I'm planning to ride to Alaska, leaving in a few weeks...weather permitting.
With lots of new equipment I need a few shake-down camping trips to make certain everything works the way it should.
So, for shake down ride 1, I leave Tuesday for the Burr Trail.
The Burr Trail was made in the 1880s by John Burr, for the purpose of moving cattle from near Aquarius Mts to Bullfrog Basin.
From Boulder you can drive on about 30 miles of pavement, then dirt road for another 25 or so then back to pavement. There are 3 or 4 water crossings, however they were all dry for my ride.
I go through the tiny town of Loa and stop to see their excellent Veterans memorial.
Gas up in Torrey and drive the 35 miles to Boulder. Turn left onto the Burr Trail.....
More of the Burr Trail..
And it's getting time to stop and set up camp. I spend a COLD and windy night listening to the coyotes howling...
At one point they were very close..a couple hundred feet or less it seemed.. very cool!
And the next morning I'm back on the Burr Trail, following it to Bullfrog Basin.
The long and windy road...
When I reach the main road I could have turned left and gone straight to Hanksville, but earlier when I was cleaning up my camp site I found some beer bottles that someone had cleverly left by a tree stump... I didn't want to have those glass bottles on the bike any longer than necessary so I look for the nearest garbage can...and end up at the tiny Bullfrog airstrip. Garbage dumped, I'm off for home via Hanksville.
After Hanksville I ride through Capital Reef National Park. The wind is strong and buffeting so I put the camera away and book it home.
A good shake down ride, I need to iron out some bugs with my gear so I'll need to do another in a week or two.
664 chilly, windy miles - but I was on the bike so they were good miles!
Thanks for reading, Aloha!
3 comments:
Fun. It must be exciting, not just for a multi day trip but to do them in preparation for Alaska.
Fingers crossed you hit great weather. I am looking forward to the ride reports.
A great read is the "Alaska Primer" on AdvRider. Some great info on what not to bring. People arrive here with so much junk loaded on their bikes as if they were going through Mongolia or something.
Looking forward to the posts. Let me know when you would be in Fairbanks...
Trobairitz - Keep your fingers crossed please! I need all the help I can get... :)
Richard - Thanks, I'll check it out. I'll post my "schedule" (used loosely..) when I depart. I may hold off for a few days if Trobairitz's finger crossing doesn't work..
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