- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
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- Location
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- First Name
- Scott
- Last Name
- Friday
Okay, I know this is late in coming, but there was an earthquake, a tidal wave, a tornado, I SWEAR IT!!! And basically life just got really busy immediately following the conclusion of this trip. This trip was my last hurrah before buckling down for seven months of hard core studying to pass the Texas Professional Engineering exam (which I did pass ). In those seven months, I did some serious head cramming, so I don't know how much of the details of the trip I can remember, but I did take a LOT of pictures!
WAYYY back in 2007, I made a trip out to Arizona with Gotdurt and TxRider. I was riding the KLR 650 back then and the trip was pretty epic... I had long been telling Roger "Rsquared" about how great it was and how he needed to experience it. Well, I wanted to get in a trip before doing the PE exam thing and I casually mentioned returning to Arizona to Casey "Gotdurt". He seized on it and things got rolling. Almost seven years to the day, we were going back!
See Casey's report here, along with pics from Roger.
Casey would be riding the same DR 650 that he rode on the first trip. I would be on my 2010 KTM 530 EXC and Roger would be on his KTM 450 EXC.
The bikes loaded. We picked up Casey on our way through Austin.
Casey's bike went in backward in the center of the trailer. A perfect fit.
We drove straight through to Superior and stayed at a little hotel where we had stayed after we escaped the desert on our first trip, The Copper Mountain Motel. The rooms were cheap and clean.
Casey - our fearless leader for this trip
My then new to me 2014 Ram 1500 crew cab. Makes for a nice travel vehicle!
The rooms we stayed in on the last trip... Oh the memories!
After checking in we grabbed lunch and then headed on toward Phoenix, actually Gilbert, where we would be leaving the truck and trailer for the week. Jo Smee had graciously allowed us to leave the truck and trailer in a nice secure place where she and her husband (Dennis?) could keep an eye on it for us. Brian "TexasT" helped is hook up with them. She is a VERY active dual sport rider in Arizona. So we took them out for dinner at one of Casey's favorite places. Really nice folks!
Dennis, Jo and Brian
We unloaded the bikes at their place and geared up for the ride back to Globe
Back at the hotel, Casey goes into one of his packing trances...
With bellies full and being tired from the drive, we called it a night early. The following day would be a return to the desert to revisit the route that left us stranded on the previous trip...
[gonna shift to present tense now because that is my normal style of writing]
Day One: Sunday
Sunday morning arrives as does Casey's long time friend Drew. Drew is the guy that came and rescued us from the desert on the previous trip. Go read that report if you want to see how Today, he's gonna ride with us, so hopefully we won't be needing any rescuing
Drew
My KTM and Casey's DR locked and loaded...
He's carrying much less luggage this time...
As am I... The top bag is just a sleeping back and tent. Looks heavy, but it is not bad.
With all the bikes and riders ready to go, we head out of town, into the desert...
Drew will loop back to his truck and we will peel off and head for Globe after completing the route to the South
And so it begins... Casey
Drew
Roger
That's Roger down there in the bottom right corner - Drew or Casey in center
A nice easy section of road
I stop in this easy section because I spot something on the ground. Looks like someone's phone? This can't be good. I grab it and tuck it away.
A nice fat Saguaro cactus. There are TONS of them in this area.
Is that Casey walking back up the road looking for something...?
If we go off the road, there is no shortage of "soft" landings available to cushion our fall
Roger waiting patiently
It turns out the stuff I picked up belonged to Casey. Apparently it fell out of a bag. This is a bit of foreshadowing of things to come... He is much relieved to have his things back. I've no real clue about the actual roads we are riding. Much like last time I am just trying to keep Casey in sight, or at least his dust cloud. I think we're on the Telegraph Rd and/or the Ajax Mine road, running generally South by Southwest out of Superior.
Lots of LONG climbs and descents, some smooth and some not so much...
I got ahead after a stop so I could set up to take pictures of the guys coming.
I think that is Casey and Drew right where the road disappears, heading my way
Casey coming up the hill
Drew eating dust
Roger prepares for a short hill climb
Casey leads the way
Chased by Drew
And we crest the hill to see a LONG climb...
The Ocotillo are in bloom
I think this is the Ajax Mine? Our route goes to the lower right corner of the shot
Roger and Casey taking pics of the mine
A Gila Monster!
We annoyed the Gila Monster for a bit trying to get pics of him. We never poked or prodded, but we had him surrounded. He eventually just went into hiding mode until we gave up on him.
More climbing and some Jeepers at the top
At the top
Roger heading on up to the top
I believe this is known as "Box Canyon". I don't have fond memories of this when riding the heavily loaded KLR 650...
Roger
The last time I was here, the ground was a much softer and deeper gravel. The KLR just sank in and it was almost impossible to get the bike up on top of the soft stuff, so I did a LOT of wallowing and flopping around like a fish out of water. It used a LOT of energy. Then, we figured out we had missed a turn and had to go BACK... That really sapped me good. This time, on the KTM and carrying a much lighter load, I actually have fun! Once again the thought constantly running through my head is how glad I am that I am not riding the KLR, hehe.
YES... it IS steeper and worse than it looks
You can kind of see that here
The going gets a bit rough for a short while, but still fun!
After a short break, I take point and run down through the canyon. The big rocks gradually give way to just the deep loose gravel and I start having a bit more fun Eventually though I stop to wait for the others. I don't want to get too far ahead and risk losing the group because I missed a turn or something. So I wait at an intersection.
Cool yellow bush is all over the place
YES... it IS deeper and softer than it looks
Time for a snack while I wait
It takes the guys a while to show up and I was starting to wonder if something has gone wrong. When they arrive I found out they stopped to check out a deteriorating little cabin thingy which I missed in my enthusiasm of playing in the gravel. We are soon on our way again and before long arrive at a place that brings back memories of riding that wasn't so much fun in the moment but turned out to be fun after the fact
YES!! It IS steeper than it looks!
I walk down a bit to have a look at some of the ledges and to think about what line I might want to take. Last time I was here, I got on a bad line on the KLR and could not back up to get to a better line. Casey eventually trudged up the hill to help shove me over a bit so I could get a better line to the bottom. It was still a huge expenditure of energy wrestling the KLR down the hill. Once at the bottom, we rested in some "shade" and it was then that I started to realize that the ride was not going to be the piece of cake Casey had thought it would be. This time though, while there is still some pucker factor involved, things go a bit smoother!
Then there is THAT climb on the far side... another tough spot that I plan to conquer this trip!
Drew trudges back to the top after checking it out himself...
Casey leads the way...
Right at the end of the video, the road turns hard right and makes a long rough descent down to the creek bed below...
[More later. Time to head home...]
WAYYY back in 2007, I made a trip out to Arizona with Gotdurt and TxRider. I was riding the KLR 650 back then and the trip was pretty epic... I had long been telling Roger "Rsquared" about how great it was and how he needed to experience it. Well, I wanted to get in a trip before doing the PE exam thing and I casually mentioned returning to Arizona to Casey "Gotdurt". He seized on it and things got rolling. Almost seven years to the day, we were going back!
See Casey's report here, along with pics from Roger.
Casey would be riding the same DR 650 that he rode on the first trip. I would be on my 2010 KTM 530 EXC and Roger would be on his KTM 450 EXC.
The bikes loaded. We picked up Casey on our way through Austin.
Casey's bike went in backward in the center of the trailer. A perfect fit.
We drove straight through to Superior and stayed at a little hotel where we had stayed after we escaped the desert on our first trip, The Copper Mountain Motel. The rooms were cheap and clean.
Casey - our fearless leader for this trip
My then new to me 2014 Ram 1500 crew cab. Makes for a nice travel vehicle!
The rooms we stayed in on the last trip... Oh the memories!
After checking in we grabbed lunch and then headed on toward Phoenix, actually Gilbert, where we would be leaving the truck and trailer for the week. Jo Smee had graciously allowed us to leave the truck and trailer in a nice secure place where she and her husband (Dennis?) could keep an eye on it for us. Brian "TexasT" helped is hook up with them. She is a VERY active dual sport rider in Arizona. So we took them out for dinner at one of Casey's favorite places. Really nice folks!
Dennis, Jo and Brian
We unloaded the bikes at their place and geared up for the ride back to Globe
Back at the hotel, Casey goes into one of his packing trances...
With bellies full and being tired from the drive, we called it a night early. The following day would be a return to the desert to revisit the route that left us stranded on the previous trip...
[gonna shift to present tense now because that is my normal style of writing]
Day One: Sunday
Sunday morning arrives as does Casey's long time friend Drew. Drew is the guy that came and rescued us from the desert on the previous trip. Go read that report if you want to see how Today, he's gonna ride with us, so hopefully we won't be needing any rescuing
Drew
My KTM and Casey's DR locked and loaded...
He's carrying much less luggage this time...
As am I... The top bag is just a sleeping back and tent. Looks heavy, but it is not bad.
With all the bikes and riders ready to go, we head out of town, into the desert...
Drew will loop back to his truck and we will peel off and head for Globe after completing the route to the South
And so it begins... Casey
Drew
Roger
That's Roger down there in the bottom right corner - Drew or Casey in center
A nice easy section of road
I stop in this easy section because I spot something on the ground. Looks like someone's phone? This can't be good. I grab it and tuck it away.
A nice fat Saguaro cactus. There are TONS of them in this area.
Is that Casey walking back up the road looking for something...?
If we go off the road, there is no shortage of "soft" landings available to cushion our fall
Roger waiting patiently
It turns out the stuff I picked up belonged to Casey. Apparently it fell out of a bag. This is a bit of foreshadowing of things to come... He is much relieved to have his things back. I've no real clue about the actual roads we are riding. Much like last time I am just trying to keep Casey in sight, or at least his dust cloud. I think we're on the Telegraph Rd and/or the Ajax Mine road, running generally South by Southwest out of Superior.
Lots of LONG climbs and descents, some smooth and some not so much...
I got ahead after a stop so I could set up to take pictures of the guys coming.
I think that is Casey and Drew right where the road disappears, heading my way
Casey coming up the hill
Drew eating dust
Roger prepares for a short hill climb
Casey leads the way
Chased by Drew
And we crest the hill to see a LONG climb...
The Ocotillo are in bloom
I think this is the Ajax Mine? Our route goes to the lower right corner of the shot
Roger and Casey taking pics of the mine
A Gila Monster!
We annoyed the Gila Monster for a bit trying to get pics of him. We never poked or prodded, but we had him surrounded. He eventually just went into hiding mode until we gave up on him.
More climbing and some Jeepers at the top
At the top
Roger heading on up to the top
I believe this is known as "Box Canyon". I don't have fond memories of this when riding the heavily loaded KLR 650...
Roger
The last time I was here, the ground was a much softer and deeper gravel. The KLR just sank in and it was almost impossible to get the bike up on top of the soft stuff, so I did a LOT of wallowing and flopping around like a fish out of water. It used a LOT of energy. Then, we figured out we had missed a turn and had to go BACK... That really sapped me good. This time, on the KTM and carrying a much lighter load, I actually have fun! Once again the thought constantly running through my head is how glad I am that I am not riding the KLR, hehe.
YES... it IS steeper and worse than it looks
You can kind of see that here
The going gets a bit rough for a short while, but still fun!
After a short break, I take point and run down through the canyon. The big rocks gradually give way to just the deep loose gravel and I start having a bit more fun Eventually though I stop to wait for the others. I don't want to get too far ahead and risk losing the group because I missed a turn or something. So I wait at an intersection.
Cool yellow bush is all over the place
YES... it IS deeper and softer than it looks
Time for a snack while I wait
It takes the guys a while to show up and I was starting to wonder if something has gone wrong. When they arrive I found out they stopped to check out a deteriorating little cabin thingy which I missed in my enthusiasm of playing in the gravel. We are soon on our way again and before long arrive at a place that brings back memories of riding that wasn't so much fun in the moment but turned out to be fun after the fact
YES!! It IS steeper than it looks!
I walk down a bit to have a look at some of the ledges and to think about what line I might want to take. Last time I was here, I got on a bad line on the KLR and could not back up to get to a better line. Casey eventually trudged up the hill to help shove me over a bit so I could get a better line to the bottom. It was still a huge expenditure of energy wrestling the KLR down the hill. Once at the bottom, we rested in some "shade" and it was then that I started to realize that the ride was not going to be the piece of cake Casey had thought it would be. This time though, while there is still some pucker factor involved, things go a bit smoother!
Then there is THAT climb on the far side... another tough spot that I plan to conquer this trip!
Drew trudges back to the top after checking it out himself...
Casey leads the way...
Right at the end of the video, the road turns hard right and makes a long rough descent down to the creek bed below...
[More later. Time to head home...]
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