Solo St. Louis to Montana Dirt&pavement

I had been looking forward to this trip for about six months. I knew it would take forever to get here, then be over in a blink of an eye.

My friend Mike (klrzorn) was to be my traveling companion but had to bow out a few weeks before departure arrived. A really great guy to ride with, he would be missed.

I really must give props to my wife Jennifer and my children for allowing me to do this, they are very supportive of my motorcycling addiction and I am blessed to have them

My steed of choice for the trip is a 09 KLR loaded down with to much crap

I did not do much picture taking until Nebraska so I will get on with it!


This is the only pics I shot in Missouri, I was hoping this was not a bad omen. Apparently the pilot had some trouble on take off and only made it 1000 ft. from the run way. He walked away covered in pesticide:eek1



As I made my way into Nebraska, I followed south of the Platte river on gravel and pavement.





I have never found the great plains boring, quite the opposite.
Their rugged vastness is something to behold!
The settlers who crossed these lands many years ago were true adventure's

I made my way through many small towns and up to Sydney. I was to tired to camp so I grabbed a cheap motel room and ended day two.

I have traveled many places out west but have never seen Scott's Bluff or Chimney Rock. I know its a touristy kind of a thing but I wanted to go.


There it is, Chimney Rock in the distance

Know wonder the settlers used this as a landmark! I mean, how the hell could you miss it. It must be the most prominent feature of the landscape for 500 miles in any direction!
Next up, Scott's Bluff

Getting there






These pics were taken on top of Scott's Bluff
The settlers did not actualy pass through here for it was to rugged.
They passed through north of here near Mitchel Neb.
I was told you can still see the wagon ruts near Mitchel but I couldn't find them.
I bet Cannonshot or Big Dog could find them They got a nose for this stuff

Be back tomorrow with more

Glen

I'm IN ..... Looks like a great trip Glen.........

Up to this point of my trip, I had done about 150 miles of gravel but did not document it well with pics. That would have to change. I should also mention I did very little pre planning for this trip. Pack up and go always worked for me.
My next stop would be Ft. Laramie, Wy. I hop on hwy 26 head to Torrington Wy. for gas, then back on the road. If I remember correctly, Ft. Laramie was started as a small out post back in the 1830's as a resting and trading post during the early years of the fur trade. Later it became a military post for resupplying settlers and protection from hostile indians.



This is the barracks for the enlisted me
A restored covered wagon on display out side the barracks. Can you imagine crossing the great pains from St Joseph, Mo. to Oregon in one of these. A journey taking up to 8 months to complete!


There was also one of these. I believe its called a litter but I may be wrong.
I'm quite certain this was used more times than it was wanted.


A close up of the barracks covered porch



The mess hall where the enlisted men dined


Sleeping quaters














Another shot of the barracks


Be back in a bit

Being in the Fort reminded me of the 1960's sit-com F-Troop.
I half expected to see Cpl. Agarn come galloping down the trail with that silly grin he always had


I found a bit of irony in this sign in a military outpost




Some of the arms used during the period


Officers quaters


Officers had much more upscale facilities than the enlisted men


I forgot to mention that these rooms were partitioned off by a piece of plexi glass. If the photos seem to have a slight glare, that is the reason.


Stairway of officers house leading up to the sleeping quarters




I remeber reading about this in a book the plains Indian Wars


As you can see these buildings are very well preserved/restored

This is exactly why I bought my KLR!!! I love the pics!! I didn't notice if you had a seat pad or are you riding the ball-buster stock? I do weekend adventure rides around the STL/So. Illinois area and am waiting for the hot weather to finally go away so I can go further away. I did see on the forum that there is an ADV group out of "eastern Mo.", but it seems that their rides are generally to the ozarks and So. Mo.

Darren

Hi Darren, nice to have you aboard
My 09 KLR has a Sargent seat with a Alaskan Leather sheep skin butt pad.
This combo for me works very well.
My last day of this trip I did 862 miles and I still felt ok!

Pm me this fall And we can get together with some other local inmates for a ride.
Keep an eye on the Missouri ADV thread for up coming rides also
There are some fine people on that thread!

Glen

Edit:
I also found the stock seat with the but pad to be very effectiive

Hey Coachman nice pics! I was out that way in early June for a few days. My parents and kids have been recreating the Mormon Trail via covered wagons the past three summers. Only two more summers and they will reach Salt Lake City. We stayed in Bridgeport near Chimney Rok.
I have some pics in my RR http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=601394

Here is a link to the wagon train site if your interested
http://www.vanfleetwagontrain.com/

Can't wait to see the rest of you RR

Now where was I
Oh yea, Ft. Laramie
There are lots of people on this site who like bridges so I shot these next photo's for BigDog and the Swinging Bridges group (Thumperdrz)

Its not a swinging bridge but still sort of cool!




This is the old Ft. Laramie bridge constructed over the Platte river in the early 1900's



A couple of views of the Platte river from the span




I wanted to ride across but the sign said
As a side note, it is easy to understand why the settlers and the trans continental rail way traveled along this route.
The Platte river provided a realitivley flat route with ample water and grazing for live stock plus attracked wild game for food.
Next up some fun long stretches of gravel in Wyoming!

Thanks nailit2em, looks like a fun adventure

So I continue on hwy 26 to where it joins interstate 25 and head north to Gleno St. Park.
Not having a real plan on where to ride only knowing I did not want to do any pavement for a while.
I fill up with gas and get out the Delorme map and ponder it for a few moments.

I head into the little store and ask the person behind the counter " is Horse Shoe creek rd. any good?"
He looks at me and my bike out side and said " you won't get to far on that thing, roads to rough, full of rocks and potholes"

I said " sounds great"
Been hanging around my friend Buzzez (Kevin) to long!

So I filled the camel back and I was off!


This is what I had to get over or around




The road headed up




Now it starts to get fun
The road was actually pretty easy but very scenic
I guess the idea of a rough road is all a matter of perspective

Awesome !

I never knew the Medicine bows were this beautiful, for I had never been here before. Located north of Cheyenne and south of Casper they must be experienced to fully appreciate them.

Riding through the top of the pass









Coming down the west slope the landscape widens and becomes very flat and open.
You are really out there in the plains on central Wy. with nothing around.
This open land was once home to tens of thousands of buffalo.

I did not see a soul in 150 miles of this to Rawlins Wy.







I made the last 20 miles or so on pavement into Rawlins, gassed up and called it a day at about 9:00 pm
Grabbed a cheap room on the out skirts of town, ate two tacos and fell asleep.

Nice pics and report so far!

I'm in!

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Hiya, Glen!