Denver to the USA Northwest
Here we go! Starting off
Here we go - we're leaving right now. There's a picture on the front page of us loaded with our gear. Nancy has about 30 pounds of gear and I have about 65 pounds loaded in the BOB trailer (too much!).
Our route: First southwest in Colorado to Gunnison for my 30th high school reunion. Then I'll continue on to the Northwest through Wyoming, Idaho, Washington state, and British Columbia to Vancouver. Nancy will fly up to Vancouver to ride the last week of the trip. Full details on the route page.
Wish us well!
-Randy and Nancy
Hayman Burn Area
We rode through the incredible Hayman Fire burn area (from the 2002 fire seasn) on the second day out. People told us it was like World War III, but we found it quite different. There was lots of ground cover, lots of green. The black trees were quite stark, but it was really a pleasant day. But the Goose Creek road we took had us gaining more than 4000 feet of elevation, and it was rough! What a day1
Mud!
There's not much I dislike when touring more than MUD! We got caught in a thunderstorm while riding (illicitly) on dirt roads in Antero Reservoir State Park, and we were just completely stopped by the mud. Nancy went down in a slippery section. I had to stop because the BOB trailer's wheel wouldn't go around any more. Mark had to clean everything out. It was bad. But we got enough mud off to continue riding, and eventually got to the end of the day!
Mark Shimoda
Mark Shimoda joined us for the ride from Denver to Gunnison and has been a complete delight. It was his first-ever bike-packing bike-camping, even though he's toured extensively. Mark rode strong and wonderfully and was a great travelling companion... And is eagerly planning more touring!
Trevor and Leanne
On the way down from Taylor Park we met English bike tourists Trevor and Leanne, who started in Phoenix and plan to ride all the way to Jasper, Alberta. Like us, they are taking back roads and they've hiked the Grand Canyon, been to Zion National Park and Moab, and are incredible travellers. The catalog of their travels would take days.
We stopped and camped together and have yet more European bike tourist friends!
Nancy, Mark, and Linda go home :-(
Well, we made it to Gunnison and had a wonderful weekend of riding, but Nancy, Mark Shimoda and his wife Linda all just packed up in the car Linda drove over on Friday, and they're all headed back to real life. Now I start a new adventure, heading for the Northwest!
Nancy: I ride in the snowfield
Here are Nancy's thoughts riding up to 12,000 ft Cottonwood Pass:
I ride up Cottonwood Pass
To the snowfields
From Buena Vista to Gunnison
I crank, I pedal, I rest
I ride to the snowfield.
I pedal, I spin, I eat and rest.
I ride to the snowfield
I join Randy; I join Mark
We ride on to the snowfield
Clawing, focus, bit by bit.
I ride in the snowfield.
Dandelions grow
Bonsai trees scratch a living, surviving in the snowfield,
as I ride
I ride in the snowfields
in the June sunny day
Sun encouraging me up the pass
Afternoon showers teasing
but never do they open up upon us, as I
ride in the snowfield.
The pass appears at the end of the snowfield,
I ride the line, the grade
Up past the trees, the flowers,
up into the snowfields.
I am strong, I can ride
I breathe the air from the snowfields.
I ride above the snowfields
I plant my feet
I am here.
Michelle and Myrtle in Crested Butte
Michelle (Mik-ELL) Veltri was an assistant scoutmaster for my Boy Scout troop when I was 11 years old in Gunnison. I liked him then and I still like him now - even though we've had no real contact in the 37 years since!
Michelle and his mother, Myrtle are trying to run the family ranch, hanging on by the edge of their being. Right now they have just a few cattle (15?) and had to sell off quite a few for cash last year.
They're the last holdouts of old Crested Butte, the Crested Butte of Italian immigrants who worked in the coal mine and ranched a bit on the side. Even though the town is now a completely different place, Michelle still hangs on as a bit of a museum of the old place.
Over the top from Paonia
I lived in Paonia in the early 1980's and stopped there on the way to visit a few people and thank others.
It seemed that I remembered a way to get over the mountains to Palisade directly from Paonia, and I found it on the map and checked with the Forest Service, and ... it works. But it was a gruelling pull up 3000-4000 feet on a dirt road (a good one). It was a delightful journey. I was happy to figure it out! (Stevens Gulch to Buzzard Divide Road to the Colbran-Silt Road, if you must know :-)
Baxter Pass
My dad and brother Collin have told me about the old railroad pass (now a dirt road) that runs north from Mack, Colorado up to Bonanza, Utah, so I've been interested for some time. Collin succeeded in making me believe I wouldn't get lost and die, so I tried it. I rode the 40+ miles west from Palisade to Mack, Colorado, which is *just* east of the Utah border. It wasn't hard to find the beginning of the route, but that was the last marking. It was a decent road, though, with lots of gas pipeline activity showing. Not much traffic - I didn't see a car for 20 miles on either side of the pass.
It was a dry and hot day - I went through more than a gallon and a half of water just to get over the pass. And it turned out to be quite a pass. I have no idea how a railroad could have gotten over it - it looks too steep, and the switchbacks too sharp. At one point I thought I was doing OK with the climb but stopped for a rest. I pulled out my red tarp and laid it in the middle of the road and promptly fell asleep. Very refreshing. But that shows you how much traffic there is on the road and how energetic I actually was.
I camped that night at beautiful McAndrews Lake on the far side, still in Colorado. I was very happy to find water like that that I could filter for the coming day, and it was a beautiful place to camp.
Atchee ruins: what was it?
On the way up Baxter Pass, right before you start climbing in earnest, is a place called Atchee. Nothing's there but the ruins of what looks like a concrete-construction church. There's not enough water to support a town there.
What was it? Was it a church? Who used it? Why is there graffiti all over the ruins? Who cares enough to go to this remote place to spray-paint graffiti?
I'd like to know more about Atchee.
Duchesne River: Mouth to source
From the bottom of Baxter Pass I found my way to Bonanza, Utah. There's nothing there but a Gilsonite plant. Then a dirt road (or several of them) took me to Ouray (O-ray), which is on the Ute reservation. Ouray is where the White River flows into the Green River, and not far from where the Duchesne joins the Green. I followed the Duchesne north to Fort Duchesne, Roosevelt, Duchesne, and then up through many small towns to its source, near Wolf Creek Pass. It was all beautiful agricultural country, but with signs of oil and gas activity all around also.
Duane Erickson
Just as I was setting up camp at 9500 feet up on top of Wolf Creek Pass, Duane Erickson came by and immediately drew a map to show me where his place is in Evanston and to invite me home. Talk about instant generosity! I'm at his place for two nights giving the legs some much needed rest (I'm beat.)
Duane is one of those unique people of multiple interests that you meet along the way. He's an ex-Mormon, but fanatical student of the Book of Mormon. He's an inventor of canoes and drying racks, an organizer, and a student of all kinds of theories about ancient cultures. His websites at bmsf.net and domehabitat.com tell it all. Lots of interesting things going on!
Two Rivers: Duchesne and Bear
I spent much of the last week going up one river and then down the other. I'd never heard of either one before, but since they're worth a week's touring, they're worth a mention.
The Duchesne River runs into the Green right where I met the Green at Ouray, Utah. I followed it up, up, and up through Fort Duchesne, Roosevelt, Duchesne, Tabioma, and right up to Wolf Creek Pass. Then I crossed over the top of the mountain there to the Provo River watershed and crossed up over another pass, but when I came out of the Uinta mountains, it was following the Bear River downn, down, down. Down to Evanston, down to Bear Lake, which straddles Utah and Idaho, and finally down all the way to Montpelier and Soda Springs, Idaho, where it finally veers to the south, to flow into the Great Salt Lake. (That's a 700-mile journey to get 90 miles from its headwaters!)
The Bear River part (downhill) has been pretty nice. The Duchesne and Provo River parts were pretty tough!
Quiet Roads vs. Having People Around
It's awfully nice to ride on dirt roads with no cars blasting by you all the time, and camp in quiet places with no trains blasting and no trucks blowing by.
As a solo biker, though, you sometimes get lonely on those dirt roads and want to find your way back to where there's a cafe for breakfast and conversation. Or to an established campground where somebody will come over to chat.
It's kind of a tradeoff - I go back and forth. I've been on the paved roads a few days and am kind of thinking about those rough dirt roads in Central Idaho.... But I don't know whether there's any place to resupply up there, so have to find out more information.
All-night Fishermen
Last night I was camped at a picnic ground on a small lake near the highway and a very busy rail line. I knew it was going to be loud, so I put in the earplugs.
But what was it I heard when I woke up about 2am? Slosh, Slosh? Could it be some big animal wading in the lake? What kind? Slosh, Slosh. Semiconscious, I tried not to worry about it. But of course I never really got back to sleep because I kept hearing the slosh, slosh.
Finally, I pulled myself out of the tent to take a look. It was several Spanish-speaking fishermen, using flashlights. I'm quite sure they were fishing from 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning until after I left at 7:30 or so. And when I asked them (in Spanish) if they were getting anything, they said no! All-night fishermen!
People-watching at a rest stop
Normally at a highway rest stop you're like everybody else. You stop and walk around and go to the bathroom and then drive off. Sometime, you should bring a chair (or a tarp and a pad and a book) and sit and watch people for awhile.
I met the usual families coming and going from Yellowstone.
Then there was the carload of four Shoshone Indians returning home to their Fort Hall Reservation home after a trip Northwest to catch huge salmon with their traditional wooden poles (strapped to the top and nearly as long as their 1968 Ford sedan).
(Just a few people kind of glared at me, wondering what I was up to, sitting at the rest stop)
And personable Idaho native Leroy Lewis sat and talked with me for a really long time about the route I'm planning north through Idaho.
Interesting to be a watcher at a rest stop...
Bike touring and "balance"
Many of you know that Nancy and I are planning our "Big Trip" for June of 2006. We want to start at the top of Alaska and ride our bikes clear to the bottom of South America. It's something like 20,000 miles and we figure it will take us about 2 1/2 years.
Probably the biggest obstacle to a big trip like that (other than getting organized for it in the first place) is achieving balance while on the road. It takes care to avoid getting physically depleted, then emotionally exhausted, depressed, and then giving up the idea. So we're paying attention on each of our trips to what it takes to retain our physical, mental, and emotional balance on a trip. Of course we need a rest day from time to time. Probably at least every week.
One thing I've started to believe in, though: I need to get a shower whenever I can. I seem to get to feeling worse when I go a few days without a shower, and perk right up when I get one. So I've started stopping at RV parks and the like to get a shower when I have the chance. An RV park usually charges about $5.00, and a motel may charge up to $10.00.
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Craters of the Moon is a huge landscape of lava. Everything is covered with lava (of several types) and on the older stuff, vegetation has started to grow.
According to the geologists, the most recent eruption here was about 2100 years ago, and before that 4000, 6000, 7000, 8000, and 10,000 years ago. It would seem we're due :-)
The landscape is stark and yet beautiful, with all kinds of plants trying to re-establish more than 2000 years since they were completely wiped out.
This whole part of Idaho (Thousands of square miles) is basically lava flows. You can see the lava at most creek beds and highway cuts. But there's topsoil on a lot of it - those flows are earlier than the stark, new flows here at Craters.
Wood River Valley
The Wood River Valley is second home to some very famous names, including John Kerry and Arnold Schwartzenegger. It's Sun Valley and Ketchum.
I thought it would be too glitzy, but found it very pleasant and even spent a rest day there. The bike trail system is incredible. There's trail all the way up the valley, and bike lanes elsewhere. But the most amazing thing: When I was trying to cross the main highway in Hailey (2 lanes each way, both full of traffic), I was just waiting at a corner with no light, thinking that I should have gone to a corner with a light. And lo and behold, all 4 lanes of traffic just stopped for me to cross! That's pretty nice!