3 Kaboom's, 3 Dudes, and a Chick ride Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Montana

A journey of 2750 miles (90% offroad) with three KTM990/950 Adventures (one two-up) over 13 days in the Wild West.


This journey is largely based on the ride DockingPilot wrote about called "Forever West".
We would like to thank DockingPilot for his GPS tracks and his invaluable <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o>info that made this trip awesome </o>
<o>http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=647968</o>
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<o>I should also mention that while DockingPilot created GPS tracks for the Forever West ride it was the vast knowledge and experience of Tony Heugel of Backcountry Byways that provided the route information. He has traveled a lot and knows these areas. So if you are planning a trip in the Wild West check him out at http://backcountry-byways.blogspot.com/

Thanks Tony for providing more insite into a historic area and all the cool places to visit.

</o><o>This trip was sponsored by &#8220;I Love Drilling&#8221; of Vernal, Utah<o></o>
(actually just the stickers) http://www.ILoveDrilling.com



Let&#8217;s introduce the cast of characters:

Paul (JustPaul) aka &#8220;Flats&#8221; also known as &#8220;Firedancer&#8221;. A big dude at 6&#8217;5&#8221; and great rider who rode two up all the way with Jill.
He was the lead rider (since he was usually the quickest and the most experienced in dirt).
Destroyer of tires and knows how to start a fire real fast!! Paul was riding his 2007 990 Adventure with Superplushed suspension (to &#8220;S&#8221; spec). <o></o>
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<o>Jill (JustJill?) aka &#8220;Photochic&#8221; or &#8220;Flowerchild&#8221; or &#8220;Smilie. Expert at taking pictures while riding with Paul on a bumpy motorcycle.</o>
<o>A real trooper who loves to get out and tough it in the woods with the boys.
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<o>Jeremy (Darkryder) aka &#8220;Crash&#8221; or &#8221;IT_boy&#8221;<o></o>
Crash was the second bike for a long time as his GPS routes were screwed up. He had no choice but stay in between flats and me to make sure he did not get off course.
He rode fast, had some dramatic crashes and spent much of his spare time fixing IT problems when he was within range of WiFi.
This was Crash&#8217;s first big adventure ride so it was a new experience for him but being an excellent rider with 24+ years of street riding under his belt, he took it in stride.
Jeremy was riding his new 2010 990 Adventure &#8220;R<o></o>


Mike Z (Zeegman) aka &#8220;Gramps&#8221; or &#8220;Mudman&#8221; <o></o>
Bringing up the rear since I am the oldest and usually slowest person to run sweep (and I had the satphone).
I had some issues dropping the bike 3 times in mud/water. I was riding my 2006 950 Adventure.
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Paul and I had the ADVtank which added about 70 miles to our 140 mile stock range. But our longest distance without gas was about 230 miles.
The Adventure is a thirsty bike (35miles/gallon) so we all had to carry extra gas in the form of Justanks gas bladders (2 or 3 gallon) or MSR fuel bottles in Pauls case. <o></o>


Trip planning <o></o>
We did quite a bit of trip planning. After all this a trip of about 2700miles through 6 States (Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado) with about 90% dirt.
First we got the GPS routes from Dockingpilot, then studied them and then called DockingPilot who graciously answered all our questions (&#8220;Are we going to drive off cliffs?&#8221;,
&#8221;Will bugs eat us alive?&#8221;, &#8220;Will we get shot and left for dead if we camp on someones property&#8221;?).
We had to break the route up in 13 sections since it was one continuous route of about 65000 points &#8211; try loading that into the GPS.<o></o>
We also traced the route on our Paper Benchmark Maps in case the GPS failed.
We also created a route street with daily stops and points of interest including famous landmarks, gas stops, campgrounds, hotels, bike dealers, casinos, banks, (hospitals?).
We planned for camping most of the time as we brought tents, sleeping bags, cook gear, some food and water.
We ended up camping a little over ½ the time. We had a satphone and never used it. Two of us also had the SPOT.<o></o>
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We started from San Jose, California and trailered the bikes to Wendover, Utah where we stashed the trucks and trailers at the local Kampgrounds Of America,<o></o>
We started in Wendover which is where the famous Bonneville Salts are and the land speed records are recorded.
We got there one week after the speed races ended. This was the closet point on the route from San Jose.
We took two days of highway slabbing to get there after we left after work on August 18 although it could be done in one day.<o></o>
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The drive from San Jose to Wendover is kinda boring so for fun people do weird things to pass the time like try to catch gumdrops In their mouth or try to find fun signs.
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<o>We finally get there and it is hot (looking South)


so we parked our trucks and offloaded bikes at the hotel and walked over to the air conditioned casino for a huge buffet dinner.<o></o>
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<o>It&#8217;s was the last supper before the big dirty ride. We slept well (after a bit of gambling &#8211; we lost some - not much).<o></o>
The trip almost didn&#8217;t happen since Paul loaded his riding gear into his truck the day before heading out.
In the night someone broke the window on his truck and took all his gear.
So that day he scrambled like crazy driving all over the place with the help of friend Ian (Ian408) to pick up new gear (not easy for a guy who is 6&#8217;5&#8220;and big feet).
Paul also had to get the window quickly fixed on the truck. Somehow that all got done and he and Jill were able to happily leave San Jose, Ca that evening.<o></o>
Paul was so excited about the trip and to have all his new gear he actually went to bed in them the first night in Wendover.
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Next day we got up and packed up our shiny clean bikes with the fresh tires, oil, coolant, brakes, clean air filters and clean undies.

We had breakfast and suited up and fueled up<o></o>
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<o>Day 1 Aug 21
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The first day was going to be a long one at 230 miles but I am glad it happened at the beginning.<o></o>
It would take in Bonneville Salt Flats, Silver Island Mountains, Great Salt Lake, Continental Railroad track and Museum, and finally reach our destination in Brigham, Utah.
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It starts where we end and it ends where we start in Wendover since it is a circle route.
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<o>This is a view looking at the Salt Flats South of Wendover. Wendover is up on an outcrop of rocks that sticks above the Salt Flats. </o>
<o>Most of the Flats are, well, very flat. I think I read some where that it is so flat you can actually detect the curve of the earth. <o></o>
Here is a video of us making our way through the Salt Flats area.<o></o>

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You can see in the video as we make our way through town that the town straddles the Nevada Utah border.
There are salt chunk remnants of the Salt Flats that have come off vehicles as white rocks or powder all over town.
We enter Bonneville Salt Flat area and Silver Island Mountains backroads where we meet the first dirt roads.
I almost bite it as we enter the dirt road as I ride over a soft patch of dirt. Embarassing!
I have on my tankbag a list of mileage to fuel stops which is a great idea from DockingPilots pictures of his bike.
In general Paul/Jill would lead, then Jeremy, then me. The roads were very good so we could cruise at about 50-70 mph.
We would be about 1-5 minutes apart. It was pretty dusty so it was good to have separation so as not to choke on it and clog up filters, faceshields, and camera lenses.
The place is amazingly barren and hot!!




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The Silver Island Mountains are to the North West of the Bonneville Salt Flats racetrack. We didn&#8217;t get to see the speedway but we were inspired by thoughts of it as we roared on our way.
You don&#8217;t actually want to drive out on to the flats as in lot of places there is a thin layer of salt covering a huge mud plain.
You&#8217;ll drive out there and get stuck immediately. We stuck to roads off to the sides which were in very good condition, and cruised along at a pretty good clip.
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<o>The Salt Flats stretched as far as the eye can see. The sky had some pretty amazing cloud formations as the landscape drifted by. We saw almost nobody out here &#8211; very desolate.<o></o>
We headed around the mountains and rode North up towards the Lucin cutoff and the Transcontinental Railroad grade. This is a very historic place allowing expansion to the West.
The original railroad grade remains and is a trail that one can ride on since the railroad tracks and ties were removed or rotted away.
There are dozens and dozens of railroad trestles that span the route and kept the railroad tracks above the flood plains.
They are all too fragile to ride on now, so they are all blocked off so you need to detour them all.
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This really slowed us down and made it seem even slower in the oppressive mid-day heat.<o></o>

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We followed the trail as it wound past now non-existent towns like Terrace &#8211; now just a cemetery.
We imagined what it must have been like for the poor buggers that worked so hard and died to build this railroad in this barren, bad water furnace.

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Finally we had to take a break as we needed to hydrate and eat a few munchies (energy bars) and Jeremy had to fill his tanks from his gas bladders.
Paul was doing his best mexican hat impression


We saw a wild hare seeking refuge from the heat under an old railroad trestle &#8211; can you spot him?
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<o>After fueling up our bikes and bodies we headed out for the Golden Spike National monument and museum.
We finally made it to this park sign (with some much needed shade &#8211; no trees out there) showing a map of the Transcontinental Railroad track trail we just rode 90 miles on.
The sign said &#8220;Old Railroad spikes can sometimes surface and cause flat tires&#8221; &#8211; now they tell us.


Eventually the dirt turned to pavement as this video of the approach to the monument and museum shows



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The Golden Spike monument was erected marking the site where Eastern and Western lines of the railroad met on May10, 1869.<o></o>
The Central Pacific Railroad line was started in 1863 from Sacramento heading East through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Great Basin.
At the same time the Union Pacific line was built from Omaha in the East to reach this spot known as Promitory Summit, Utah.
The last spike was made of gold and was driven by Leland Stanford (Stanford University) connecting the US via rail.

Two steam engines were parked face to face for the final ceremony and are immaculately restored and are in working condition at the Golden Spike Museum.
The Central Pacific (&#8220;Jupiter&#8221; #60) came from the West and the Union Pacific #119 came from the East.
The parks staff and volunteers did an amazing job to preserve and maintain the site and historical machines.
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<o>They even put a show on for us giving a live demo of the #119 Union Pacific engine.
The machine rumbled the ground as it lumbered down the rails past us.
The engineer tooted the whistle. I caught some video of it here:
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We then stepped into the air conditioned museum and had a good look at a replica of the original Golden Spike (original is at Stanford University).
Key people&#8217;s names are even engraved into the side of the spike &#8211; a work of art!<o></o>



After we cooled off in the museum it was time to hit the road and drive the short distance to Brigham city for our first night.
It was hot out and there was no shade anywhere so we decided to motel it.<o></o>
Brigham city is a very picturesque town with old brick and stone civic halls and large tall church steeples.<o></o>





We had a quick shower and went out for a meal (made the mistake of trying to order a beer) and then crashed for the night.<o></o>
We made good time that day, getting to Brigham city at about 5PM.
There were no incidents or mechanical issues and everybody was feeling great and eagerly looking forward to what the next day would bring.<o></o>

Thanks Mike for doing this.. We had a great trip. Thanks to the Docking Pilot Gang for all help !

Great pic! Thanks for sharing.
Bartek.

Nice.....

Thanks for posting the video. As hot and isolated as it is out there, still love it. A good friend of mine and I did the reverse of your first days route a couple of years ago.



Can't wait to read the rest of your ride report.
Gunner45

Thanks for putting together this ride report Mike. Great narrative and photography! Here are some Day 1 photos from my camera I'd like to contribute to the report. Hope you all enjoy them

It was over 100F out there on our first day. Brutally hot, but we wanted to get the Nevada desert portion of the ride done right out of the gate. The 2nd day offered completely different scenery and climate which was a welcome change from the hostile desert.

Subscribed.
I'm really looking forward to reading this RR, especially since I hope to ride this route someday.

great start!

Looks like an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing

Lookin' good!

In. Followed DP's thread last winter with great interest. We have a group planning to do the southeast lobe of the route September of this year.

John

Perfect choice of bikes. The definition of why to own an Adventure and how to use it. I'm all eyes on this RR.
Keep it going... Yeah!!!

I'm loving it...keep posting. This ride is on my bucket list ever since I read dockingpilot's ride report covering it.

Havin' a wee bit of trouble spotting that hare. Very entertaining ride report.

Surely this is post-dated, it would be as cold as a witch's tity in Idaho/Montana now! I'm subscribed- lets see some pics!

Hi All,

thanks for tagging along on on the report.
Thanks to Jeremy for the added pics.

The trip occured 2011 Aug 21 to Sept 2. Did not get to it until now since winter is a good time for work on these.
The weather during the trip was pretty good for the most part - it was a bit hot at times.
DockingPilot made the trip later in September and caught some awesome views of the fall colors, but also saw a bit of frost at higher elevations.

This was a perfect ride for the big Adventure bikes as you had wide open spaces where you could really let her rip.

I plan to release more ride report once a week for each day of the trip so stay tuned.

Also for those who are hare impaired here is a hint:



Zeegman

Not gonna lie I can't see the hare even in your blow-up . Must explain my sucking at hunting.

I'm in! That trip in on my bucket list....maybe this Fall!
Will be following along.

When do the Kabooms get some dust on them? Makes me nervous when DS bikes are too clean.