Mining Western Gems

The genesis of this romp that should start Monday, arose from a couple of friends' Covid curtailed Canadian campaign to ride to Banff and Jasper last year on a pair of rental BMW GS's out of Seattle. New Yorkers Dan and Mitch rescheduled for a trip this year out of Denver starting on July 2, to tour north of there for two weeks. My offer to provide some routing suggestions was readily accepted and I spent a several cold March evenings pleasantly perusing past personal plots and Butler maps of Colorado and the states north(ish) of it.
I just identified the really tasty roads in those states and suggested how to stitch several especially sinuously swervy segments together, they will layout their own daily routes.
All of that map study got my sap rising and I was particularly enchanted by the jewels in Idaho and northwest Montana, so that crystalized my focus for a western rodeo as well. Possibly I'll be able to rendezvous with Dan and Mitch for a day or two.

This will be a road ride and I will try to meet several inmates via the tent-space list along the way.

The absolutely essential equipment:




All else is superfluous.

Edit: Originally titled "Mining Idaho's Gems" I changed it since weather and other factors led to a concentration on Colorado with side servings of Utah and Wyoming.
The gems were just as glittering.

Well dayum, I finally decide to attempt another in-progress ride report and I see that @misterk has already started a current Idaho themed one. So much for being unique.

However, I'm going to launch before him, so there!

I've created many trip reports over the years, but they have all been after the fact.
That works better for me from the story telling standpoint, but the near real time interaction with this community is something I have found pretty cool in other tales, so I'm going try to do regular updates on this journey and see what other gems might turn up.
I made an attempt at this in 2015 on an AK trip, however that coincided with both the death of my netbook, and ADV's platform change. The latter was too confusing for me to figure out with just my cell phone for interactions at the time, so it fizzled from the start (the ride report that is, the trip was fantastic and I still got a trip report posted up after the adventure).

Good luck and keep us posted

Launching tomorrow morning with Huntington, WV in the sights.
(Readers of some of my past trips will know of my habitual aversion to starting such proceedings in the obvious direction. )
I'm going to visit a friend and former coworker for the night.
Tuesday's objective is in the vicinity of Mammoth Cave NP where I have a Wednesday morning tour reservation.
MO and AR Ozarks on the horizon after that.
I am STOKED!

After I clear the Ozarks* by Friday, I'll let the weather dictate whether the route is more due west, or aimed northwest through Kansas/Nebraska.

* 'Clearing' the Ozarks makes it sound like they are something to be gotten through as quickly as possible. That is not the case. I'm going to be YEE HAWing in my helmet while keeping the horizon anything but horizontal as much as possible (which is very easy to do in the Ozarks).

Loaded for bear!
I weighed all of the non-essential superfluous stuff, 46 pounds.
Total for bags and all is 60 pounds.
(My motto is "Weight BAD!")

Following

Day 1, Monday, 6/14: Alternate Avenues

375 miles
Plot Part 1
Plot Part 2

I got misdirected* within a few hours of an early morning start less than 90 miles from home and was quite pleased with the result. New WV/PA hollers on a sunny morning were the first, unexpected gems of the trip.



Other well known road jewels were appreciated during the day as I worked my south through the Ohio River valley. (WV 88, WV Wetzel county 89, OH 255, 800, 260 & 26 were those highlights)
And the finish into Ona, WV on county 1 was a newly discovered diamond.



The miles and a hot afternoon left me tired, but pleased with the day's effort.

Stitch was the official door keeper:

Lori said that he barks at everything in the street, but he didn't bark at me when I pulled in.
(It's cause he knows anyone on a motorcycle must be okay. )

Had an excellent dinner and good conversation catching up with friends Dan and Lori.

* I'm never lost on a motorcycle (I always know how I got to wherever I end up at ), but I do occasionally end up in places that I wasn't expecting.

"Unexpected traveling suggestions are dancing lessons from the gods"

Day 2, Tuesday, 6/15: Big Bored Boulders

332 miles
Plot link

Catch up time.
I already know that I'll have to do a proper post trip ride report, because I don't have time while on the road to develop stories for the many daily events that make up the totality of a proper trip tale. But I'll at least capture the highlights as I go along.

Post trip edit: I don't think I'll need to do a more elaborate report after all. As time went on the updates became less and less 'real time' and I devoted more effort on capturing daily details. I am updating these posts with minor details like mileage and plots, and that should leave me with a fairly complete record to refer to in the future.

Two additional comments for the day:
On KY 772, a very fun road indeed, my enjoyment was rudely interrupted by a raptor flashing from left to right all of about 4 feet in front of my face shield!
I think it was a red tailed hawk, but it was a fast flash so that's a tentative conclusion at best.
And a future routing note, the AAA map indicated KY 90 as a scenic route - not at all.

Day 2 was a beautiful one, Huntington to Horse Cave with lots of horizon tilting.
The Red River Gorge was impressive, but mainly green. A trip back before the trees leaf out is in order.
The Nada Tunnel was pretty cool:




I spent the night at @TRAVR6's place and he forced me to savor one of these.


I indulged only because he insisted and I try to be an accommodating guest.

Day 3, Wednesday, 6/16: Curtailed Cavern Crowds

332 miles (again)
Plot Link

I don't always walk 2 miles underground, covering 540 stair steps, and then ride 300+ miles in high 80's temperatures; but when I do, I'm willing to settle for the last 2 hot dogs on a mini-mart roller grill for dinner.





The Rotunda roof was mammoth indeed.


Yesterday I scoped out the forecast. YIKES! It's gonna get beastly hot.
So I pushed on to Poplar Bluff, MO after the cave tour.
I'm hoping that will set me up for some Ozark romping road play and still have early enough finish in Mountain Home, AR tomorrow to avoid the full broil setting.

Post trip comments and photo adds:
I did the Historic "modified" Tour. Modified coming out of Covid lockdown restrictions to reduce the tour group size by half, 100 vs 200 people. I liked the reduced numbers.

I made use of two lockers to secure gear while underground:


Snapped another doggie pic while waiting for the tour to start:


And I'm not normally one to take bug pics, but I found this moth on the ground near the parking lot and thought it was a pretty pattern:

Never heard of Nada tunnel.

At least you got to walk in the air conditioning before your ride. I think it stays around 70 degrees in mammoth cave year around.

Day 4, Thursday, 6/17: Demonically devilish, delightful day

346 miles
Plot part 1
Plot part 2

Spent all morning tilting the motorcycle from side to side in southeast Missouri.

While I was on double H road (Missouri HH in Reynolds county) I first saw two vultures picking at roadkill - appropriate for the road, but otherwise nothing unusual about that.
A few miles later I saw two bald eagles doing a similar number to another unfortunate bit of fauna. That was a new one for me.
Another minimal mileage moment later, I only saw one deer. I assume another was around, but the visible one was running along the side of the road and then across my bow and that demanded very close attention.

I wasn't the only one enjoying a ride this day:


Spent the early afternoon doing more the same in Arkansas, but with longer periods of straight-up-and-downness in between.

Yesterday, Mammoth Cave Temp was 54 degrees. That may be the only time I use the fleece sweater this whole trip.
It was 96 coming into Mtn Home in afternoon.

Where I met Jim (@on2wheels52) and Cathy.


Actually I met Cathy first.
I pulled into a parking lot to check the finishing directions and a red car pulled in after me, the window rolls down and a lady asks, 'Are you a tentspace guy?'
"Follow me." She said and I was glad of the lead.

They were awesome hosts and many stories were exchanged over dinner and into the evening.

Day 5, Friday, 6/18: Exciting and enervating

268 miles
Plot link (route to Jasper may or may not be accurate - I just followed )


Jim led me on a 90 minute morning meander to the Ozark Cafe in Jasper, AR for an excellent breakfast.




After that I zig-zagged westward enjoying more of Arkansas's finest pavement. Keeping it that way unfortunately means road construction and I had two long stops. Thankfully, both were eased by shade. At the first stop I just reached the shade before stopping behind a long queue, the car behind me was in full sun. I was the first one to arrive at the second stop where a warning sign said that it may be as long as a 30 minute wait. I asked the flagger how long and he said about 10 minutes. Since he had a pop-up canopy I said I could wait for that if he wouldn't mind sharing some shade.

This was the setup he had going:


I said he needed a backrest.

Coming down out of the mountains on AR 16 I was headed for Fayetteville when I stopped in Crosses for an ice cream sammich break. It was now around 1230 and I was ready to head for the barn, but the AAA map showed an enticing twisty combination of 295, 123, and 43 to lead me towards I-49 where a fast hour on the slab would get me to @Ozarks Rider place. A stretch of gravel, less than 2 miles long, was indicated on the map, but field research revealed a collection cartographical calamities. After 295, which was an outstanding jaunt, there followed five miles of dirt/gravel, several roads that were not 43, one turn around after another mile of dirt displayed little promise, and finally the same route 16 near Elkins, about 10 miles west of Crosses. It was a fine exploratory romp, one that took longer than desired only because it was in the 90's.

The run in from there, past the University of Arkansas and on to the slab, had me at Dave and Paula's place about 4. Greetings with them and Edgar, a bit of unloading and a cold glass of water, preceded a very pleasant float in the lake that ended their back yard and then an excellent dinner. Life is good!



Edgar's excellent image:


Post trip edit: A few more images from Jasper, I liked the look of the county courthouse and the statue:

Day 6, Saturday 6/19: Friendly and fuel free

0 miles - rest day

The heat forecast for Kansas and some unwelcome news this morning required an alteration to the normal ride routine. Paula and Dave invited me to stay another day or two if needed, then I got word that a cousin, Bill, in Colorado Springs was in the hospital. A visit with him was on the itinerary at some point so I decided to chill here for the day and have arranged a stop in Enid OK tomorrow. I hope to depart at 0'dark-thirty tomorrow and get there by noon, beating the worst of the heat. Monday should see cooler temps and I ought to get near enough to Colorado Springs to visit Bill on Tuesday. Thankfully he should be home at that point.

Edgar got a swim in today:


Post shakedown:

Was great having you here, glad you enjoyed your stay
Cathy was already home when I got back from Jasper, we were on the road to Iowa by 12:30.
Was at her brother's place by 10, Saturday we helped set up for their Father's day/Birthday/Anniversary affair.
Our son & his wife plus my nephew and family arrived by noon, was nice seeing them again. Slept at another brother's place that night; was home before 3 today (Sunday).

Day 7, Sunday 6/20: Grand Gathering n Great Grub

279 miles
Plot link

(I've landed in Colorado Springs now and will try to get caught up to real time by tomorrow.)

The first half of the day went exactly according to plan. Though the previous evening I forgot to get a picture of Dave and Paula.
I decided that waking them up at 330 would not be conducive to pixelating bright smiling faces.

I rolled out at 4 am and reached Rocky's (@vt700guy) air-conditioned garage before 11 as the thermometer cracked 90.
Even the goo got to chill out:


Leanna, daughter Lauren, and Ryan rounded out the immediate family introductions.

The rest of the day diverged a bit from it's pre-plotted course (a lot like my rides ).
In advance of my arrival, Rocky had twisted my arm to accept a dinner plan of home smoked pork shoulder or ribs (I reluctantly acquiesced ). The change was that instead of a single part of the pig, we were going to visit a close family of friends and go whole hog, literally!
Leonard and Irene had laid out a Father's Day spread that included at least seven different cuts of pork done seven different ways. Rice, noodles, tortillas, roasted corn on the cob, a couple other side dishes, and chocolate cake rounded out the menu. I was made welcome by all and it was a great afternoon!

Brewing beer is one of Rocky's avocations.
Back at his place, after recovering from the food coma, we sampled several beers.
A couple from the Enid Brewing Company, one of which Rocky had developed the recipe for, and another that was home brewed, but destined to be placed into company production as well.



Somewhere along the way I chatted with the kids and swapped tales of house projects, careers, and motorcycles with the adults.

Family portrait the next morning (Ryan was still snoozing):


Edit: Post trip add, nice color at sunset:

Day 8, Monday 6/21: Heat Hiatus, High Homes & Hopes

383 miles
Plot link

Hallelujah! A front came through and instead of 105 degrees, a wet 60 degree start led to a high of 82 only at the end of the ride.

Rocky gave me a steer to Poly Anna's restaurant in Woodward, OK. An hour in the rain saw me there and when finished, the rain was too.


I wasn't the only one shedding rain gear before settling into a booth:


This pair of nearly identical Goldwings (only one with a DCT transmission) was crewed by a couple of couples out of Edmond, OK. They were headed for New Mexico and southwest Colorado.
There wasn't a booth that would accommodate all of us, so we ended up at opposite ends of the dining room, but after putting my order in I went back and chatted with them a bit.

Anticipating a longer day in the saddle, I gilded the lily and had an excellent cinnamon roll for dessert.
And the first bit of road magic for day was presented when my breakfast bill was removed. The Edmond crew picked it up.

The hope for the day was to get into Colorado far enough to leave me with a short finish to my cousin's place the next morning. Just before the Oklahoma/Kansas transition I stopped to stretch and saw this high rise construction project:


Kansas passed pleasantly free of attempted homicides.
(The first 5 times I rode across that state, it tried to kill me. Not drivers in Kansas, the state itself, through some combination of horrendous weather or by boring me to sleep.)

A coffee break netted a good conversation with Alex, a young guy doing his first ever multi-week trip:


Soon enough I gained an hour with the shift to Mountain Time and then reached the next border:


I pulled into the border rest area in hopes of getting info on camping options.
Not only did I come up dry on that score, a rather draconian proclamation wanted to keep me that way:


But I met a cute doggo, so all was good:


To be continued:

The rest of Day 8...

The major miles were done for the day when I reached Lamar, so the pressure was off. I just had to figure out where I was going to camp for the night.
The tourist info center was closed naturally (like most, they cater to folks who travel during normal working hours ), but it was a cool spot with a large locomotive looming:





And I liked the sculpture:




And they at least had some official Colorado State maps available outside. It showed camping at a reservoir near Eads on the west side of US287, and as that was along my favored approach route to Colorado Springs I headed that way after getting dinner in town.

6 miles of this:

got me around the remnants of a reservoir and back to the highway.
A jog back south and then east to the Queens wildlife area met with better results.
A pickup was pulling out of a parking area and I was able to ask the driver if camping was allowed.
It was, so I settled in next to a defunct boat ramp to throw up the tent for the night:






Two too dry ramps next to each other. This must have been a popular spot while the water lasted.
I was the sole soul for the night.
At least of the human kind...
I heard a turkey gobbling in the brush nearby through the evening.
After a pretty sunset, when I was well settled into my bag, I heard two coyotes in the distance calling back and forth from opposite sides of my camp.
whenever they yelped, the turkey gobbled some more.



I wasn't ready to give any odds on the dumb bird surviving the night, but in the morning it was still making itself heard from time to time.

Day 9, Tuesday, 6/22: Idyllic Interlude

151 miles
Plot link

I only had 150 miles to cover today and the pre-dawn bird chorus had me up and rolling early.
Coffee and a breakfast sammich in Eads met the morning sustenance requirements and I made my way up to the US40/CO94 junction.

CO94 is my favored approach to Colorado Springs. While not normally an exciting ride, it terminates on the east side of the metro region, which is where Bill lives, so there is very little congestion to deal with in the now heavily populated area.
I first used it coming in for his son's wedding four years ago. At that time I was racing through scattered snow flurries to reach town and a 3 o'clock hotel check-in ahead of a 5 inch dump.
Details of that trip are here:
Westward Wedding Wander - Colorado Springs in April

I could loaf along this morning in much more comfortable conditions.
And I amused myself and several riding friends with a series of pictures via a long running group text we've shared.

I opened today's exchange with this pic from the eastern end of 94:


15 miles later, I stopped for a good 'big empty' shot and found that I still had a cell signal.


I expected to lose signal for awhile, but that never happened which disappointed me a bit.
I grabbed this shot and sent both pics out with the comment that I would not be taking the alternate route, this time :


First response was from Howard saying that he loved the bullet holes in the sign.
Dan chimed in that no one could offer an ignorance argument if caught building a shed without a permit. (Which may, or may not, have been something done by one of the group members. )

This following sign sight prompted the next message:


"They even regulate when you can clear snow around here.
Probably a noise restriction measure so that 'next door' neighbors are not disturbed."


All the black-eyed Susans were tracking the sun:


I wonder what the story behind this copse corpse is?:





I finally saw an obvious cell tower on the side of the road:


Oddly at this point, I realized that the last couple of messages had not gone out.
A phone reboot cleared that up and Mike explained that I was too close and all the radiation was going over my head.

Hard to discern through the haze, but about 30 miles east of C.S. I caught the first outline of The ROCKIES!


Reached Bill's place at 11, he was out running errands with his daughter Raye, but his wife Jill got me settled in straight away.
When he returned we had a good chat and I was relieved and happy at how well he was doing.
I'll stick around another day and do some yard work.