Alaska calling to the imitation zone

[HIGHLANDER]

Quick visit to the Buffalo Bill center in Cody, WY.

My heroes have always been cowboys.

And they still are, it seems.

Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,

Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams

Ole Buffalo himself!

Gun art.

Someone buy me these for my next party please , I've a few lib friends I'd like to shock.

And you guys complain about your stock seat. Genuine Pony Express sadle from a time when men were men.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

After riding those two smoking roads, I broke out the map and it appeared more good stuff was a few hours away, so off we went to the Bigfoot national forest and Chief George highway. More choice stuff !!!

Since we’rein Wyoming tonight, I need to leave you with some of the great songwriter / performer, Chris Ledoux, may he rest in peace.

Storm clouds are building above the timber line

The lightning's flashing across the mountain side

The thunder's rollin' down the canyons of his mind

Somewhere beyond the great divide

The bugle of the bull elk echoes through pines

The north wind moans her lonesome lullaby

He hungers for the freedom of an eagle as she flies

Somewhere beyond the great divide

 

[exskibum]

Since we’re in Wyoming tonight, I need to leave you with some . . . .

Bull Shi-ite, Dave! I been following yer ass the last few days on the Spot tracker, and I knows yer in South Dakota fer the night -- a motel right there on the frontage road in Hot Springs with a pool. (Hehehe -- with GeoEye imagery integrated into that site, I can almost see yer Zuke parked by the room and can see yer white ass lounging by the pool 10 feet from that big titted blond hottie!)

Procrastinating on the 'puter, regularly checking for my vicarious bikin' fix, I even knew when you ran a couple passes both directions -- Beartooth and part of one today in S.D. Bastage! I'm jealous and whinin'.

LOVIN' the pics and narrative. Your travelog is my escape this July! But I been hearing "Someday Soon" in my imagination as I follow you and fall into the pics -- Judy Collins on vocals and acoustic guitar, Stephen Stills on bass, Van Dyke Parks on piano, Buddy Emmons on pedal steel and James Burton on lead guitar on that gorgeous Ian Tyson song that reminds me of Wyoming and Colorado.

Scrapin' the hard cases, huh??? :yahoo:

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Day 20 Ranchester to Hot Springs

Now somewhere in the black mining hills of Dakota

There lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon…..

Looked at the map again and it appears the Black Hills of North Dakota are a few hours away, so off we went. Let’s see what this Sturgis area is all about..

The 14A was quite good if the cops aren’t looking !! They weren’t.

Riders viewpoint, pretty good eh !!

395 was a snooze fest, perfect for the Cruiser type ride.

Headed over to Mt. Rushmore to check it out, but they wanted $10 to let me park my bike and take a pic, …piss off, so I double parked down the highway and zoomed in, Works for me.

Ran across the Wind Cave National park….Ta-Tonka warning ahead…..

Sky is pure black around Hot Springs, lightning in every direction

Headed down into this......

 

[Bluestreek]

Hey Dave

It seems that Uberkul and I are running a day behind you.

Were in Sheridan now and will be following your footsteps into South Dakota.

Wed. we stay at the Comfort inn in W. Custer

I thought the Bear Tooth Pass was the best :yahoo:

Here's a teaser for Exskibum

 

[Steel]

Highlander,

Thank You.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Day 21 Hot Springs to Highland Park

Might as well keep heading south and see what Nebraska has to offer. Thought if I ran along the backside of the Rockies I’d avoid the major storm system on the front side.

Leaving Hot Springs

The 71 runs from South Dakota, through Nebraska into Colorado. A trip through rural America. Wheat, corn, combines, tractors and John Deere mailboxes the whole way. Some small towns seem to be wasting away, but bigger ones are getting a new Wal-Mart.

Two Lane Blacktop….Charger or Challenger ?…hated the ending.

Soft colors of the American west.

Few miles of wet gravel ..oh Joy !!!

National grassland ? Miles an miles of it ?

It's 95 degrees and not a tree in sight, do people hike the grasslands ?

Casey Jones you better watch that speed.......

Also visited Scotts Bluff National Monument, the rock rises to over 830 feet above the plains, a major landmark on both the Oregon and Mormon trails.

Reno John’s been here too ? That guy gets around !

The 71 was a major trail from Texas to South Dakota also it appears.

Anyone else thinking speed trap here ?

Then came the churches then came the schools

Then came the lawyers then came the rules

Then came the trains and the trucks with their loads

And the dirty old track was the telegraph road …… Dire Straits

Got my azz kicked crossing over the range, white knuckle fever, wind from hell, lightning breaking everywhere, followed the big rigs into the truck stop for an hour and a half break.

 

[Fairlaner]

Excellent Job Dave, was good to see you in Golden and next time remember the sun block for your face dude..........

R

 

[Old Michael]

Reno John’s been here too ? That guy gets around !

:lol:

Really, really great photographs.

Argentina next year?

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Day 22 Highland Park to Golden

After spend the night at my Uncle’s house I picked some backroads to make the trip into Golden. The 126 / 67 was a pretty good ride through the small towns of Pine and Deckers.

The route across the Wilkerson Pass at 9000 feet on the 24 was a prelude to the Hoosier Pass which is at 11,500 feet. Colorado has some straight parts between ranges, like 15 mile straight as an arrow roads.

Your Colorado tax dollars promoting common sense !!

Bike posing….before a great downhill run, then the ride through Brekenridge.

So I’ve gone from this to this…..guess where my heart lies….

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Day 23 Loop through the Rocky Mountain National Park.

going up the country, where do you wanna go.......

For a short run of 200 miles it took all day……

My ugly duck settng next to 200 fire breathing, 145HP, finest sport touring bikes on the planet !

 

[Bokerfork]

Whew! That was fun. Thanks. Like so many others, I am soooooo jealous.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Day 24 Loop to Mt. Evans

Paved goat trail of a road , but the views are magnificent……

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Day 25 Golden Co to Ely NV

Not many options if I need to make time back to Cali, so Interstate 70 it had to be….. It wasn’t as bad as expected, I usually dread and avoid all freeway riding…

So picture this….your riding along highway 50, dubbed the loneliest road in America, for good reasons, It long, straight, boring but beautiful in it’s own way, gas stations are as far apart as Alaska, traffic is non-existent. Ahead of you is a storm system drifting into your path,….,a big one. Your almost upon it and you feel the temperature drop 30 degrees as you hit the leading edge of the system, you know from experience rain comes soon thereafter. Suddenly 100 yards ahead, and 30 yards on each side of the road, twin streaks of lightning hurtle from the sky and strike the ground. The hair on the back of your neck stands up and you don’t know if it’s apprehension or the close electrical discharge causing it. Who knew the leading tail of lightning is pure red as it reaches for the ground ? What can you do but lean down and kiss the tank to keep a low profile, hoping the lightning finds another path to ground instead of you. You closer to the next gas stop and there’s no turning around, you’ll run out of gas if you did. Power on and drive as fast as you can for the conditions and in 45 minutes your free of the maelstrom and the multiple lightning strikes. You feel the temperature change again and your butt releases the death grip it had on the seat.. You abort the plan to ride home in one long day and shack up in Ely.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Day 26 Ely to home base.

going to California with an aching in my heart.....

Up early and on the road to beat the Nevada heat, four hours later stop for breakfast in Lee Vining, back door to Yosemite.

Early desert morning light

Is there anybody in there….

Just nod if you can hear me …..

Is there anyone at home ?

Cali, home of the finest twisties on earth……

Some of this......

little of that....

some more of this....

The before....

the aftermath...

 

[painman]

Dave, your description of the rain storm on hwy. 50 described my experience to a tee last year transversing that very same road. The only thing I would add was the rain was coming down so hard the ground turned to pure white and I could no longer tell exactly where the road went. And oh yea, while I was leaning forward to hug the tank as you did I was praying, thank you Lord for getting me through this....lol.

Really enjoyed your photos of your fine journey and thanks again for sharing. Del. <>< :yahoo:

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Yosemite..the national park crown jewel.....( no long range pics as the smoke was pretty thick )

Flag at half mast as we lost a firefighter a couple days ago....

 

[HIGHLANDER]

So it’s been 26 days on the road and one hell of a trip. Covered just over 8600 miles and used a lot of gas !! It killed me to turn west and head for home, but maybe, some other day, I’ll put in some bigger mileage. I think I’m just warming up.

Someday I must thank the people like Beemerchef, who’s been on the road for about two years solid, and Glen Heggstad, who’s round the world trip makes Ewan and Charlie look like a couple of posers. These type people, and others who’ve done huge trips, are inspiring to me. I hope my posts here forces someone, somewhere, to get off the couch and start some dream ride of their own.

It was my first experience of riding solo for so long, it’s not for everyone as I know some of you would go berserk not having someone to talk to. I’ve dipped my toe into the madness and can now relate to Phaedrus dilemma a little more now. A friend once told me “ Riding that long alone in your helmet can bring up some ideas you don’t want to hear, and sometimes the wrong answers to unwanted questions, it’s a dangerous place to be sometimes “ .

So thanks for all the positive ( and smartass ) replies, it really helped with staying focused and committed to finishing the ride and the thread, because it’s a lot more time consuming than I anticipated to keep the thread current while riding. Glad you all enjoyed it so much.

All that’s left is to start planning the next big one in a couple of years………….I’ll leave you with Kenny Chesney… Don’t Blink….

 

[Radical]

Great trip report. I've traveled alone for years and actually have a hard time riding with others now. It gets in your blood and it is a disease you can only cure one way......Road Trip.

 

[Silver Penguin]

Thanks for taking us along on your ride with you. As you posted your adventures, you weren't truly alone since there were so many forum members thinking about you, rooting for you, envying you and waiting for the next episode. I admire the courage it must have taken to set out on this adventure, especially doing it alone. It's a much bigger deal than Charlie and Ewan, since you didn't have the financial backers and the support crew.

Add us to the list of those inspired to take a tour. It's going to either Alaska or Machu Pichu.

Jill