Montana 2015...

[M38A1]

Having life throw me a few major curve balls in the past couple weeks, I found myself with time on my hands to just ride and ponder life. I knew Rusty was leading a trip to the BMW MOA National Rally in Billings MT in less than two weeks, so I sheepishly asked if I could tag along. The reply? "Sure"!

So with that, I set about gathering my gear for a 10 day trip. My camp gear was pretty much in one bag, but it was an old bag - some 15 years and that river bag had served me well. A quick trip to REI and I was the proud owner of a 90L North Face bright orange "Base Camp" gear bag that now held ALL my camping gear in one place. Then, a trip to Cuz'n Bobs to have him mount the tires I just ordered, and I did an oil/filter and tranny fluid change and the bike was ready to go. Some electronics here and there, the laptop, camera, clothes and shave kit and I was ready.

The group is led by Rusty (Woodbutcher), and along for the ride are Camilo (cdc), Nadeem (SoloRider), Debbie (Snoopster) and me. Somewhere along the way we plan to meet up with Thomas (Thomas M), Ron (ThumperTX), and Donnie (fjrtx).

The plan is to depart on Saturday from Round Rock and head North and West finding ourselves in Jackson WY, Glacier NP, Yellowstone then Billings for the rally. After that, we'll head over to Ten Sleep WY to visit Justin (Coolhand) brewery in Ten Sleep, then make the trek South towards Tejas.

So grab a beverage if you feel like following along. We might have some pictures here and there. We're too busy riding and having fun.

Stay tuned.....



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[Duke]

Y'all have a good ride!

 

[M38A1]

Friday, July 17, 2015
From:
To:
Miles: 0

The gang started gathering at Rusty’s place late Friday afternoon. Debbie came in early to have Cuz’n Bob do some needed maintenance, and she then wandered over to Rusty’s. A bit later, Camillo arrived as did I and Camillo’s two sons. We then all piled in some vehicles and headed to Brooklyn Pizza for some good food, beer and conversation.

Afterwards, I headed home and tried to sleep. My 0430hrs wake up call would come soon enough….

 

[cdc]

Getting ready to leave....






Camilo D.

 

[solorider]

The steeds anxious to get started.


Sent from my handheld, please ignore the typos!

 

[M38A1]

Saturday, July 18, 2015
From: Round Rock, TX
To: Las Vegas, NM
Miles: 687

Well, 0430hrs arrived and I found little sleep during the night. My mind racing simply wouldn’t allow sleep. I finally rolled out of the rack and gathered the last of my gear to pack and headed to Rustys. It sure is dark that early in the morning. The Woodbutcher household was slowly waking up with guests. Veronica (Rusty’s wife) made some awesome bacon and eggs for us which very little was left for the dog. We had a little briefing and finally took off.

Our plan was to just get the heck out of Texas. Man it was a hot ride…. Heading out 183 through Brownwood, temps just climbed. No two ways about it. What was most amazing to me is the sheer volume of wind farms out in the Sweetwater area. I hadn’t been out that way in a while and there were simply too many of them to try and count. Must be big bucks in wind…..

We continued up through Lubbock and it was just getting hotter. Temps were up over 100*F now and it was taking it’s toll on us. We figured out that Debbie was the limiting factor for fuel, followed by me. So when Debbie got fuel, so did I. We got our signals crossed up one time in a wonderful little place called Sudan. Now I can say I’ve been to yet another ‘country’ within Texas.

We crossed into New Mexico around Clovis, making our way past Ft. Sumner then Santa Rosa, and finally into Las Vegas NM where just South of town we saw a pot bellied pig just walking down the side of the highway. And prior to that, a couple of newborn fawns decided to dart out to the highway, thought better of their actions then ran back to mama at the tree line. Not sure what that was all about. In Las Vegas, we had a wonderful set of rooms waiting on us. We geared down, then wandered into town for a Mexican dinner at a place that didn’t sell beer. Go figure. Lol….. Along the way to dinner, Camillo rode over one of the six inch cast iron sewer drain covers and flipped it up. Nadeem jumped said drain cover with a blip of the throttle. And we won’t talk about Darby’s nap……

We all slept like rocks.


************************************************************


Sunday, July 19, 2015
From: Las Vegas, NM
To: Ouray, CO
Miles: 388

Wow. Talk about a temperature change. We woke to beautiful, bright sunshine and 56*F. We all agreed we would depart at 0800hrs, but we wound up leaving a bit earlier. Turns out, we did sleep like rocks, but most woke up an hour or more before the alarm clocks went off! A quick breakfast in the lobby, pack the bikes and again, we are off.

Rusty loading out for the day….

We took off North for Taos and I smiled as we made the run from Mora all the way up to Taos. About nine months ago, Gina (SpiritAtBay) and I had made the trip to Taos together and on the return leg, it was a cold, cold rain and she was bitter cold. We stopped in Mora at Casa De Theresa’s and warmed up with hot tea and a monster burrito. Good times, indeed…..

Getting through Taos was interesting as there must have been some parade or big event getting ready to start. There were hundreds of lawnchairs lining both sides of the road with people just waiting on ‘something’ to happen. We never did figure it out.

Working our way out of Taos, we stopped by the Rio Grande Bridge and walked around a bit.

The bridge:

The gorge:

Locks of Love on the bridge

And our trusty steeds

Leaving the bridge, the roads started to turn twisty and scenic. We wound up at 10,000’ above sea level several times. Through Chama, then into Colorado and Pagosa Springs. Absolutely beautiful weather to ride through Colorado.


We passed Chimney Rock on the way to Durango, and stopped at Molas Pass for some snaps.

Second Pass with the threat of rain……

Then on Silverton, Telluride and finally into Ouray for the evening.

We located the KOA and secured three campsites. Donnie was waiting there for us. We set camp, then Rusty, Debbie, Camillo and I took a run into Ouray for drinks and dinner. We wound up at the Ouray Brewery for a pitcher and found ourselves at The Outlaw for dinner. We all had wonderful meals of steak, rainbow trout and ribs.

The ride back to camp was chilly, but uneventful. We sat around for another hour or so before we all turned in for the night.

Yeah today was good. Tomorrow can only get better, right?

 

[Duke]

if only the pictures were better quality this would actually be a good ride report in the making.....

 

[ghostrider1964]

Silverton, Telluride, Ouray??? You go across Black Bear? telluride is the other side of the range from 550.

 

[ghostrider1964]

if only the pictures were better quality this would actually be a good ride report in the making.....

I know, Right

 

[M38A1]

Silverton, Telluride, Ouray??? You go across Black Bear? telluride is the other side of the range from 550.

Whoops, Telluride was not in the day's ride....

 

[Vinny]

"Jackson WY, Glacier NP, Yellowstone then Billings"

I think Glacier is in WA. Maybe Grand Teton NP.

Thanks for posting. Its super hot here. Living thru you guys

 

[StrokedNBored]

Whoops, Telluride was not in the day's ride....

I was gonna say... That escalated quickly!

edit: great pics Scott

 

[MotoTex]

Then on Silverton, Telluride and finally into Ouray for the evening

Maybe what he meant to say was,

"Then on to Silverton, where just by looking they could tell-u-ride , and finally into Ouray for the evening.

Keep sending the "cool" pics to us overheated folks.

 

[klb1122]

Safe travels, looking forward to the rest!

 

[M38A1]

Uber-slow internets are making this report difficult on the road. Will keep trying.

 

[M38A1]

Wildfires in Glacier might nix that for today... Roads closed and evacs at this time. "Re-calculating". . In Jackson at the moment, ready to head out for the day

 

[klb1122]

Uber-slow internets are making this report difficult on the road. Will keep trying.

Enjoy the trip! The report can wait.

 

[Not Dave]

Nice initial ride report, very disappointed with the lack of dedication after day 2. I don't want to hear about lack of interwebs and such. Make it happen!

Some of those photos are of gorgeous scenery. I miss seeing mountains.

Scott, you can save a lot of weight if you eliminated the shave kit. You'll achieve better fuel mileage. You're welcome.

Here's what was going on in Taos.

 

[M38A1]

Monday, July 20, 2015
From: Ouray, CO
To: Vernal, UT
Miles: 269

The morning started out well under bright sunshine and wonderful 54*F temps. The sunshine worked well to dry out the nights condensation on the tent and ground cloth

We headed into town for breakfast at the Backstreet Bistro which was excellent. Everyone had something different and it all looked delish

Donnie headed South to have his rear main seal addressed.

Heading back to camp to pack up, ever wonder why a single person has a two person tent? ‘Cause it’s room for all your gear!

Not very far out of Ridgeway we hit some construction…..

But the views were great while waiting for the dynamite blasting to finish

A quick fuel stop at the "bear" in Grand Junction and we were off to Loma where we were all in for a treat.

The Bear in Grand Junction

Another quick fuel stop in Loma – Look for this sign as it means goodness is about to happen….

Colorado 139 from Loma to Rangely is one road you just have to experience. It started out hilly, then turned into one massive climb of switchbacks, turns and just plain old fun. Twisty would be an understatement.

A little fellow at the top of the pass

And the pass with all those switchbacks

Welcome to Rangely

Once we cleared Rangely, we pushed on to Vernal under some building clouds where at 4pm we decided to have a very late lunch. Over “lunch” we decided to just call it a night and find a place there. Locating a budget place, we unloaded the bikes and moved in. Turns out, the place is quite popular for riders. The whole 15 room complex at the back of the property was just motorcycles. There was a large group from Holland there out on ‘Holiday’.

We started getting a bit hungry, so pizza and beer was the choice. It wasn’t too terribly much later before everyone decided to call it a night.

Tomorrow brings us Jackson.


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[M38A1]

Tuesday, July 21, 2015
From: Vernal, UT
To: Jackson, WY
Miles: 322

Early wake-ups hit us all. As did a passing rain storm early in the morning…. But 59*F was nice and cool. Cool enough that we all skipped the liners in the jackets and still kept our shorts instead of jeans. Yeah, it’s that nice. ☺

The budget place had a breakfast area so we meandered over for some vittles. Not great, but included in the cost of the rooms. With the bikes loaded, the big Holland group left just before us. The rain wasn’t really of concern since radar said it was all moving off to the East. So with that, we were off.

Rusty loading out

Nadeem and Camillo prior to launch

And we can’t leave out Snoopster

About two miles out of town, we lost Camillo. Apparently he left his wallet in his back pocket thinking he left it at the hotel. No problem, he figured it out and caught up to us as we waited just outside of town for him.

So we just hung out…. All of us

Where art thou Camillo?

Not far out of town Rusty noticed some arching in a headlight wire, so we pulled over at a mining operation for him to figure it out/fix it.

This area of road (Sheep Creek) was chock full of switchbacks and road signs telling everyone of the features of the land a million or so years ago.

The road took us through miles and miles of high desert and we pulled in at Royal Gorge for a few snaps.

And then it was time to hit the road again

We needed some nourishment along the way…

To take in these views…

Continuing on, we fueled in Rock Springs for lunch and Camillo saw his bike with the WY metal art…

The crowd for lunch

And in a big round mirror which was kind of fun to shoot

After lunch we made the 100mi run into Pinedale for fuel and ice cream.

There, we ran into a few fellow Texans and Donnie! Turns out his rear main seal leak was just oil in the airbox from a tipover a day or so before he departed on this adventure. Nothing to worry about.

Flat fast roads brought us to Jackson with the Wind River Range to our right. Heavy storms in the mountains, but smooth sailing for us on into Jackson. We found our hotel a mere two blocks off the main square. Now THAT was a real treat. Just park the bikes, unload and walk to the city center.

Unloading the bikes, I spotted this cool old buggy in the ‘attic’ area

Once we were all unloaded, we walked the TWO BLOCKS to ‘downtown’. Yeah, we were in the heart of Jackson with our hotel at the Anvil. We stuck our head in the Million Dollar Saloon to see the bar stools…

Next, we had to do the ‘tourist’ shot under the antler sheds.

In search of yet another beer, I pinged Duke who recommended this place. So off we went….

Plenty of items to choose from

After a beer, it was time to to in search of dinner. Along the way we saw this cool old Unimog

And I FINALLY got Camillo to smile

Yes – we are in Wyoming and NO – we did not drink Budweiser

This was our view from the dinner area on the second floor overlooking the square

And on the way back to the hotel was the old Teton Theater

…at which point we wound up back at the hotel for the night

A good day indeed.

Tomorrow brings us Yellowstone

 

[M38A1]

If you are curious as to the EXACT roads we've been on, hit this SPOTWALLA LINK. Then, under the title "Seven Friends..." click that dropdown and select "Adjustments" and then "ALL". It will show the entire set of tracks.


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[M38A1]

Wednesday, July 22, 2015
From: Jackson, WY
To: Red Lodge, MT
Miles: 254

Can anyone say “Beartooth Pass/US212”? Raise your hand…..

Word of the day: WOWZER

The whole gang was together this morning. Thomas had arrived from his ride up yesterday, then a flight out to Salt Lake City to visit a client, then returned to Jackson to meet up with us. Donnie was with us from yesterday, his ‘oil leak’ mysteriously fixed. LOL Amazing how you can cram seven riders with gear into two rooms.

Good Morning Jackson! Crisp blue skies await us….

We had a quick breakfast,

Then it was time to depart and we made it to the crest of the hill just North of Jackson where the Tetons make their appearance. Wow. Out of nowhere there they are. What a sight to behold. Even if I’ve seen it a couple times now…..

We fueled up and discussed picture taking vs getting as far North as possible, ie: Glacier NP. Alas, we had learned that Glacier NP as our destination today was on fire with evacuations and road closures, so we opted to just skip the big haul up there. Instead, we decided to split the group up with Donnie, Thomas, Nadeem and Camillo taking off in one group and Rusty, Debbie and I would meet up in Yellowstone at a specific visitor center later in the day. That way, we could take our time up to Yellowstone and shoot some pics along the way. So with that, they took off as did we.

The three of us had a blast. We rode at a good clip when we wanted and slowed to a tourista’s pace when we wanted to see the landscape, stop and gawk or take pictures. And that we did a lot of……

We made it to Yellowstone park at the South entrance and I ‘gotta say, forty-bucks is a pile-o-cash to cough up for a drive-through. But in the end I’m glad I got to run the Eastern side of the park since I’ve only done the Western side up to this point. And the line wasn’t ‘that’ bad at only about 250 yards of parked cars.

Lewis Lake

The Lewis Fire where wind gusts reached 60+mph

Lewis Falls

Then we found some mud pits

And a bubbling pool called Dragons Mouth

Then we saw some herds of buffalo

And a single…

We made our way to the Canyon Lodge Visitors Center and grabbed a bite to eat while looking for the rest of the group. A few texts back and forth and we learned the four others were almost out of the park on the North end. So with that, we geared up (rain jackets as the sky was looking ominous) fueled, and took off for Beartooth Pass.

I have no words for what that pass was like. It was like the Three Sisters in the hill country on massive steroids. With cold temperatures. And deep blue sky. Topping out at 11K feet, the ride was simply amazing.

At the peak

And the ride down wasn’t too bad either. ☺

We stopped at the Rock Creek Vista Point turnout for a little break and found the chipmunks to own the place.

We made the descent safely with smiles, and it was a quick 25 mile trip to Red Lodge where we found the KOA for the night. The other four had just arrived, and in less than 30 minutes there were seven bikes, seven riders and seven tents.

Tomorrow brings us Billings a mere 59 miles away and the BMW National Rally….


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[Cycledelic Relic]

To sleep.....perchance.. to dream......

Of a nice lenghty getaway like this
No important daily decisions to make... cept for lunch n supper stops.... & which road next

Wonderful pics n story Scott


Sent from my LGL34C using Tapatalk

 

[Cycledelic Relic]

Oh..... & I should also mention....
ITS 84° HERE AT ALMOST 2...
AM! nice warm breeze blowin too

Sent from my LGL34C using Tapatalk

 

[ghostrider1964]

Oh..... & I should also mention....
ITS 84° HERE AT ALMOST 2...
AM! nice warm breeze blowin too

Sent from my LGL34C using Tapatalk

Ain't no better at 3