Passes & Canyons Blog

Through the hills of Utah.

Jeff rode with us from his house outside Boise into town and then we parted ways, with Kevin and me jumping on I-90 briefly just as far as Mountain Home. Then we got off onto US 20 to cross Idaho running roughly parallel to the interstate south of us. It was a great decision because the first half or so went through hilly country that was pretty and fun. The second half was pretty much straight and boring and hot. Just like the interstate would have been all the way.

Past Arco we turned south through Blackfoot and worked our way down into the Pocatello area and beyond. We got off on US 30 and continued east through Lava Hot Springs. This little town of maybe 800 people was boasting a current population probably around 5,000 as the 4th of July weekend got going and people jammed into every parking and camping spot they could find to enjoy the tubing in the creek and the water park features that have made this town a destination.

Up over the ridge and down and we stopped for a break at the old schoolhouse that the OFMC stayed at on a trip in this area in 2009. Great place for a large group. We were both fried and ready to stop but no likely camping spot was presenting itself. I ventured that I would not be opposed to a motel in Soda Springs and Kevin wasn’t either, so we did.

Morning came and it was July 4 and this little town was abustle with preparations for the parade. So much so that there was no place to get breakfast. The grocery store worked. We headed on south through Cokeville to Evanston, Wyoming, and down into Utah over Bald Mountain Pass. That stretch over the pass was some of the best scenery of the trip but the swarms of people were incredible. Quite a bit different than the last time I went that way.

At Kamas we picked up food for dinner and rode east again on Utah 35 over Wolf Creek Summit and our maps showed that at the east base of the summit there was a small road that went up a canyon with campgrounds. The first campground was full so we continued. The road turned to gravel but hey, we were on V-Stroms, so it totally didn’t matter.

We found a site at the second campground and set up, then cruised on up the road further to see where it went. This canyon was incredibly beautiful. The road doesn’t go anywhere or else it would get a lot more traffic than it does. We passed the third campground and splashed on through mud and water and hit some road terrain before the now miserable road gave way to a two-track that went who knows where. We didn’t explore.

This was to be our last night out together and Kevin wanted to get all the way back to Gunnison, so the plan was to get up early and go. At about 5 a.m. it was starting to get light and we both heard rain start pattering lightly on our tents. Guess we’ll sleep a little later and hope it stops. By 6 a.m. it had and we were up, made coffee, ate granola bars and we rolling before 7. There was no recourse but to roll up the tents wet.

The morning was cool and wet and I was glad to have my electric vest. Leading, I took it fairly easy on the highway because I was sure we’d be encountering critters. We actually came across a heck of a lot of open range cattle but did also have opportunity to slow way down for the deer on the road. We hit US 40 at Duchesne and blasted. At Dinosaur, finally back in Colorado, we turned south to Rangely. At Rangely Kevin turned south and I continued toward Meeker. A wave and our ride together was over, though I was still far from home.

We had already come a long way that morning so I was looking forward to a stop in Meeker. I was also keeping an eye on the sky, and so far it was OK. At Meeker, though, I could see that going south toward Rifle I was going to get wet so when I was ready to roll again I was all geared up.

It was only noon or so but it was already a long day so over on I-70 I intended to make a stop in Eagle but by New Castle I had to stop. I was really fried now. I went in a cafe and got a hot bowl of soup and a bunch of crackers, ate it all, and just sat there fatigued for about an hour. Finally ready I rode on to Eagle.

Willie and Jungle live in Eagle and they welcomed me and asked if I’d be spending the night. It was now Sunday on the 4th of July weekend and anyone who lives around here knows what that means about I-70 coming into Denver. Four hours to go 80 miles is typical. I was counting on Willie’s invitation and I accepted it.

Accustomed by now to waking with the sun, I woke this morning at 5 to find I had a killer headache and my stomach was all messed up. I took some drugs but lay there with frequent waves of nausea washing over me and wondered if I would get home today or not. I fell back asleep and woke up feeling perfectly fine. I have no idea what it was but it was gone.

The run from Eagle to Denver was a cat and mouse game with the rain the whole way. I never suited up entirely but when I reached Silverthorne the rain had just passed through and the road was very wet. Tires were throwing up water that was soaking me so I did put on the rain jacket. Although I never saw a single raindrop, we did reach a place where a cloud had come down to earth and riding through it there were just water droplets suspended in the air. My bike and jacket and boots were soaking. Surprisingly, my jeans stayed pretty dry thanks to the deflection from the V-Strom’s body work.

And then I was finally home. This trip was a total of 3,053 miles in 10 days. That’s a lot of riding. And now I need to start getting ready for this year’s OFMC trip. We’re leaving on July 17. Poor, poor me.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride fast, take chances.

Riding the rim road at Crater Lake at sunset.

Judy and I recently took a road trip that carried us to 10 national park system units, as they’re called. That is, these were national parks, national monuments, and a few others that go by “national historic site” and such. Growing up, my family would load up the car each year and take trips to national parks all over the country. On top of that, I just ended two and one-half years working at the National Park Service. They’re really in my blood, and Judy loves them, too.

There’s a saying that makes total sense here: They don’t put national parks in ugly places. So it’s no surprise that there are a lot of parks that are terrific for motorcycling. Here are some we visited on this trip.

We started out at Dinosaur National Monument, which we had also been to last year. Last year we did the middle section of the park and that was good for dual-sport bikes. This year we went to the west end. Not too much riding over there. Just some dinosaur bones to look at mainly.

Our next stop was Golden Spike National Historic Site. This is where they put in the golden spike connecting the transcontinental railroad. Very cool trains there but no riding.

On to City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho, which is a very cool place. If you are on a dirt bike or dual-sport this would be a good place to go; the roads are not paved. We did see a couple people on dirt bikes.

Next was Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. Unfortunately there was little to see or do here because the research center/visitor center called for in the establishing legislation has never been funded.

And by the way, as an aside: if you have ever wondered why some places are national parks and some are national monuments, and some change from one to the other (Black Canyon of the Gunnison), here’s the very simple explanation. National parks are created by congressional legislation. National monuments are created by the president under the authority given under the Antiquities Act of 1906. In the case of the Black Canyon, some president declared it a monument and later Congress decided to make it a park. Now you know.

After Hagerman our next park was John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. As with several of these parks, the only reason I even knew they existed was because I edited their planning documents, primarily their foundation documents. In the JODA foundation (I’ll explain in a moment) there was discussion about the issue of the unwelcome noise created by lots of motorcycles. I took the liberty of rewording that text to make it clear that the issue was loud motorcycles as well as loud trucks or any other loud vehicles.

Anyway, that discussion in the foundation should be the tip-off: there are some terrific roads in John Day. A good bit of the park is centered on a couple steep canyons and we all know that steep canyons mean beautiful, twisty roads. And the bikers in Oregon know it. There were plenty of them. You owe it to yourself to check it out sometime if you’re up there.

And JODA? Another bit of inside information. National Park Service short-hand for the various park units is to take the first two letters of the first two words of the name. Thus, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is JODA. Dinosaur National Monument is DINO, because they do not include the “national whatever” portion.

Then came Crater Lake. (That’s CRLA, you know.) However, long before we got to Crater Lake we were in the mountains of Oregon and there was nothing but great motorcycle roads. Western Oregon is just pretty dang beautiful.

As for Crater Lake, we actually came into the park on the longest, straightest road I’ve ever seen outside of crossing the Bonneville Salt Flats. But when you get up to the rim there is a road encircling the lake that is in the caldera of this volcano that blew its top long ago. This road is so twisty and narrow, with no shoulder and in most instances a pretty serious drop-off, such that we who are accustomed to mountain driving still found it a bit intimidating. Of course on a motorcycle it would we wonderful, as long as you look out for the terrified flatlanders hugging the center of the road and don’t try to look at the lake while you’re moving.

Going down from the rim and out the other side the roads are more interesting and twisty, the way you would expect coming off a mountain.

Not too far from Crater Lake is Oregon Caves National Monument and the only way to get there is to get off the main highway at Cave Junction and take a narrow, winding 19-mile road up the hill. Need I say more?

Heading south in to California we came to Lassen Volcano National Park. This place was a treat. There is a road that goes through the park and it takes you to most of the best places in the park. Climbing to great views, interesting stops. I definitely recommend Lassen (LAVO).

We blasted across Nevada and spent a night in Ely–you can’t beat the Hotel Nevada. Next morning it was on just a short distance to Great Basin National Park. They are two draws to Great Basin. The first is Lehman Caves, which is what initial land was set aside for and the name it used for many years. Then they expanded it to become what it is today. The second is the drive up 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak. Yeah, you guessed it, you’re going up a mountain. It’s a twisty narrow road with great views.

Our 10th and last park was Arches National Park. This is another of those that used to be a monument but was made into a park. I don’t know that there’s much advantage to seeing Arches on a bike versus a car, it’s the arches that are of interest and in almost every case you have to get out of the car or off the bike to go see them.

Then we headed home. So to sum it up, there are great motorcycle roads in six of these parks: DINO, JODA, CRLA, ORCA, LAVO, and GRBA. Get out there and do some riding!

Biker Quote for Today

I enjoy going on motorcycle trips and stopping in small towns and enjoying drinks with the locals. — George Clooney

These guys are some hard riders.

We were headed east on I-70 from Salina, Utah, and pulled off onto a scenic viewpoint. It actually was very scenic but what caught my eye at the same time were three motorcycles parked in a group. Of course I struck up a conversation with the riders.

Turns out these guys were from Green Bay. They had left Green Bay for Chicago where they picked up old US Route 66, which they took all the way to Santa Monica. They then turned north and rode up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco, then turned east for Las Vegas. Now they were on their way back to Green Bay.

And what were they on?

“Let’s see, you’ve got two Sportsters and the other . . .”

“It’s a Sportster, too. They’re all Sportsters.”

“Wow, that a lot of miles on a Sportster.”

“Yeah, we get that a lot.”

“So when did you guys leave Green Bay?”

“A week ago.”

Holy crap! A week? Microsoft Streets & Trips tells me that’s about 4,000 miles. That’s about 570 miles per day. On Sportsters!

“Oh, we’ve got the peanut tanks so we have to stop for gas and stretch our legs every hundred miles or so.”

They said their longest day was about 600 miles, from San Francisco to Las Vegas. And they did skip some portions of Route 66 because it was taking a lot more time than they expected. But they said they were only doing 300 to 400 miles per day most days. Yeah, somebody’s math is a bit unclear. Maybe they started eight or nine days ago, not seven.

Nevertheless, that’s one heck of a ride, just burning up the miles day after day. And for pete’s sake, on Sportsters?!

Well, if that’s your thing, go for it, guys. I know three guys who will be talking about a certain bike trip for a long, long, long time.

Biker Quote for Today

The trick is not minding it hurts.

Some people just like riding alone.

We met Sharon in Crater Lake National Park last week, sharing a four-plex cabin. Of course I took note instantly that one of our neighbors was on a Harley, and the fact that it had a Maryland plate make it that much more interesting. First I saw this middle-aged woman fiddling with the bags and assumed she was riding behind someone else. Then it became clear she was by herself. You bet I had to talk to her.

Sharon took early retirement and bought a motorcycle. Then she decided to take a long trip. “When will you be home?” her family asked. “When I get tired of riding,” she replied. She agreed with me that that might be never.

Yes, she had come from Maryland, the long way around. It was not her intent setting out but she was essentially doing a four-corners ride, having started by coming down the East Coast, then across the southern U.S., and was now going up the West Coast. After all this time alone she was going to meet up with a friend in Portland and another soon after that. Then she would be heading to Colorado.

“Are you going to the Steel Horse Sisterhood conference?” I asked.

Her jaw dropped. Up to this point I had not mentioned anything about the fact that I also ride a motorcycle.

“How do you know about that?” she asked. And yes, she is going to the event.

So I filled her in. Told her I’d be seeing her again in a few weeks.

Then we talked motorcycles. Of course. She asked if Judy rides and I told her only behind me–she’s afraid she’d crash and kill herself if she was operating the bike.

“Fear stops so many,” Sharon acknowledged.

But obviously it doesn’t stop Sharon. She was 5,000 miles and counting and wasn’t even thinking about heading home yet. I had to ask her if she knows Alisa Clickenger, one of the most gutsy women riders I know, and she said not in person but by email. She’s looking forward to meeting Alisa in person at the conference. I think they’ll have a lot to talk about.

As we pulled out Sharon was walking by and I called out to her, “See you in Loveland!”

“See you in Loveland!” she replied. And we will, very soon.

Biker Quote for Today

That road is fabulous, I wish to test it.

I have no idea if this is like the Zundapp Don rode. But it's a small Zundapp.

We recently visited family in Idaho and Don–85 or so, I’d guess–told me about motorcycles and his family. He said all four of their sons grew up riding, though only Randy now continues to do it much. That reminded me of a family gathering a few years ago at a condo on Monarch Pass in Colorado. Randy showed up on his bike, which he rode in a day down from The Boise area. Yikes!

But Don said his only personal experience on a bike was when he was about 20. He bought a used German Zundapp bike, about a 200cc or 250cc bike, and rode it from Cincinnati to a summer job at a national park out by Port Angeles, Washington. Presumably that was Olympia National Park out on the Olympic Peninsula.

So he left Cincinnati and made a stop in Chicago for a couple days. Then he set out of Washington. He made the trip in four days!

For the most part it was good weather. That was good because all he had was a bag with clothes and a blanket, strapped on the rear fender. At night he would pull over somewhere and spread the blanket out on the ground and sleep. No big deal.

But then on the third day he was approaching Snoqualmie Pass and it started to rain. He stopped and put on the parka that was his only rain protection. And not good rain protection. His pants were getting soaked.

As he neared the top of the pass the temperature dropped and it was almost snowing. Don was frozen. Against all his instincts he decided to pay $5 for a motel room up on the pass–nearly half of the money he had left at that point. But he was cold and it was necessary. A couple young women schoolteachers also staying at the motel saw this wet, chilled biker and asked if he would like some hot chicken-noodle soup. You bet!!

The next day the weather was clear and he rode on to his final destination, where he spent a great summer living in an old stone house on the beach.

When it came time to head back to Cincinnati the bike was not running well. No surprise that there were no Zundapp dealers anywhere close by. Don used some of his summer earnings to buy an old car and managed to squeeze the Zundapp into the back seat, and that was how they both got back. Then he fixed the bike and sold it.

Biker Quote for Today

You’re a biker wannabe if you like to ride by stores with big picture windows so you can admire your reflection.

A map shows you all the locations of MotoStay members. Here's the current Colorado membership.

I have written a number of times about the Motorcycle Travel Network (MTN) and now there is another offering in the same concept.

MotoStays bills themselves as “the motorcyclist’s equivalent to Airbnb; the difference being the overnight stays are free.” That is to say, you join MotoStays and then when you are traveling you can contact other members and arrange to stay at their house, and when other members are traveling in your area, they can contact you to stay at your house. All at no charge either way.

The only difference between the MTN and MotoStays in this regard is the cost, although that is minimal. With the MTN, if it is just one person, you pay your hosts $15 “to cover expenses.” If there are two people then it’s $20 and for each additional person it is another $10. So with four people you would pay $40 and while that’s not free, compared to what you would pay at a motel it’s pretty darn close.

Whereas the MTN has been operating for a number of years, MotoStays has been in operation just about one year. MTN charges an annual membership fee, whereas in its first year MotoStays has offered free membership. That is about to change however, and MotoStays says the free membership will end on May 15–just four days from now.

Here’s the breakdown on costs:

• MTN charges $40 for a one-year membership, $60 for two years, or $120 for five years.
• Starting May 16, Motostays will be charging $49.95 for a one-year membership or $14.95 per month for a monthly membership.

What it all comes down to, whichever of these groups you might consider joining, is the issue of staying with total strangers in their home and/or having total strangers stay in your home. For many people that is just a bridge they cannot cross. But I can tell you from experience, if you can overcome your fears this is a doorway to some very rewarding experiences.

Judy and I have been MTN members for a number of years and we have had nothing but wonderful experiences with the people who have stayed with us. We have not had a single bad experience and have thoroughly enjoyed meeting and spending time with the folks who have stayed here. On the flip side, while I was extremely uncertain before I stayed my first night with strangers, those fears were ungrounded, things went great, and since then we together and I on my own have stayed with numerous other MTN people and again have had zero bad experiences.

The point is, we all share a common interest–motorcycles–and that’s a universal ice-breaker. We’ve been regaled with riding stories and have probably told our fair share of them as well, although none as extreme as many we’ve heard from some real world travelers. Whoever the host is, the guest benefits from hearing about all the best local roads from people who really know the best local roads. And while offering dinner to your guests is not required, we always do and we have usually been offered dinner when we have been guests. Or at the very least, directions to a good place to go eat.

Of course, if for any reason you need or want to say no to a prospective guest, you always have that option.

What regrets do we have from all this? None. Absolutely none. Honestly, we wish we had more people staying with us. That’s how much we really do enjoy it.

So if you’re at all interested in this sort of thing, you have four more days to sign up at MotoStays for free. I’m going to be doing that because between the two organizations we will have a lot more options. And if you join either and plan to come to Denver, give us a call.

Biker Quote for Today

Murphy’s Motorcycle Laws: 3. Motorcycles are to yellow bugs what aircraft carriers once were to kamikaze pilots.

Riding the Pacific Coast Highway is on many bucket lists but I've done that already.

John is our trip planner and I’m hoping he’s in full gear at this point. I know that each year soon after the OFMC trip he’s already busy thinking about next year’s trip.

This next year could be quite a year. Many of the guys I ride with are already retired so there’s really no reason not to go on more than one trip each summer. And by next summer I’m going to be done with this National Park Service job and will go back to being just a freelance writer. That means I’m going to have a lot more time again.

So I was interested to get an email from John saying this: “I am putting together several options for next years ride including 3 day, 8 day, and 12 day rides…maybe we should do all of these…to places like Oak Creek, Encampment, and Grand Lake; Red River, LaJunta, and Cuchara; Ely, Jackpot, and Pocatella: Kalispell, Banff, and Jasper. Also thinking about going for a ride with Dennis and Friggs down South. It’s my way of dreaming (my bucket list overfloweth)…”

What was my reply? “Let’s do them all!”

So John’s mentioning bucket lists. What would be on mine? (Presuming I had one, which I don’t.)

Let’s see what I can come up with.

Take an overseas tour. Yeah, OK, so this one is a bit pricey. I know companies such as Edelweiss Bike Travel offer some fabulous trips just about anywhere you want to go, and a lot of other companies do as well. Some European trip would suit me just fine. The basic price would be at least $2,500 per person (Judy would not be happy if I went alone) and that would not include airfare and other expenses. Oh well, you can’t take it with you so let’s spend the kids’ inheritance.

And that’s about as far as I get. I consulted an article listing biker bucket list items but here’s what they were:

1. Take a motorcycle trip of more than 2,000 miles. I’ve done that plenty of times.
2. Attend a major motorcycle rally. Done that plenty of times.
3. Ride these amazing roads. There were five listed and I’ve done three, leaving the Tail of the Dragon and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’m not that interested in the Dragon but I do intend to ride the Blue Ridge. But I’m not sure that’s on my bucket list.
4. Take a trip abroad. Right, I talked about that.
5. Do a track day. I did that several years ago. Wouldn’t hurt to do it again.
6. Ride a dirt bike. Yeah, that’s why I bought the V-Strom.
7. Put more miles on your bike in a year than on your car. In 2011 I put 10,000 miles on my Concours and less than 6,000 miles on my car. In 2012 it was 7,000 and 3,500. Check.
8. Put at least 200,000 miles on your bike. OK, this one I like. But with three bikes it makes it harder. So far on the three bikes I own I’ve got a total around 140,000. I’m sure that figure will exceed 200,000 in the next few years. But that is a worthy goal.
9. First and foremost, get a motorcycle and learn to ride it. Well, check, obviously. But for so many people this ought to be first and foremost on their bucket lists. None of the rest of this happens without it.

Now I see why I don’t have a bucket list. I love living life rather than dreaming about it.

Biker Quote for Today

Motocross is like football — but without a bunch of guys showering together when it’s done.

EagleRider President Chris McIntyre on the media tour a few years ago.

I’ve had a good bit to do with EagleRider over the years, the motorcycle rental and tour outfit, you know? They invited me on a media tour in California a few years ago, we rented a bike from them in Vancouver a couple years ago, and they used a photo of mine in a promo they did one time as well.

Back on that media tour I spoke a lot with Chris McIntyre, president of EagleRider, about doing some writing for them. Chris is a guy who generates ideas almost faster than he can spit them out and when he talked about sending me on some of the tours they lead to be the resident scribe I was all for it. Of course, the thing with people who have that many ideas is that only a very few of them actually come to pass.

It has been a while but this one has come to pass. No, I haven’t gone on any more EagleRider tours, at least not yet, but they have made the decision to put up a blog and have a variety of people from different parts of the country writing pieces for it regularly. I get to be one of those people. And going on some of the tours is very much a possibility for the future.

In fact, I’ve already written six pieces and turned them in. And I’ve already been paid for the first two. But nothing has been published yet. I haven’t been able to get the details nailed down so I’m not at all sure when the blog will launch–I believe it is going to be a blog–but you can bet I’ll put the information up here once I do have it and once these things start running.

Mostly I think it’s going to be pieces about terrific rides to go on. That’s what four of mine have been. My other two are tips about riding with a group and going for extended, long-distance rides. The kind of stuff I’ve done a heck of a lot of.

I’m really very interested, though, to see what everyone else is writing about. I know my friend Alisa Clickenger has also been taken on as a writer and I have to guess that she’ll be writing from the woman’s motorcyclist angle. I mean, she’s not exactly going to be doing regional stuff because at this moment she’s in Africa, and will be there for quite awhile yet. And then I’m also really interested to see who else they’re working with, who I’m rubbing shoulders with.

So I guess I’m just going to have to be patient until this thing starts rolling out. Meanwhile, I suppose I ought to start thinking about new story ideas to pitch. When you latch onto a good gig you definitely want to run with it.

Biker Quote for Today

The other 3-percent rule: If you want to have fun, ride with people who are 3-percent slower than you.