered them some money, but they refused, So Cool !! I asked if I could get a photo......... Dale and Martin, bowhunter Superheroes who saved the day !! The road went on for about 100 miles on rolling and flat, wide-open tundra. I rode on the banks of the Sagavani River and the colors on the sides of this plateau were similar to the Painted Desert colors in Utah, seemed odd to see those colors in this landscape......... After many miles of hauling, I pulled into Deadhorse at 5:30pm At the Self-Serve gas station, thought this was classic !! Airport in Deadhorse I went to the souvenir shop to buy a T-shirt that says, "Dalton Highway, Mission Complete - 415 miles of Adventure". I asked if anywhere had beer.....they said "NO". I asked, "How about a bar?", No was the answer. The guy said no alcohol up there. Man, after that long ride, I was looking forward to one, Oh Well !! I had a gatorade and then bought a 2-gallon gas can for the ride back, so I wouldn't have to rely on someone else for gas :clapping: There wasn't much to see in Deadhorse, but it was still interesting to me. I imagined what it must be like in the dead of winter. It was 42 degrees when I left. Stopped to take a photo of these tracked vehicles for winter use on the north slope, there must've been hundreds of them in the area....... Also got a picture of what the tundra looked like for miles around Just as I grabbed my camera out of the side luggage, the bike started leaning over on the off-camber shoulder. I tried to hold it up by grabbing the lid of the pannier, but it didn't work. The Strom fell over on it's side and broke a front turn signal. I hoped this would be the only "tipover" of the trip. Heading south now, back towards Coldfoot, I was scanning the tundra for animals and saw these, some extremely large beasts......... I couldn't quite make out what they were, thought they were Grizzlies, but didn't think bears hang out in groups...I zoomed in with the telephoto Later, I asked some hunters and found out the huge beasts were Musk Oxen, they live out on the tundra. Very cool, I've never seen that animal in the wild before. On the Haul Road going south Colorful, rolling tundra as far as the eye could see........ Only in Alaska.....this sign would be Politically, and Environmentally Incorrect anywhere else Starting to get late, and darker......... Heading back through the Brooks Range towards inclement weather near Atigun Pass........ As I rode up into Atigun Pass, the pass was obscured by clouds and I could only see about 10 feet ahead as I crawled along at 10-15mph. I tried to follow the shoulder and rocks on the right side of the road. At one point, I was startled by the headlights of an oncoming big rig, luckily he was over towards the center and I was on the right edge. On top of the pass, I needed to put on my rainsuit again, and filled up the gas tank with the 2 gallons I had in the gas can. The rest of the way back to Coldfoot was wet and dark, muddy and slippery. At one point, a trucker turned on his super bright floodlights before he passed me and blinded me with his lights !! That sucked. I rode over 2 hours in the rain and arrived back in Coldfoot at 1:00am. Whew, that was quite a little day's Adventure !! 507 miles in 13 hours. The big rigs out in the parking lot....... Back at the truckstop, the kitchen was closed, but the waitress was nice enough to warm me up a bowl of soup with some bread. I was NOT setting up a tent after the long day, and in the rain, so I had to get a room in the old workers camp for $145 !! I didn't care at this point. The rooms are small, like a mobile home room, or a travel trailer. I unpacked my tent and tarp, wet from the night before, and sprawled everything out all over the room to dry out overnight. Time to pass out in the little, twin bed and snore the night away.

Day Two I woke up in the morning and put the coffeemaker in the room to good use. I stepped outside, it was 42 degrees, so I relaxed in the cabin, wasn't in a rush, and vegged out watching a Star Trek movie. Finally loaded up and got on the road about 10:30am. I went north and took the turnoff into Denali National Park and rode to the gated entrance to the park, where you can't take a vehicle. You must take a bus further into the park, so I turned around.......no busses for me this trip !! I was lucky to get a view of Mt. McKinley, far off in the distance........ Rad Adventure Rider Posing with Mt. McKinley in background Back out on the Parks Highway, I continued north and took a photo of typical Alaska landscape......lots of lakes and rivers I had to go through some road construction zones. Most of the flagmen (uhhh, that would be "flagpersons" to be PC) directing traffic were women, wish I had gotten some photos of them, they all talked to me and were real friendly, and had no problem with me passing all the cars to the front of the line. North of Fairbanks, I was headed up the Dalton Highway and my destination was Coldfoot tonight. I saw many dirt roads off the main road, and just had to explore some. I followed this one for a few miles as it paralleled the main road... The Alaska Pipeline in the distance The V-Strom on a Ridge......yes, I took photos of a RENTAL bike, but what the heck, it was mine for 11 days :clapping: Going up the Dalton Highway, there were forest fires burning for weeks.......... Start of the Dalton Highway where it turns to dirt for about 80% of the rest of the way to Deadhorse Which way should I go ?? Guess I'll go this way........ Ahhh, nice to see this sign........ But wasn't too crazy about this one......... I was delighted to hit this dirt road that I knew went on for hundreds of miles, the infamous "Haul Road" (Dalton Hwy.). I had fun gassing it around the corners, and getting the rear to slide a bit in the loose gravel in some areas. This road was built before they built the Alaska Pipeline, and is now used to haul equipment and supplies up to the oil fields at Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay and the North Slope. The road runs along the Pipeline for hundreds of miles. Here, I went around a gate to get a couple of photos........ Those tubes with fins on top of the pipeline supports, are heat exchangers. They refrigerate the poles underground to prevent the frozen tundra from defrosting. At the Yukon River This woodplank bridge was built specifically for the Haul Road to get to Prudhoe Bay, the only bridge in the U.S. which crosses the Yukon River. Dual Sporting on the banks of the Mighty Yukon.... Turned around here, beyond this point the riverbank got narrower, and too soft...me no want to get stuck !! Mighty Yukon Rad Explorer Met Takeshi and Junko from Japan, on their honeymoon in Alaska. They originally were students in Los Angeles. He asked when I was going to Japan to go riding ? They were cool, we exchanged e-mail addresses............ Interesting sign........they close the road for planes to land, the runway is right next to the road Here, I'm much closer to the forest fires........the pipeline is visible through the trees........ Here's a burned out area from previous years.......the forest floor was covered with these blooming, bright flowers (fireweed)........it went on for miles, quite a sight to see !! On one section of freshly graded dirt, it was wet, but it wasn't raining out. I realized they had wet down the road to keep the dust down. Earlier, I was hauling at a good pace, but now the dirt got very slick. I felt the rear of the bike squirming around, so I slowed down to about 30-40mph for a few miles until it dried up again. 8:30pm at the Arctic Circle. LOOK........here's where I am...it's just a stinkin' sign !! I don't see no Circle ??!! I talked with Mike and Denise from Connecticut, in a motorhome at the Circle. They were envious of my bike trip, since they ride a Harley back home. I arrived at Coldfoot at 9:50pm, the only services beyond the Yukon River on that 360 mile stretch of the Dalton Highway. I was ready for a hefty burger at the truckstop....... Coldfoot Camp. After dinner, I was going to camp right across the parking lot in a grass field, where I saw 2 other bikes parked. But when I heard the truckers parked out front with their diesel's running, I asked the waitress if there was another campground nearby. She said yes, a BLM campground up the road a couple of miles. I went there and picked out a spot at midnight. It was still light enough to not need a flashlight. I was the ONLY one in the campground, besides the campground host. Crawled into the tent after a long, but fun day.......enduring the first part of the Haul Road. Total riding was 470 miles in 12 hours.

I plan on doing this ride and attacking all the hard sections. Dug, I'd be happy to ride with you, if you want. I will be putting on a 47 tooth rear sprocket, the one I had on last Saturday was about a 44....so I'll have the extra grunt needed to make some of the hills easier. I suggest anyone who goes, gear the bike so it can climb straight up a wall !! :clapping: Seriously, it will be easier with really low gearing.

Topic moved to Open Discussion....we don't want these classifieds becoming a place to buy and sell any and all types of stuff / merchandise. As the Forum Title says, "bikes and accessories". Thank you,

Javol, ju got it !! :clapping:

Verrrrry interesting.....but NOT funny (anyone remember where that quote comes from ?) :clapping: Biofuel brews up higher German beer prices.... Like most Germans, brewer Helmut Erdmann is all for the fight against global warming. Unless, that is, it drives up the price of his beer. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18941618/from/ET/

I can't make it, will be on a plane to Florida for a week of work at a resort on the beach. :clapping:

Thanks to DigDug and his son Mickey (hope I got his name right) for putting on an awesome, challenging....sometimes difficult ride. We had a group of 10 riders. I must hand it to Ken (Joliet), Alex (Papaalex), and John (Rex Everything), for attacking the difficult trails and never giving up, being they never really rode trails like these before. I was also impressed with Dug's and Rob's sons riding with us, and Dirt Dame chugged along on her little CRF 150. Everybody rode well and we had a great group. Had a few issues here and there, no mechanicals or flats, just difficult sections......all in all, everyone had a good time. Papaalex - only his 3rd ride on his new KTM 450 Rex Everything - only his 2nd ride on his DRZ 400 I have 82 photos and some GREAT action shots to be posted over this weekend. Check back soon.......and I"m sure everyone else has some great shots also.......... Been a long time since I've done some difficult trails like that, it was AWESOME !!

Here's my version......... I met Pyro, Metal Twister and Bikeslut at the Pine Valley Cul De Sac....only met Pyro once before, but had never ridden with any of them. I like Twister's dark green KTM 640 LC4 (6 Days Enduro Edition)...have never seen one in that color. Bob (Twister), Troy (Pyro) and....yep, another Bob (Slut) on top of Bronco Peak Pyro takin' a pic of me takin' a pic Good views from Bronco Peak.....across the valley, the road going up to the Fire Lookout and the Corral Canyon Loop Trail Looking west towards the ocean....and the marine layer Pyro and Bikeslut coming down one rocky, loose downhill on Bronco Peak The boyz coming down another rocky section in formation.... Troy picks his way through some more......Ummmm, Boulders...yeah, that's it !! Metal Twister I thought Twister's nickname might've been from doing damage to his bikes ....but nope, his business is Metal Twisting. Hey BikeSlut, you gettin' a little off the line there ? Can we have some more rocks please..... Of course we can I love rocks !! After BikeSlut fell over (not even moving, just trying to put his kickstand down) and breaking his clutch perch while waiting for the group of 5 Jeepers coming up a gnarly section, we had to pull over way to the side to let them by...... These were some hardcore Jeepers Doggies enjoyin' the 4x4 action also I was sure to inform this guy he had some scratches on his Grand Cherokee This guy actually uses his jeep for more than going to the mall and picking the kids up from school The last jeep squeezes by us The last section heading down before dropping into the lower Corral Campground...I went down ahead and told Pyro to wait a minute so I could set up for some action shots....Yes, I am the camera man Pyro rides that KLR really well He ALMOST tipped over here, I saw him straining to hold it up....I ran over and helped him straighten it out Woops.......not an almost here After a break at the water well pump in the campground, Twister and I headed up the little trail along the paved road up to 4 Corners, but one section was fenced off and the trail changed a bit, then we had to take a different section which used to be part of another difficult trail....it has a steep rockface climb...I made it up, and Twister hesitated...which was the end of that. I knew he was getting a bit tired, and I didn't know if there was any more difficult stuff ahead since I was not familiar going this way, so we turned around and met Pyro and Bikeslut at 4 Corners. I saw a Ranger and wanted to talk about the changes to that trail, also the amount of water bars that are now on the trails at Corral. Ranger was Richard Tull, who I have heard about many times now but never met. I introduced myself and we talked for a good 20 minutes....got some really good information from him, and also some NEW updated Corral Canyon maps. We super-mottarded down the twisty paved road back to Buckman Springs and pavement to lunch at the greasy spoon in Pine Valley. Then we parted ways and headed home. Another great ride even though it was short, good challenging stuff, and more rocks !! Nevertheless, great trails with great people !! 2 fun rides in one weekend for me.....can't beat that. Bikeslut, Thanks for putting on this ride, making my Memorial Day Weekend a memorable one !!

I thought we were riding fire roads the rest of the way back to the trucks, with just a stream crossing to contend with, but was happy to see we had a narrow single track trail to ride for a few miles on the edge of a canyon to get to Devil's Hole. Here's where Joliet lost it on the steep hillside trail, where a washout had been filled in with soft dirt. Luckily he saved himself and the bike from sliding down the long, steep incline. Joliet preparing to ride again, after making sure he and his bike are OK. Good view of the trail to the right on the hillside Mount Up !! Dig Dug's son Mickey demonstrates how to get around one of many rocks that jutted out into the trail. Sometimes a bit unnerving with the dropoffs to the right. Looking down the canyon with the lead riders on the trail Here, Brett and I park the bikes at Devil's Hole, anticipating the need to help riders get across the rocky creek crossing... Papaalex stands and waits, with an uncertain look on his face Dirt Dame (Mimi) poses before getting wet.... Rex Everything at the boulders Rex dismounts Bulldoggin' across the creek Approaching the other side As if there weren't enough boulders and rocks in the creek... there were more to deal with on the other side Rob's son Tommy getting ready for the attempt Tommy looking for a line through the boulders Rob helping Tommy at the difficult spot through the boulders Tommy rides it to the other side Dirt Dame's little CRF 150 was a lot easier to lift around the boulders Dirt Dame thinks, "I hope I don't have to get off the bike" She tries to remember, "Did I buy waterproof boots" ? We heard her yell out, "Dang....this waters cold" !! This puppy dog came down to check out the excitement and see if he could help Brett's turn now.... This spot was tricky weaving through the first big boulders, with slimey, wet rocks underneath Wait....what's that I see....could it be a Rooster ?? Oh yeah....it's a good one !! Brett makes it to the other side, after hitting a submerged rock and almost falling over Ride Orange starts his attack R-O always has to be different Here, he tries a different line OVER the boulder We all made it across with nobody falling over in the creek. A great ride, some riders had their skills put to the test, while others had never ridden these types of trails before and found their limitations and where they need to practice. We had no mechanical issues or flats and everyone got back to their trucks with a smile on their face, even if they're bikes and bodies might've been abused !! Awesome ride....I hadn't ridden difficult trails like that in a long time....when are we going back ?!!

The next difficult hill....lots of rocks. Rex nails the boulder....I walked down to help him and saw he was getting a bit tired, so I offered to ride his DRZ up the next short rocky section.....he felt bad, but took me up on the offer Brett in action Everyone made it through the ridge trail to the bottom where we met the others who opted for the easy route. We then continued on towards Devil's Hole........... (to be continued)

OK, here's the continuation of my write-up....we'll give it another shot. Here's the first uphill on the difficult Redonda Ridge Trail Joliet and Rex in the shade, waiting for everyone to make it up the hill Papaalex on his new 450 EXC Dig Dug Ride Orange Brett Quick break in the shade Great views from the hilltop Brett...."I'm cool, even though I don't have a cool screen name" One of the crew says, "C'mon, Shut Up and Let's Ride" !! Papaalex demonstrating the proper New Bike break-in technique, on the next challenging uphill section Joliet helps out The hill was challenging because it was steep, with loose DCG (decomposed granite), mixed in with rocks and rock steps Some teamwork and dulldogging goin' on Ride Orange gives it a go R-O was having some carburetor issues at elevation, so his bike was sputtering & stalling, sometimes at the worst moment.... Here comes Brett Oops....stall Yesss....go go go !! OH, Not again....Brett thinks, "Shoulda got the EXC instead of an MXC" Here comes Rex Everything on the move with a good head of steam Roh Roh !! Here, I stopped 2/3 of the way up the hill to help Papaalex when he tipped over, but I couldn't set the centerstand down because it was too steep and loose, so I stayed there and took photos of everyone coming up the hill. Then, when Rex tipped over on his DRZ, I had Joliet hold my bike so I could go down to help him, since they already worked hard getting a few of the others up the hill....it was my turn to help bulldog up the hill.... We got everyone up the hill with some teamwork. Stopped in the middle ended up being a mistake for me, since now I wouldn't have the momentum needed as if I would've started up from the bottom. I ended up dropping it on the last section of this hill also