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July 4^th Ride (2009)

After our attempt to get the boys together for a trip to the West, we decided to settle for a five and a half day ride to the north.

Day One. We left out on Thursday afternoon and stopped in the little town of Caryville, TN. We had supper at the local Gas Station/Café. It was unexpectedly great! Spent the night in a motel with an Econo Lodge sign. Only a sign. We asked for our Choice Hotels discount and were informed that they only had the sign and are not a part of that chain. Wow, I got get me one of those signs for my house.

Day Two. We are in the mountains now! Back roads, nearly paved roads, gravel roads and , dirt roads. On a one lane road that traveled about 15 miles through a valley we found a creek coming out of a cave. The canopy above us was so thick it blocked out most of the sun light. A local farmer came by and stopped to chat. Nice young guy, said he was just headed down the road to check on his crop. I bet he was, y’all know what the #1 cash crop in Kentucky is? We had a hard time finding a motel room that night and wound up staying in Ashland, KY. Dinner was spaghetti at an out of the way foo foo type place, the highlight was Micky Dolenz of The Monkeys TV show was setting at the bar soaking up some suds, preparing for a show he was in.

Day Three, Happy July 4^th! We made our way along the Ohio River and up through the western boarder of West Virginia. At Sistersville, we crossed the river on a ferry and road on the Ohio side for a few miles. At the northern most end of WV. we made a pit stop at the Pennsylvania State Line (see the picture in the photo album). That night we spent in Clarksburg, WV.

Day Four. Today the rain will catch up with us right after breakfast. Audrey’s Restaurant on Hwy 20 just north of Buckhannon was where we stopped for breakfast. Everything including the bread is home made. If I had known how good the bread was, I would not have ordered anything else. I would have gotten something like French toast. But, I had an omelet. It was huge and stuffed with good things. Robert tried to order biscuits but the waitress told him he was having toast. We all had toast. Damn, good! You have got to try this place. So now it’s raining and we are headed to the highest point in WV. Up the mountain to Spruce Knob. The road was slick as glass, and the fog was so thick you couldn’t see anything. We made it to the top, used the worst stinking out houses ever and wandered in the fog for a few minutes. Finished the day at a motel in Fayetteville, WV. Hey they had a bar and after riding in the rain all day I really didn’t care what kind of motel it was.

Day Five. A beautiful day! The rain is gone. I had to take this opportunity to take the guys back to Burke’s Garden, VA. We went there on the Easter Ride, the weather was bad, and the entire valley was covered with fog. This time they would get see how beautiful this place is. We posed for a picture by the store and the crossed the mountain on a 20 mile long, twisty, wet, rocky, dirt road. Another one of those roads that is covered by the trees and very little sun light gets through. Back out to the pavement and some of the best mountain roads east of the Mississippi River. Down through the Mount Rogers, VA. area and we couldn’t resist. We turned it on, aired em out! High speed, flat out, see you at the top, big bike adrenaline touring! Yeee Haw, we eat this sh*t up. The guys loved it.

Once in awhile you just get lucky and wind up at the right place at the right time. This was our time. After making a stop for tonight’s liquid refreshments, someone pointed us to Shatley Springs on NC. Hwy 16. There you will find a restaurant that serves food family style. They bring out big bowls of food and you eat what they serve you. It was great. Delicious. Then we rented a cabin from them. No A/C, No Phone, No Kitchen. 4 bedrooms, one bathroom, and a screened in front porch. $45 for the night, split 4 ways, $15 each. After about a million miles between the 4 of us, we finally found the place we have been searching for. Sit on the porch, drink beer, and save the world. Yep, no one does it better than that. The next morning we were blessed with exceptionally thick mountain fog, allowing us the opportunity to eat breakfast right there.

Day Six (“nothing to good ever last too long”). As we headed to the house we had to take a moment to hit the Blue Ridge Parkway for photos at Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the eastern US. Back into familiar territory in TN. and eventually home. This was our longest day, it was a little over 500 miles.

My odometer says, 2203 miles in five and half days. My next project; figure out how to make a living do this!

Keep on riding,

John3

This was the first time that I was loaded and ready to go two days before the departure date. Wednesday night I strapped everything on the bike, loaded the GPS and could have left in five minutes. The only other trip as big as this one was when Dad and I went to Nova Scotia.

Friday morning the four of us met and road almost 800 miles. It was wonderful, except that time we spent riding through St. Louis. The traffic, the roads, the heat was terrible. The last time I passed through St. Louis was the same as this time.  We spent the first night in Manhattan, KS.

Just after lunch on Saturday, we got our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. We were on US24 about 40 miles from Colorado Springs when we saw the peaks of the our first mountains. The temperature at lunch was 91 degrees. As we went up in elevation the temperature dropped to the mid 70’s. That night we stayed at the world’s highest KOA Campground, outside of Cripple Creek. Elevation, just over 10,000 feet. The views weren’t the only thing taking our breath away. Setting up camp that night at that elevation made you realize the air is thin. Just before dark a deer wandered into our camp. The owners warned us not to keep food in our tents because a bear had been visiting the campground at night. I slept through the night without any interruptions. James said that he had heard something outside his tent that night and Doc said he also heard it. James and Dave almost froze to death that night because neither of them had a decent sleeping bag with them. (we corrected this problem the next day at Wal-Mart in Breckinridge)

Cripple Creek is an old style western town. Saloons and casinos everywhere. They have a real working gold mine there that employees about 1000 people. One waitress at the restaurant that we ate at drives 30 miles one way to get to work. She told us that most of the people that live within this distance work in this town. The restaurant was upstairs. Just one flight of stairs. We were all huffing and puffing by the time we reached our seats.

The next day we were looking for breakfast. We pulled up to a crossroads with a traffic light. From where we stopped all you could smell was this tiny BBQ place across the street from us, with a big “Open” sign flashing. They sell breakfast burritos with your choice of pork, beef, or chicken in it. The burritos were the biggest I have ever seen. A detour on US24 sent us down CR92 to Eleven Mile State Park and a beautiful lake. I think we were just lucky that our primary road was closed.

We crossed some major passes that day. Red Hill Pass, Freemont Pass, Vail Pass and then Loveland Pass. The road to Freemont Pass was really great. It turned into a two lane twisty mountain road that went up and up and up. At the top of the pass we changed our route and followed US24 down the mountain. That was a good choice.

As we crossed Loveland Pass it looked like the weather was going to get bad, so we started looking for a place to stay. We pulled off the interstate at Silver Plume. They have an old time steam locomotive there that seem to be the big attraction for the area. Hiding under the interstate we discussed out options, camp or look for a motel. I decided to leave the group and look around this little town. I found a park that had a pavilion with a couple of picnic tables under it. This looked like a good place to stay. I went back and got the others and brought them back with me. Doc thought it looked great, James was doubtful about it being ok to stay, and Dave was totally opposed to it. Doc and I moved the tables and began setting up camp under the pavilion roof. It was perfect. This provided cover from the coming storm and a port-a-potty. It is the 4^th of July and the population of 185 shot off fireworks for about four hours. Across the street from us was a very old, slightly run down, coal mining museum with a couple of pieces of mining equipment in front of it.

After packing up the camping gear and replacing the tables, it was just a short drive to Mt. Evans. This is where you will find the highest paved road in the US. I have looked at other peoples pictures. I have listened to other peoples stories about the place. Now I have been there and all I can say is, you got to see this place for yourself! No stories or pictures can do Mt. Evans justice. The road to the top winds along the side of the mountain. It is very narrow. There are no guard rails or shoulders. It is a sheer drop off on the downhill side of the road. This is a spooky feeling riding up a mountain on a road like this. If you went over the side it would be a long way down before you stopped. There is snow everywhere. It is very cold. ( I know it’s July!) We were told that two weeks ago people were ice skating on the lake that is about half way up. The air is very thin. Big white mountain goats are at the top. And here is the part that no one can describe, THE VIEW. “Oh my God”, it doesn’t get better than this.

Our next stop this day is, Rocky Mountain National Park. “Big” is the only word that describes the mountains in the park. On the west side of the park there is a valley. Way down in the valley is a little river. Not so wide and not a lot of water flowing through it. At the bottom of the mountain we cross the river and the sign reads “Colorado River”. The same river that will eventually form the Grand Canyon. Amazing how a river this small turns into a river that powerful.

We find a place to stay at the Blue Bird Motel. A 50’s vintage motel. Our room is a kitchenette with 3 beds and no air conditioning. We open the windows and it’s a wonderful place to stay. After supper that night Dave decides it is time for him to head back to Florida. He’s about 1800 miles from home and he makes the trip in the following two days.

Today we are going to Rabbit Ears Pass. On the way we keep passing signs about a store in Steamboat Springs. Every mile, another sign. At least 50 signs later we find the store. Ok, it’s not much and I wouldn’t go there again but, the road to Steamboat was beautiful. We had to stop at the top of Rabbit Ears to take a picture of a huge lake at the bottom of the mountain.

I have to mention that we had breakfast in Kremmling in the Moose Café. I think this was the best meal of the trip. They put green chili on eggs at this restaurant. I was scared of it so I ordered a bowl of it on the side. Me, James and Doc all tried it. It was really good. The biscuits and gravy were some of the best I ever had and James bought a huge cinnamon roll that we all split.

We rode some of the best interstate I have ever seen. I70 winds through the mountains and along a river. The west bound lanes are elevated and hang on the side of the mountains and the east bound lanes are down beside the river. We took Hwy 82 south through Aspen and across Independence Pass. We spent the night in a Motel 8 in Leadville. The town of Leadville is known for being the town located at the highest elevation in the lower 48 states. No A/C in this motel either, but we didn’t need one.

Wednesday we decide to wander around a bit. Doc carries us to Crested Butte. This is a remarkable little town at the end of the road. That’s right there is only one paved road in. So what did we decide to do? Take the dirt road out. CR12 is 38 miles long through the Gunnison National Forest on a twisty, mountain, desolate dirt road. Yes, this was my favorite road on the trip.  Y’all know Doc rides the Ultra Classic Enduro model Harley. James rides his Dual Sport Gold Wing. Me, I prefer the Hare Scrambles equipped God Wing.

Along the way we decided to find a place and camp. You can camp in a national forest for free, anywhere that it is not specifically posted. We found our spot on a side road at the top of a mountain. There was no one else within miles of us. There were no facilities. Just a spot in the aspen trees, with a little stream that Doc could cool beer in, and a spectacular view of a snow covered mountain in front of our camp. We are at 11,900 feet and the temperature is in the high 40’s.  In a place like this, it is impossible to stay connected to the rest of the world. It is bear country so there is a sense of adventure and risk. There were millions of stars in the sky that night. For us, this was the most peaceful place on earth.

As we headed out on Thursday, James told us about Hwy 92. One of the local favorites. This is where we found the Black Canyon. A deep crevasse carved into the mountains. In the bottom of it was a river that went nowhere.  It came out of the rocks and disappeared back into them at the other end of the canyon. It was huge and deep. We stopped for a few pictures and to take a look around. I had never seen anything like this.

Every road we took had a different look. Some of the mountains were covered with evergreens and others were thick with the aspen trees. Any that were high enough would have a distinct tree line. Rock formations that were as big as the mountains back home.

Our last night in Colorado was spent in a campground near Durango. Camping was a big part of this trip. It not only saved us money it allowed us to enjoy just being outdoors and the wonderful summer time climate in the Rockies.

Our last day in the mountains took us across Wolf Creek Pass. Now this is a big road that goes up a big mountain. It was quite a trip to the top. You cross 3 smaller passes just to make it up and down this one. We took US160 across the bottom of the state.  Our goal was to make it to Amarillo for the night. As we headed southeast on US64 we found the Capulin Volcano.  We rode to the top. This was a different view because, everything had flattened out. Looking northwest off the volcano you could still see the southern end of the Rocky Mountains. The ranger told us you could see about 70 miles from there.

Saturday night was our last night on the road. We stopped at a Cherokee Indian trading post where most of the items were manufactured in China. Passed through the southern end of the Ozark Mountains. Sunset that day was incredible, the clouds were orange. We made it to Russellville, AR.

Traveling with James and Doc is always a blast. This is the best trip that I have been on in a long time. 4,186 miles in 10 days. 24 major mountain passes. Highest elevation 14,130 feet above sea level. Lowest temperature 42 degrees. More curves than you can count.

If you ever have the chance to do something like this, GO.

Keep on riding,

John3 

We’re out of here! If it’s past 7AM on Friday, Wes and I are on our way to Sweetwater, TN. 20+ of the RRMC are also on the way. Saturday, I am taking Wes on his Ninja 250 to the Foot Hills Parkway, Deals Gap, and across the Cherohala Skyway. We will be home on Sunday.

Have a great weekend and, keep on riding,

John 3