Waterproof has an expiration time

Can't say much of Canmore to Shelby Montana. Did not see much and I did not feel much. It was 57 and raining hard until the last hour of a 5 hour ride.

I can say:
When my mirrors catch rain in the wind or spray from a car they drip on my gloves.
When the front tire hits a big puddle or runs in the troughs of the high way full of water I feel it on my boots.
When I crack my shield to keep it from fogging the rain get in my eyes.

My boots, gloves, jacket and pants are all sold on the premise of being waterproof. I guess it should be listed like a fire rating as to just how long it is waterproof. Too bad my socks, underwear and t-shirt were not waterproof to help when the outer gear failed.

On the bright side I can assure you our borders are secure. The mature lady at the crossing asked sternly. "Are you importing any fruits or vegetables?" No "Are you importing any ammo, guns or explosives?" No "'tobacco?" DAMN! I forgot to buy Cubans!

Hey we are in Shelby Montana tonight. Had prime rib at The Sports Inn, $22 for 26 ozs and a great room at Best Western> Even hit the hot tub trying to recapture some body heat.

No pictures as we don't own a waterproof camera...or any waterproof motorcycle gear apparently!

Just to keep it interesting check some of the Jasper southbound pictures before the heaven erupted 2 days ago.

Jasper to Canmore

Let me tell ya going south bound down Icefields Parkway is much more visually exciting than northbound. Our original plan was to only travel southbound but a few adjustments had us on it twice. Going south is the best.

The bad of this day was rain. We got down the Parkway about 2 hours before it hit and it hit hard. Along with the rain was cold, our high was only 61 for the day. Being wet and running between 50 and 70 mph all day made for a crappy ride. Plus after the first 2 hours most of the view was in a fog.

We ran a whole tank down before the first stop so that's about 3 hours nonstop, just trying to make time. Plus we had a nice lodge room at the Blackstone in Canmore. Did you know Canmore hosted the winter Olympics in 1988? Very alpine town and home to many of the Canadian ski teams. Since it was still raining we seen very little of the town. Too bad.

The evening in Jasper was nice, town is touristy but nice.

The big attraction for today was the Jasper Tramway. The gondola goes up to 7500 feet, which was above the clouds on our day. Great ride up the mountain. Check the pictures.

$8 dollar a gallon for gas

Yep, I paid $8 a gallon for gas on the Ice fields Parkway between Banff and Jasper. I had to there was not enough in the tank to get me to Jasper and the Canadian government has a monopoly of fuel on the parkway.

So yesterday was Golden BC to Jasper AB, it was to be the gem of the ride but its ending up being another road with mountains flanking it. Its a tourist trap, the road sucks and there are more people clogging up the place than I care to be around. If you can come by all means do so but its not an adventure its a drive.

Jasper is nice its clean, lots of shops and food. The hotel is over $200 an night for an older place that would be less than $100 anywhere else But hey that's the fun of it. Check Jasper off the list.

Prior to Jasper we did some off the beaten path bit in Yoho. A guy ay the Yamaha shop in Golden gave us a few cannot miss to do side trips. So in Yoho we go to see a spiral train tunnel and walked up to the bottom of the 2nd tallest waterfall in Canada. The tunnel would have been better if a train had been around but not luck. The waterfall was big and if you wanted you could walk right into it.

We also walked up to a glacier, in Jasper.

I maybe jaded to the point of not enjoying the Icefield parkway like I should. WE have seen glaciers and mountains every day without the commercial side getting in the way. Its a great road for seeing mountains.

On a bad note I got had a talking to my a Mounty from the RMCP. I thought she was just stopping to talk Pens hockey but he was rude after I took her picture.

Keslo to Golden..wow

Arriving in Golden today, made me miss Keslo. I know the best day of the trip is gone. Riding to Keslo along Kootenay Lake was great, no traffic, curves with mountains on both sides. The lake was crystal clear and smooth as silk, wish I could have been on it for a ride.

Then when in Keslo we had a great dinner, and talked with neighbors all night at the motel, a few were other riders. The tow was not a tourist spot it was a lost world. Smaller than Scenery Hill it was squeezed in a peninsula on the lake, less than 500 people call it home. It as special as Silverton Colorado, Mexican Hat Utah and Red Lodge Montana have been in the pass, I want to stay in Keslo.

But we are in Golden, which is a normal town. Blah.

The ride from Keslo to Golden..top 5 ever, maybe number one.
Thinking back:
1. My Minnesota 1000 winning ride
2. Beartooth Highway and stopping at the Top of the World store
3. Going to the Sun in Glacier USA (the first time)
4. Monterey WV doing the Void rally with Jenn (hate the rally!)
5. Ouray Colorado to Silverton Colorada

But I may need to push today to oh say number 3 on that list. It would be number two but I doubt Jenn will be able to get back here to spread my ashes here so we will keep Beartooth up there as #2.

Car, bike, motorcycle what ever, if you have a love for riding isolated roads, with scenery unmatched you need to go from PortHill Idaho to Golden BC. Glacier Park in Canada is indescribable. But I'll post a few pictures to help you see what I mean.

Virgin Ground - Kootenay Valley

Glacier was cool even the second time but when its all new its all cool.

We left Whitefish early, there was a chill in the air so stopping to add layers was the first stop. The second was the border crossing in Porthill Idaho, sort of reminiscent of those border crossings you see in the movies with a guy with a drop arm gate..it was small, and out of the way. The border agent for Canada was a women in a uniform... ya getting me?

After the crossing we worked towards rt 3a or 31a I don't recall but it snaked along the Kootneay Lake that it followed the shore for the first 40 miles. There is a lot more but the road turned to the lake and we ended up on a ferry. It was 300PM on my clock and we made the cut as they pulled the ramp behind us. No small ferry, it had a coffee shop and 4 sets of restrooms.

The ride from the ferry to Keslo was another great stretch as it winded along the shoreline for another 30 miles. Crystal, clear water and real goose egg rocks lined the shores. They lake lies between the Kootenay Rockies chain with 8K tall peaks along its shores.

Kelso and all the other lake towns are here for two reasons Timber and gold. They would float miles of timber down the lake pushed by stern wheel tugs and the hill had gold in them. The town of Keslo restored the last stern wheeler from the lake the retired in 1957, it went up and down the lake for the 59 years prior to its retirement. Its said if its made of iron it was halued in the SS Moyie.

This is the SS Moyie today.

This the view out the back of the Laundromat! Not kidding.

This the deck of the ferry.

Get the heck out of Eastern Montana

Day 2 Havre to Whitefish

We wanted to go through Glacier one more time in case we missed something the first time. Well its never as good as the first time, we hit loads of Labor day visits so traffic was slow to the point of stop and go on the west side...cause it was raining. So is was 63 degree and raining on slippery roads. I did not see much. But I'm sure the pictures will be great. Some day I'm going to spend more than 2 hours in that park, big mountains, clear streams and smells great.

For lunch we at Johnson's in St Marys by recommendation. Grimes they remembered you but said you had more hair in '94. Lunch was good and the placed I'm sure had not changed since you were there. Homemade bread..

Don't laugh but we stayed at Sleep Cheap Motel in White fish..it was like going home to Mom's and staying in your old bedroom. With the 30 year old furniture and the same sheets.

About 300 miles on the day. And a big mistake, my goal was no CHIAN food or rooms once on the bike. Well we were duped!
McKenzie River Pizza is a chain. But its pizza was great. Oh well once mistake.

A few pictures from the d

ay.

Its all about SCALE

Its all about scale.

Today, we did 116 miles in the truck and 467 on the bike. It did not look that far on the map.
Then I looked at the scale, it became clear the my trusty atlas make it look easy. The same distance on the Pennsylvania map is oh about 57% of the scale of Montana.


It was cool in Dickinson, ND when we got to the station, found the perfect place to unload and we were on the way by oh 1030am.


What can I say about Eastern Montana? Flat, straight roads, flat, windy, flat, hay, flat..


We ran into gas issues twice! Seems running 75-85mph has an affect of the gas mileage. No longer can I get 250 from a tank..160 was 6 miles into the 30 mile warning light which was going to be a 20 mile warning. I out 5.3 gallons in a 6.08 tank.

Ran into another Pa couple that were from down the road from Scenery Hill and actually had dinner in Scenery Hill last Saturday.


The Roosevelt Painted Desert in North Dakota is a good way to burn some time in western ND.

We seen this scene oh about 1000x...

We did blast by Flat Lake at Fort Peck. Check the poser.

Motel tonight El Toro Inn..not bad, very clean. Food at PJ's in was good but cheap.
Havre has more slot machines per person than most towns. The motel has a couple in the game room, the restaurant was in a casino that reminds me of the food court in the front of Hills, the convenience store had a half dozen.

Tomorrow the real fun starts..Glacier, Going to the Sun Highway, Logan Pass. White fish for the night. Maybe end the night with some Fat Tire Ale.

Happy Labor Day everyone..take some time to enjoy the fruits of your work.

Just made North Dakota @10 pm eastern. I hate being in a car this long.

New trip, dusting off the cobwebs

Leaving for Dickinson ND next week with a trip through the Canadian Rockies, stay tuned.

AWRCS - Clintonville

Everyone has their story to tell, this is mine. I'll let the others speak form themselves..its much more comical that way.

Got up a 5:00am to make the drive to Clintonville, arrived at the track at the same time as Tim and Rob..perfect timing. Took the first pit spot that looked level and had room for my truck and "Tim's rig"..of course they complained of the hole.

Everyone unloaded and began the process of becoming a race..prep your gear, sign in at the registrar trailer and strap a cardboard box to your quad. Opps the cardboard box is another story (hint: see pictures)
http://parocket.smugmug.com/photos/551703331_T6sCc-S.jpg

Registration was easy and the ladies were helpful for the bunch of funny NOOBS. We picked our numbers, paid our cash.

In the pits one of our neighbors was Ken Robey who is the main man in the utility class. He was very friendly and talked at great lengths about how to ride the event and mostly to not let the course beat you. My goal was to ride 2 hours nonstop...how bad can the course be...right?

So were on the starting line..the last real group out 7 utilities and a few sports which are first year riders. The other classes really blast off ..over a hundred of them. Then its our turn, I have the key on and finger on the button. The starter yells "TENNNNN secondssss" and bang we go. I was told to count to 8 and hit the button but I want little to do with the holeshot, just want to keep it close. First turn was a big crash..someone else's story...
http://parocket.smugmug.com/photos/551707186_JEnv6-M.jpg

We hit the woods and to get into the woods is a drop, down hill, cliff, its like the earth ended..but down I go and at the bottom is a choice but it all equals mud. I went straight and passed about 5 stuck sport quads. Now into the woods...it was a very virgin trail..no logging road, no old path this was cut as new. The first section was rocky and tight, then a little must and very tight. No issues and I pop into another short field..though at and into another stand of woods. I could see riders in front of me but no-one behind yet..but I really was not looking behind. I start zipping by trees and had thoughts of catching someone..maybe a course worker on a mountain bike. Then I hit a tight tree section and seen the face of my boss on the tree...I go as fast as I can to hit her. I missed her but I hit the tree anyway! Up to the bars I go as I was being crushed into the tree I see my front fender bending. My thought was "glad I took those outside lights out". I put her into reverse..and off the bitch...err tree.

When I looked for parts as I went by the tree I noticed my tire was flat..we the tire was not holding air but the tire balls were holding up nicely.

I was almost done with the lap when I was in a tight rooty section..the damn quad would not turn like it should but I blamed in on the flat tire and my spaghetti arms..after the fact Rob notices the crunched lower control arm. At the shop Sunday night I had nearly 2" of toe out and it was tough just riding in the yard. Plus both right side tire were flat.
http://parocket.smugmug.com/photos/551711926_oiPRi-M.jpg
http://parocket.smugmug.com/photos/551711955_7sAN9-M.jpg

The next laps were much of the same, however there was 4 MAJOR pucker locations that must be mentioned. the one was the drop out of the field. It was easy but it had to be 100 feet. The next was a diagonal steep downhill which was covered in rock and trees. It actually got easier toward the end when i watched a sport quad fly down it so keeping some speed helped but I was still pissed about going down it. Another was the "deer tree stand" which was a quick up hill and then a turn along the hill and straight to the bottom of a 50 foot hill...into a creek. I nearly went over the bars twice there..the bottom was getting rough.

Overall, the first lap sucked. I was tired quick and was not in a good mind set. The second lap was much better and I was having more fun but a tree strike did have me thinking I broke my wrist for about 5 minutes while I waited for it to be able to hold the grip, the third I was having fun but nearly died on the track when I decided to drink from my camel pack and was sucking so hard when the water came that it went down the wrong pipe. I did have occasion to leave my machine twice, once was a big roll before the "tree stand hill climb" and the other was a case of mistaken identity when I went to blast a nice cushion of dirt on a corner and went over it.

There was some cool points like having Chris Borich and Chris Bitell..both factory rider go by but I was able to keep up for a short distance with the big 800 growling..that was a great 25 feet. I pasted Tim at a bottlenecks bunch of riders by plowing though the woods and then got him again when he got a flat..

Will I go back..yep. Will I be better..yep.
What did I learn?
Tire balls..for about 80 bucks you can have them..I rode all day with 2 flat tires but the ball held up.
Watch those trees
I need bionic arms or less fat to keep from moving..or a combination of the two.
I got an evening's worth of bench racing.

Should you do it?
If you like to ride your ATV..
If you like to be competitive
If you want to test yourself
If you want to be a better atv rider
If you just want to have some fun
Then do it...

All The Pictures are here:
http://parocket.smugmug.com/AWRCS%20Events

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.