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Reminds me of....
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May I Ride in the Mountains
- Thread starter KsTeveM
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TNC
0
Crazy is OK because having adventures on motorcycles ain't stupid.
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Ok, so after that really cool long dirt road coming out of Mosquero, I hit some pavement in the Logan area but just for a few miles…and immediately got back on some more dirt.
Open prairie country, pretty in its own way. Didn’t see a soul for like 25 miles of that stuff.
Snagged a FM road for just a smidge, crossed I40….and immediately hit more dirt. That felt like a milestone in this trek. I snickered in my helmet as I blew over the overpass. Something liberating seeing the rest of the world living interstate life as I live out the dirt life.
Terrain and soil was different in here compared to the several topographies I already went through this day.
Got a little interesting here and there with some funky red mud. Not a big deal, just proceed with caution.
Crawled out of that valley and got some good views. Pics do the view no justice.
And just like that, I was in Texas….after riding over 200 miles. There was a sign saying leaving NM and then just a FM road sign.
I knew this meant it was about to get less entertaining, dang ol Texas. I decided to use FM roads and county dirt roads to make my way east for a good while. At least that was the plan in my head.
I meandered out of some town and found some more dirt. I was hauling the mail. I was noticing some moisture, but kind of discounted it. Then almost lost it, the road went to a kind of saturated soupy concrete mix feeling. 100% an attention getter. It was a miracle I didn’t go down.
I held it together and pressed on. But it was getting worse and my travel was getting much slower compared to what I needed to be doing. And I was looking at a storm in my path.
I came up with Plan B, make my way towards pavement to the south and go around the storm. The road heading that direction was good gravel. Sounds good.
Till it wasn’t. The good gravel only lasted a mile or so. Then it got greasy again. I don’t think it would have mattered what tires you had, but I was wishing I had some much more aggressive meat.
I had enough. But what can you do? Too deep into this to turn around. I got off to the side where the vegetation was and fought the ditch, this was good for a while, but ultimately not good. It was like a skate board going down a curb, sliding sideways. I had to get back on the “road”. At least the road would have a bottom, the ditch didn't in places.
I made it a pretty good distance but it felt more like steering a boat. I stopped below to take a break and study my map and look at radar.
The intersection reminded me of a crossroads where a beautiful girl in an old truck appeared. But she was nowhere to be seen. I would have gladly slept in her barn.
The only good thing that came to mind was thinking about a farmer checking things out in a few days and laughing to himself as he looked at my story unfolding in my drunken tracks. Heck, I would like to ride with him, or my girlfriend, drinking some beer and laughing about it together. I only stopped for one more pic, this was an ordeal in and of itself getting on/off the bike. And add to this, now the bike is cutting out every now and then, I'm sure the kickstand switch was getting clogged.
The mud was so thick on the bike, it was hard to steer fender/radiator guard, and the front wheel was clogging up at the forks and the rear was no picnic. I was standing while riding and looking at my front fender dipping up and down from all the extra weight. I finally made it to pavement. I'm sure as people drove by they were snickering in their warm and dry cars, feeling liberated not living like a dirtbag. I did a make shift clean out and then stammered to the next town and luckily found a carwash. It was like caked sediment mud, like adobe. Glad to get it off so quickly, five bucks later.
Feeling better about being clean and the bike not cutting out, I had to make a new plan. My original route was no good, I’m not taking any more chances on the dirt roads. And storms were all around. I thought about beelining for Lubbock as it wasn’t all that far. But I hate big towns when I’m on a bike, heck I hate them all together. Looking at my phone, I saw a cheap motel in an itty bitty town. That will work, it’s only 125 more miles and in a more productive direction. I can make semi-quick work of that on pavement. I rallied my mood, put on my rain gear and pushed on. I got this.
I got about 80 miles down the road and was feeling rough. Body was tired but also had some brain fade going on I guess. I pulled over at this rest stop. I didn’t even read the signs, sarcastically raised my camera and snapped the below pics and went and sat down. I’m laughing now as I type this at my attitude. I took about 20 minutes, ate some jerky, cleaned my helmet visor, drank the rest of my Dr. Pepper. Ok, feeling better, what’s another 40 or 50 miles? You got this you old scallywag.
Pull into Dickens ready to throw in the towel. Guess what? Motel is closed for remodel. I could have beat the dickens out of someone. That would have been great to put on the web but I guess it was my fault for not calling, I normally do. Now what? It’s just simple problem solving when you break it down. Storms are all around, it’s 7pm. Stealth camp? That will be miserable in the rain, no tent, just an emergency bivy. Closest motel in my direction of travel? Snyder. It’s only another 70 miles. I was hungry and there was a café in Dickens. But the sun was fading, I would rather not ride in the dark, already been seeing the deer. Wishing I had done the Lubbock thing at this point, I would have taken a shower and been sipping silver bullets by now. Stop it, suck it up buttercup. Ride on.
On pavement this should be smooth sailing, what else could go wrong? I texted my wife to tell her that no, I did not forget to hit my Spot tracker the “All is good I made it to camp” button. Pulled myself up by the bootstraps, again, and headed south. I made it 30 miles on this FM road and came to a road closed sign. I should have taken a pic of my face or audio of my thoughts on the matter. I had to laugh to keep from crying. I stopped and looked at the detour route, it added 25 miles, you got to be kidding me. The road closed sign said it was closed 5 miles ahead. Looked at GPS, I bet it is a river crossing/bridge work. Ok, gamble the 5 miles out and back to see if I can clean the perceived gap, or eat the 25 mile detour head on? And did I mention I had already covered over 200 miles on this tank of gas? I decided to gamble on the river crossing and that potential 10 miles round trip to find out. Halfheartedly I went with my gut, we don’t need no stinking bridges! I got close to the river, big barricades, machinery also blocking it. I went around all of that stuff to get a looksee. I didn’t homestead but did take this one pic. I opened a gate, used their make shift bridge they were using to get back and forth, another gate, and I was out of there. Thank goodness. Big win at that point.
I am getting close to Snyder, sun about gone. Wife calls me, we talk while I’m riding. My helmet battery dies. I pull over. Call her back, I guess she felt sorry for me and booked me an Air BNB. My phone is about to die, down to 10%, have to hang up and ride. She texted me info, I take off.
Now my GPS is starting to lose it’s power connection, so every few seconds, it starts the countdown to shut down. I pull over, have to find cords/connections to plug in my phone so it isn’t dead when I get to town…..so I can find the dang Air BNB. I find the little house in the ghetto, riding one handed, it is now 9pm. But the day is not over. I haven’t had a meal since Angel Fire, I’m starving. I went to Whataburger, navigating with my flaky GPS. Got back, showered and passed out. Is that a day or what? The first half was glorious was what I kept telling myself. It was just two days’ worth of stuff in one. You live and you learn. One more day to go for this ride report. Am I coming in clear?
Open prairie country, pretty in its own way. Didn’t see a soul for like 25 miles of that stuff.
Snagged a FM road for just a smidge, crossed I40….and immediately hit more dirt. That felt like a milestone in this trek. I snickered in my helmet as I blew over the overpass. Something liberating seeing the rest of the world living interstate life as I live out the dirt life.
Terrain and soil was different in here compared to the several topographies I already went through this day.
Got a little interesting here and there with some funky red mud. Not a big deal, just proceed with caution.
Crawled out of that valley and got some good views. Pics do the view no justice.
And just like that, I was in Texas….after riding over 200 miles. There was a sign saying leaving NM and then just a FM road sign.
I knew this meant it was about to get less entertaining, dang ol Texas. I decided to use FM roads and county dirt roads to make my way east for a good while. At least that was the plan in my head.
I meandered out of some town and found some more dirt. I was hauling the mail. I was noticing some moisture, but kind of discounted it. Then almost lost it, the road went to a kind of saturated soupy concrete mix feeling. 100% an attention getter. It was a miracle I didn’t go down.
I held it together and pressed on. But it was getting worse and my travel was getting much slower compared to what I needed to be doing. And I was looking at a storm in my path.
I came up with Plan B, make my way towards pavement to the south and go around the storm. The road heading that direction was good gravel. Sounds good.
Till it wasn’t. The good gravel only lasted a mile or so. Then it got greasy again. I don’t think it would have mattered what tires you had, but I was wishing I had some much more aggressive meat.
I had enough. But what can you do? Too deep into this to turn around. I got off to the side where the vegetation was and fought the ditch, this was good for a while, but ultimately not good. It was like a skate board going down a curb, sliding sideways. I had to get back on the “road”. At least the road would have a bottom, the ditch didn't in places.
I made it a pretty good distance but it felt more like steering a boat. I stopped below to take a break and study my map and look at radar.
The intersection reminded me of a crossroads where a beautiful girl in an old truck appeared. But she was nowhere to be seen. I would have gladly slept in her barn.
The only good thing that came to mind was thinking about a farmer checking things out in a few days and laughing to himself as he looked at my story unfolding in my drunken tracks. Heck, I would like to ride with him, or my girlfriend, drinking some beer and laughing about it together. I only stopped for one more pic, this was an ordeal in and of itself getting on/off the bike. And add to this, now the bike is cutting out every now and then, I'm sure the kickstand switch was getting clogged.
The mud was so thick on the bike, it was hard to steer fender/radiator guard, and the front wheel was clogging up at the forks and the rear was no picnic. I was standing while riding and looking at my front fender dipping up and down from all the extra weight. I finally made it to pavement. I'm sure as people drove by they were snickering in their warm and dry cars, feeling liberated not living like a dirtbag. I did a make shift clean out and then stammered to the next town and luckily found a carwash. It was like caked sediment mud, like adobe. Glad to get it off so quickly, five bucks later.
Feeling better about being clean and the bike not cutting out, I had to make a new plan. My original route was no good, I’m not taking any more chances on the dirt roads. And storms were all around. I thought about beelining for Lubbock as it wasn’t all that far. But I hate big towns when I’m on a bike, heck I hate them all together. Looking at my phone, I saw a cheap motel in an itty bitty town. That will work, it’s only 125 more miles and in a more productive direction. I can make semi-quick work of that on pavement. I rallied my mood, put on my rain gear and pushed on. I got this.
I got about 80 miles down the road and was feeling rough. Body was tired but also had some brain fade going on I guess. I pulled over at this rest stop. I didn’t even read the signs, sarcastically raised my camera and snapped the below pics and went and sat down. I’m laughing now as I type this at my attitude. I took about 20 minutes, ate some jerky, cleaned my helmet visor, drank the rest of my Dr. Pepper. Ok, feeling better, what’s another 40 or 50 miles? You got this you old scallywag.
Pull into Dickens ready to throw in the towel. Guess what? Motel is closed for remodel. I could have beat the dickens out of someone. That would have been great to put on the web but I guess it was my fault for not calling, I normally do. Now what? It’s just simple problem solving when you break it down. Storms are all around, it’s 7pm. Stealth camp? That will be miserable in the rain, no tent, just an emergency bivy. Closest motel in my direction of travel? Snyder. It’s only another 70 miles. I was hungry and there was a café in Dickens. But the sun was fading, I would rather not ride in the dark, already been seeing the deer. Wishing I had done the Lubbock thing at this point, I would have taken a shower and been sipping silver bullets by now. Stop it, suck it up buttercup. Ride on.
On pavement this should be smooth sailing, what else could go wrong? I texted my wife to tell her that no, I did not forget to hit my Spot tracker the “All is good I made it to camp” button. Pulled myself up by the bootstraps, again, and headed south. I made it 30 miles on this FM road and came to a road closed sign. I should have taken a pic of my face or audio of my thoughts on the matter. I had to laugh to keep from crying. I stopped and looked at the detour route, it added 25 miles, you got to be kidding me. The road closed sign said it was closed 5 miles ahead. Looked at GPS, I bet it is a river crossing/bridge work. Ok, gamble the 5 miles out and back to see if I can clean the perceived gap, or eat the 25 mile detour head on? And did I mention I had already covered over 200 miles on this tank of gas? I decided to gamble on the river crossing and that potential 10 miles round trip to find out. Halfheartedly I went with my gut, we don’t need no stinking bridges! I got close to the river, big barricades, machinery also blocking it. I went around all of that stuff to get a looksee. I didn’t homestead but did take this one pic. I opened a gate, used their make shift bridge they were using to get back and forth, another gate, and I was out of there. Thank goodness. Big win at that point.
I am getting close to Snyder, sun about gone. Wife calls me, we talk while I’m riding. My helmet battery dies. I pull over. Call her back, I guess she felt sorry for me and booked me an Air BNB. My phone is about to die, down to 10%, have to hang up and ride. She texted me info, I take off.
Now my GPS is starting to lose it’s power connection, so every few seconds, it starts the countdown to shut down. I pull over, have to find cords/connections to plug in my phone so it isn’t dead when I get to town…..so I can find the dang Air BNB. I find the little house in the ghetto, riding one handed, it is now 9pm. But the day is not over. I haven’t had a meal since Angel Fire, I’m starving. I went to Whataburger, navigating with my flaky GPS. Got back, showered and passed out. Is that a day or what? The first half was glorious was what I kept telling myself. It was just two days’ worth of stuff in one. You live and you learn. One more day to go for this ride report. Am I coming in clear?
You can think about it but don't do it. 
That is why we are all so addicted to this motorcycle traveling thingy. No guarantee of coming back alive and there is always a hiccup. Mabie that is the allure…
fantastic writing and pics!
fantastic writing and pics!
TNC
0
Dadburnit, Steve...I still think you should take me up on the hot coat hanger beating. It's sounding more and more like a better deal than some of your misery here.
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That was a rough afternoon/evening for sure, but it doesn’t take away from the awesomeness that was also experienced!
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Well done Steve! I seriously enjoyed following your report. However, I am not sold on the kerplunck test just yet. Has it ever gone wrong?
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It’s been a while…..
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The dark clouds really add to the shots instead of that same old boring bright blue sky thing people get all excited about 
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The dark clouds.....it was adding to the drama that day as well 
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Last day of this ride….I set my alarm on Monday for 7am at the little Air BnB in Snyder. Dragged myself out of bed, hot shower, cold DP. Looked at weather/radar….oh boy, big cells brewing. I needed to get moving. No breakfast, load bike and get out of dodge before 8am. But first I needed to fix my GPS connection. I stuck my hand up in the headlight bezel and wiggled it around hoping I did not get stung by anything. Seemed to work. I was out of there in a flash.
I did not want to deal with interstate nor Abilene. I took a state highway east and then jumped on a FM road headed south. Nice lonely road with no traffic.
I purposely routed to this next place that caught my eye, Buffalo Gap. This will serve as my education for the day. It is in Taylor County, which was named after three brothers that were killed in the Battle of the Alamo. Why the Buffalo Gap namesake—buffalo migrated in the millions from Montana into Texas for centuries and this was a natural gap, the topographic boundary between the Brazos and Colorado basins, now known as the Callahan Divide. My continued luck, the complex/museum is closed on Mondays. I did some google reading about the place and plotted my next move.
This spot was jumping in 1875 with buffalo hunting. Buffalo carcasses sold for $5-$15 and the bones were used to refine sugar. What? This was known as Bone Business. And there were many bone roads that led to railyards. As many as 100 bone wagons traveled together. A king sized wagon drawn by oxen plus its two trailers could carry 10,000 lbs. of bones. This is why you have probably seen famous pics of the buffalo bone piles, they were along right of ways. Freighters would make a haul to the army or town merchants with goods, and then on their return trip, load up bones and take to railyards. San Antonio shipped 3,333 tons of bones between July 1877 and November 1878. Old bones were ground into meal. Fresh bones supplied refineries with calcium phosphate to neutralize cane-juice acid and decolor sugar. Choice bones went to bone-china furnaces for calcium phosphate ash. Firm bones went to button factories. That was a deeper rabbit hole than I expected, but I felt it necessary to bone up on my history today….yes I did.
Time to shove off. Decided to blow off any dirt travel. Roads are still saturated and I’m not playing that game again today, too soon.
I stopped for a pee break around Coleman somewhere. Flowers were starting to pop the further south I got.
I made it to Brady and had been making good time, so I had a sit down lunch. Kicked it back in gear and enjoyed the flower scene between there, Mason and Fredericksburg. The bike is on autopilot at this point headed for the barn.
Worried about rain again. I can see cells in the distance and hoping I don’t hit them.
It was getting a bit warm out. I don’t know how you flat landers do it….ha ha. I decided to stop in the Blanco area and dip my gear in the river. Such a reset.
This little guy tried to bite me on the snoot when I got to the edge. We gave each other space and I was on my way.
And of course it rained on me for the last 20 miles. Couple more pics as this ride came to an end. For an impromptu ride over a 4 day weekend, even though taxing at times, that was a pretty good adventure. Overall I’m pretty happy. For now……..
I did not want to deal with interstate nor Abilene. I took a state highway east and then jumped on a FM road headed south. Nice lonely road with no traffic.
I purposely routed to this next place that caught my eye, Buffalo Gap. This will serve as my education for the day. It is in Taylor County, which was named after three brothers that were killed in the Battle of the Alamo. Why the Buffalo Gap namesake—buffalo migrated in the millions from Montana into Texas for centuries and this was a natural gap, the topographic boundary between the Brazos and Colorado basins, now known as the Callahan Divide. My continued luck, the complex/museum is closed on Mondays. I did some google reading about the place and plotted my next move.
This spot was jumping in 1875 with buffalo hunting. Buffalo carcasses sold for $5-$15 and the bones were used to refine sugar. What? This was known as Bone Business. And there were many bone roads that led to railyards. As many as 100 bone wagons traveled together. A king sized wagon drawn by oxen plus its two trailers could carry 10,000 lbs. of bones. This is why you have probably seen famous pics of the buffalo bone piles, they were along right of ways. Freighters would make a haul to the army or town merchants with goods, and then on their return trip, load up bones and take to railyards. San Antonio shipped 3,333 tons of bones between July 1877 and November 1878. Old bones were ground into meal. Fresh bones supplied refineries with calcium phosphate to neutralize cane-juice acid and decolor sugar. Choice bones went to bone-china furnaces for calcium phosphate ash. Firm bones went to button factories. That was a deeper rabbit hole than I expected, but I felt it necessary to bone up on my history today….yes I did.
Time to shove off. Decided to blow off any dirt travel. Roads are still saturated and I’m not playing that game again today, too soon.
I stopped for a pee break around Coleman somewhere. Flowers were starting to pop the further south I got.
I made it to Brady and had been making good time, so I had a sit down lunch. Kicked it back in gear and enjoyed the flower scene between there, Mason and Fredericksburg. The bike is on autopilot at this point headed for the barn.
Worried about rain again. I can see cells in the distance and hoping I don’t hit them.
It was getting a bit warm out. I don’t know how you flat landers do it….ha ha. I decided to stop in the Blanco area and dip my gear in the river. Such a reset.
This little guy tried to bite me on the snoot when I got to the edge. We gave each other space and I was on my way.
And of course it rained on me for the last 20 miles. Couple more pics as this ride came to an end. For an impromptu ride over a 4 day weekend, even though taxing at times, that was a pretty good adventure. Overall I’m pretty happy. For now……..
It never lasts long, does it?
OK - so are you you Doc Savage, Flash Gordon or Prince Barin
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TNC
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Steve, on a serious note from me finally, I am amazed at how you flesh out and find some of the best backroads to avoid civilization. In the hill country I know you've beat up those areas enough to know all the gems. But you also seem to do it in areas that appear to be relatively new to you. What do you use in the form of maps, gps, local intel, or whatever method you employ in finding these neat backroads? What is it that causes you to choose a particular route that turns out to be somewhat awesome at best and at least an avoidance of civilization at worst? Or are you editing out the 3 days you spent running in circles to find these routes you end up taking pictures of. 
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Its a combination of things that I do I guess. First up, interstates are the devil, pretend they don't exist. Big cities, never route anywhere near them. From there, I will talk out loud about each section and kind of how this ride took shape, all my routes start this way.
Colorado
The Colorado stuff kind of shaped itself. The truck transport went to my friend's family cabin in Empire night 1. So I have my start. I knew from there I didn't want to go back east towards Denver, I wanted to go south. Started researching the dirt passes, most all of them do not open till Memorial weekend....or later. So I just looked for secondary roads that accomplished the direction I wanted to go and did the best I could. Even those involved passes, looked them up on Colorado DOT type sites, they were open. Once I was a couple hours south, I knew that Fairplay/BV/Salida area had that desert terrain between the mountain ranges from being in the area on past trips....that's my zin so I focused on obvious forest service areas and if not, looked for interesting looking county roads based on not going in a straight line. Used Basecamp and just picked roads that mostly kept me going southerly. Also used Google Earth to look for any cool attractions, like the mine I spotted. I knew being cold/wet at night was a high possibility in Colorado in May, so I removed camping from the equation on this run....and I knew there was a KOA in Alamosa, so I had my end target. The dunes were added cause I knew they were close and hoped to pull that off, even though they were ready to be my sacrificial lamb if time ran out. For the second day, I knew from past truck overlanding that southern Colorado and northern NM have a lot of dirt roads in that desert valley. So pavement was out. I also quickly spotted a route hitting dirt almost immediately across from the KOA and figured semi-following the Rio Grande river valley would be cool....and found county roads doing that. Looked at GE a lot in that area. I could see the big bridge was legit.
New Mexico
I knew where the NMBDR popped out on the last section (not too far from Alamosa) and the fact that I missed it my first go round. Loaded that track and then plotted my moves to get into the Tres Piedras area. I knew I wanted to end up in Angel Fire at my other buddy's place, so I just had to fill in the gap. My original thought was go further south to make the most use of dirt from Ranch De Taos to Angel Fire, but the weather stopped that. So I adlibbed on the fly using my nose and GPS that day, look at sky, look at map, look at throttle. To leave Angel Fire day 3, I played with the thought of trying to get on the Shadow of the Rockies route (from Sam) as quick as possible. But it was too far east in the northern section of the state, abandoned that. So I went back to basecamp, again looking for long county roads. Spotted those two good ones right off, just worried about map lies. But I looked on GE on each end where you can use street view, then double check flying over the top with regular GE, and routinely make sure the name of the road stays the same all the way through, that ups the chances. Stitch the dirt together with secondary/FM type roads.
Texas
Just punch yourself in the face over and over again. Probably more productive, ha ha. Seriously though, same thing, long county dirt roads. Its going to be boring, so I zoom out on GE and look for interesting topography/rocks/drainage, big rivers, bridges, historical stuff. I didn't get to do everything I planned this last time, so I have some things that stand out for the future. So sometimes in Texas I will have that in the back of my head, past trip highlights that didn't work out. I look for non-straight roads whether dirt of secondary/FM. Only graduate to state highways if absolutely necessary.
Probably too much rambling....but there is no quick answer. It involves some finesse and a big picture view I guess....and time. I've always been pretty decent at sniffing things out. And yes I will try to get local intel if possible, ADVR has helped there on some of my other trips. And any time I read a cool ride report and/or see tracks shared, I download them, regardless if it is on my current radar. Hope that helps. Oh, and I always draw from the power of nuns as well.
Colorado
The Colorado stuff kind of shaped itself. The truck transport went to my friend's family cabin in Empire night 1. So I have my start. I knew from there I didn't want to go back east towards Denver, I wanted to go south. Started researching the dirt passes, most all of them do not open till Memorial weekend....or later. So I just looked for secondary roads that accomplished the direction I wanted to go and did the best I could. Even those involved passes, looked them up on Colorado DOT type sites, they were open. Once I was a couple hours south, I knew that Fairplay/BV/Salida area had that desert terrain between the mountain ranges from being in the area on past trips....that's my zin so I focused on obvious forest service areas and if not, looked for interesting looking county roads based on not going in a straight line. Used Basecamp and just picked roads that mostly kept me going southerly. Also used Google Earth to look for any cool attractions, like the mine I spotted. I knew being cold/wet at night was a high possibility in Colorado in May, so I removed camping from the equation on this run....and I knew there was a KOA in Alamosa, so I had my end target. The dunes were added cause I knew they were close and hoped to pull that off, even though they were ready to be my sacrificial lamb if time ran out. For the second day, I knew from past truck overlanding that southern Colorado and northern NM have a lot of dirt roads in that desert valley. So pavement was out. I also quickly spotted a route hitting dirt almost immediately across from the KOA and figured semi-following the Rio Grande river valley would be cool....and found county roads doing that. Looked at GE a lot in that area. I could see the big bridge was legit.
New Mexico
I knew where the NMBDR popped out on the last section (not too far from Alamosa) and the fact that I missed it my first go round. Loaded that track and then plotted my moves to get into the Tres Piedras area. I knew I wanted to end up in Angel Fire at my other buddy's place, so I just had to fill in the gap. My original thought was go further south to make the most use of dirt from Ranch De Taos to Angel Fire, but the weather stopped that. So I adlibbed on the fly using my nose and GPS that day, look at sky, look at map, look at throttle. To leave Angel Fire day 3, I played with the thought of trying to get on the Shadow of the Rockies route (from Sam) as quick as possible. But it was too far east in the northern section of the state, abandoned that. So I went back to basecamp, again looking for long county roads. Spotted those two good ones right off, just worried about map lies. But I looked on GE on each end where you can use street view, then double check flying over the top with regular GE, and routinely make sure the name of the road stays the same all the way through, that ups the chances. Stitch the dirt together with secondary/FM type roads.
Texas
Just punch yourself in the face over and over again. Probably more productive, ha ha. Seriously though, same thing, long county dirt roads. Its going to be boring, so I zoom out on GE and look for interesting topography/rocks/drainage, big rivers, bridges, historical stuff. I didn't get to do everything I planned this last time, so I have some things that stand out for the future. So sometimes in Texas I will have that in the back of my head, past trip highlights that didn't work out. I look for non-straight roads whether dirt of secondary/FM. Only graduate to state highways if absolutely necessary.
Probably too much rambling....but there is no quick answer. It involves some finesse and a big picture view I guess....and time. I've always been pretty decent at sniffing things out. And yes I will try to get local intel if possible, ADVR has helped there on some of my other trips. And any time I read a cool ride report and/or see tracks shared, I download them, regardless if it is on my current radar. Hope that helps. Oh, and I always draw from the power of nuns as well.
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Looks like someone just volunteered to make the next route..... 
The most true thing Steve has ever said.
Been in the river at that exact same spot several times over the years , did not see your slithering buddy .
TNC
0
Steve, that was not rambling. That was exactly what I was looking for in how you sniff out these routes. I know everything you mention as resources except Basecamp. I mean, I know the term, but I've never used it whatsoever. Like you, I use GE sat views a lot...I mean a lot. I even often find good remote camping sites this way. My problem with that, however, is that I don't use it out in the field. I was kind of preparing to get a new GPS that had that Birdseye feature, but now I see they discontinued it. However, I just looked at a Garmin 67i review that appears to have readily available sat view technology that is not the old Birdseye. Do you or anyone else know if this is the real deal? Been using the first Garmin Inreach Mini and I have an old Garmin Oregon 400T that I also want to replace. So, I could kill two birds with one stone with a 67i...Inreach and high tech GPS. And of course I've told you I'm a big map guy. I'm not exactly sure why, but I've intentionally avoided making and using GPS tracks, but I like the GPS to make sure I'm not way off my intended course or look at where an unknown trail/2-track is headed. I would love to be able to see sat views while in the field.
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I use bird's eye in Basecamp (Garmin's computer program to use in conjunction with GPS) sometimes to trace an exact track for remote stuff, think single track. Other than that, no experience in the field with it. If I need sat view in the field, I pull over and use GE on my phone. I've tried to use some of the more recent apps like Avenza, onX etc. but it's never taken over as my primary, more of a supplement. I think my version of phone is susceptible to ruining the camera if you mount the phone on the handlebars. Part of my brain likes the all in one device you mentioned....part of my brain doesn't, cause if that unit fails, you've lost a lot.
I use a Garmin Montana 610. I would like a newer unit with a bigger screen but probably won't do anything till it gives up the ghost....or upgrade me and put it on one of my kid's bikes. I also thought about having a second Montana mounted as a backup, I've had mine lose its marbles (all tracks disappear) in the field twice, luckily I wasn't on a big trip and up a creek without a paddle. Avoiding GPS tracks....I get that tendency, I fought it years ago as well. Part pride in my old school abilities, part stubborn about new tech. 95% of the time when I'm on a big trip, I just ride and follow my track. I'm not pulled over staring and guessing at what to do, I'm riding. I know this allows me to cover more ground. And also by doing this ahead of time, I sniff out gems I never would have known about by navigating on the fly. But I'm also on a time table. So I get basecamping and exploring with your nose the old way. Like all things, there is a balance that could be found.
I use a Garmin Montana 610. I would like a newer unit with a bigger screen but probably won't do anything till it gives up the ghost....or upgrade me and put it on one of my kid's bikes. I also thought about having a second Montana mounted as a backup, I've had mine lose its marbles (all tracks disappear) in the field twice, luckily I wasn't on a big trip and up a creek without a paddle. Avoiding GPS tracks....I get that tendency, I fought it years ago as well. Part pride in my old school abilities, part stubborn about new tech. 95% of the time when I'm on a big trip, I just ride and follow my track. I'm not pulled over staring and guessing at what to do, I'm riding. I know this allows me to cover more ground. And also by doing this ahead of time, I sniff out gems I never would have known about by navigating on the fly. But I'm also on a time table. So I get basecamping and exploring with your nose the old way. Like all things, there is a balance that could be found.
Yep, if my iPhone ever goes out, my next stop is Apple Store. It could be a 500 mile detour 
. If I can find it!
About 10 years ago I was about 100 miles from Tombstone AZ. I was going down the Highway and decided to take a pic with my phone while riding. I turned sideways and poof, a wind gust knocked it out of my hand. I pulled over and started running back to the phone as a truck was approaching the phone. Everything went into slow motion as the truck ran over my phone.
About 5 miles down the road I saw a billboard for an ATT store. Hour later back on the road!
. If I can find it! About 10 years ago I was about 100 miles from Tombstone AZ. I was going down the Highway and decided to take a pic with my phone while riding. I turned sideways and poof, a wind gust knocked it out of my hand. I pulled over and started running back to the phone as a truck was approaching the phone. Everything went into slow motion as the truck ran over my phone.
About 5 miles down the road I saw a billboard for an ATT store. Hour later back on the road!