KLRoger's Solo Adventure Ride

[RogerTOWM 0]

I decided to go on a little road trip with my 06 Harley Davidson Electra Glide. It is an old school, air cooled, HC (hard core) adventure bike. My Harley has a whole four inches of ground clearance. Why the designers gave this hard core adventure bike so much suspension and ground clearance is beyond me. But I plan to take this bike out and see if I can use every inch of suspension.

I had planned to leave early in the morning of Wednesday September 3rd 2008. This would be a short trip of maybe 3,000 miles or so. I had no specific route planned out. I thought I would take each adventurous day as it came. Maybe I would go north all the way to Canada. Then again maybe I would not.

I wanted to go toward Salt Lake City and see a friend of mine, but I would like to avoid the desert during the hottest part of the day. But after goofing off until 11:30 I could goof off no longer. So I soaked my new cooling vest, put Willie Nelson on the stereo and hit the road.

Because it was getting so late I decided not to look for any back roads and just ride interstate 15 up toward Lost Wages (Las Vegas). After stopping at 1:30 pm to get fuel in Hesperia I finally made it to the beautiful metropolis of Baker California. While Baker has many different stunning attractions the one I like the best is the rather large thermometer. Today was rather chilly at just a bit over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you look just past my several chins at the right side of my helmet right above the visor you can see the temperature.

Here is a better photo of the thermometer. Look close and you can see how cool it is.

I’m very happy that I left so late. Other wise I might have missed this great temperature.

I had thought that I might stop in Lost Wages and get a room. I could do some people watching, drink a couple of cold ones, take a nap and then continue on early in the morning. I fueled up again at the State Line in Primm Nevada. I wasn’t feeling very tired so I continued on past Lost Wages. I figured that I would stop and get a room in Mesquite Nevada.

I was trying out a new vest I had purchased. When it is hot you soak it in water and the evaporation acts as red neck air conditioning. It worked alright, but it dried out rapidly in this cool air. I’m not sure it was any better then a good cotton tee-shirt for this purpose.

I arrived at Mesquite feeling good with plenty of gas in the tank so I just kept going. As you continue up Interstate 15 you enter the state of Arizona for a while and travel through a canyon along the Virgin River. This is one of my favorite canyons on a paved road. The walls tower over you. If you are lucky enough to get there at sun up or sun set you can watch the rock change colors. I was lucky as it was near sunset.

And here is just to prove my ugly mug was there.

Coming to the top I found the sun again.

The canyon ended as I entered Utah.

I drove to Saint George Utah and decided to get a room at the Motel 6. Then it was dinner at Denny’s and off to bed. I drove about 467 miles and filled up 3 times for a total of 12.4 gals. Mileage was about 38MPG, not bad for riding 70 to 80 miles per hour.

[dirt dame 559]

I know you liked the cool temps out there, but I am such a wussy, that I would have reserved some air conditioning for the trip if I had gone.

[RogerTOWM 0]

The next day I lazed around at the motel and got a late start. I didn’t gas up and leave Saint George until about 8:45 am. I decided to get off the super slab and get some secondary road riding in. It had cooled down some so I didn’t use my cooling vest for the rest of the trip. I shot up Interstate 15 to route 9. I rode through Hurricane Utah on 9 toward US 89.

I had an uncle who was the first person born in Hurricane. He had some great stories about the area. It seems weird in the 21st century to have known people who had settled the west. My uncle’s family were farmers and ranchers. They helped the rest of the settlers dig a cannel from the Virgin River to their valley. The cannel is still working and channels run right along side the roads. To water your yard you open a sluice gate for a set number of hours on a set day. No pipes, hoses or water meters. Everything is on the honor system and it is still working!

I passed on through hoping to find US 89 and a little café for brunch. I passed several trails and dirt roads that I would Like to have taken. But it just didn’t seem very smart to take the big Adventure bike off road. Here is a little trail I took for a short detour.

Here are some other views in different directions from the same spot.

I got back on route 9 trying to get to US 89 and some food. The Virgin River runs along side of the road in areas as you head toward Zion National Park. Here are some more photos of the landscape along the way.

The Virgin River.

Ahead is Zion National Park in the distant hills.

I followed route 9 until I met a nice lady in a little stand blocking the road. She said that it would cost me $15 to enter the park. I told her that I didn’t want to enter the park; I just wanted to go to US 89. She smiled and told me that the road was only 20 miles ahead and it would cost me $15 to get there. I told her I didn’t want to go on a toll road; I just wanted to go on a US highway. She said I was sweet and I could turn my motorcycle around the back of her stand and go on back to Interstate 15 if I was that cheep. I followed her directions and went on back to the freeway. It was about a one hour detour but oh well. I continued north to the town of Beaver. At 1145 am I reached the town and got fuel and ate. I’ve always wanted to say I had lunch in Beaver, now I can.

After lunch I continued to shoot down the road until I hit Payson Utah at about 2:30 pm, where I had to gas up again. At every gas stop I got a soda, used the restroom and walked around some. I wanted to try and prevent any blood clots forming in my legs from setting too long. I then reached my friends home in North Salt Lake City around 3:30 pm. I had traveled around 377 miles for the day.

My friend and his wife have three motorcycles, all Harleys. I went to a local bike shop with him and looked at a KTM 300 and a KLX450. Both are sweet bikes and can be dual-sported in Utah. Even the smoker! What a great state!

When his wife got home we went into Salt Lake City and had a great dinner at a New York style Italian restaurant. The food was great! Not something you would expect from Salt Lake, and I think the waitress liked me because she kept bringing me stuff. Afterwards we went back to their place and got reacquainted until the wee hours of the morning.

[Strega 0]

Nice pics Rog, thanks for sharing those with us. Looked like a lot of fun.

[Badfish2 0]

Great report. I love that area. Before I got married I used to go up route 89 to a place called (appropriately enough) fish lake. Wonderful scenery. I can't wait to go back (but I may not make it back until I get un-married)

[Joliet 0]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Ken

[RogerTOWM 0]

On day 3 of the trip (September 5, 08) my friend George and I went on a ride in the mountains to the east of Salt Lake City. George and his wife share 3 different motorcycles, all Harleys. He has an Electra Glide like mine which he decided to ride so we would have matching capabilities. Here is George getting ready to ride.

We rode south of the city on interstate 15 until we reached Alpine loop rode. This road winds through the Uinta National Forest. It starts as a well maintained, well marked road.

It goes through forests.

And then climbs up into drier scrub land.

There were some interesting side trails coming off of the main road. Here I am going down one of the trails in my old school, air cooled, short suspension, hard core, adventure bike!

And yep, George was there too.

While going down a one little winding part of the road I decided to take a photo of my ear. Some how George was behind me and got in he shot, ruining the picture.

As we were leaving the national forest we stopped at a little view spot to check out the sights. Here is my buddy George checking out the landscape.

Here is some of what he was looking at.

Alpine loop rode met Highway 189 which we took as we rode along the Deer Creek Reservoir and park. We road into the town of Herber and stopped at the local Sonic for an ice cream break. Sorry Mimi no photos of this. After this we continued on the 189 past the Jordanelle Reservoir State park. These reservoirs are part of the system that feeds water into Salt Lake and the surrounding farmland. Highway 189 intersects interstate 80 which we then to I-15 and George’s home in the city of North Salt Lake. While still a super slab, I-80 along this section is one of the least boring interstates I have been forced to ride. So ended day three.

On the fourth day I went to a car show in Brigham City with George and his lovely wife, Pam. There were over 800 cars in the show. It was the biggest show in the 5 state area. There were about every car model ever driven in America there. Model “T”, Nash, Pantera, Chevelle, Mustang, Fire Bird, 240/280 Z. There was even the first Mazda made for an American there. The Mazda was a cute little three cylinder made for a young Air Force officer who brought it home from Japan. They even had a motorcycle section, but alas there were no Adventure Bikes or Dual Sports. Somehow I was drafted into helping judge for the best paint job award, but that is another story. Stupidly I left my camera in my motorcycle so I have no pictures of the car show.

[DigDug 0]

Great picture Roger!!!

The Alpine loop is a nice ride... If you rode it, you passed within 1/4 mile of some of the best singletrack/quad trails up there (upper American Fork Canyon)!!! Next time we bring the dirt bikes!!!!

Who else is coming????

Thanks for sharing your report!

[Crawdaddy 96]

Who else is coming????

"In" as usual on DigDug Adventures

[RogerTOWM 0]

The Alpine loop is a nice ride... If you rode it,

"If you rode it?" You doubt me?

I'm up to a dual sport ride there. I can stay at my friend's house. Then you'll know I rode it.

[DigDug 0]

"If you rode it?" You doubt me?

I'm up to a dual sport ride there. I can stay at my friend's house. Then you'll know I rode it.

You know what I meant... So I mis-typed it a little...

Don't make me have to go back and "Hammer" my post!!!

Seriously, when it starts cooling off up there and they start getting a little rain (to keep the dust down), I'm going to have to go and "visit Dad"!

[piratemonkey 0]

Makes me want to go on a riding vacation. Badly.

[dirt dame 559]

All these wonderful long distance ride write ups make me want to go on a riding vacation.

[RogerTOWM 0]

Saturday evening I had to decide where I was going next. Even though I was having a great time with my friends, my goal was to ride somewhere. Now I just needed to decide where to ride. I could go north through Idaho to Canada. I’ve never been to the Canadian border. Or I could go to see some friends who live in La Pine Oregon.

I decided to go see my friends in Oregon. I was thinking that the trip to La Pine would take about 2 days. Pam told me that her son had driven to Bend Oregon in one day. Bend is just north of La Pine so without consulting my map I decided that I could get there in one day. I called my friends in La Pine and arranged to meet them for diner the next evening. There is an interesting little bar about 30 minutes outside of La Pine that serves a great roasted chicken dinner. They don’t use plates. They put paper down on the table and then start throwing taters and pieces of chicken down in front of you. A little weird but the chicken tastes great.

Later Saturday night I sat down with my maps to look for some back roads to take to get to Oregon. That is when I started adding up the numbers. Oh my, La Pine is about 700 miles from North Salt Lake City! There is no way I can take back roads and get there in one day! It is now around 1100 pm, way to late to call John in La Pine and tell him I won’t make it. The speed limit on the interstates in Utah and Idaho is 75 miles per hour. Which means everybody does 80 mph without getting tickets. I decided to take the boring super slab up through Utah and Idaho to the Oregon border. Riding the interstates in that area is not quite as bad as Southern California. You don’t have twelve lanes of traffic to deal with and the drivers are generally more polite.

Sunday morning I went with George and Pam to a cute local café to buy them breakfast. North Salt Lake City on Sunday morning is not exactly New York City. The café did not open until 9 in the morning and we were their first customers. The food was very good but George wouldn’t let me catch the check. I wanted to pay for the meal for once! George had been paying for everything the whole time I was there. We have been close friends ever since high school and that was a long time ago. I have been freeloading off of him for years, so I guess he thought “why change now?”!

I didn’t get on the road until about 9:45 or so. The high speeds of the super slab let you make the miles but it kills your gas mileage. I didn’t even make it out of Utah before I had to fill up. This is potato farming and ranching country. The towns and gas stations are far apart. I was a bit conservative and filled up often. The thought of having to push that big pig of a Harley to a gas station had me keeping the tank filled up! There were interesting dirt roads going off to the various farms and ranches. The urge to take them and see where they go was strong. But remembering what I was riding and the dinner appointment kept me on the road heading to Oregon.

After gassing up in Boise, Idaho I was able to get off the interstate and head to Oregon. I took highway 20 through Oregon to the Bend area. The road went through a beautiful area with hills, rivers and ranches. The road has enough curves to keep it interesting but the gas stations are a bit far apart and not all of them are open on Sunday. Still I would recommend this road if you are ever in the area.

Bypassing around the city of Bend and heading south I found myself on a dirt road. By now it was getting late and the sun was getting low in the west. With the dust I was kicking up and the sun in my eyes is was getting very hard to see. After a few miles of washboards I finally stopped and checked my GPS and paper maps. It was so hard to see so I thought about turning around and finding a paved road. That is when I found out that I was only a few hundred yards from pavement! It was right around the curve. I’m sure glad I looked at the map instead of just turning around!

I got to La Pine at 7:30 pm. The restaurant part of the bar quits taking customers at 7pm. I made it to my friend’s house around 7:45 and they were not home. They got home about 8pm and they had my dinner with them. John and Cathay had some other visitors from out of town besides me. They waited until 6pm and then went to dinner. Nobody has every accused my friend John of being dumb. He knew I wouldn’t be able to ride that far and get there in time. He was rather surprised to see me when he got home. He said he didn’t expect me until the next day. But he did bring food for me anyway. I drove 693 miles this day; can you say “Monkey Butt”? Although I had passed some great photo opportunities I did not take any pictures this day.

The next morning was the 6th day of my ride. John and Cathy had some appointments this morning so I said my goodbyes to them and had breakfast in town with one of their friends. After breakfast I got back on the road heading north. I had planned to cross the Columbia River over the “Bridge of the Gods” near Cascade Locks, Oregon. I thought I would then take a couple of hundred miles loop through Washington state, cross back over the river and go down to stay at Walport Oregon for the night. There was a campground that I wanted to stay at in Walport. On a previous stay at the camp ground I had gotten the smoothest beer I had had in several years. I want to buy another one there and see where the brewery was located. That was my plan; take the long way to Walport and buy a beer.

I rode up past Bend and headed toward Mount Hood. I climbed up onto an area of forests and meadows.

There had been a fire in the recent past.

But it had been replanted and was coming back.

I found a farmer’s fields with Mount Hood in the distance.

Mount Hood has snow on it year round.

There was a nice little dirt road leading up to the mountain summit.

I also found a pleasant trail through a dry stream bed. But I didn’t think my hard core adventure bike would really like that trail. The rocks coming out of the trail were a little too large.

I continued riding through forest land,

and meadows,

until, I saw this ahead.

A bridge to the river.

When I reached Cascade Locks I gassed up and called the camp ground in Walport to make a reservation. They told me what time they closed the office. I realized that I would not make it in time if I went across the bridge into Washington.

So I said goodbye to the river

and headed down inland

to Walport on the coast.

I got to Walport before the campground closed and looked for the beer I had had before. I bought a beer that I thought might have been it. It was such a disappointment, not nearly as smooth and good as the other beer. I guess if I want a good beer I’ll just have to go to KTMRandy’s house! I rode 375 miles on this day. While still a long way it wasn’t nearly as “monkey butt” as the day before!

That night was very windy but the next morning was cold and foggy. I rode south on highway 101 along the coast.

The road did zig inland at times,

but most of the time it just zagged along the coast,

Until the road finally went through the redwoods.

I had supper in Eureka, California around 6pm and the looked for a camping site off of “The Avenue of the Giants” in the state park. Every campground I saw was gated and closed. It was getting very dark and I figured that I would not be able to find a camp site because they were all closed. So I stopped in Garberville, Kalifornia and checked into a motel. It was one of those no tell type motels run by people with Indian accents that should cost about $25 a night. Only this one cost me $66 for one night. I should have looked for a motel six, but it was a little town, it was late, and I was tired. I only rode a little over 300 miles on this day.

I now had 2 more days to get home. I had planned to follow highway 101 down the coast to highway 1 and take highway 1 down to Los Angels. I would then fight the LA traffic and come home. This would be a good 2 day trip and the coast route is a great one to ride. I would find a place to camp down below the bay area somewhere. Yes, that is a good plan, that is what I will do. Then I called my wife, big mistake. It’s "when are you coming home? You’ve been gone forever, etc."

So the next morning I scratch the coast plan. I take 101 down to the Bay area. Ride over the Oakland Bridge to Interstate 5 and shoot home. Another long day, 728 miles in the saddle, but I’m home. No waves, no cliffs, no sea lions, no San Simeon, no pictures, but very sun burnt, I’m home. I hope she appreciates it.

Totals for the trip: Days out 8, Miles ridden 3335, Fuel used 82.1 gals and I still have to refuel my bike so add maybe 2 or 3 more gallons to the total. My average mileage was around 40 miles per gallon. Not the best I have ever gotten but then again the roads I took through Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho and California were pretty high speed. I get better mileage if I keep the speeds down to 60 or 65 miles per hour.

Lessons learned: If I want to stay off of the super slab I need to read my maps more often. I need to call campgrounds ahead of time or don’t bother bringing my tent. I need to do less mileage per day and set my daily goals lower, avoiding the monkey butt. I need to slow down for better gas mileage. I need to quit calling home if I want to stay out longer.

[dirt dame 559]

Sure is some pretty countryside you went through.

[RogerTOWM 0]

Sure is some pretty countryside you went through.

That is one of the main reasons I go. I need to figure out a better way to take pictures. I’m so busy riding and looking I don’t stop and smell the roses (or take photographs). I never get photos of the best stuff! But I am getting better at the picture thing though.