nl7501's Diary

We got a late start on Thursday, August 14 because we had to wait till 9:00 to call the service folks at Big Sky Motorsports in Missoula to schedule a service appointment. We got the appointment for Tuesday at 10:00 and once all that was wrapped up, we headed out to the Beartooth Highway once again. This gave us plenty of time to go the 300 miles or so and thinking through that, we decided to stay in Yellowstone three nights. Our plan to have some really nice pictures from the highway weren’t to happen though. As you can see from those pictures attached, the clouds and rain moved in on us. We got suited up at the hotel and it was a good thing. It rained all the way there. The upside was that it stopped after we crossed the Beartooth Pass at 10,927 feet. I was sure we’d be IN the clouds up there but as we approached, we could still see the peak. That was a good sign. On our way up the road, just out of Red Lodge, MT, I saw out of the corner of my eye a black bear run from the left side of the road right at us! By the time he got to the middle of the road, we were mostly past him but then I was sure he would run into the side of the trailer! It all happened so fast that it was over before it got started! He missed me and I missed him. I am sure glad nothing happened but we are going to count another bear in our wildlife tally!

We got back to the east entrance of the Yellowstone National Park early hoping the campgrounds would not be full (the first come, first serve ones) because all the reservation ones were booked. I saw a campground in the National Forest as we approached Cooke City, MT (could be Wyoming) called Crazy Creek that looked really appealing but it was 20 miles from the entrance and we really wanted something closer. Once we got to the entrance station, I saw that Pebble Creek, just 10 miles on had availability so we headed out right away. We pulled in just as they hung the “Campground Full” sign but I stopped anyway since the camp hosts had a sign on their trailer saying they were from Loch Haven, PA. That’s where all my father’s family is from! I had a grand ‘ole chat with them about Loch Haven and they even knew my great uncle George but not my grandfather Charles. It IS a small world! The ‘revelation’ didn’t get us a site though. They sold the last one 5 minutes before we arrived! They did give us good info on some of the other campgrounds and we started out fast headed for Mammoth Hot Springs first since we were informed they don’t usually fill till about 3:00 pm. It is hard to do the speed limit when you need to be somewhere fats but I managed to stay at, or just above 45 mph. It was tough…. A word of caution- if you find yourself in Yellowstone for a visit, be CAREFUL! Yellowstone IS the definition of distracted driving! The drivers aren’t all that good in the first place then add them being in a GREAT park and throw in some wildlife and you have the potential for some pretty dicey events! The most significant one for us (other than the bear) was when we rounded a curve to see as usual, cars stopped to view animals but this time two Harley Davidson riders (and two cars) decided to park right in the travel lane…in the center of the travel lane. Traffic was backed up in the other direction too but we were fortunate in that there was just enough room to slip through. We got to Mammoth Hot Springs and found ourselves a great spot in that campground overlooking a beautiful mountain albeit close to a road. The traffic died down early so noise wasn’t a problem till early morning when the trucks, trying to make the hill loaded with dirt for the road construction, grinded away in low gear and ¾ throttle. That wasn’t that nice.

Since we had three days, we decided to ride the west side one day, stopping at all the sights we hadn’t been to last September and do the same the following day on the east side. We got out late on Friday, August 15 since we only planned to drive the 100 or so miles to Old Faithful and return. That’s not much but considering traffic and a wildlife back-up, it could take three hours. It just wasn’t the traffic and wildlife though. The east side from Mammoth to the Norris Geyser Basin has a LOT of road construction and there is a 7 mile stretch that is one lane only. Count on a 30 minute wait in each direction (at best) just to get your turn to go through. We got through that fairly easy but hit rain just before we got to Old Faithful. It was one of those occasions that you try to decide to take a chance without rain gear since its ONLY 5 miles or so or do you don the gear and ride on. We opted to take the chance and we made out okay, only slightly getting wet. Our visit to the lodge was short because we really wanted to see the geysers. Naturally, Old Faithful was first! From there we were headed back towards Mammoth and took the Firehole Lake Drive through the Lower Geyser Basin. There we stopped and waited for the Great Fountain Geyser to do its thing but unlike Old Faithful, it is unpredictable even though the sign at the lodge indicated it would erupt while we were there. We decided not to wait any longer than the 45 minutes we did and went back to heading north. We had a longer wait at the construction this time but the break was nice. Remember, we’re stooped in traffic in Yellowstone National Park! What a great place for a traffic back-up! We arrived back at the campground with plans to go up the hill to Mammoth Hot Springs proper and get some ice cream after supper. This trip has caused a serious wanting for sweets after dinner but we’re never around a place that was that easy to reach. The Huckleberry ice cream is pretty good!

On Saturday, August 16 we headed out to the east side of Yellowstone, stopping first at Tower Falls. Tower Falls is a nice waterfall and there is a canteen there and gift shop. After the brief and easy walk out to the overlook, we continued on to Canyon Village and our second visit to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls. These falls are really spectacular! We hiked the North Rim Trail to take in all the overlooks and at the middle overlook, got a chance to see what appeared to be an osprey nest down in the canton (see attached picture). What a sight! Turning the other way, you get the best view of the falls and the canyon. What a visit! We definitely recommend an extended stop at these overlooks. We got back on the park road north and crossed some pretty high elevations on our way to Tower-Roosevelt. We stopped just past the falls (Tower) at the Calcite Springs overlook and we must say, the overlook up and down the Yellowstone River there is really nice too. We continued on and stopped at another water fall almost to Mammoth Hot Springs right along the road- Undine Falls. Not as spectacular as Tower or the falls on the Yellowstone, it was nonetheless a scenic spot worth a visit. By the time we got back to our campsite, it was still pretty early so we took the time to sit and admire the view and get some reading in. While we were at that, the folks camped next to us returned on their Harley Davidson from a ride through the park. We got to talking and hit it off right away. Later that evening after supper, we all got together around the campfire and had a grand chat about each other’s adventures and what lay ahead for us. Meeting them and having such a good time was such a contrast! They had a 40 foot motorhome with the Harley on a hydraulic platform that was attached to the trailer hitch (in two places). Behind that they were towing a Jeep. All told, Nick said the total length was just about 60 feet. Wow! I can’t imagine driving that around! Then here we were all of 17 feet total with our BMW and little trailer. They ride a Harley, we ride a BMW. They had a refrigerator full of food and a full bar while we had a few freeze dried meals and Vitamin Water. You never know how things will work out and we’ve met some really nice folks on the road. We’ll remember Nick and Anna a long time. They were great folks!

By Sunday August 17, Nick and Anna pulled out to head to Glacier and we pulled out to head towards Missoula. It was another fine day and we exited the park at West Yellowstone and followed US 287 north. I had big plans for that day but by the time we got out of the park, it was clear we wouldn’t do the plan since we would have been riding into the early evening. Since we had no camping reservation, we thought it better to take a shorter route. By the time we got to Ennis, MT it was clear we needed to make the ride shorter. We picked up MT 287 and continued on to Virginia City, Montana’s first capital. If you have the time, Virginia City is worth the stop. Part tourist trap and part REAL old west town, there is something for everyone. A little further on you pass through Nevada City, a little less touristy and more ghost townish. It was all about gold mining in these parts in the mid to late 1800’s. Both are pretty cool and we recommend seeing them both. After we passed through those two towns, it was hard at it straight up MT 41 to Interstate 90 where we headed west to exit MT 1 towards Anaconda. Anaconda, MT holds a special place in my heart because it is there that I spent 7 days in their hospital about 30 years ago after I missed a turn and lost control of my ’83 Honda CB900 Custom in a turn just south of town on MT 569. It brought back memories to say the least. Some of them quite nice actually. The staff at the hospital were pretty good to my wife and I. They brought us ice cream every night!

By the time we got to Georgetown Lake further along MT 1, it was time to pull in for the night. We stopped at a BLM campground called Lodgepole and found it to be almost empty. Three other campers in a campground with about 70 total sites. My kind of campground! Most of the sites were for trailers or camper rigs but we found a really nice spot for our tent. After visiting the camp host and buying a LOAD of wood for $5.00, we settled in and had a great evening sitting by the campfire that lasted past our usual bedtime! We don’t usually have a campfire but this one was a welcome event. Needless to say, it was VERY quiet that night with no one around. While it was still light, out of the corner of my eye I saw a big bird swoop into a tree about 20 yards away and up about 15 feet. With a closer look, we saw it was a grey owl! We’ve never seen one in the wild! It sat of the limb about 10 minutes looking around and then spread its wings and flew, with utmost silence to a tree 10 or so yards further and did the same thing. After about ten more minutes, it moved the same distance again. It was hunting. What a fabulous thing to see! All told, we saw him do that 4 times before he was out of sight.

We took our time getting on the road Monday, August 18 since we really only had about 100 miles to go. It was cold in the morning but after the sun poked over the trees, it warmed fast. We continued on MT 1 and hooked up with I-90 at Drummond, MT. Interstate 90 out in western Montana is really nice as far as interstate highways go. You pass through the Clark Fork River valley with long sweeping turns that beg something greater than the legal 75 mph and the road surface is perfect. We arrived in Missoula early and did some shopping at REI and Carbela’s to stock up on food and look at tents once again. Seems the one we have doesn’t function well when it rains and since REI allows returns up to one year after purchase, we decided to get a dome tent that would work better for us. There was only one catch- we had to pick it up at the Spokane, Washington store! No worries that will be in a few short days after our visit to Glacier National Park.

Our service appointment at Big Sky Motorsports wasn’t until 10:00 on August 19 and they were only 4 miles from our hotel (which by the way was the BEST Super 8 we have ever been in) so we had plenty of time to relax in the morning. We met a guy from British Columbia there with his 2013 GLT same as ours wanting a front tire and oil change. We had a great chat while we waited and since he had only 8,000 miles on his K1600, I was letting him know what we have experienced in the 42,000 we had on ours. Our bike was taking a little time so we walked the 7 blocks to the Staples to take care of some business. When we got back, it was ready. They delivered the bike to me but forgot to reset the clock. The service manager gave me a bit of a time about that, claiming I needed a major service but could not tell me what the major service at 42k miles was. Maybe he was new to BMW… Anyway, they reset the clock and after paying for the most expensive Michelin Pilot Road 4 GT EVER, we were on our way to Glacier. We took the back road, so to speak and headed east on MT 200 and then swung north on MT 83 on the eastside of Flathead Lake. This is a wonderful drive and much less traffic than if you go the US 93 route up through Kalispell. We hit a strong rain just outside Columbia Falls and got a little wet. We stayed damp all night because of it. Our site at Glacier National Park at the Fish Lake campground was really nice. Once again we met a fellow motorcyclist (he had an R1200RT) and had a grand chat with him. After a short sit out on our chairs enjoying the scenery, we packed it in.

Wednesday, August 20 started out not too good but got a lot better! It had rained over night and it was damp but the skies appeared to be breaking. We pondered whether we should just pack up since the weather report said 70% chance of showers for the day and night. We figured showers meant not too much rain so we elected to stay our second night. We put on the rain gear and off we went for the ride up the Going-To-The-Sun Road to Logan Pass at about 6,700 feet. If you haven’t driven this road, you are REALLY missing out! Completed in 1932, it is the premiere alpine road in the States. Shear drop-offs and spectacular vistas await all who travel it (when the weather’s good, that is) and we had ify weather. Even though we drove through the clouds part of the way, we were still able to see the hanging garden complete with its glacier and mountain stream run-off. Unfortunately, on Logan Pass, the clouds moved in and you couldn’t see a thing. It reminded us of Newfoundland! After a great ride up and back, we settled in for a nice afternoon at our camp writing, reading a bit and relaxing. It wasn’t until the evening did things get bad. It rained all night long. There really is nothing worse when traveling via motorcycle than to wake up camping and its raining. The rain gods shined (figuratively) on us and the rain quit long enough for us to get the rain gear on, pack and hit the road in 35 minutes. No breakfast at camp that morning!

We exited the park on US 2 heading towards Kalispell and by then, the rain had stopped. We continued on US 2 until we got a little past Libby, MT (right before Troy) and turned south on MT 56. There are GREAT roads all over the place up there in NW Montana and northern Idaho but US 2 is a must ride. We are definitely considering it for next year. After hooking up with MT 200 (another great road that runs a good distance in Montana) we headed west again into Idaho and took US 95 south to our campground at Round Lake State Park just south of Sandpoint, ID. It was nice to gain an hour going into Pacific Time because we had quite a bit of stuff to dry out! We hung the line and each article took a turn in thee shining sun (including us).

Our plan is to get our new tent (the one we have, we hate, especially after last night) in Spokane, WA on Friday and continue west through Washington, heading towards the Cascades National Park. There will be more great parks in store so stay tuned, we’ll be back soon with our next installment of our National Parks Tour! Greg & Cynthia.

It was a great ending to July and we started off August just as good! We left Craters of the Moon early and headed along US 26 towards Pocatello. We planned on hitting a Walmart to do some shopping but first, we wanted to see the EBR-1 Museum. In case you don’t know (‘cause we didn’t!), EBR-1 stands for Experimental Breeder Reactor 1, America’s first nuclear reactor. You can find it about 40 miles west of Pocatello along US 26. Unfortunately for us, while we were waiting for them to open, a US Government security dude showed up and told us that the employees had a car accident and would be late. We thought about waiting but since we’ll be back that way after Vegas, we opted to keep going and visit then. After the customary trip in Walmart, I noticed that the right turn signal wasn’t working. I checked the bulbs and they were good so I assumed it was the switch. After heading down I-15 a little way to the US 30 exit, we continued on this great piece of road (which follows the Oregon Trail) to Montpelier, ID where we took US 89 south to Bear Lake. Before we got to Bear Lake though, I called my friends at BMW Motorcycles of Las Vegas and discussed my dilemma with Steve in service. He thought the same as I that it was the switch so he took my appointment for August 6 and before he ordered the part, verified his thoughts with the tech. If that is what it is, the part will be there by the time we arrive. If you get up this way in Idaho, make it a point to stop by and stay if you can at Bear Lake. What a great place! The water is a beautiful color from the calcium carbonate and it is really warm too, being fed by a hot spring. We were lucky again on a Friday night and got one of the two remaining sites. This place is definitely on our ‘come back to’ list. We struggled again with not enough shade but by 7:00 pm the sun went behind some clouds and did not return. That made our evening a lot cooler. We’ve decided that we definitely need two small chairs and a small table to be able to move around to find shade when necessary. Sitting in the sun at an immobile picnic table ain’t working!

Saturday, August 2 turned out to be a much longer day than planned. We originally thought that we’d take US 89 south to Logan, UT and jump across I-15 to visit Golden Spike National Historical Site again and then head straight back US 89 to US 30 and on to Kemmerer, WY where we planned a hotel night. I thought about 200 or so miles. We headed out about 8:30 am and had a great run down US 89, stopping at the overlook for Bear Lake. There we saw three humming bird feeders (taken care of by the rest area attendant) that had more humming birds then we ever saw. We counted 13 but there could have been more (since they are a little hard to count! They’re fast little buggers). While we were there a woman told us that there was a really bad accident along US 89. We went anyway and low and behold, it certainly was. The helicopter landed in the road while we were waiting and all kinds of emergency equipment was there. Finally, the officer told us that it would be at least an hour but probably 2 before they opened the road, there was one fatality but others were hurt quite badly. He suggested we take a detour that was pretty easy to remember but since we weren’t from around those parts, I was apprehensive. We ended up backtracking past Bear Lake State Park (where we started, about 75 miles by then) and up US 89 to ID 36. It was a really pretty ride through the Cache National Forest and ID 36 is a great motorcycle road.

We ended up getting to Golden Spike NHS about 2:00 pm, much later than I wanted to. The upside was that as we entered the visitor’s center, a rein-actor asked me if I wanted to play a part in the reenactment. Well sure! I got to be Territorial Governor Safford from Arizona. It was great fun! We think that everyone should take the time to visit the site of probably one of the most significant events in United States history by going there. The whole story of the building of the transcontinental railroad is fascinating. Here, you can see the (replica, but real!) steam engines (the CP Jupiter and the UP #119) come out and rein-act the whole event of coming together and driving the last spike to unite our country. One of the most interesting things we found out was that the Union Pacific laid 1,086 miles of track (from Omaha) and the central Pacific laid 690 miles of track (from San Francisco) to meet at Promontory, UT for a total of 1,776 miles to unite the country. Quite the number, huh? It must have been some occasion on May 10, 1869!

We left Golden Spike NHS and backtracked a lot of the way except most of US 89 out of Logan, UT because of the accident, we hadn’t seen that part. This road is HIGHLY recommended! It is a great motorcycle road as long as you don’t get stuck behind a party pooper (aka- a camper or motorhome). Very few places to pass. We got back to Fish Haven, ID which is in the southerly part of Bear Lake and stopped for some raspberries (it was Raspberry Days in town and everything was coming out raspberries, if you know what I mean!) and took US 30 east towards Kemmerer, WY. Nice road but straight and relatively boring. We passed Fossil Butte National Monument since we were tired and hungry and pulled into our hotel about 5:30 pm after 350 miles. We saved Fossil Butte for Sunday.

Sunday August 3 took us back 10 miles to Fossil Butte National Monument. We HIGHLY recommend a visit if you area in this area! There is an excellent display of fossils that include an entire community- fish, insects, reptiles, mammals and, plants all having lived at the same time in and around the same ancient lake over millennium. There are very few places on earth where the examples of entire life forms in one community can be found as fossils. Originally an area that was sub-tropical with the lake teaming with life, today, fossil Butte is semi-arid dominated by sagebrush and grasses. It is really hard to imagine. Many of the fossils are so well preserved that scientists today can link them with organisms living today. Pretty incredible! You have to see them for yourself though, the detail is amazing. We did find out that in this area you can go to private land and dig fossils yourself. We met some folks at the hotel who did just that. They said they got about 60 fossils and were quite happy!

We left Fossil Butte by 10:00 and headed back US 30 past Kemmerer and onto Green River, WY to pick up WY 530 south towards Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area. Wyoming 530 isn’t much to talk about for many miles outside of Green River but as you enter the Flaming Gorge area, does it ever get nice! The road begins to twist, climbs in elevation to cool things off and provide spectacular overlooks like Sheep Creek Bay. It’s a great run on a motorcycle! We entered back into Utah and made our way along UT 44 (another great road) to the Red Canyon Visitor’s Center where you get an outstanding view of the gorge. Created by the damming of the Green River, the gorge is huge and makes for some pretty nice boating spots. Though we aren’t boaters, looking down the 1,400 ft to the river and seeing the boats and people swimming in the river almost made us believers! We met some Harley folks there who were pretty interested in our travels and it was good to share some of our experiences with them. We found that the friendliest folks are Harley riders (not counting BMW riders, since they have the edge due to us riding one too) and the least friendly are also Harley riders. Seems the attitude Harley Davidson tries to sell is really already in the rider.

We continued down UT 44 to US 191 straight into Vernal, UT and then east to Dinosaur National Monument. By the time we got to Dinosaur, it was pretty hot! We went straight to the Green River campground to secure our site with the intent to go to the visitor’s center later but we pooped out. We decided to do that on Monday. Since we were there so early, we got a great spot and relaxed the day away.

We saw the clouds the night before but as is typical in the desert or semi-arid places, they disappear by morning. Not so with this crowd! They rained on us intermittently all night and by the time we wanted to get up, they were going pretty good. We got lucky and a break happened long enough to pack, get the rain gear on and head to the visitor’s center for our stamp. We’d been to dinosaur National Monument before and can tell you it is another wonderful park to visit. Take the shuttle up to the upper bone display area and you’ll be able to gaze at a huge wall of dinosaur fossils in the rock, all in the comfort of an air conditioned hall. It is a really well done exhibit. We highly recommend it. The ‘wall of bones’ was actually a bend in an ancient river where after floods, the remains of dinosaurs who drown laid. It is really hard to imagine this area was around the equator then. Not only are the bones cool to see, the park offers lots of other activities. Hiking, rafting and exploring the mysterious canyons that makes up Dinosaur National Monument will sure to please. After our visit to the center, as is always the case when you don your raingear, the weather cleared up. Since we didn’t do breakfast at the campsite, we stopped in Vernal before heading south on US 40/191. This part of the trip wasn’t all that nice until US 191 split from US 40 at Helper, UT. Then the road got REALLY nice. It wound its way up through the mountains and through canyons. It was a really nice drive with NO traffic! The downside was that at the top of one of the mountains the temp dropped to 56 degrees! I would definitely drive the US 191 route again.

By the time we got to I-70 just south of Emery, UT, we decided to hotel it so we jumped on I-70 west to eat up some miles. We didn’t want to have to drive too many miles on Tuesday so we opted to stop at Beaver, UT for the night. That left us with about 200 miles to as Vegas Tuesday with a stop at Cedar Breaks National Monument along the way. It was a really good day with temps mostly in the 70’s all the way from Dinosaur. Anyone who has been out here in Utah in the summer can tell you that temperatures in the 70’s through the low country are a gift. It was a pretty good day at 350 miles.

Well, it will be back in Las Vegas tomorrow, August 5 for a few days then we are off, back up I-15 to Yellowstone, into Montana and then who knows?! So, there will sure to be more great parks in store so stay tuned, we’ll be back soon with our next installment of our National Parks Tour! Greg & Cynthia.

It was another great morning! Sun was shining and the temps were pretty warm. We got started early in the hopes of getting a camping spot at Mesa Verde before they filled up. We’ve noticed that, especially at the more popular parks, the campgrounds are either too small and fill quickly or there are a lot of folks travelling too! We got to Mesa Verde at about 10:00 am and lots of folks were leaving. The receptionist and the campground registration was helpful in pointing us to the campsites that were the shadiest. We set up camp and headed straight out to the Anasazi Heritage Center which is also the headquarters for the canyons of the Ancients National Monument. It was an easy drive into Cortez and then north on CO 145. All told, about 40 miles. But by now, the sun was getting pretty hot. The visitor’s center for the Anasazi Heritage Center is really nice. The associated national monument, Canyons of the Ancients was established by Bill Clinton and the center was built soon after. This is a primo visitor’s center. Two great films run at request and the museum has over 1.5 million artifacts from the immediate area. Most folks think the Puebloans were mainly in the cliff dwellings like Mesa Verde but scientists have discovered that thousands more lived in what is now called the Great Sage Plain, which encompasses the lowlands in the Four Corners region. We didn’t know that. The visitor’s center is time well spent and we highly recommend starting the area tour there.

Once we saw the exhibits and had a little picnic on the grounds, we headed out CO 184 to hook up with US 491 to gain access to the broader Canyons of the Ancients. That’s when the temperature really started to climb. This national monument is HUGE! Accessible mostly as backcountry driving or hiking, the purpose of establishing it was to protest the Native American historical sites that are so abundant in the area. Taking county Road CC from US 491, you head straight into the monument and our first stop, within the monument was Hovenweep National Monument. Hovenweep is actually in Colorado and Utah. Straddling both states, Hovenweep is a collection of 5 Pueblos stretching many miles apart but all (except one, the largest) located at the head of canyons where springs are typically found. Abandoned around 1200 for some unknown reason, these sites are mainly ruins but enough of the structures remain to amaze when you see them.

We bugged out of there and continued on to County Road G to complete our loop through the Canyons of the Ancients NM. As we were headed towards Cortez again, the temperature rose to a sweltering 103. When it is that hot, the breeze is even unpleasant. Despite that, County Road G is a really nice motorcycle road. Just be careful of the ‘farm vehicles’ going slow and the occasional bear like the one we saw. Who would have thought bears out there?! It was hot, looked like desert (mostly) except along the river for about 1000 yards on either side. We talked to a local who told us bears are VERY common around Cortez. I never would have guessed that! Our round trip was about 150 miles but you see a lot!

We were back at Mesa Verde just in time to bake in the sun at our camp. It was time for action. We surveyed the camp ground and fortunately two sites down was vacant and had some pretty good shade on the picnic table and the tent site. About 15 minutes later, we were in our new digs! We had intended to tour the complete Mesa Verde National Park but there just wasn’t enough time. What happened was that I had noticed the front tire was getting close to the wear bars so I called Grand Junction BMW to book an appointment for Thursday. That made it such that we needed to leave on Wednesday for a stop at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Anyway, that tire lasted a little better than 12,000 miles, almost 2,000 miles less than the Pilot Road 3 that it replaced. I am thinking the less mileage was due to the heat that the Pilot Road 4 has had to endure. Our planning now is centered on Las Vegas at the end of the month for a brief visit so maybe we’ll stay in the general Four Corners area and visit Mesa Verde again. In the meantime, the long and short of Mesa Verde is an interesting story.

At about AD 550, some of the people living in the Four Corners region decided to move onto the Mesa Verde. They flourished there for over 700 years, building multiple structures all along the mesa and parallel Wetherill Mesa. Mesa Verde is probably one of the most studied Pueblo Cliff dwelling sites in the country. Interestingly, these people actually started out building ‘pit houses’. Soon as they prospered, they began building above ground homes fashioned from mud and poles. After that, they built their homes out of stones. These are the structures typically seen at Mesa Verde today. It is estimated that at the height of the civilization there, thousands of people occupied Mesa Verde. Pretty hard to imagine! If you plan to visit, there are two great park roads (as most park roads are!) that wind through the park. Both are dead-ends so you have to backtrack your way out the way you went in. The views are pretty spectacular that we saw. To visit the cliff dwellings, you’ll need a tour ticket for a ranger led tour. No trailers are allowed past the campground and a trailer drop zone is provided at the entrance to the park if you aren’t camping. Tickets for the tours are available at the visitor’s center.

Wednesday, July 23 had us taking it a little slower in the morning since we were awakened the night before by some pretty monstrous winds. Besides, we knew we weren’t going far. We got on the road about 9:00 and it was 83 degrees already! Our plan was to continue up CO 145 towards Telluride and then head east on CO 62 to hookup with US 550 north to Montrose and on into Black Canyon just east on US 50. We have to tell you, drive CO 145 from Cortez to at least Telluride! It is a BEAUTIFUL road! The temps were cooler and the road was smooth with nice sweepers. Pay attention for animals though. The road basically follows Dolores Creek north. By the time we got to Telluride, the mountains were soaring! This part of Colorado is wonderful! We made a quick stop in Telluride but elected not to stay since there were SO many people there. The town itself is well cared for and reflects its mining days it a very upscale way. I suspect property is right expensive there! We continued on up CO 145 to CO 62 and on up US 550 to Montrose. The US 550 leg wasn’t that great. Our experience from last year was that US 550 south from Montrose through Silverton to Durango IS a must drive (the Million Dollar Highway).

We arrived in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in plenty of time to get a good site and spend time writing even after a grocery store run on the way. Black Canyon is so named because the canyon is so deep, so sheer and narrow that very little sunlight penetrates it. The canyon has been a barrier to humans for a very long time. The only evidence of human habitation is along the rim, never in the gorge, not even by the Ute Indians. Interestingly, the Gunnison River, in the 48 miles of the canyon, loses more elevation than the entire 1,500 miles of the Mississippi’s length. Black Canyon of the Gunnison is really worth a visit. Two campgrounds are in the park, both north and south but are separated by about 2-3 hours of driving. There are numerous overlooks as you might expect at a canyon and a few trails. If you are in the area, stop by. It’s a nice park.

We got a little rain late in the day yesterday and in the morning; just enough to make it interesting and we had a quiet afternoon watching the deer roam all around us eating, seemingly not to care about us at all! Today (Thursday, July 24) started out great and with only about 100 miles to Grand Junction BMW, we had it made! After a stop at the visitor’s center and a hike down to Gunnison Point to look up and down the canyon, we were off. I noticed that my GPS wasn’t working too good. It kept saying that it was losing the power source. I figured I would take care of that once at BMW of Grand Junction. We headed out US 50 from Montrose to Grand Junction and were there pretty quick. US 50 isn’t that interesting out that way but it is on the west side of the Rockies. We were pretty early getting to our 2:00 pm appointment so we stopped at Walmart to re-supply. The dealership at Grand Junction is actually a Harley dealer that picked up BMW and KTM. A browse around the Harley side gave me a new appreciation for the marketing they do! Every imaginable thing has the Harley brand on it. From cups to baby clothes to underwear, you name it, you can (and I am sure they do) go all out Harley-Davidson. It’s a little strange to us. The showroom for BMW and KTM (they are displayed together) is a room about 20x50. Not much. I was a little apprehensive. The guys there were great though even though they washed off the bug collection I had. They took the 1600 in at 2:00 and by 3:30 we had the oil change and new tire. The Holiday Inn right next door was so convenient; we decided to stay there instead of driving out to find a campsite with the GPS on the fritz.

It was a good start to Friday, July 25 but quickly went downhill for a few hours. Without the GPS working, its hard to find places in a strange town. It is about the only time I use the GPS. Anyway, we got a great tour of Grand Junction before we accomplished mailing my Nevada tag back and getting a new cable for the GPS. Seems the issue was that little plug that fits into the back of the Garman doesn’t really like to be exposed to the elements for long! It failed, maybe from corrosion. The new one worked out great. It wasn’t until about noon did we finally make the trek up to Colorado National Monument. These canyons are easily seen from Grand Junction but the best is the 30 or so miles of park road once you are in the monument. Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American west. The canyons are big and the colors are fantastic! If you have been to southern Utah, then you know the colors. We had a great ride through the park starting on the east end in Grand Junction and ending in Fruita, CO, about 30 miles from Utah. We stopped at a few overlooks and had our customary picnic once down off the plateau at the Colorado visitor’s center. The weather was great, not too hot with temps around 90 and the cloud cover protecting us from the sun (and higher temps!). We jumped onto I-70 and headed west towards Arches National Park.

If you get out this way, be SURE to drive UT 128 from either Moab to Interstate 70 or visa-versa. It is a BEAUTIFUL road! Following the Colorado River 90% of the way, it winds through canyons and hugs the river for a pretty nice “hard to keep your eyes on the road’ road. But you’d better! Not many guard rails…. As we travelled along, we could see rafters in the river floating down stream and seemingly having a ball! It looked very refreshing to us as we were enduring the temperature climbing into the 100’s. There are plenty of campsites along the river and we dove into one only to find out that there wasn’t any water available, but we would have to drive about 40 miles round trip to have. We decided against that even though we REALLY wanted out of the sun right then. We pressed on down UT 128 and ended in Moab. We swung north on US 191 and stopped in Arches National Park. Even though the campground was full, we spent a little time in the visitor’s center learning a little more about the park than we had last year when we visited.

Arches National Park is wonderful collection of natural arches carved by wind and rain. Over 100 million years of erosion has created one of the world’s greatest densities of natural arches. It is an amazing place and the colors are truly spectacular! There are over 2,000 documented arches, from three feet (the minimum to be considered an arch) to the longest, Landscape Arch measuring 306 feet from base to base. It is incredible what nature does! The park road is one way in and one way out so traffic can be a little trying as can be the turn-outs to take longer views of the overlooks and arches. Take your time! Besides being invisible on a motorcycle, people aren’t looking at much other than the scenery! The park also boasts 15 trails in various lengths and difficulties, so finding your way into the backcountry to see some of the more spectacular arches is easy…but not when it is over 100 degrees and no shade! Utah is hard to beat for spectacular scenery and this whole area of southeastern Utah is premier. Since we couldn’t get a campsite, we rode up to the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) campground we had been to last year at Horsethief. Almost no one was there. No wonder! Little shade and it was HOT! Another lucky twist for us was that we got the same campsite as before and that one did offer shade but we had to wait for the shade to encompass the picnic table. It was a good night albeit a warm one!

We planned to make it a short day on Saturday, July 26 and only go as far as Natural Bridges National Monument, about 150 miles from our camp. It was 83 degrees at 8:00 am so we opted to stop at the Canyonlands National Park visitor’s center briefly (since we had been here last year too) and go straight south out of Moab on US 191 towards Blanding, UT. Canyonlands is split by the Green and Colorado Rivers into three distinct regions: the Island in the Sky (the easiest to get to); The Maze and The Needles. Each has its own ‘personality’. Mostly a backcountry park, having a GS would have been wonderful! After Canyonlands, we stopped for another coffee and to check our voice messages and email before leaving town. We found out that we didn’t need to be back in Vegas till August 5 so we whipped out the Rand-McNally and started planning! We decided to stick to our original plan of touring southeastern Utah and only go as far south as Capitol Reef National Park since we have the stamp from Bryce and Zion. From there we will head to Great Basin National Park in Nevada then north again into Idaho probably. I guess we ALL will have to wait and see! That we plan no more than 4 days ahead is our rule so who knows? Well, to get back on track- we had a great ride down US 191. The temps dropped right into the low 80’s and it was delightful! We stopped briefly at Wilson Arch (right on US 191) and again in Blanding for gas (be sure to do so, Hanksville is 122 miles away and NO services on UT 95 till then). Turning left at UT 95, we were at our destination for the day, Natural Bridges National Monument.

Natural Bridges National Monument really is out in nowhere. I was glad we remembered they have a campground because it is a long way to one out in those parts! We checked in around 1:00 pm and by about 3:30 pm, the campground was full. We got a lovely spot with shade (after pulling the table around quite a bit) all afternoon for the picnic table and we were both able to catch-up on writing. Most of the afternoon was warm but not hot and it was a reprieve from the day before. Natural Bridges NM has three distinct bridges, Owachomo, the oldest, Kachina Bridge, the youngest and; Sipapu Bridge being middle age. All are accessible via trails. In case you are wondering, bridges and arches differ in the way they are formed. Bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water while arches are formed primarily by frost and seeping moisture. A little out of the way, we recommend a visit because of the scenic bridges and it isn’t really very crowded. Also we have noticed that the smaller parks are generally the nicest. Not sure what that means…. Note though, that the campground only has 13 sites and the nearest hotel is about 50 miles away but National Forest campsites are within about 30 miles or lessright of UT 95.

Sunday, July 27 was a really warm morning. We had a group of German girls who were touring the States camped next to us and three of the five slept under the stars out in the open. That’s the first time this trip we’ve seen that. They seemed to be having a great time. I know we were (and are!)We started off travelling west on UT 95 towards Hanksville. If you haven’t taken this route, we highly recommend it. It travels through some of the best scenery Utah has to offer and the road is superb with little traffic. I think we saw about 10 cars in 100 miles. That suits us! The crossing of the Colorado River is especially nice since you can view up and down river for some pretty nice pictures. Once in Hanksville, we gassed up and took UT 24 west straight into Capitol Reef National Park. UT 24 is also a pretty nice drive.

We arrived pretty early at Capitol Reef and the campground wasn’t very crowded. The best part of the campground was that it had plenty of tall shady trees! That’s what we’ve been looking for! The past two days had us pulling the picnic tables around and hiding in the shade till the sun either went behind a band of clouds or went down completely. It was pretty hot in the sun as anyone who has travelled the West in the summer can tell you. What a bargain this park is! It was only $10.00 a night and the wash houses were pretty nice as was the shade. Did I mention the shade?! After we settled in, we took the tour of the visitor’s center that explains the main geographical feature of Capitol Reef- the Waterpocket Fold that extends pretty much the length of the park (about 50 miles). Unfortunately for us, the only way to experience that feature is to travel a lot of dirt roads and the K1600GTL doesn’t really like dirt roads. Besides, rain was threatening and I a pretty sure the bike doesn’t fair well in mud! If you can’t get out to the Fold, take the one way 10 mile scenic road that passes some pretty nice cliffs and geological formations too. We did that but really weren’t satisfied because it seemed so short. So, after dinner we took a really nice hike that originated right at the campground. This trail takes you up for a pretty good view of Fruita, UT and the oasis that it is right along the Fremont River surrounded by the massive cliffs of the park. It really is an oasis. Once a thriving community with some pretty awesome orchards (still there), the last resident moved away and now the entire area is contained and part of the park.

There is going to be more great parks in store (if our plans work out) and the wrap-up of July, so stay tuned, we’ll be back soon with our next installment of our National Parks Tour! Greg & Cynthia.

Well, Wednesday, July 9 didn’t start off so good, in a way. We got to Moon Motorsports at 8:30 for our appointment and were taken in right away. I asked Josh (the service representative) about a strange fluid that (I found out then) had been weeping from under the water pump. He told me it’s a leaking seal on the inside of the pump. Well, this news wasn’t TOO bad since it was in warranty, and just. The K1600GTL has almost 34,000 miles on it already. It was more of an inconvenience since we needed to change some camping reservations in Rapid City, South Dakota and get it fixed at Moon the next day or take further chances and have the part at Sturgis BMW in a few days. I figured that I pushed my luck far enough since the first time I saw this blue-ish colored fluid was about 10,000 miles ago but I thought I had run over something! It really looked like gum or something like that. Since it never got any worse, I forgot about it once I washed it off. The next time I saw it was about the end of June but once again, it never got worse. But this time, what was the chance I ran over the same type stuff? Not likely. That’s why I asked about it.

Life really is about how well you handle Plan B. Our Plan B went like this- the folks at the KOA in Rapid City moved our reservation with no issues and we’ll be back at Moon in the morning. These guys at Moon Motorsports are GREAT! I saw they were busy and being an ‘unexpected’ customer, they were the best to get us in! If you are around Minneapolis, throw your business their way. They are a superb BMW dealer. Another upside was that we got to do some shopping! Moon Motorsports is in a really good location. We booked in at the Days Inn just about a mile away, there was a Walmart just down the road from the Days Inn and the Chatters restaurant was pretty good too! We restocked our food supply and got a replacement air mattress pump. Like most everything made in China, they don’t last very long. Ours made it a few months but died after our night at Pictured Rocks.

Thursday, July 10 found us at Moon early. I hoped that the engine would cool a bit before they had to get into the hot liquid of the antifreeze. Cynthia and I roamed around the showroom again and before we knew it, they were finished. It took all of 1-1/2 hours. We knew we had a fair distance to go to get to Pipestone National Monument in south-western Minnesota so we wasted no time in getting started. Basically a diagonal path, we started south on MN 25 first then west on US 12 to MN 23 and straight south. All the roads were in really good shape. We met up with a headwind and that made the drive a little less pleasurable. We just made it in time to Pipestone National Monument. We only had 30 minutes to visit.

Pipestone National Monument is a very mystical place. Visited by Native Americans from numerous tribes, all came there to quarry the pipestone that made peace pipes, as we of European decent know them. There have been 2,000 year old specimens found at Mound City in present day Ohio. By the 1700’s though, the Sioux controlled the quarries and distributed the stone only through trade. So, if you see any red-stone peace pipes, the stone came from Pipestone, the only quarry of this stone in the world. We took the trail to see the active quarry sites and visit places mentioned by the earliest French explorer, George Catlin in 1838. Quarrying is still practiced in the traditional way even today. It was a wonderful place to visit and full of history. It was nice to see some elementary school aged children on a field trip there! We highly recommend a visit! On our way back to camp we spotted Lange’s Café! I have never seen another business with the same name as mine. Turns out after talking to our camp hosts (who were also Lange’s) that the town is full of them, though none seem to be related to me.

We camped the night of July 10 but we revisited Pipestone in the morning before heading off south again to pick up I-90 west towards Rapid City. Friday, July 11 started good with light headwinds until we turned west on I-90. It was hot and windy for the first part of South Dakota. Just set the cruise at 75 and laid back and watched a whole lot of agriculture go by…right up till some weird bug flew into my right temple and apparently stung me. The crash hurt pretty good and the stinging added to the instant misery. I got some of the bug’s body out from under my helmet but didn’t bother to pull over and assess the damage. More on that later.

The skies were getting heavy as we approached the Badlands of South Dakota. I was hoping we would get the first of two sites in before we got rained on. We stopped first at the Minuteman Missile National Historical Site. This one is easy to get to, it is right off I-90 at the Badlands National Park exit. The Minuteman Missile NHS was the product of the Cold war. Similar to the Titan Missile Museum we visited in Arizona, this area of South Dakota had 15 underground missile launch control sites. It is pretty hard to believe but there were 450 such sites around the U.S. We were glad we visited the missile site in Arizona because none of these sites are as accessible as the Titan site.

Next, and just down the road was the Badlands National Park. For centuries humans have been looking upon the Badlands as just that- badlands! Lacota knw the place as mako sica and early French trappers called it pretty much the same in French- bad lands. Formed about 75 million years ago when the plains were covered in a shallow sea, the Badlands are today a grayish-black sediment that was the bottom of that sea. Layer upon layer of creatures died and were deposited in the soft soil that is now exposed in formations similar to Bryce Canyon, but not quite as spectacular. The park has a scenic loop road that, unfortunately for us, was being tarred and chipped so travel the whole route was out of the question. This road passes many overlooks both into the buttes and across the valley into the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. The scenery is wonderful! So is the motorcycling! The Badlands deserved a closer look and we recommend a visit!

Since we couldn’t complete the loop road which would have taken us straight into the infamous Wall, SD and Wall drug, we decided to take a somewhat back road through Interior, SD straight along SD 44 to Rapid City. Besides, our campground was located right on SD 44. The further along SD 44 we went, the worse the clouds looked. I made the prudent decision to turn around as we approached the storm with numerous lightning strikes getting closer and closer. We back-tracked the 40 of so miles to the national park and swung up onto I-90 hoping to pass the storm on the north. Nope, wasn’t going to happen. It POURED so hard that we had to take our speed down to 40 mph with emergency flashers going so people coming up behind us (still speeding along at 75) could see us. As luck would have it, the rain stopped as we approached our exit and stayed away while we set up camp. We were beat! It was a LONG day at 478 miles, the last of it so especially challenging since we were tired.

We woke Saturday, July 12 to partially clear skies and since we planned to be in the Black Hills area two days, we wanted to make the most of our stay. I got up before Cynthia and one look in the mirror and it was clear- that bug stung me good. My right eye was swollen pretty good and it and my temple were really sore. Cynthia took a better look at the situation and removed (finally) the stinger. I was hoping that would do the trick. Unfortunately, my eye wouldn’t get better and it took three more days to get back to normal. Even though I wasn’t feeling the best, the show must go on and we left early for our first stop at Mt Rushmore National Memorial.

I have been to My Rushmore a few times but it is just as inspiring now as it was the first time I saw it. If you haven’t been, you should definitely go. Pictures do not do it justice. There, I see a Founder, an Expansionist, a Conservator and a Savior of the United States. It is an awe-inspiring place that my words can’t do justice. I think it is one of the top 10 must see sites in the U.S.

By the time we left Mt Rushmore, the day really improved. The sun was out and it made the exploration of the roads and sites around the Black Hills that much better. We opted to take SD 16A (the Iron Mountain Road) south towards Custer City and onward to Jewel Cave National Monument. South Dakota 16A is a MUST drive!! Beautiful scenery, windy roads, a couple of 180 turns that turn up over themselves and a few tunnels thrown in for good measure! If you get behind a slow driver (as we did) you’ll have to pass in a no-passing zone or just sit back and relax. We opted for the no-passing zones since we didn’t have the trailer with us. Yes, the opportunities are that small. Just as we were entering Custer State Park, we ran into a heard of Buffalo wandering down the road. Cows with calves, bulls, the whole works AND the stopped traffic. There had to be 50 of them wandering along the road and in the road. What a great sight from WITHIN a car. Here we are, sitting still on the road with buffalo of all sizes walking past so close, we could touch them. It was both scary and exhilarating all at the same time!

Once free of them, we arrived at Jewel cave after another harrowing drive through some construction work on US 16 just before the entrance to the monument. Jewel Cave National Monument is made up of calcite crystals of all colors, shapes and sizes. The cave got its name from the many rooms and passages covered in jewel-like crystals. Some even sparkle like gems when you shine light on them. Of the rare formations are the rod-shaped frostwork and scintillates or underground sparklers of tiny quartz crystals. What a sight to see! Be sure to visit this cave- I’m sure they’ll have the road work done by then!

Next on our list was Wind Cave National Park, not too far from Jewel Cave but requiring a pass through the construction again! The tricky part was due to them pouring soft dirt onto the roadbed and them spraying it with water. A few passes by the grader and bull dozer and they flip the ‘stop’ sign from Stop to Slow. Well, it was good for us that the line of cars preceded us so the dirt got packed down but was still wet and slippery. We back-tracked a bit, but soon were on US 385 south. What a great road! If you want to know which roads in the Black Hills area we recommend riding, it would be- ALL OF THEM! This whole area deserves a two week visit.

For Wind Cave though, we opted not to go through it. Neither Cynthia nor I are ‘cave people’ so we passed this one up. The cave itself has quite a history that includes legal battles over ownership and what amounted to a family feud. If you like caves, you should take any of the great roads that head that way and visit. The beginnings of Wind Cave go back about 320 million years ago. This was the start of the eroding of the limestone that makes up the cave. Today, barometric wind studies suggest that only 5% of Wind Cave has been discovered. That’s pretty small considering it has been explored for more than 100 years! We jumped back onto US 385 south for about 18 miles and hooked up with SD 79 to get back to Rapid City. We were back in camp in time to relax and have a good dinner and some ice cream.

Sunday, July 13 was another great morning with warmer temps and clear blue skies! We left for Devils Tower in Wyoming a little later since Devils Tower is only 109 miles from Rapid City. All was going great until my cell phone which I had been charging, took leave of the bike and bounced down I-90 at about 75 mph. I pulled over and set the emergency flashers and walked back to retrieve it. Now, it is Sunday morning, outside Rapid City, SD and there is two travel lanes and the exit lane that my phone is lying in. That’s about 36 feet of highway. Nothing was coming till I started walking back to get it. Well, two cars drove by but the third just HAD to run over my phone, a three inch by five inch phone lying in the 36 horizontal feet of highway. What’s the chances of that!? Needless to say, it was dead. I picked it up and threw it in the trunk. We’ll deal with that later I thought.

We got to Devils Tower National Monument around noon. The entrance to the park has a prairie dog town that is pretty interesting to watch. We made our way to the visitor’s center at just about the base of the tower. Devils Tower was the site of filming for some scenes in Close Encounters. It’s a magical place. The tower itself is the center of a volcano and the surrounding land has been eroded away. All that is exposed is the core (lava) of the ancient volcano. There is a trail around the base and for those willing, you can climb the tower.

We had a picnic at the base and then headed back towards Rapid City but this time taking WY 24 as a loop back to I-90. We exited I-90 at Spearfish and went south on US 14A through Spearfish Canyon. This road is another MUST drive on the bike. It was so nice, I set the cruise at 35 mph and really enjoyed doing the limit! We came into Lead, SD from the south and continued on into Deadwood. This is another really nice old west town that has been mostly kept original. We found easy motorcycle only parking and headed straight to Saloon #10, the site of Wild Bill Hickok’s demise. Lucky for us, they were getting ready to play a re-enactment of the event. We got a front row seat at a table where Cynthia got picked to play the bartender for the re-enactment. What great fun! After a buffalo steak and a little sightseeing about town, we headed back to our camp via US 385 and SD 44. I must say, the routes up there in the Black Hills are absolutely wonderful as are the sites and attractions! If you haven’t been, you owe it to yourself to visit. Tons to see and do!

As our last night in Rapid City drew to a close, we watched as the trailers towed by pick-ups creaked their way into the campground followed by the behemoths of motorhomes as they too lumbered into camp. Seeing them pass our bike and small trailer, we reflected on just how simple a great vacation can be, unencumbered by all that stuff….

We’ll be back soon with our next installment of our National Parks Tour! Stay tuned! Greg & Cynthia.