Red Lodge Rendezvous Ride Report

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Fontanaman

Robin Trower
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Day One

The Red Lodge Rendezvous was posted by BigJohnsSD on August 14, 2015 at 6:44pm. With the 7th post I was IN at 10:43pm the same day.

In December 2015 I started to plan my route. The idea was to take Idaho Hwy 21 and the inner road through Grand Teton National Park, places I have not been before. With a bit of internet work I thought it would be fun to hike around Two Ocean Lake.

I shared this with wifey and it caught her interest. I agreed to lay out a wife friendly route and so I did. Long story short is she was IN! Cool. In December I had all the hotel reservations made.

The FJR is luggage challenged for two up riding so I bought a Bushtec trailer so we could go in style. Actually this trailer is a retirement present to myself. I just got it earlier than planned.

Fast forward to June 2016. Wifey is out due to a medical condition. Lemons! The man known as --G says his wife it out too. Lemons! Lemonade is made when --G and I agree to ride to Red Lodge.

Our route is to fast track it to Shaniko Oregon then we take this route to Baker City. Most awesome and highly recommended if you are in the area.

Hwy 218 Photos from days past, aka my photo library. We were on a mission.
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A place for the fossils in Fossil? I am not far behind.

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We eat lunch in Fossil, spitting a sandwich and it is still too much causing some yawns during the next hour or so of riding.

And back to the present with a new photos rather than the photo library.

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Hwy 19

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--G is cutting the rug at a place called (the Jug) Picture Canyon on Hwy 19 in Oregon. Linda Lu was not around so this will have to do.

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We ride through John Day Oregon and continue to Unity Oregon where we take Hwy 245. Along Hwy 218 early in the day I was having a hard time following --G as he is very smooth. When we go over the Dooly Mt Hwy 245 I was leading where I open a two turn lead on --G. The surface was asphalt back with a bit of white sand in places - meaning it is not chip seal - I have an aversion for chip seal as it is hard to trust the surface does not have loose gravel. The incline was steep and very twisty. I slow to see --G, he kicks his 15 into sport mode, I miss a turn and we are in sync again. Dooly Mt. Hwy 245 in Oregon is fantastic.

Here are a couple of photos from prior days of Hwy 245.

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After the twist fest we ride into Baker City Oregon to finish day one.

 
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And away we go. Looking forward to the rest of the story. Going for coffee tomorrow and a wee local putt, maybe see if O C man is home. Could not pry me out on the fourth.

 
Day 2

--G had a extra Sena unit he brought along and encouraged me to try it out. Now this is the same guy who encouraged me to try out his bike with the GP Suspension and Penske shock. That cost me $1700.

The route for today is to Missoula Montana.

Highway 86 is quite nice with a few turns in farm land with mountain view.

Here is over the back shot of --G along Hwy 86

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--G say, over the intercom, the mountains look great and they do. A bit far away for a photo but I try anyway.

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I am enjoying this Sena thing. This is going to cost me money.

We take a break near Brownlee Dam along Hells Canyon on the Snake River. It has been a wonderful morning.

We continue to Hwy 71 and climb up to the plateau near Cambridge Idaho. Along the way I take a few photos.

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We go on to Riggins were we gas up and take a break. I mention to --G we should take the Whitebird Grade old highway 95. --G buys into this idea confident he has never been on it before. This turns out to be false.

We snake our way up the grade and I snap off a few more photos but only this one caught my eye.


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On to Grangeville and the Harpster Grade. If you are on a road in Idaho and it's name includes grade you can rest assured it is a good road.

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We arrive at the infamous Hwy 12, Lolo Pass, on our trek to Missoula. With the 55 and 50 mph speed limits it is rightfully called slow slow pass. A pickup truck passes us rather quickly. I was leading. --G announces over the intercom there is our rabbit and to follow him at about a 1/4 mile. After a brief discussion of the pros and cons I am in. We yo yo within sight of the truck depending on traffic, but at a very nice clip. A few photos:

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This one was before the pickup truck passed up.

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We catch the pickup on the grade to Lolo Pass where there or some nice twisties. We are arcing gently back and forth in the left lane. The pickup in the right lane up ahead and we refuse to pass. --G and I are laughing at our jokes about not wanting to pass the rabbit. Too much fun.

We arrive at our hotel in Missoula where we meet up with Audiowise. Later in the evening I pull out my laptop PC charging unit. I packed the wrong one. A few internet search reveals Amazon has the best price and as a Prime member I can order it, send it to Red Lodge for a Thursday arrival. Problem solved and order placed.

It was a great day. Of course a new Sena unit is now on my want list. I should know by now --G's suggestions are very good.

 
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A decent comm system is a wonderful thing. I know it makes my rides with Dad more enjoyable, we can "visit" the entire time. I am also positive it makes our rides safer. Two sets of eyes scanning for Road Hazards and communicating instantly is a Good Thing.

Keep it coming please. I am enjoying this even though I am quite jealous.

 
Day 3

Today we go from Missoula to Bozeman via the Big Hole Battlefield. Our route.

On the road in the morning we are in farmland and mountains. It is simply wonderful.

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Big Hole Battlefield National Monument is very well presented. The visitor center is located on a hill just to the south of the battlefield. The location allows visitor to see the entire battlefield. A kiosk clearly explains how soldiers attacked the Nez Perce Indians crossing the North Fork of the Big Hole River and in Nez Perce counter attack.

We watch a video explaining the conflict with the Nez Perce Indian and then went for a walk out to the site where the Nez Perce were camped when attacked in the early morning hours.

Photo from Big Hole

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Walking to the Nez Perce campsite.

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We spent about 1 to 2 hours at Big Hole but it was time to leave. I really enjoy Big Hole and highly recommend it if you are in the area.

About this time my Garmin Zumo 550 craps out. Damn! I have had this unit since 2007 and have about 120,000 miles on it. The GPS is not responding to touch. Rebooting did not help. Resetting was useless because reset is dependent on the screen responding to touch. Admittedly I was having some issues with the thing before I left but nothing to the point of it being inop. Double damn. I have already replaced my digitizer and it seems these fail about every four years.

I tell --G my GPS is crapped out and we are dependent on his Tom Tom to get us to the hotel in Bozeman. Along the way we stop along a river access area for a break. I whip out my cell phone, pull up the app Here, a navigation app advertized to provide turn by turn directions without an Internet connection. With maps saved on the phone it is supposed to find places like the nearest hotel or restaurant. So I enter the hotel address. The response is amusing at best. For a more accurate location blah blah blah, obtain and internet connection. Now I am really pissed. With lifetime maps my GPS would have found the hotel without problem.

George manages to find the hotel on his Tom Tom which he is not very thrilled with. Something about a non-intuitive menu system compared to a Garmin.

Back on the road the last shot for the day.

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Later in the evening I research motorcycle GPS’. The experience with the darn phone a few hours earlier was burned in my mind. Using my Amazon Prime account I ordered a new Garmin GPS to be delivered to Red Lodge at the Chateau Rouge on Friday. Audiowise helped with this choice suggestion the cable ribbon mount on the motherboard maybe history so replacing the digitizer may not fix the problem. After 9 years and 120,000 miles of server I got my money’s worth out of the Zumo 550. Gotta love that Amazon Prime.

 
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Another good day Fontanaman!

In the Brownlee Dam area, we passed another FJR from Cali who fell in behind us and basically paced us until we stopped for a breather. I'm positive I've seen pics of this '08 with rust color accents on the forum. Figured he/she was eventually heading to Red Lodge but that wasn't the case.

--G

 
Good stuff, Jim.... some familiar places/roads and a few to add to the every growing bucket list!
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Ride reports and this forum make it possible to share our experiences. For me a single photo can provide the inspiration to travel. I am still hoping to visit some of the places you have been. Good to see you are Red Lodge.

 
Good stuff, Jim.... some familiar places/roads and a few to add to the every growing bucket list!
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Ride reports and this forum make it possible to share our experiences. For me a single photo can provide the inspiration to travel. I am still hoping to visit some of the places you have been. Good to see you are Red Lodge.
Ditto, m'friend... happy to share routes and roads anytime! B)

 
Day 4

My Garmin 550 is dead long live my Garmin 550. Thankfully a fool (count me in) could follows todays route. From Bozeman it is on I-90 to Livingston then south on US 89 to Jellystone National Park and east on Grand Loop Parkway to Hwy 212 ending the day in Red Lodge.

Today the photos will tell the story.

This photo needs no caption.

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Here is --G and behind him a KLR owned by a lady. She was travelling with another gal and enjoying some gravel roads in the area. They were from California and we shared a few stories with them.

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An over the shoulder shot.

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A different perspective of the same place.

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I like taking a picture of the people taking a picture. The lady had a camera with huge lens.

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An Elk.

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--G and Audiowise cutting the rug.

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The three of us.

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In the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone we see this fellow.

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We see herds of bison in Lamar Valley. At this stop the critter was near and I felt compelled to leave NOW!. Bison injure more people than any other wild animal in Yellowstone.

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One last Bison shot.

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Back to moto photo's. The road goes on into the blue sky.

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We stop in Cooke City for gas and a break. It was fun to people watch.

Onward to Beartooth Pass.

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--G and Audiowise.

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Up we go.

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Selfie of --G's Sena.

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Beartooth Pass

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Dig this crazy road.

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My FJR at Beartooth Summit

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East of the summit.

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Then it was on to Red Lodge.

to be continued......

 
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