Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 21

Monday, August 25, 2014

Last day of the TAT! We can’t believe our trek across the US is almost over. Anything longer ago than yesterday is almost a blur. The TAT finale would have us riding along roads we hadn’t been before. The day was still, temps were crisp (not cold), and we’d have to be a little on-guard as loggers would be back to work.

The image below is where the TAT crosses Cow Creek. A nice, twisty little asphalt road parallels the creek and this was the perfect way to start our last day.

From the Cow Creek bridge crossing, the TAT climbs up into the Oregon Coast Range. For the time being, the TAT had good, gravel covered logging roads that were fast, fun, and less stressful than negotiating larger, rock strewn uphill goat paths we encountered in parts of Utah and Nevada.

And, clearly we were in Oregon. The TAT wound its way through tall stands of trees. We were adjacent to the Rogue River Wilderness and may have ridden through old growth timber.

For most of the trip we found the TAT roll-charts and corresponding GPS waypoints were quite accurate and reliable. One little stretch of the TAT that had us following single track until our pathway was totally blocked by a rather large fallen tree with no way around or over. Luckily, less than a couple of hundred feet downhill was an alternate road, so we retreated for a bit and reconnected with the TAT in a matter of minutes. No lost time or lost riders.

New to us were the “heliponds” we rode past. Not exactly the place for a quick swim, but obviously critical when fighting a nasty wildland fire.

We weren’t at Port Orford yet, but we were getting close. The TAT followed a couple of ridgelines west and then dropped down along the Elk River as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean.

The afternoon was toasty and even though we were only fifteen miles from the coast, the temperature hadn’t dropped. Then, five miles from the coast, the temperature dropped from over 80 degrees to about 65 degrees within a matter of feet and we could smell salt in the air. This was the sign our TAT adventure was nearing an end.

At 2:10PM PST on Monday, August 25, 2014, we put sidestands down on our BMW F800GSs at Port Orford, the westernmost point of the TAT. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to end our ride, all 4,800 miles of it!

Madelyn’s parents joined us a couple of hours later and we headed up to Bandon to spend the night. As we strolled from dinner to our motel room, we enjoyed the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean.

 

Mission accomplished. No one hurt and only mild damage to the F800GSs. Tons of memories that we hope to share with our family or friends this winter.

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 20

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Sometime during the middle of the night Scott awoke for one reason or another. What an awesome surprise to see a deep black sky, chock full of stars. During the trip, we had all gone to bed around dark and/or the skies were cloudy enough that we never saw any stars. The stars were beautiful and just icing on the cake for our return to Oregon.

Clear skies in the high desert mean cool, well, cold temperatures even during the summer months. The thermometer read below 40 degrees as we awoke. Kendrick was cold enough and impatient enough that in less than twenty minutes he had broken camp and said, “I’m not waiting around for you guys. I’m going to get us a table and some coffee!” Off he went. This inspired Scott and Madelyn to follow suit. The couple camping next to us commented that we were the most efficient campers they had ever seen. We’ll take that as a compliment. ;>)

Breakfast and coffee was at the eclectic Mohawk Restaurant in Crescent. We all consumed cup after cup of coffee, along with plates of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and toast. This was pretty much our orders of choice during the trip, as our appetites were easily satisfied until lunchtime without the need to snack along the way.

Directly behind the Mohawk Restaurant we picked up the TAT. Several little sandy roads connect to one another and head southwest over Crescent Cutoff, Oregon Highway 58, and Oregon Highway 138 before heading west again. This stretch of the TAT would take us  through areas we had ridden last year during the Oregon Discovery Rally (ODR); however, this year we’d get to explore roads that were off-limits due to a wildland fire. Plus, we’d have a chance to see the World’s Tallest Sugar Pine.

This time, it was Kendrick’s turn in the sand. No, he didn’t dump it, he got completely stuck in it. As usual, Scott was riding lead, followed by Madelyn, and Kendrick was the sweeper. Scott had stopped at Oregon Highway 58 and Madelyn showed up soon thereafter. Scott asks, “Where’s Kendrick?” Madelyn replies, “I don’t know, last time I saw him, he told me to ride faster.”

Madelyn stayed with the bikes while Scott started walking back to find Kendrick. Scott walked and walked and walked. Three quarters of a mile later, there was Kendrick, stuck in the road. Apparently a deep sand rut had gotten the best of him, as he had augered in to being high-centered. He had removed his panniers to lighten the load and was patiently waiting for help. Yes, Kendrick required help this time. ;>) A little digging and lifting quickly brought his F800GS Adventure back to the top of the sand. This enabled him to get going and meet up with Madelyn and the bikes. Kendrick mentioned that Scott looked like he was getting fat, so a little exercise would be good for him ;>).

The TAT uses a nice series of USFS roads that go up and over Windigo Pass before it descends down to Lomolo Lake. We hadn’t seen the lake before, but had seen road signs referencing its location for years off of Oregon Highway 138. What a beautiful lake. That’s all that needs to be said.

We still had miles to ride and wanted to see that Sugar Pine, so we didn’t linger. The TAT also uses Big Camas Road, which parallels a portion of Oregon Highway 138. This is another great road. Somewhere along the way, we took a lunch break up near the top of one of the lesser passes and the vibrant blue of the Oregon summer sky is hard to describe.

This area is covered by logging roads, which can be confusing to some. Our TAT roll-charts and GPS waypoints enabled us to negotiate our route with very few issues the entire trip. Compared to other TAT rider experiences, we’d have to say that this combination of tools with the paper maps as a back-up, is hard to beat.

Riding through a burn area is a little spooky, yet magical at the same time. There’s a unique quietness that allows for a serenity not found elsewhere. Next was the Sugar Pine.

Can you say tall? How about 265′? The Tallest Sugar Pine in the world stands in all its majesty among other tall conifers and deciduous trees, yet it’s height makes the other tall trees appear almost tiny.

Kendrick had pine cone envy, but with the Sugar Pine found, and the heat of the afternoon, a catnap alongside the road was too tempting for Kendrick and Madelyn to pass up.

It had been a great riding day in the Oregon Cascades and we still needed to figure out where to spend the night. One thing we didn’t have on the trip, was a good resource for last-minute camping decisions. Having a comprehensive private / federal / state guide to campgrounds would have been extremely helpful, as we often found ourselves looking for a decent campground and not finding something until we rode past it the next day.

As such, we made our way into Canyonville and ended up getting a fantastic room at the Seven Feathers Hotel. It was less expensive than all of the nearest chain motels and the facilities were totally luxurious. We got spoiled with super comfortable beds, spa-like facilities, and A/C to take the edge off the heat often felt by this part of Oregon in summer.

Before dinner, we did a little redneck laundry, put devices on chargers, and enjoyed cleaning up with hot water and properly laundered linens. Given this was the eve before that last day of TAT riding, we were all little anxious about completing the trip and heading home as we closed our eyes.

The only lingering question was, would the last day of riding be eventful or uneventful?

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 19

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Gosh it was good to be back in Oregon. Without having any discussion about this subject, both Scott and Madelyn coincidentally had the same thought as they crossed into Oregon from Nevada on US Highway 140. Yes, it’s a little weird, but par for the course.

Before returning to the Lakeview Lodge after dinner the night before, we made our obligatory visit to the grocery to pick up lunch supplies for the next day, so this chore was already done. We knew we’d have a long day riding from Lakeview to Crescent, so a hearty breakfast was in order.

Right next to the grocery, was Jerry’s Restaurant. We knew we were in the right place for breakfast, as the majority of diners were older local clientele that seemingly had been coming for Saturday get-togethers for decades. While we were a little out-of-place in our full riding gear, we were warmly welcomed to a booth for our morning sustenance and our past due roll-chart updating.

The hostess placed us in the booth directly next to a gentlemen that was finishing his meal. He (Brian sp?) asked, “Did we pass you a week ago on the side of the road in Oklahoma?”. Scott responded, “Not a week ago, that was more than two weeks ago…” While in Oklahoma, we had stopped on the side of the road to put on Gore-Tex gloves in the middle of a rainstorm, when a KLR and some other smaller displacement dualsport buzzed past us. This was Brian and his riding buddy. It seems that Brian was also affected by the blending of time and events; which, this blog helps reduce by documenting our trip and keeping things in relatively sequential order.

Brian and his buddy had been leap-frogging us ever since Tennessee. This is when we started to better understand what the Trans-America Trail (TAT) truly represents. Sam Correro is the undisputed “Father of the TAT”. He conceived of navigating a series of roads across the country with the intent of staying off the interstates (by-and-large) and rediscovering the true grit of our country. Then, there are a couple of other characters (i.e. gpsKevin) that have expanded this notion into a coast-to-coast off-road adventure using slightly different routes based on feedback from TAT riders. Consequently, no TAT groups ever ride exactly the same route due to physical conditions of the road, weather, time of year, motorcycle being ridden, experience, time, etc. All of these variables equate to a “TAT” experience for that rider and we all share the spirit of traveling across America using by-ways even though we may not share the exact same route.

Our goal was to reach Crescent, so we needed to get going, as we knew areas north of Silver Lake would be sandy and likely difficult. Leaving Lakeview, we quickly found ourselves back into timber industry lands. The TAT passed right through the middle of an ongoing logging operation and fortunately we were riding through this area on Saturday and not during the weekdays. For those of you that didn’t already know, loggers work Monday through Friday, so additional caution is required when riding in such areas during the classic work week.

Logging operations made the roads messy; although, they weren’t a problem as the conditions were dry. We’d hate to be traveling the same roads if any rain began to fall. The forecast indicated our Oregon riding would be rain free, so we were stoked, as this was the only state since we started almost a month ago where we didn’t encounter any rain.

The tall trees meant temperatures were in the 60s and low 70s, even though the skies were totally clear and the summer sunlight was a welcome change to some of our previous grey days. Temperatures would climb as the day progressed, but we didn’t care as we were almost home.

Our riding in Oregon wouldn’t have been complete without a little bit of drama. Sand creates drama. Madelyn couldn’t figure out how Scott made it through the same section, but it was a “When in doubt, throttle out” technique that prevented him from going down or getting stuck.

Once again, thanks go to Kendrick. Just imagine these words… “Mom, just move out-of-the-way, I got it!” Kendrick was our lifting savior throughout the trip. He definitely earned his way along!

The TAT road network changed quickly from forest-covered, gravel logging roads to more open sky cinder-gravel roads, some of which were previous railroad rights-of-way – straight as can be and largely fast roads.

We were making good time, until Madelyn mentions that her F800GS (now affectionately known as “Charlie”) had a check engine light on, the bike was idling low (<900 RPM), and it was dying periodically. Hmmmm. What could it be? Any guesses? Not that Scott is anything close to be a mechanic, but his quick diagnosis was that it was air filter related. 4,000 miles of following in either Scott’s dust or the combination of both Scott and Kendrick’s dust eventually would take its toll.

Fortunately, we were only about fifteen miles from Silver Lake, so our plan was to get to the Feed Barn Cafe, grab a cool drink, and see if we could get Charlie behaving properly.

We arrived at the Feed Barn Cafe and guess who was there? Brian and his riding buddy. But wait, they didn’t pass us and we had stopped at the USFS Dairy Creek Campground in the Fremont National Forest to visit with a group of women BMW GS riders from the BMW Riders of Oregon Club for more than an hour. Brian and Scott shared notes and this reinforced how different each of our TAT routes end up being.

Scott had correctly diagnosed Charlie. He disassembled enough of Charlie to inspect and clean the air filter. Butterlies, moths, grass, and volumes of dust had been trapped by the air filter. It had done its job magnificently, but needed a little assistance to permit completion of the trip. Scott tapped enough dust and dirt from the filter, such that the engine returned to correct RPMs and was back to normal shortly thereafter. Time to button up the bike and get moving again.

North of Silver Lake, our version of the TAT goes through the Christmas Valley / Fort Rock / Hole-in-the-Ground area. Several years ago we rode this entire area and knew what lay ahead… sand, sand, and more sand. Not that we don’t like challenges, but we’re also not inclined to do the same thing twice. We altered our route so that we could enjoy the Oregon TAT and get ourselves safely to Crescent before sundown.

Oregon is far enough north that we enjoy longer summer daylight hours compared to other areas of the TAT. That being said, Oregon also has tall trees and mountains that can cut the summer light pretty quickly. By the time we reached Crescent, the light was above the western horizon, but not for long.

Saturday night, before Labor Day, also means lodging options are a minimum. Thankfully, the Big Pines RV Park had one tent spot left. This is a great camping option for TAT riders, as it’s relatively near where the trail crosses US Highway 97, they have hot showers, and very nice laundry facilities.

We made quick order of putting up our awesome MSR Hubba Hubba NX tents, Big Agnes down sleeping bags, and Exped sleeping pads from Next Adventure. Within ten minutes, tents were up, sleeping pads inflated, and sleeping bags were ready to receive our tired bodies.

We’re only two days away from the end of the TAT at Port Orford. No big deal.

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 18

Friday, August 22, 2014

Other than Kendrick having a squeaky bed, we all slept like babies. Denio Junction is also a sleepy town in the morning and everything was quiet until shortly after 8:00AM. We awoke to the sounds of a small airplane warming up on the airstrip next to the motel. It was time to coffee up and get some food into our systems, so that we could tackle the TAT in the Nevada desert another day.

Breakfast was quickly prepared by Morgan, one of the Denio Junction Motel & Cafe proprietors. Morgan and her husband, Bobby, are originally from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Both transplanted here to help fulfill Bobby’s father’s dream to make this Nevada outpost the “Go To” place in the desert. While Bobby was engaged in other chores, Morgan did great job of making sure its guests have full cups of coffee and breakfasts were made to order.

Bodies fueled and bikes packed, it was time to hit the road. Because the TAT takes a bit of an unknown and not well defined pathway through the mountains south of Denio Junction,  we reconnected with the trail just west of Dufurrena Pass in the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. The Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge and Sheldon National Antelope Refuge collectively are the largest reserve system in the continental United States.

The following image is also where we found posted at the information kiosk. Take a look at what verbiage that can be found in the large yellow rectangle on the right side of the notice. This meant that our prior day’s TAT pathway was in violation of this restriction; however, we had no way of knowing this, as there were no noticeable bulletins posted along the roads we traveled… Warning understood.

Ironically, the refuge geography is also the only location on earth where Black Fire Opals are located. With this bit of intrigue and because the TAT passes right next to the Royal Peacock Opal Mine in the Virgin Valley, Madelyn lobbied for a visit. Access to the mine was just off the TAT, so no real detour was required. At the mine, we met Jake, grandson to the gentleman that holds the claim for the Royal Peacock Opal Mine.

Jake did a great job of describing how opals are formed, the Black Fire Opal vein, and is currently entertaining date requests from willing ladies ;>).  Opal prospecting wasn’t on our agenda and it was already almost noon, which meant that we had to get going. Our opal finds would have to wait for another visit.

Jake had advised us that the TAT roads between Virgin Valley and FT. Bidwell, California were rocky two-tracks and roads like we had ridden to the mine, so we’d want to be careful. Shortly after reconnecting with the TAT, we had a surprisingly large water crossing at spring just northwest of the Royal Peacock Opal Mine at the other homestead. Quick investigation revealed that the water crossing was only about eight inches deep, yet the fifty -foot stretch of water would require a cautious approach. No problem. All three of us made it without incident.

Too bad this wasn’t representative of what we’d soon encounter. About a mile and half from the water crossing, we found a steep, vegetation sprinkled, two-track with large rocks and no relief in sight. Hmmmm. This put us in a bind. The posted warning we had seen indicated that this road was off-limits. We weren’t interested in footing the bill for a wildland fire suppression effort or putting ourselves into any more-than-necessary adventure, so we made the group decision to find a less sketchy alternate route.

We retraced our pathway back out to US Highway 140 and as it turns out, there was a Rest Area within a mile of the refuge kiosk. This was the perfect place to pull out the maps and hammer out an alternate route to Lakeview. Within minutes of us arriving at the Rest Area, two riders on BMW R1200Rs rolled up. One of the riders cheerfully asked, “When did the meeting start?”.

This was our introduction to Jerry and Barbara Heil from Paris, Arkansas. They also happen to be the owners of the Hannigan Fairing Company. For the next three and half hours, we enjoyed a lovely conversation with Jerry and Barbara. The funny thing is, it was almost as if we had always known them. Our conversation was natural and relaxed. Time passed very quickly and this put us further behind our TAT schedule, so we said our goodbyes and look forward to our next visit, which sounds like it could be as early as February of 2015.

We were still roughly one hundred miles from Lakeview, so we chose the least stressful route of US Highway 140 to get us there before nightfall. Scott last rode through here on an R1150RT in March of 2004 and Madelyn had ridden this road in 2007 on her R1200GS. It’s a beautiful stretch of highway at 70mph in Nevada and still beautiful at 55mph in Oregon.

Antelope are plentiful and we were lucky enough to see some wild mustangs.

This big sky area of Nevada and California has beautiful vistas of mildly mountainous terrain largely covered by sage and dryland pines as we neared Lakeview. US Highway 140 gradually descends to intersect with OR Highway 31 just north of the town of Lakeview. Back while we were visiting with Jerry Heil, he suggested we spend the night at the Lakeview Lodge and grab dinner at the Pizza Villa in Lakeview. With no plans in mind, why not?

Lakeview Lodge is perfectly situated in Lakeview. It’s near the gas station, in walking distance of Pizza Villa, the grocery store, banks, and other small town amenities. Owner, Bob Kings, is a pleasant fellow that mentioned he had twenty TAT riders as guests within the last week! Bob hooked us up with a clean room at a decent rate. What more could we want, without a reservation?

Just down the street is Pizza Villa. Dan Moulton (above in the blue collared shirt) is the owner and a BMW F650GS owner. Dan joined us for dinner and we shared some of our TAT experiences as he probed for information about what other BMW motorcycles he should consider for his next bike. Meanwhile, Bailey (above in the red UNLV t-shirt) has a nice bubbly personality and made our dining experience at Pizza Villa perfect!

Thanks to Bob Kings, Dan Moulton, and Bailey, our return back to Oregon was as pleasant as we anticipated. What would the next days have in for store for us?

 

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 17

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Cool, yet sunny desert mornings are always pleasant. Our Wednesday work day was productive and with a quarter of the TAT left, we were anxious to get back riding. Due north we rode to reconnect with the TAT at the town of McDermitt on the Nevada / Oregon border. Skies were mostly clear, with cloud streaking their way from west to east.

When we left US Highway 95 from McDermitt, we were in the middle of nowhere Nevada and Oregon with no way to know which state we were riding, except little fictitious lines on our GPS receiver screens. As always, the route always starts out as basic gravel roads, which degrade as our distance from populations increases.

The ubiquitous browns and yellows of plants that were past their prime envelope most of the landscape; although, occasionally we can see lush greens concentrated along creeks and springs that attract life to the desert even in the middle of summer. Frequently, these creeks and springs are where the ranchers established their homesteads. And in some cases, like the Pacheco Ranch in New Mexico, the TAT passed right through the middle of the ranch. This particular ranch occupied land on both side of the Oregon and Nevada line. As we approached the homestead, we had a fun water crossing before we stopped by the campus of barns, home, and other ranch buildings.

When we crossed into private property, we were often opening and closing gates. The variety of gates and the mechanisms that keep them closed spanned the horizon. The gate shown below had a leverage bar that made closing the gate more reasonable, as it was under decent tension.

This Oregon / Nevada TAT section was quite manageable for all of us; that is, until the road changed from decent to rough two-track that hardly had seen human presence, except for what appeared to be recent motorcycle tracks that wove back and forth, from left to right in an effort to find the path of least resistance.

We struggled up and down hills with rocks the size of baseballs and softballs, determined to not let the TAT get its way.

Fortunately, clouds and the haze from wildland fire smoke managed to keep the temperatures in the high 70s. All was relatively well, until we reached creek crossings that had turned into a mucky mess thanks to the free range cattle.

The first creek crossing wasn’t bad. The second was a different story. We had dealt with mud, but this was a combination of stagnant water, mud, cow crap, and cow piss. It was a real s*#t hole! No big deal if we’re talking about a couple of feet to cross, but this was close to thirty feet. First assessment was to grab willow and sage branches to create some substance to facilitate crossing the muck. Twenty minutes later, we had made about five feet of progress and things were looking promising.

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But wait, where does that path go? Seems that those pesky cows had found an alternate and drier route not too far upstream. Upon evaluation, we’d need to remove our saddlebags and as much weight as possible, since the “alternate” route was truly off-road and more technical than our TAT adventure so far.

Weight reduced, Kendrick was willing to be first and almost made it without issue. Almost made it. The uphill bank where we needed to exit was more sand than dirt and before we knew it Kendrick had his bike buried to the rear axle. Digging, pulling, and muscle were necessary to get the bike out, but once it was free, meant that we could get the others across.

Scott rode Madelyn’s bike across and up the bank without getting stuck and then he rode his bike across and up the bank without getting stuck. This little exercise cost us about an hour and a half, but we were victorious!

By the time we had re-loaded the bikes, it was time for our noon-time break. Madelyn opted for a nap in the dirt, while Kendrick and Scott enjoyed salad in a bag, pita chips, and hummus.

The TAT wound its way out down to a big valley with most of the land belonging to what appears to have been the King River Ranch.

The trail then heads back up an adjacent valley using roads that we’re not sure are technically roads any more. Again, we found ourselves later in the day with large uphill, rocky sections that were more technical than our skills and energy levels would accommodate. So, we needed to find an alternate unpaved road over to the next valley and eventually to Denio Junction.

In and out of gates we passed. The ranch roads dead-ended, were deep sand, and sometimes just looped around in a big circle. It took us about an hour to find our way out of the King River Ranch.

Then we found our connector road! Called “Nine Mile Road”, it passed more or less from east to west, up and over the mountains to US Highway 140, not too far south of Denio Junction. The views were spectacular, the road wasn’t too gravelly, and we could make good time.

By 6:45PM, we made it to Denio Junction. Even though the restaurant was closed for the night, our bartender offered to make us sandwiches and given our appetites, we gladly accepted her offer. Not only were we in luck for grabbing a decent bite to eat, they had one room left with two beds, bonus!

You can’t be picky in the desert, 98 miles from Winnemucca and 140 miles from Lakeview. Denio Junction was the perfect place to call it a day, as we put ourselves that much closer to Port Orford.

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 16

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Did you hear the thunder last night? And how about the windstorm? Those were the inquires we exchanged, as we awoke to sunny skies and 55 degrees. During the night, Scott counted four distinctive thunderstorms that rolled through Ely. When we awoke, the paved streets were still wet with puddles and the non-paved streets were a mess.

How could this be? It’s the month of August, we’re in the desert, and everything was soaked. Anyone that has traveled in the desert knows what water means to the environment. On the pro side of things, the desert is green, dust is reduced, and temperatures can be cooler. On the con side of things, flash floods happen when the desert can’t absorb the rain that has fallen fast enough, and non-paved roads become muddy, rutted, and challenging to say the least on a motorcycle.

Fortunately, we know our limits and decided that in the interest of both our physical and mental health, we better let the desert dry and consider alternate routes. With this in mind, we didn’t hurry getting ready. We loaded the bikes, hit the local grocery store for lunch fixins, then found a hearty breakfast at the Silver State Restaurant in Ely.

Eggs, hash browns, and toast, served to us in camo covered booth seats! We sipped our coffee and discussed how to go about the day – test a couple of roads for dryness and if they’re too wet, we’ll need to press westward on an alternate route.

Okay, we had a plan, but wait, when did we cross over to the Pacific timezone? We were leaving Ely at 10:40AM, which was really 11:40AM in our previous day schedules. A late start is not good, although quite necessary considering the rain that had fallen.

As we left the Silver State parking lot, everything was still very much soaked. In the interest of time, we’d push westward on Highway 50 until we could reconnect with the TAT in drier conditions. Down the road we went.

The TAT crosses back over Highway 50 approximately 50 miles west of Ely. The conditions were really good. The rain Ely had received didn’t pass through this part of the state, so we were in luck. Off Highway 50 we rode onto a simple two lane road up the middle of this high desert valley.

The smell of sage was strong and the sky was a beautiful blue with puffy white clouds forming at a pretty quick rate. At one point, Kendrick looked at his boot and wondered why it was green. The two-track we had been riding was crowded by sage, so sage scented boots were the afternoon bonus!

Things were almost perfect – roads were good, temps were in the 70s, it was sunny, yadda, yadda, yadda… that is until we reached a locked gate.

Locked gates pose a problem and real buzz kill. Hey, we just have to deal with it and find an alternate route. In Oklahoma, this was no big deal, as there were parallel roads almost every mile, in every direction. In the western US, the only straightforward alternates are pavement. So, back to Highway 50 we went.

We rode Highway 50 into Eureka, Nevada and this was a good decision, although we didn’t know it quite yet.

As we approached Eureka,  storm clouds were forming in all directions. Again, storms at higher altitudes are dangerous due to both lightning and how quickly water can change the road surfaces. The only sensible option was to proceed west on Highway 50.

Shortly west of Eureka, storms were dumping rain all around us. We rode through light sprinkles, while the desert around us got hammered.

By riding Highway 50 as an alternate, we got to put miles behind us in relatively short order. We turned north on Nevada Highway 305 just west of Austin, Nevada with Battle Mountain as our destination, since the TAT passes through Battle Mountain.

There is one lonely rest stop on Nevada Highway 305. We had stopped there in 2011 on our way to Denver and it was just about the right time to eat lunch and check on getting a motel room.

As our luck would have it, no rooms were available in Battle Mountain. The gas, oil, mining, railroad, and related construction industries appear to be booming in Great Plains and the western US, so we were competing for lodging with crews of guys from these various organizations.

Have you ever looked at lodging options in this part of Nevada? Well, don’t bother, as they are few and far between. The only chance we have is Winnemucca. This town has more resources and its location means that reconnecting with the TAT will also take some planning.

We rolled into Winnemucca on fumes. We had been running at 70+ mph speeds for hundreds of miles into headwinds, so when we arrived in Winnemucca with over 300 miles on one tank of fuel, it was no surprise that we put more than 6 gallons of fuel in each bike!

Bikes filled, room sourced, we quickly got back into our routine for the night – check in at the motel, unload bikes, shower, put electric devices on charges, create a laundry pile, and find a dinner spot.

By 6:30pm we had hearty appetites and picked a local barbecue restaurant within walking distance of our motel. At dinner, Scott took a look at the weather radar and discovered what exactly we had missed as we took an alternate route on Highway 50.

Ah, things do happen for a reason. Sometimes the reasons aren’t obvious until we look back and reflect.

 

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 15

Monday, August 18, 2014

There’s something uplifting about a blue sky, sunny morning. With bikes loaded, we set to one of our daily rituals, sourcing a grocery store for lunch items. Lack of refrigeration and temperatures in the high 90s makes the items we can take with us somewhat limited; however, we have found a good solution with prepared salad kits. These handy kits range in prices from $3 to about $5, depending on location and type of kit. Because they are ready to eat and come with the things that make mere lettuce more enjoyable to eat (grated cheese, nuts, dried fruit, croutons, tortilla strips, dressing, etc.),  when we’re ready to stop for lunch, we open a bag, add all contents back into the large bag and shake. The large bag also doubles as our dish and we simply take turns sporking out our shares. In the end, we get to eat a relatively healthy lunch, have the right portion for three people, and clean-up is easy. Lastly, we’re talking about lunch for three for under $5!

Lunch purchased, the TAT conveniently leaves the town of Richfield blocks from our grocery stop. From here, the TAT follows the Paiute Trail, which is also a designated all terrain vehicle (ATV) approved riding area.

The Paiute Trail starts out as innocent, well-groomed gravel roads that quickly ascend up into the mountains west of Richfield, with great views to the east and to the south.

Gradually, the gravel roads turn into quite enjoyable two-track winding up and down through scrub oak and some sort of not-so-tall pine trees.

We continue to see signs of what appears to be open archery season in Utah. Ever since rode up and around La Sal mountain in eastern Utah, we’ve seen lots of campers, pickup trucks, and hunters on side-by-sides or ATVs giving a go at bagging a freezer full of venison or elk.

As we round one corner, we are taken by the surprise of a maple tree alongside the trail with its leaves starting to turn the colors of fall. This area is undoubtedly a beautiful palette of reds, yellows, and greens in autumn.

Riding the Paiute Trail was pleasant, as the sun was shining, the trail conditions were favorable, and temperatures were hovering around 77 degrees. Oops, these thoughts jinxed us, as the wetter than normal summer was still allowing springs to find their natural path downhill and sometimes directly on the Paiute Trail.

This wouldn’t have been so bad, except for the fact that when the Heidenau K60 Scout tires become packed with mud, they provide lousy traction for the following sections of the trail when they become steep and have additional springs corrupting the integrity of the riding surface.The next thing you know, Scott goes down and can’t get back down the trail fast enough to warn Madelyn or Kendrick, who are doing a great job of navigating the second tricky uphill section with water features.

One-by-one, we went down and it was almost comical. Well, Kendrick didn’t think so, he was pretty disgusted with the whole affair; not because none of us got hurt, but more because, now he was starting to accumulate drops more regularly.

After ten minutes of wrangling the bikes back upright, we pushed westward on the Paiute/Trans-America Trail.

Conditions improved as the TAT separated itself from the Paiute Trail on its way to the town of Kanosh, Utah. It was hot and time for lunch. Thirty miles of navigation in a four-hour period wasn’t exactly stellar performance. ;>)

We’re always looking for parks, because they are typically the best public spots that offer shade. We found one in Kanosh. The town seemed deserted, which meant that we had the park all to ourselves for lunch, rehydrating, and cat naps before we continued the TAT into the western Utah desert.

Due west of Kanosh, we made progress on good, agriculturally influenced roads.

Temps were now in the 90s and the only relief we found were in the shadows of the clouds that seemed to be filling the skies. Our attitudes were good, but the Paiute Trail had taken its toll on our endurance for the day.

In running some rough calculations, we needed to make some time in order to keep somewhat on our original travel schedule. The only alternate route available, is Highway 50, also known as “The Loneliest Highway in America”.

Heck, we didn’t care, as the scenery was beautiful and we got to ride the valleys and passes that define the basin and range geography of what is now called the “Great Basin”. Here the roads are flat, posted speeds are often in the 70+ category, except when the roads twist up and over the mountain passes.

Knowing our energy levels were zapped and camping options were 50 miles up this road, 72 miles down that road, etc., we opted for pressing onward to Ely, Nevada. Ely is off the TAT, but the only lodging option east of the state line.

We arrived in Ely, only to discover that motel after motel had no vacancy. We had seen this before, so after striking out at four places, Scott worked his magic and found a room. He found a room just in time, as a mountain storm was just south of town and working its way northward.

The skies were fantastic shades of reds and oranges, as waves of rain showers were visible along with rainbows and random lightning strikes.

We grabbed dinner at La Fiesta and filled our tummies, such that it wouldn’t take us long to fall into deep slumber. The margarita Scott and Madelyn shared may also have something to do with the deep slumber. ;>)

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 14

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Madelyn and Scott awoke to the sound of thunder and droplets of rain on the tents. We collected the laundry before any serious rain and we lucked out as the rainstorm passed us to the south. Oatmeal and coffee were quick and a sufficient way for us to get our day going.

No significant dew on the tents or motorcycle covers, so tear down was much more efficient. We were torn down and rolling by 9:15am. Better than our performance in Silverton, but still nothing like a 7:00am departure from a motel.

This part of the TAT parallels sections of Interstate 70 (I-70) in Utah. The first non-paved roads were dirt farmroads, then back onto I-70 for a stretch. Using I-70 almost violates our rule of “No Interstates”; however, the TAT uses I-70 simply because there are no other roads that permit the TAT to cross this part of Utah without using it.

Anyhow, the TAT splits off I-70 with no exit, just a dirt lane to a gate in the right-of-way towards Black Dragon Canyon. This was one of Jarrett’s favorite portions of the TAT, so Scott was particularly looking forward to it. Very quickly we got into sand trouble after a small navigational error. We quickly rerouted ourselves towards the canyon. Before you knew it, we found sand again.

We worked our way to Black Dragon Canyon and soon discovered we had our hands full with trying to navigate in and out of the wash, which was littered with large rocks and sand.

We made it into the canyon, just before the petroglyphs before we made the decision to retreat. Four motorcycle recoveries in a mile span in a canyon with increasing temperatures and another hundred miles or so to travel, meant that Black Dragon Canyon would not be on our conquer list this year.

That being said, we’re glad we tried and seeing the petroglyphs was certainly a great reward for the effort.

We retraced our path, but still couldn’t avoid having to recover motorcycles along the way. This was a bonus round with two motorcycles at one time. And by-the-way, Kendrick has multiple drops at this point and has trouble finding humor when it occurs.

Another alternate route helped us put too technical stretches of the TAT behind us as we headed towards Richfield, Utah. Not unlike every other state we have ridden in, we found mud and soft spots that make TAT travel tricky. The red sandy plateaus of Utah disappear into terrain covered by scrub oak, before transitioning into irrigated agricultural land as we approach Richfield.

By the time we arrived in Richfield, our hydration packs were empty, our supplemental water bottles were empty, and we were just about ready to break into our one gallon RotopaX water containers, as the temperatures were in the mid 90s. The desert is nothing to fool with when it comes to water.

A motel with laundry facilities, ice, WIFI, and air conditioning was in order to help us prepare for another warm day on the TAT in the desert of the American West.

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 13

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Ahead of us is Moab! Clothes washed, batteries charged, bodies showered, and bikes re-packed we headed out, but not before breakfast. We enjoyed a nice, quiet breakfast at the Peace Tree Cafe in Monticello, Utah.

Just before hopping onto our bikes, a couple and their son approached us. As it turns out, Jarrett, Robyn, and Marshall Mathews just finished the TAT and were on their way home to Texas. They gave us some fantastic condition reports and advice regarding our BMW F800GSs vs their KTMs on the roads we would soon encounter. Thanks a million for the advice, as it helped us plan out our coming days.

North out of Monticello we rode on the TAT. At first we were taking those zig-zag PLSS roads east, then north, then east, then north, then west, etc. Then, things started to get more interested as we passed through the town of La Sal, then up and over La Sal Mountain as it winds its way into the red rock canyons south and east of Moab.

As we were riding down the pleasant and not-so-technical roads towards Moab, around the corner was this nice little black bear alongside the road. Radio collared and not freaked out by our presence, it wandered back into the scrub oak almost as if we weren’t even there.

Those red hillsides and roads that took us down into Moab, were the perfect introduction of what we would be seeing over the next day or so.

By noontime, we had arrived in Moab and found Milt’s Stop N’ Eat for fast service, great buffalo burgers, fries, and shakes/malts. We’ll definitely return to Milt’s the next time we’re in Moab.

The technical level of the TAT increases north of Moab on the road to Gemini Bridges. The road starts out climbing the face of a sandstone canyon wall, then transitions into navigating through washes up and around the plateau until we reached Gemini Bridges. Temperatures were in the mid 90s and fortunately the heat was dry, so shade makes a huge difference in comfort level.

The day wouldn’t be uneventful without someone finding a reason to drop their bike. This time, it was Scott in deep sand. Again, this is the price you pay to be the leader… ;>).

A minute or two later (maybe five), we’re back traveling towards our night’s destination, Green River. The TAT leaves the red sandy terrain, to lighter colored buff rocks that follow powerline corriders. The roads are mostly straight with a couple of turns, so sand, and mud spot avoidance skills.

Around 5:00pm, we arrived in Green River and took Jarrett, Robyn, and Marshall’s advice to stay at Green River State Park. This was a great suggestion, as the campsites had perfect grass for tents, clean washrooms/showers, and room for us!

Before dark, we knocked out some redneck laundry, rollchart updating, showers, and dinner.

The night was warm and we fell to sleep as crickets sang a loud chorus around us.

Trans-America Trail (TAT) — Day 12

Friday, August 15, 2014

Cool mountain air and the joy of being in warm sleeping bags, translated into a great night’s rest. Madelyn is particularly fond of her Big Agnes down sleeping bag. We awoke to a heavy layer of dew on the tents and motorcycle covers. This means, we’ll have to delay our departure until the gear was dry enough to pack. To kill some time, we got dressed and walked into Silverton for breakfast at the Brown Bear Cafe. Breakfast consumed, we went outside to enjoy the early morning sunshine and update our rollcharts.

Rollcharts updated, we returned to our campsite to assess our level of dryness. Things were still rather damp… This wasn’t anticipated when it came to camping… how it would affect our departure schedule. Staying in a motel is easy, you get up, shower, pack the bikes, and leave. Camping is a whole different scenario and we weren’t able to get out of Silverton until 11:15am.

Knowing that our schedule was compromised, rain had fallen and rain was forecasted for the day, and our 700+ BMWs were a handful in the wet and muddy conditions on Cinnamon Pass, an alternate travel route was going to be necessary. This would eliminate the toughest pass in Colorado, Ophir Pass, and based on the circumstances, it was necessary.

Our revised route scooted north through Ouray, around through Placerville, a quick visit to Telluride, and then south towards Rico to reconnect with the TAT. This alternative route was a good choice as the conditions allowed us to make miles relatively quickly on basic TAT roads that wove though aspen groves, coniferous patches, and then opened up into high altitude plains as we approached the Utah state line.

We left behind storm clouds and windy conditions as we rode into Utah. This part of Utah is defined by big skies, agriculture, and we started to see the presence of the LDS in every community we drove through. Eventually, we arrived in Monticello for dinner and a night’s rest.

Dinner came in the form of iconic west at the K&A Chuckwagon. The perfect place for a hearty, cowboy style dinner. We enjoyed steak and ribs, salads, and ranch potatoes along with four other families from out of the area (France). 

At this point, we have ridden two-thirds of the TAT, which leaves more difficult riding ahead in Utah, Nevada, California, and Oregon.