2 weeks, 2-up, ADV motorcycle ride through Idaho

[Boondocker]

I had in mind to write an extensive ride report about our round trip from Las Vegas to Coeur D'Alene, the great roads / ADV way. I drafted it out in Word and it was 49 pages and 7600 words, with pictures. May have gotten carried away. It goes like this.

Idaho Backcountry Ride Report
Utah / Idaho / Nevada Backcountry Discovery & Great Roads Ride. 2-up, fully loaded

Contents
Just the facts m’am – Trip Statistics
Color Commentary - Words and Pictures
Introduction
General Observations

• Water, Ice and Cooling Vests
  Wildlife
  Cattle
  Fear the deer

Day by Day

• Day 1 – 31 July
  Day 2 – 01 August
  Day 3 – 02 August
  Day 4 – 03 August
  Day 5 – 04 August
  Day 6 – 05 August
  Day 7 – 06 August
  Day 8 - 07 August
  Day 9 – 08 August
  Day 10 - 09 August
  Day 11 – 10 August
  Day 12 – 11 August
  Day 13 - 12 August
  Day 14 – 13 August
  Finish

How it works - Gear Review
Gear Overview

• The Bike
  Luggage
  Tires
  Seats
  Riding Apparel
  His
  Hers

Camping Equipment
Riding Payloaded - the up-side-down pendulum effect

Just the facts m’am – Trip Statistics

Bike: 2012 Yamaha Super Ténéré
Front seat: Boondocker
Rear seat: Super10Babe
Dates: July 31 – August 13 2015
Days: 14
Fuel Cost: $309.90
Fuel stops: 28
Gallons: 89.5
Miles: 3593, about 375 on the dirt
MPG average: 40.1
Route: Las Vegas, NV to Coeur d’Alene, ID and back, indirectly
Tip-overs: 1

Color Commentary - Words and Pictures
Introduction
The main objectives of this trip were to see the heart of Idaho, ride the best roads, and do some exploring off the paved path.

The key difference between this trip and every other we’ve ever taken was the absence of lodging reservations. This open-endedness is a new concept for us and somewhat difficult to embrace. This is how we decided to leverage flexibility and spontaneity into the “plan”. Since we planned on camping, we figured that we always had that option if a room was not available. We had a list of places we wanted to see and roads/routes we wanted to ride. The adventure part was stringing those together between our departure and return endpoints.

As for the riding objectives, we studied the Butler Motorcycle Maps for advice to the best roads to ride and researched the Utah (UTBDR) and Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route (IDBR) maps and videos, as presented by Touratech/Butler, for guidance in the dirt road sections. To do a BDR verbatim seemed too much like executing a ride project plan. We wanted to do a little discovering on our own, not just following someone else’s tracks. Besides, some of Cheryl’s itinerary items were not on their prescribed route. Our plan was to sample some of the Idaho and Utah BDR, do some of our own routing, and decide on the next route/destination once or twice per day.

For reference the Butler maps rate roads on their Ride Classification scale. Here are their descriptions from the Idaho map.
G1 – These are the best motorcycle rides in Idaho. Always very dramatic and a thrilling experience. Expect high mountain passes, deep canyons, sweepers, switchbacks, and twisties.
G2 – Only a notch below G1, these are great motorcycle rides. Expect dramatic scenery, road action, and lots of elevation changes.
G3 – A bit less dramatic than G1 and G2, but still among the best motorcycle miles in Idaho. Expect wooded canyons, narrow winding roadways and great scenery.

General Observations
Water, Ice and Cooling Vests
You know you need it but it’s too heavy and bulky to pack much water on bike. Our on-bike water supply was Camelbaks (3-liter Unbottle in tank bag and 2-liter backpack) and maybe a couple of 20-oz. bottles in the luggage. We have 2 MSR Dromedary water bags, the 4-liter models that seem to hold about 3 liters in real life. They’re very compact to store when empty. Fill them when you get to camp and hang from the picnic table or somewhere, and you have water on tap. We also have a couple of 1-liter, fold flat, plastic canteens. Like the Dromedaries, easy to pack and handy to drink from at night. Last but not least were a couple of 20-oz. bottles, like Gatorade. These were surprisingly useful. Good for storing fresh picked berries, mixing powdered drinks, measuring 2 cups of morning beverage, and just plain easy to use. They’re disposable and easily replaceable.
It became kind of a ritual that every time we stopped for gas, we would also top up our Camelbaks with ice. Most places were cool about letting us have some as we usually preceded the request with gas and food purchases. Sometimes we had to buy a fountain cup.
It was August and we had lots of hot weather. The cooling vests are lifesavers. We store them in a dry bag, wet them when the temperature is on the rise, and put them on when the temp gets close to 90°F. They get to smelling pretty funky after a while, so hanging them to dry overnight and laundering occasionally helps to keep the funk at bay.

Wildlife
We always hope to see interesting wildlife (deer don’t count). In Idaho, we especially wanted to see Elk and maybe a Moose. No such luck with the big game. We came to learn from signs, bumper stickers, and conversation, that the Grey Wolf, re-introduced in Yellowstone NP, is a much hated predator and poacher of game and livestock in rural Idaho. We saw a lot of big birds, squirrels running rampant, and one skunk – of all places in our campsite in Nevada.

Cattle
The dairy and beef industries must be huge. There are cattle and/or alfalfa fields everywhere we went except southern-most Nevada. Even out in the boonies and up in the mountains, cows were there. I like the smell of alfalfa fields and the greenery is pleasant. When the fields are being irrigated by sprayers, it’s like a giant cooling mist system. You get an immediate 2-3 degree cooling effect for a few seconds.

Fear the deer
I’ve come to regard deer as overgrown, kamikaze vermin. An unkind portrayal perhaps, but don’t be fooled by the big brown eyes. They’re insane, unpredictable, and suicidal. We saw many – in the fields, in the forests, near the road, crossing the road, and dead on the road. Many of the dead ones we didn’t see, but we came to recognize the smell of road kill carcass. I was paranoid about them, especially early and late in the day, at the sight of Game Crossing signs, or wherever they could hide near the roadway, and those places are many. I slowed my speed in those areas and jammed my brakes more than once at the site of the brown devils. I’ve come to expect the thwack of the front of Cheryl’s helmet against the back of mine when I hit the brakes without warning. That just comes with the 2-up territory.


Day by Day
Day 1 – 31 July
Departing Las Vegas at 04:30 in an attempt to beat the heat. As the sun begins to illuminate the sky, it’s as if we’re heading towards Mount Doom, Mordor. Our actual destination for the day is Mount Pleasant, Utah.

We motored about 200 miles to Cedar City, UT for breakfast at the delightful Pastry Pub.

This was our biggest mileage day, wanting to get as far north as quickly as possible. Turns out, after checking a couple of B&Bs and hotels, the little berg of Mt. Pleasant was full up due to a couple of festivals, so we headed towards Ogden, UT and ended up at the Quality Inn in Payson. Our no-lodging-reservations plan was working perfectly so far…not!
Today we saw cattle.
472 miles

 

[Boondocker]

Day 2 – 01 August
The Quality Inn was decent, breakfast included. Backtrack eastbound on Hwy 6 to pick up the UTBDR at Soldier Summit. Topped off with gas and beef jerky, we took the dirt UTBDR route from Soldier Summit to Hwy 40. This is in Section 4, partly covered in Box 10 on the Butler UTBDR map.

On the 40, we went east to the 208, stopping at a rest stop just East of the 208 junction for a picnic. From the 208 to the 35, north through Tabiona. We were enjoying the twisty, scenic road so much over Wolf Summit that we missed the trail entrance to the BDR section that shortcuts from the 35 to Hwy 150.

We backtracked and picked it up till the 150 and slabbed it on up to Evanston, Wyoming. For those of you not from around here, Evanston is a real cowboy town.

We struck out on the first 2 eatery attempts and ended up at Suds Brothers bar and grill. What luck! The place is an homage to classic rock and roll. We liked every song on their soundtrack. Food and service was good too. We also met a real cowboy. He was 4 years old, with a hat he couldn’t get his arms around and a bucking pony to ride in next weekend’s rodeo.

We were on a mission to get to Bear Lake and have a raspberry shake because it was raspberry festival season. I don’t normally have milkshakes, but I had this one, and it was good. This place was packed too. No camping available by the lake so we had to continue north to St. Charles, on the Idaho side of Bear Lake, then turn up towards the Minnetonka Caves. The first 2 campgrounds were full. The 3rd had a space, so we took it without looking any further.

Hey, there’s still enough daylight to pitch a camp!
Today we saw cattle.
255 miles about 40 miles of dirt

Day 3 – 02 August
This day will be a long one to get up into the Salmon River Mountains in the Sawtooth Wilderness in the central part of the state. But first, we had some trailblazing to do to make a dirt road shortcut to get us to US 84. We pick up Hwy 36 at Ovid, ID, up and over the Targhee National Forest to Preston, then on to Malad City, and further west to the cross roads that is Holbrook. From here we rely on what looks on Google Maps like country dirt roads. We did our best to connect S1000 to S3000, follow some powerlines, and dead-reckon westward to junction with US84.

I think we go that way.

This was open grazing land and we had our first cow standoff.

We were just out there in the parries of southern Idaho, but we made the connections somewhat like I imagined it. The Super Ténéré comes into its own when you can transition from bouncing along a rutted 2-track to keeping up with traffic on an 80 MPH speed limit highway while 2-up, fully loaded with nary more than shifting gears.

We wanted lunch at Idaho Joes in Twin Falls because we’d run out of their special seasoning since the last visit and needed to pick up another jar. They’re located on Blue Lakes Blvd., which happens to be Hwy 93 that turns in Hwy 75. I don’t have much faith in my GPS, even less when it says “Destination 171 miles, proceed 169 miles then turn left”. It was true though. Hwy 75 from Sun Valley to Stanley is Butler-rated G2 and G3. Finally felt like we were getting into the heart of Idaho. We hit a rest stop on the way and chatted with a gentleman who took interest in our rig and trip. He was an Idahoan who had ridden the Lolo Motorway on his GS1200 but said that he wouldn’t want to do it loaded with gear, much less 2-up. He was encouraging for us though, seemed to think we knew what we were doing.

We were bound for Redfish Lake where there was supposed to be a campground. Turns out there are about 7 campgrounds, very nice facility, very popular, very full. There were 2 spots left in the last campground. We petitioned the gracious camp host to pick one for us. It was a “walk-in” site for which they have a 2-wheeled cart to push/pull your stuff to the site. Cheryl obliged while I parked the bike in its designated spot.

Today we saw cattle.
380 miles today with about 30 on dirt roads.

Serene kick-back time.

Day 4 – 03 August
Could have spent several days at Redfish Lake, but we had a big day ahead, time to chew on some of the “official” IBDR. But first, I wanted to visit the bakery (The Baking Company) in Stanley, ID and chew on some breakfast. Good choice! The place was hopping so figured it must be good. Good coffee, friendly staff, and the Oat Pancakes were a treat.

From here we were on the Scenic Route 21 to Lowman, Butler-rated G1, 2, and 3. We turned north from Lowman onto Section 2 of the IBDR, doing most of what’s shown on inset number 4. Went as far as the turn-off to Warm Lake and found a slightly burned out camp ground on the South Fork of the Salmon River. The Salmon River has many forks. The highlight of this camp ground was the old-fashioned water pump. This turned out to be a feature at several other camp grounds.

We got some entertaining and educational video using this device.
It kept threatening to rain, so we tarped up. Was the only time we used the tarp. Could have done without it but I need practice setting it up in different configurations.

Today we saw cattle.
217 miles with about 75 on dirt.

Day 5 – 04 August
Hwy 22 out of Warm Lake to Cascade is rated G2. It’s a scenic and pleasant ride on the 55 up through McCall. The 95 up north to Riggins is also G2 and G3 rated. Riggins is as close as we were going to get to Hells Canyon, the 2nd deepest canyon in the US. For a great vista, we took the 17-mile winding mountain Seven Devils dirt road to the Heaven’s Gate Overlook.

…
https://winnemore.smugmug.com/Vacation/Idaho-Ride-2015/i-hsGrm8D/0/M/804c%20Seven%20Devils%20Road%201-M.jpgimg>
Apparently cows like this road too. Some just want to race.

Seven Devils Road summit (but not the end of the road)
[img]https://winnemore.smugmug.com/Vacation/Idaho-Ride-2015/i-fL2LFGN/0/L/804d%20Heavens%20Gate%20Vista-L.jpg

Heavens’ Gate Vista

After a snack lunch, we hiked up to the fire lookout tower, manned by the Bishops, husband and wife. They were very accommodating to give us an educational tour and explained about the “safe corner” that they keep insulated from lightning strikes.

The last stretch is one lane only with dramatic drop-offs on one side. Have a good look for oncoming traffic before you commit.

Follow the 95 north to Grangeville. This section is G2 and G3 rated.
We ended up at the Gateway Inn, a modest motel. No sooner had we unloaded the bike and covered it than the sky unleashed a torrent of wind and rain for about 30 minutes. Our timing here was impeccable. We scraped together enough quarters to do some laundry while waiting out the storm, then walked into town for dinner. The Seasons restaurant was mediocre at best.
Today we saw cattle.
196 miles today, about 35 dirt.

 

[Boondocker]

Day 6 – 05 August
This is where our flexible planning started to pay off. From here I had wanted to spend 2 days going up the very scenic Hwy 12 and down the historic Lolo Motorway, part of the Nez Pierce Trail. Wildfires spoiled that plan. The Green Fire was burning in the Beaver Dam Saddle area so the western half of the Lolo Motorway was closed. We went north taking the 13, 12, 11, and 247 picking up the Musselman Rd. south of the Dworshak Reservoir, which put us on the IBDR for about 50 miles to Avery.

The obligatory BDR-style, stand-while-you-ride-because-you-can shot. (This makes sense if you’ve watched any of the BDR videos.) Crossing the Dworshak Reservoir, we were hoping to get some water here, but it was a long ways down. So we carried on till we were hungry, stopped in trail, stood there and ate snacks.

Some people are happier after their snack. Note the hard-core adventure rider wear. KLIM, are you getting this?

Then ten minutes later we found a nice shady camp by a babbling brook. We have this bad habit of stopping 10 minutes too soon. Really, like a curse. We got water from the stream using our Sawyer filters, while the Ténéré took a nap.

Lightening the load before lifting

OK, I can explain. See the bike is real heavy all loaded up like this, around 730-lbs. by my calculation. With the heavy-duty rear spring to handle all that weight, she sits a bit taller than normal, hence leaning over a tad more on the kick stand. In fact, when parking on level ground, I almost always asked for a stick or rock to prop it up a little more upright. Wrestling it off the stand to vertical with my 160-lb frame was an exercise in strain and finesse. I was getting the hang of the old heave-ho, right up until I went a little past vertical to the right side. Being on the slippery slope of dirt, I had nothin’ for it but to save myself and tumble off ingloriously. Slightly embarrassing but glad to have a partner to help lift it. We removed the orange monster, tank bag, and his-side pannier set before even thinking about trying to right the beast, which we did, first try. Afterwards, I was more careful with my lift and balance act, a little less ho in my heave, or is it the other way around?

Nap time over, re-assembling the luggage.

Right then, let’s get on to the hard part.
After researching the interwebs, mostly ADVRider.com, and watching the Idaho BDR video, I’m wondering if there is any consensus about what part of the route is hardest? I suppose conditions are everything, and we chose not to do the Magruder Corridor because we didn’t want to go to Missoula. What I’m getting to is, by my reckoning, Box 11 of Section 6, the trail up to and down from the My Blue Heaven cabin (labeled as Blue Cabin on the map), was the most challenging. My simple definition of a hard “road” is one where you gladly hit all the rocks and obstacles, the likes of which you would normally avoid because that’s the smoothest line. I would rate this part as a technical trail for a 1000-lb 2-wheeler riding double. I was riding pretty close to the limit of my skill level and physical ability and demanding a lot from the bike too. We did well – credit the bike and my brave Up-rider. I was pretty jazzed to make it up to and down from the cabin without incident. Even got the only GoPro video of the trip with my 1st-gen, non-trusty, PITA to use Hero Edition. It was cool when I bought it, not cool any more.

Triumph and relief in equal measure at the Blue Cabin.

The way down from the cabin was no less rough but seemed shorter as we were buoyed with confidence. We were glad to reach Avery and shopped for dinner and campground advice at Scheffy’s General Store. We went about 12 miles up the St. Joe Scenic Byway, passing a couple of full campgrounds till we reached Turner Flat CG. Neither of us remember this place. I think all we cared about was to eat our sandwiches and go to bed.
Today we saw cattle.
242 miles today, about 50 dirt (the hard stuff)

Day 7 – 06 August
St. Joe Scenic Byway is all G1, G2, and G3, so we wanted to go to the end at Gold summit. Alas, we were low on fuel so I limited us to 40 miles out of Avery in order to make it back to the gas pump on reserve.
We shopped all over Avery until we found genuine Yamaha gasoline at Scheffy’s General Store.

IT says YAMAHA right on the pump.

From Avery we continued northward on the IBDR, Section 6 inset 11 to Wallace for lunch. This part of the route has a split section. The low road is a 2-track ATV trail and the high road is a former rail bed (no more train tracks) that goes through several tunnels. The high road is traveled by heavier vehicles and has a lot of washboard. Thought the tunnels would be cool but wished we’d have taken the low road instead.

Lunch in Wallace, then down the freeway to Coeur d’Alene because it was on Cheryl’s list. Might as well note here that this was Sturgis Week. You know – a million HD riders can’t be wrong. The casual observer must conclude that all motorcycles are big, loud, and rumbly. That is what you see on American highways. Many of the riders we talked to were Sturgis bound, to or from. All were enjoying their ride.

We tootled down Main Street, a pretty boutiquey place, looking for somewhere to take a break. We saw a little park by a housing development near the lake. Turned out to be private, as in fenced off if you didn’t have a key. The restrooms were on the other side of the locked gate. So we did what adventure posers do, went to Starbucks and used up her gift card. This was one of those mid-afternoon, figure out where we go next sessions. We came to see the lake, so a scenic ride southbound around the east side on Hwy 27 was in order.

Route 27 around Lake Coeur D’Alene

Somewhere down Hwy 6, the little tent icon on the map turned out to be the Great White Pine Forest CG. The white pines were really big. It was great! This is an old growth forest area that had a real presence. The elves of Rivendell were probably hiding in these woods.
Today we saw cattle.
226 miles on the day, about 30 on dirt

Day 8 - 07 August
There were 2 trip objectives that were hallmarks of my Idaho experience – ride Hwy 12 between Kooskia and Lolo Pass, and ride the Lolo Motorway. As noted in Day 6, the Lolo Motorway was compromised due to closures from wildfires. We kept a weather eye as best we could through the internet, television, and posted notices about wildfire activity and resultant restrictions. Hwy 12 was open and the eastern section of the Lolo Motorway was open, so we would take what we could get. There was some doubling back for this plan, but when the road sign says – “Winding Road Next 99 Miles”, doubling back is a good thing.

This highway is 100% covered by all three of the Butler map ratings. It’s that good!

From the Great White Pines campground, we connected highways 6, 9, 3, P1, and 12 to the Wilderness Gateway campground. It looked easier on the map but I was able to get crossed up at a couple of junctions.

Most of this section was rural and has a pastoral beauty.
Once again, there was no campground free-for-all. Turning into Wilderness Gateway about midway up the 12 where Boulder Creek meets the Lochsa River, with loops A and B full, we found a space in Loop C. A short walk to the river where we availed ourselves of the mountain runoff. Something new to us was found in Loop D, which was reserved for “horse campers”. These sites had feeding stations, water troughs, and plenty of room to park horse trailers and tie up your stock. Loop D had that horsey smell. What can I say, I’m a motor head, not a cowboy. For once, we got to our campsite early enough to frolic in the river and explore the grounds on foot.

Bathing beauty almost got wet.

. Did I say frolic? I meant rinse out our duds.

Any day is a good day to do laundry. Yes, we carry cord and clothespins.
Today we saw cattle.
288 very scenic miles

 

[Boondocker]

Day 9 – 08 August
Lolo Motorway at last! Let’s be gracious and say this is more about historical significance and less about epic riding.
From the Wilderness Gateway campground, we continued up Hwy 12 to the trail connector, FS 107. This connected with FS 500, the Lolo Motorway proper. The deer outnumbered the motorists. We chatted with a fellow on DR 350, setup for lightweight adventuring, a couple of GS1200s, and a Honda Pilot. For some reason, probably reading too much ADVRider.com, I was expecting some kind of ADV mecca. Mostly it was just us. We came for this spot, so by golly, you’re getting’ pictures.

Lolo Motorway sign

Coffee break time is coffee break time, I don’t care where you are.

Sign for Indian Post Office

Historical Signs

Lolo Trail Uprider

We terminated the trail near the Lochsa Lodge, where we stopped for fuel, lunch, and to air up the tires. To make a proper round-trip of it, we motored on up to Lolo Pass, nicked the Montana border, and were enthralled by the 99 winding and scenic miles on the return.

For the second time, we ended up in Grangeville, but there was a wedding in town and a raft of firefighters, so the hotels were full up. We got a cautious recommendation that we could try the Downtowner Inn Motel. They accepted cash, we took the room. I have simple tastes and will take parking my bike in front of my doorway over a fancy room any day. The operator was an energetic and hard-working little guy. He brought us each a cold beer and said we could use his washing machine. I like this place already! We washed clothes, shopped groceries, and brought him a 12-pack to keep the good karma going.
Today we saw cattle.
180 miles and about 30 on dirt

Day 10 - 09 August
This day had it all: scenic byways, visits with the locals, self-guided forest roads, the best twisties, and more lakeside camping.
Hwy 14 out of Grangeville to Elk City is Butler rated G1 and G2, highly recommended for riding and scenery. We chose to fuel and have a coffee break at the general store where we shared a table with some nice folks and conversed about the elk festival that just concluded in town and how the grey wolves are killing the elk and other livestock.

The route idea was to backtrack the 14 and pick up FS 279 south, connect to FS 2009 south then pick up paved 221 south. The 221 pavement ends but the road continues as dirt. We took it all the way to 1614, The Big Salmon Rd, which goes into Riggins. Near the junction of the 221 and 1614, we found a large patch of blackberry and a plum tree. After gorging ourselves on berries, we wanted to take some with us, but how? We each had a 20 oz. Gatorade bottle, so we filled the bottles with berries then filled the bottles with water. This worked great, allowing us berries for dinner and breakfast.

Blackberry picking

Sure, I could have dunked my vest in the restroom sink, but this was way more fun!

We passed through Riggins without stopping this time, following highways 95 and 55 south through McCall, turning west at Donnelly to find a campground on the west side of Cascade Lake. Here we found campsite Amanita and got some nice sunrise over the lake pictures the next morning.

When you can only carry one change of clothes, almost every day is laundry day.

The map image is an overlay of both the Butler riding map and the IBDR map showing the route area from Grangeville to Elk City to Riggins and Cascade Lake (not shown). Section 3 of the IBDR, insets 6 & 7.

Today we saw cattle.
235 miles about 35 dirt

 

[Boondocker]

Day 11 – 10 August

Gratuitous sunrise shot over Cascade Lake. Yeah, I’m an early-riser.

We could have backtracked to Donnelly and got back on the highway but decided to follow the dirt road around the west side of the lake. It was about 20 miles worth and a mellow way to start the day. Little did we know we’d be in for it later. This is the Payette River region. You got yer north fork, yer south fork, yer salad fork. Payette forks are everywhere. If you have a motorcycle for the road or kayak for the river, you’re in the right place. From just south of Cascade on the 55 to the 24 through Crouch and Garden Valley to Lowman and south on the 21 through Idaho City to Boise are all “G-rated” roads. I’ve worn out plenty of tires with the “chicken strips” safely intact, but not this trip. These roads are a true lean-fest.

We’d ridden a lot of fun roads and thought it couldn’t get any better, but the southbound, up-hill section of the 21 to Beaver Creek Summit should be a G1 +1. It was a thrill ride! If there were any molding nubs left on the edges of my tires, this section ground them off for sure.

The only road we didn’t enjoy in Idaho was Interstate 84. We did about 40 miles northbound to Twin Falls on the way up and about 120 miles southbound on the way down. You’d think an 80 MPH speed limit would work to your advantage, but only if the conditions are right. Going up, slow trucks were passing slower trucks, clogging the left lane and making impatient auto drivers act stupid. Coming down, there were fierce thunder storms with 60 MPH wind gusts and spotty but torrential rain. We bailed off the highway at one point and took shelter under cover of a porch at some RV place. Seemed no one was home. At least most of the trail mud washed off!

With Twin Falls being a proper city, we thought it best to call ahead for reservations while at our lunch stop in Mountain Home, ID. I’m thinking this town doesn’t live up to its charming name. I kind of have a penchant for the old motor inns and found the Apollo Motor Inn in Twin Falls. It’s fairly common for lodging establishments to include breakfast with a room, this place also included dinner. That’s different.

Today we saw cattle.
251 miles about 20 dirt

Day 11 map

Day 12 – 11 August
Twin Falls to Eureka, NV via Lamoille
Home is Nevada (state song). Crossing the border into Jackpot, NV we stopped for fuel. Oh look, a liquor store! We’d run out so we bought a handful miniatures. Whiskey for me, Baileys for her because that’s the kind of classy people we are. Ice isn’t just for keeping our water cold, you know.

We were expecting northern and central Nevada to be kind of boring and hot. We weren’t disappointed …with our prediction. The way up to Idaho and the way down was pretty much about putting miles behind us. But first to see Lamoille Canyon, one of Nevada’s scenic gems.

Pretty sure we can get there via this dirt road, routed it myself. If only we can beat this storm.

Hey, it’s a dirt road.

Action selfie

We mostly managed to circumvent the storm. It rained but not enough to turn the dirt to mud. Stopped at O’Carroll’s for lunch. Storm went north, we went south.

Scenic (by Nevada standards) Lamoille Canyon, a national forest scenic byway

We thought we might find a place to camp, but Nevada is not so accommodating in that respect as Idaho. So we decided to push on to Eureka, an old but active mining town. With no actual campgrounds in the vicinity and not wanting to camp in the town “park”, we took a room. Eureka has saloons, not bars, and I was up for a beer in a real western saloon. Add pizza and game of pool and one pretty much uses up the town’s entertainment options in one shot.

I’m proud to be a Nevadan.

Feel right at home here. Slept well, breakfast included.
Today we saw cattle.
276 miles about 20 dirt

Day 13 - 12 August
34 years living in Nevada and never been in the middle of the state. Sure, there was never a reason to go there, but now it stood between us and home. I heard Austin was like an outdoorsman’s paradise, after all, the original Pony Express Route runs right through it. Let’s go.

Highway 50, right smack dab in the middle of Nevada, is called the Loneliest Highway. This is no lie. Trying to describe the Kobeh Valley between Eureka and Austin conjured only one word – desolation. Sage for as far as you can see. No trees. No rivers. Dry mountains in the distance. The occasional vehicle on the highway, probably a mining company truck.

Austin might have some possibilities, it has a castle, or at least a stone tower.

Stoke’s Castle

Austin does have a surprisingly well-appointed park, complete with an outdoor pool and all of the playground toys. Seriously, all of them. We were attracted to the one shaded bench, where upon I whipped out the Esbit stove and brewed a cuppa Joe. It was 10:30, time for my coffee break, and you know I take that seriously.

What’s next? Tonopah? Seeing as how there’s not a damn thing on the 120 miles between Austin and Tonopah on Hwy 376, I guess so. We had miles to put behind us. Well, there is the Round Mountain Mine. Holy Crap! Those mountains of dirt must come out of a gigantic hole. The biggest dump trucks in the world are simply dwarfed.

I’ll say one thing for Tonopah, it’s strategically located. You pretty much have to stop there for fuel if nothing else. Might as well eat lunch too. We thought we might camp in some remote spot along the Extraterrestrial Highway (Hwy 375), but it just wasn’t happening. No water was a consideration.

We were good tourists though, stopping in Rachel for the traditional Little Aleinn shot.

No choice but to push on to Alamo and hopefully camp at the Pahranagat Reservoir, where I’d camped before. Plenty of open sites here and although the reservoir was as full as I’ve ever seen it, no potable water. We backtracked to the first commercial establishment and filled our Dromedary bags from a hose bib. This is Nevada where you don’t take water for granted. Sorry to say, but if I don’t visit central Nevada for another 34 years, it’s OK.
Today we saw cattle.
365 miles about 10 dirt

Day 14 – 13 August

Last day, close to home, hit the road at 08:30, already over 90°, wet vests on.
We saw cattle today.
95 miles

Finish
This was a great vacation. Doing my favorite activities with my favorite person is an almost unbeatable combination. After 32 years of marriage, to be able to spend 2 solid weeks together and enjoy every minute of it is a real blessing.

Trust and commitment at its best.

 

[Boondocker]

How it works - Gear Review
I read a lot of ride reports online and in print. Routing, scenery, and experiential recollections are nice, but I’m always curious about the technical aspects. What kind of bike, apparel, equipment, what works and why?
Gear Overview
Gearing up for 2 weeks of camping for 2 people on 1 adventure style motorcycle is a packing challenge. We had about 130-lbs. of payload plus our suited-up selves for another 330-lbs. That’s pushing the 461-lb payload rating of this bike!
The Bike
2012 Yamaha Super Ténéré, 46,000 miles since bought new. I like to accessorize as much as the next guy, but that’s not germane to the ride report. However, the suspension upgrade is significant. I run Stoltec Moto upgraded fork valves and .90 springs plus a Penske 8987 3-way shock with 1 of 2 Eibach springs. 750 spring for solo riding or a 950 for 2-up touring. Overall, the bike is sprung on the stiff side for the daily commute, but fully loaded in the twisties or on a rough dirt road, the ride is controlled and confidence inspiring. I biased the suspension compromise to perform best in the most demanding conditions and continue to be amazed and delighted at the prowess of a well-suspended Super Ténéré to haul our fully-loaded selves everywhere we want to go.

Luggage
Jesse Odyssey II 10” paniers held almost everything except the sleeping setup. The left side box is a little smaller capacity to accommodate the exhaust. That is the “his” side while the larger right pannier is the “her” side. The boxes are topped with L.L. Bean small duffel bags that are strapped on to footman loops. These are really handy for soft, lightweight stuff, especially if you want to access it quickly. We made every effort to pack heaviest items as far down and forward as possible. Pre-trip weigh-in showed the left box at 40.6-lbs and the right box at 40.8-lbs. topper duffels included. Pretty lucky there, but a good start. The Jesse boxes mount easily and came inside hotel rooms.

The Orange Monster on the tail, as it became affectionately known, is an 80-ltr. Sealine waterproof duffle. It weighed in at 46-lbs. I searched in earnest for a better substitute, but the requirements of 80-ltr. capacity, rugged, waterproof, and able to fasten securely to a motorcycle left me with a return to duty of the old, faithful, Sealine bag into which I stuff (and I do mean stuffed) the sleep equipment. This bag has 4 D-rings. I use a simple nylon strap with buckle on each corner. Then I go over the top with a pair of ROK Straps. ROK Straps are the bomb! It’s all topped off with a small elastic cargo net, which comes in handy for groceries or wet stuff. If I could find a better bag that does what this one does, I’d buy it. Considering what I put it through, all the pretenders to the throne have taken a step back.

Wolfman tankbag – This thing is like Hermoines purse, it just keeps swallowing stuff, especially my 3-ltr. Camelbak Unbottle. I drink a lot of water on a ride.

Tires
Mitas E-07 Dakar. These are 4-ply, bias-ply construction, 50/50 tread pattern. 4,000 miles on these now and loving them. Tire pressure is really important to me. So I check frequently and carry a dial gauge and pump to adjust it. My settings are: F/R - Solo: 32/36, fully loaded tarmac: 36/42, fully loaded dirt: 32/38. I’ve thrown every kind of riding I do at them and they are better in every respect than any other tire I’ve run. That list includes the OEM Bridgestone Battlewings, Heidenau K60s, and Conti Trail Attack 2. All good tires, but I think I’ve found a new favorite.

Seats
Front – Seat Concepts over stock pan plus Alaska Leathers Sheepskin pad. Someday I’ll get a real custom seat.
Rear – Corbin with backrest. The Uprider likes it.

Riding Apparel
His –
Base layer: Bilt Heat-Out (I’ve lived in these for days at a time. They’re comfortable, cheap, wash and dry quickly, and last until you ruin them with Velcro.
Jacket: Olympia X-Moto, love the venting options, hate the collar, losing my enthusiasm for any kind of zip in liner requirement. Note the Buddy Belt with handles for the up rider. Momma like.
Pants: Aerostitch AD1 – good all-round, accepting the minimal ventilation and Velcro knee pads that ruin your base layer pants.
Boots: Sidi On-Road Goretex, all day comfortable.
Gloves: mostly Fly FL-2 Gauntlet – these are very secure with 2-strap fasting and double the effort to put on and take off.
Helmet: Shoei Neotec (I’m totally spoiled on drop-down internal tinted visors) with Sena SM5 intercom. Cooling vest.

When your Up Rider is your navigator, you wear a map on your back. It’s what you do.

Hers –
Base layer: LD Comfort shorts and tank top (2 pair).
Jacket and pants: Tourmaster.
Boots: Bilt
Gloves: mostly Alpinestars SMX
Helmet: Shoei Neotec with Sena SM5 intercom
cooling vest.

Camping Equipment
Big Agnes Long Ranger sleeping bags – one regular (72”) right-side zip & one long (78”) left-side zip. We zip them together. The length difference is a non-issue.
REI Half-Dome 2-man tent. I love this tent. Had it for years, it’s still perfect. You know the tent sizing rule – always size up by one. With that in mind, this tent is big enough for a couple who like to snuggle.
We compensate for the snug fit by making best use of the vestibule. To do that. I use an 8x10-ft. ground cloth “clocked” so that it makes the vestibule floor.
Pillows – We each have a small backpacker’s pillow and an inflatable pillow, and Cheryl usually stuffs a sack with soft clothes for even more pillowness.
Bed Kit – We’ve learned just keep a small bag of nighttime essentials, like hand cream, ear plugs, Breathe Rights, Kleenex, flashlight, and such as part of the sleeping rig.
Kelty Noah 16-ft. tarp and 2 6-ft. poles. These aren’t technically part of the sleeping gear but they go in the Orange Monster because they’re bulky. You need a couple of poles with this to make shade in a treeless desert.

 

[Boondocker]

Riding Payloaded - the up-side-down pendulum effect

Having raved about how well my bike handles loaded up, it must be said that it is not like riding the bike unloaded. It’s not our first 2-up rodeo, but the huge number of turns that define the best motorcycling roads really brought this phenomenon into focus on the most recent trip.

A motorcycle that’s loaded with weight up high and rearward, like with a passenger and heavy tail bag, moves the Center of Gravity (CoG) much higher than normal. I knew handling and performance would be compromised by the additional weight, especially critical functions like braking distance. What I didn’t expect was how much “opposite counter-steering” I would have to do – pushing the bars deliberately to straighten on turn exit. The top-heavy bike leaned easily into turns, but gravity wanted to keep pulling it down and around, overcoming the normal gyroscopic tendency to come back to the upright balance point and go straight. I was intuitively pushing out of turns to steer, but began thinking about how to describe it, hence this treatise on the up-side-down pendulum as a case study in the effect of CoG on turning.

Hopefully we all learned in a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class or other study of the dynamics of riding about counter-steering and the gyroscopic tendency for a bike in motion to naturally right itself and go straight. Eventually, whether it’s cognitive or not, you naturally push to initiate a turn and relax to straighten out of a turn. Pushing combined with leaning makes for a very fluid event. I’m not usually conscious of pushing to turn, it just sort of happens when I look where I want to go, same for passing the apex and coming out of turn. But now, I found myself having to consciously push the bar to return to upright in order to straighten out of a turn, backwards of the normal turning process. The top-heavy bike wanted to stay leaned into the turn.

An example of this phenomenon could be a pendulum. Imagine a weight on a stick. Hold the end of the stick, the weight will go the bottom and the stick will be vertical. This is somewhat analogous to a motorcycle in motion with a low CoG. It wants to be vertical. You have to push to lean it (into a turn). This is why a low center of gravity is better for good handling.

Now imagine trying to balance the weight on top of the stick, instead of letting it hang, only the stick is stuck to the ground. You can keep it upright quite easily as long as you maintain the balance point, gently pushing it back to center before it tips too far. This is the up-side-down pendulum. Just the opposite of counter-steering, you have to push more it get out of the turn than you do to get into the turn.

Riding twisty roads is the most fun you can have on a motorcycle. When turns are strung together like an endless chicane, it’s the proverbial E-ticket ride that no amusement park can beat. You can still have fun in the turns when payloaded, but your raised CoG may have turned your pendulum up-side-down.

 

[misterk]

great ride report......keep it coming


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Tyke]

Amazing report and accompanying pictures....thanks for sharing ::012::

 

[Juan]

Your adventure must have been very gratifying.

 

[Stridey]

Brill! Dumbstruck by it all well done.

::015::

 

[eemsreno]

You Boondockers sure had a good time. Thanks

 

[True Grip]

Excellent ::008::

 

[Don in Lodi]

On the gyroscopic effect; A buddy caught some damp leaves in a shaded corner a few years back. The bike low sided, slapped him shoulder first into the pavement, broke some stuff. The bike then righted itself and was found almost a hundred yards further down the road, upright, leaning against the mountain side. Almost spooky.

 

[huchieglide]

Great report. Had maps handy to follow along. Poached some route ideas.

 

[Boondocker]

We did a lot of research and ended up with a long list of possibilities. With Idaho being a big state and a long ways from where we live, stringing as much good stuff together as possible was our logistical challenge. Being our first ride in Idaho, we erred on the side of covering as much ground as possible. Based on our experience now, subsequent trips would be approached would with an eye towards more in-depth penetration of fewer areas. It would be nice to spend more time riding and exploring than making and breaking camp every day.

Fortunately, it's kind of hard to go wrong once you get north of Boise.

The Butler road maps are a great resource. The BDR maps were less helpful due to their lack of detailed directions for finding and turning at junctions. If you're going BDR, you must download the GPS tracks. We had more fun off the prescribed routes, but maybe we're just funny that way.

Great report. Had maps handy to follow along. Poached some route ideas.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Sounds like a great ride. Always better when you can make the ride with your wife.

What's the verdict, did you enjoy going with your accommodations being unknown? That's the only way my wife and can really enjoy the ride.

 

[Anwar Namtut]

That South Fork of the Salmon campground was my favorite place to camp when I was growing up. I was very sad when I found out it burned. Great report. I should really explore my home state more!

 

[Boondocker]

DD,

Thanks for asking this question as I'm still fascinated by the topic of reservations or no reservations.
The short answer is, we have no regrets about taking this approach this time, but it didn't work out as well as we had hoped.

There were far fewer vacancies than we expected, both in camp grounds and lodging. While it was heart warming to see so many people enjoying the great outdoors, it made for slim pickings for late arrivals like us. On the other hand, we have reserved many campsites online and been disappointed to discover on arrival that we could have made a much better choice had we known. As it was, we were happy with wherever we landed. Most of all, we enjoyed the flexibility to change our plans at will, which we needed to do because of wildfires and lack of a firm itinerary in the first place.

What I would do differently.
I'm not locked into a reservation or no-reservation policy. If I wanted to explore a region from a central spot, I would reserve something if I could because there would be little need for flexibility if I'm staying in one location for a few days. For the trip we did, we would have been better served to reserve places for the first 3 nights because that leg of the trip was all about getting north. The route/itinerary was fixed. We only got to the mushy part of the plan on day 4. So a mixed reservation policy would have been ideal.

Sounds like a great ride. Always better when you can make the ride with your wife.

What's the verdict, did you enjoy going with your accommodations being unknown? That's the only way my wife and can really enjoy the ride.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Thanks for asking this question as I'm still fascinated by the topic of reservations or no reservations.
The short answer is, we have no regrets about taking this approach this time, but it didn't work out as well as we had hoped.

Interesting how we are all pretty passionate about our riding, but we each do it in our own way. That flexibility is part of what makes riding so great.

My wife and I are usually at our most on edge when we have reservations. It's fine for a day or two, but the pressure knowing we have to be somewhere wears on us. Or the idea we need to stop when we're not ready to stop, again often annoying. I think we snipe at each other the most on those trips where we have advanced reservations.

Glad you had a chance to get out and enjoy the ride with your wife. It's good stuff.