2008 Fall Hatfield McCoy Quad trip

I finally broke down and signed up for smug mug..and the first thing posted is pictures of the annual trip to WV's Hatfield McCoy ATV Area.

Enjoy..we did!
http://parocket.smugmug.com/

Thursday West Elk Loop, Gunnison, Crested Butte

Today started as a throw away day and ended up with some good mountian riding both on dirt and pavement.

A late start we headed to Crested Butte Co on rt135, once we hit CB we turned west on CR12 which is a dirt road crossing over to RT92(?) Going up 135 was typical colorado landscape. Once we rolled in CB we got to see many high end mountian homes and just as many low end shack for the seasonal workers.

CR 12 was a well graded dirt road. It had its share of thick gravel and ruts but mostly a good surface for running along checkin out the scenery and the cows who roam open range.

After clearing the dirt we hit a few country road and stopped for lunch in Hotchkiss. Don't recall the name but the grilled cheese and navajo tacos were cheap and good.

From there we were going to hit the Black Canyon which has RT92 carved from the ledges of the canyon. On Sunday we met a couple of GS riders and they said it was a must do, it orginally was not in the plans but I managed to get it in. From about Maher to RT50 its got to be one of the best pieces of twisted pavement ever put down. Turn after turn from very fast to 40 mph turns marked as 20 mph. On top of the riding is super views of the canyon...very close and personal as like so many roads there was nothing but drop off past the yellow line.

After the run down 92 we road 50 back to Gunnison, went for a walk to a great sporting good store and did dinner at Garlic Mike's.

Tommorrow, we are making a b-line to Limon to load up and head home after a cookout with the Colorado gang. I'll be doing an wrap up post early next week.

Wednesday Mex Hat to Gunnison

I added pictures to yesterdays entry as well as added todays info

We're off schedule and we're lost...

So we pulled out the map started to look at how to pick up the pieces. Then that plan fell apart.
We started out in Mex Hat and headed for Natural Bridges. It was a quick run up the state road until Moki Dugway and pass. Its a pass over a desert canyon cliff and its dirt and it has super tight switch backs..and great views once your up a bit.

Check some pictures:

Then we headed to Natural Bridge which was under construction, it was hot and it was really not for the moto touring type...ya had ta walk to see stuff! We donated to the national parks system since out Golden Eagle pass expired yesterday. The bridges were viewable from overlooks and were cool but I think the hikers going down the 1 to 5 mile hikes got their monies worth.

Check some pic.

After that we headed to Blanding and was planning Moab and Arches but decided to turn for home. We both we both had enough "desert" type terrain..we wanted mountains. So we turned at Blanding to Colorado up utah 491 to Co 141 towards US 50. We hit Disappointment Valley and a bunch of other highland type shrubby stuff until we go into the mountians.
We ended in Gunnison checked into a hotel and found a steak joint for dinner. The hostess takled me into crab cakes..what was I thinking??? Hint...don't order food from a place the chef never seen...I bet he seen cows..but not the seas.

Snoozing in Norwood Co and Jenn being artesy.

Don't know where we are going tomorrow...maybe do some local dirt.

Tuesday Silverton to Mex Hat, UT

Tuesday started out slow... as in slow to go out in the cold.

I rolled the bike to the door of the hotel room and flipped the switch..27 degrees and there was ice on the puddles in the lot. I went back and forth packing the bike and staying warm. Even with the cold we were ready to go at 8am.
Once packed a guy from Minnosota stopped to discuss riding in the cold..he puts over 4k miles on a sled a year and he is the low mileage guy out of his gang. He had just been to North Rim and Moab and was having a hard time finding rooms..I hate when people tell me that..I got zero reservation for the whole trip.

After saying good bye, I hit the start button and the bike turned over but no fire. After a few more nothing but turning over. I then added a little throttle and it started to come to life. Good thing the battery is still in good shape...the bike finally fired and stayed that way until it stalled in the middle of the street.

Leaving on 550 s we were off to Durnago and Utah. The ride down 550 was great, more mountians and 2 more 10K+ foot passes. Coming into Durango we passed a steamer headed for Silverton.

Most of the trip was standard riding in the SW..lots of long straight flat runs...


Our first thing was to get a room. Orginally we were going to Blanding, but I wanted to stay in Mex Hat. I heard from a fellow GS rider of the steaks in this town and wanted to try them..here is the place and the HUNK of meat they server. Thanks Alton.

After the getting a room at Hat Rock Hotel of a staggering 110$, we took off to Monumnet Valley. I wanted to unload some weight but the room was not ready so we gassed up and headed to the land of butte.

Going into the tribal lands cost $5 a head. the guy taking the cash insisted a win is a win even if the steelers looked bad in winning. I finally agreed then he hit me with the eagles really spanked them...

The low down on the area around the mounments is this..tourist and the roads suck! We started in following 4 tour trucks with about 2 dozen people in each. Once we went down the entrance we got rolling but the sand was deep and smooth...we kept going until we hit a patch about 100 yeads long and nearly went down 4-5 times. I got no idea how I saved it but we did. The tracks behind me looked like a rattler snaked its way down the sand...so out we went..and a bit angry. Another area not covered on the bike and I'll be damned before I ride a tour bus. We did get to see a few miles of the area and got some pictures.

After Monumant Valley, we went to Valley of the Gods. Its a 17mile dirt road north of Mexican Hat. The loop winds around many of the same type of buttes, etc like Monumnet Valley...but it free and no one was there. The road has heavy washboards and some stretches of loose silt and gravel but it was fun on the GS. Once I got up on the pegs we whirled through and got a bunch of pictures. Overall a great ride.

Check out the pictures from the day.

Monday, doing the Passes!

Engineer Pass 12,800 feet...don't walk too far!

Behind me!



Caution! No Motorcycle content. OK some but in the future tense.

Monday. Monday! OK so it always happens. We take a vacation to a middle of nowhere place and next thing you know we are never going to leave. So..we did not leave Silverton today. We stayed and took a Jeep tour. (Thanks Rob N). Even though the first hour of the trip I was ready to take the Jeep back and get the bike, I did not..BMW MOA towing would have covered the call.

However! If your interested in over 700 miles of 4x4 and dirt roads begging for riding get on the
horn and get with me I WILL be back next year with either a trailer full of Dual sports or quads. I got a crew cab truck and a trailer for up to 4 cycles or quads...call me.

Now for the Jeep Report.

Monday was a great day in the San Juan mountians. The was a frost last night but at 8am the sun was cominh up and the weather was looking great. It was in the 50s or 60s all day. The Mt passes were much colder but who was paying attention to the weather when at 12k feet.

In all we did the entire Alpine Loop and a few extras in the course of 7 hours of off roading.
http://www.alpineloop.com/HTML/index.html

The area is open to most all kinds of offroad vehicles. Mile upon mile of road and trails listed as roads...its heaven.

We took a few hundred pictures, but none seem to do it justice. I posted a bunch below to see just a sample of what was up there.

the only way to the front door.

Animas Fork Ghost Town

Cinnamon Pass 12+ feet

Sunday, Day 1 of Prospector Ride Sun to Ice?

Day one of the great 2008 Prospoctor ride is in the books. The day was a day of extremes.

Early in the morning we were up and ready to go. The time differences play tricks and the fact we just got done driving 21 hours straight...just stopping for gas took its toll the night before but we got a good nights sleep and we were ready to roll.

Amazing the GSA can really handle a load. We got muvh more stuff in on the GSA than the FJR last year. I go the small left pannier and jenn got the BIG right side one. The top case has cameras, cords, crackers and ton of junk to "support" the trip. I strap the heated vests in a waterproof back on the top of the topcase. They are light and easy to strap down.

Mr mittens was not really interested in my great work but he hung out for the morning.

The trip from Limon to Co Springs was fast and free of any interests. US24 is straight as an arrow in most sections so the 73 miles went by quickly. Once in CO Springs we got into a good deal of traffic and ran stop light to light of some time.

We started up us24 through woodland hills and I was getting concerned with my route. The whole area was very touristee and packed with traffic. We hit McDonalds for a breakfast/lunch. It was around 10am but who knows..my gps was on eastern and my mc was never reset after the last battery removal. At Mcd's I put on my heated vest, it was only in the 40's ...but I must be a puss. there was alot of harley guys with tshirts and vests??

The ride from woodland along 24 was good once the traffic cleared. We hit the perfect week for the fall colors. The birch or white ash (whatever they are) was bright gold and contrasted the pines.

You can see the gold in the mountians miles away.

Monarch Pass had a gift shop and a place to get a gatoraid. Not sure why Jenn is dancing..maybe its the air or that she was happy to get off the darn bike finally.

After the pass we can across the huge mountian platau..it was as big as my county in Penna. Of course we had to go across it.

We went through Gunnison, around Blue Mesa and a buch of other towns along US50. We ride US50 in WV and Va a good bit...its got be one of the greatest roads to run end to end.

In Montrose we turned south to Silverton, going throught Ouray on 55o. I've heard of this road over the years and wanted to add it to the trip but my orginal plans was 146 to Lake City and across the Alpine loop, but with alot of thought and insite from fellow riders I felt the weather and the time would be prohibitive..so we took the easy way. Plan is to go from silverton up the loop to the 4wheel drive area and not do the whole thing.

Around Blue Mesa Lake, we taked to a few guys who had done the loop today on GSs, they felt we could make it if it weren't for the time and weather but it was about 1pm and there was several thunderstorms in the area. We even got pounded by hail about as big as small gum balls.

550 was a good ride for looks but actual riding was poor. lots of cars and enforcement was an issue. Until ouray it was just another road. Ouray was cool and the main street is on a downhill slant.

As soons a you leave Ouray you start up Red Mountian.

Lookin back on Ouray

Looking up to Red Mt Pass

They fixed the slide problem here.

It was wet and cold up to Red MT, lowest temp I seen was 37 degrees and it felt colder..lots of mist in the air and slow speeds really made for a long ride up, but the views were outstanding, with no guide rails to block the drop off views.

Silverton was the destination city...errr town. We got into town about 5pm and found a hotel. The triangle hotel is on main street and clean..seems a bit high compared to their online price but I'll check it out later.

Silverton Main street>

Only one paved street in Silverton, rest are dirt.

This was dinner...cajan pork chops at the Handlebar. Not bad..should have got steak.

Overall a fair ride for the day. Lots of cool mountain vistas but lots of traffic...got to get away from that.

We may change plans and rent a jeep to ride the Alpine Loop. Hate to miss out on all that when we are here. I think we will dump the Grand canyon and go get muddy.

One week and counting..

Its one week out from the 2008 Prospector Ride.

This year we are taking the new baby of the house. The 2007 GS1200 adventure. As you can see in the picture above the GS has been pampered for a day while it sat in the office cafe for a promotion of the company Poker Run. I know..poker run but its a company thing and for a good cause. Plus how many people get to park inside the office buliding huh?

Plan for the 2008 Prospector Ride is as such:

9/26-27 we are going to high tail ourselves from PA to CO. The GS will be on a trailer..and don't give me any bull sh*t on that. I only get like 5 weeks of vacation and I'm not going to waste a days riding across Kansas! Doing the trailer buys me big time days...cause we ride straight through and me and Jenn and take turns sleeping in the back of the truck.

You wanna give me crap on the trailing? Try to keep up with us for a week.

Prep work for this trip has been pretty easy.

Bike got:

Oil change (Castrol 20w50 GTX)

Tranny fluid change (Amsoil 80w90 syn)

New tires (Battle wings)

rear drive fluid change (Valvoine 80w140 dino)

2 new 12v sockets (Eastern Beaver)

new tank bag (RKa)

new pannier liners (Rka which will be my last purchase EVER from them)

Schedule

9-26-27 Pa to CO

9/28 Limon CO to Silverton

9/29 Silverton to Blanding UT

9/30 Blanding to Eaclante

10/1 Esclante to Marble Canyon

10/2 Marble Canyon to Durango

10/3 Durnago to Limon

10/4-5 Limon to Pa

New trip planned - Sept 26 to Oct 5 2008

New trip in the works. Will be riding Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

Hitting all the big site and some of the small ones. 4 Corners, Valley of the Gods, North Rim, Grand Staircase.

Watch for future posts in the next few weeks.