My Epic October Western Motorcycle Ride Trip Report

[Big Bend]

Part 4 of 9

Thursday October 11. I left Vegas and made my way thru Pahrump, then thru the incredible Death Valley National Park (#5 on the trip). It was amazing! The temps were 85 degrees, but it felt a LOT hotter for some reason.. the driest most intense 85 degrees I've ever experienced. I can't imagine what it would be like in the Summer. Fighter jets flew overhead at times which was neat. I took the scenic roads thru the park, visited Bad Water, just really enjoyed the roads and vistas. The area reminded me alot of Trail Ridge road thru Rocky Mountain National Park of all places (which I didn't get to visit this trip). One is the highest road in the country, the other the lowest.. but both have in common such extreme conditions that nothing grows there, an alien landscape... I loved it! I stopped for lunch at Stovepipe Wells, afterwards took a nap on a lounge chair under a tree, more fighter jets buzzing overhead. When it was time to move on I made my way West to Olancha, then South to Ridgecrest where I stayed that night. A great day of riding! Death Valley totally exceeded all my expectations!

Friday morning I headed West over to Isabella Lake, then up the Kernville valley. It was really pretty! Stopped to have lunch and watched some guys fly fishing in the beautiful river. I took a very twisty road over to Springville, and unfortunately it started raining. Alot of first and second gear shifting, braking, being very cautious on the slick roads.. I eventually got to the Three Rivers area just outside Sequoia National Park, and called it a day, lotsa rain in the area, cold... That night in the hotel I decided to unload all the great pics I took from my digital camera to my notebook computer. Oh no, the horror! When I dropped my camera in Alb it messed something up, and I ended up with 200+ pics of total blackness! Dammit! Such great shots all along the way, all the Death Valley stuff, everything.. I was pissed! Every picture you've seen so far in this report came from Jeff's camera. Good thing I brought him along [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] The next day I would be riding thru Sequoia and Kings Canyon without a camera. This was pretty sucky, but what can you do. Oh well...

Saturday morning I entered Sequoia National Park (#6), and saw the amazing giant redwood trees, but not much else cause it was raining and foggy and I had to ride slow. I next made my way up to Kings Canyon National Park (#7), which is right next to Sequoia. I thought about camping there but again it was just too cold, foggy, misty, couldn't see anything. Lotsa tight twisties thru the forest, going real slow, slick roads.. Not the best way to visit these two beautiful national parks. I didn't even bother going down the Kings Canyon scenic highway.. I'll have to return someday. I decided instead to head East and get out of the clouds. I made my way to the Walmart in Fresno and bought another camera, then rode all the way up to Oakhurst and spent the night there, just outside Yosemite. My new camera worked great, and the weather improved. The next day would be awesome!

Sunday October 14, I entered the renowned Yosemite National Park (#8 on the trip), which certainly lived up to all expectations. On the advice of a fellow BMW rider I made my way up to Glacier's Point, which had some incredible vistas! I got to put my new camera to work.











After that I rode all thru Yosemite valley, such epic scenery. I managed to get a campsite in the valley, did a little hiking, relaxed. It had been a great day. I drank this wine that night.



Monday morning I wanted to stay another night, do some serious hiking.. But it looked like the weather might get bad again, and I really wanted to ride over Tioga Pass in the park, so I packed everything up and hit the road. Turned out to be a very nice day. The Sierra mountains are incredibly beautiful! I really enjoyed this ride.









Mono Lake, East of Yosemite



I then headed up North on 395, thinking I would cut back West on 108 or 4, but the weather was looking bad that afternoon, dark clouds everywhere, and I felt like I had been on enough mountain roads for one day. Lake Tahoe wasn't too much farther North of me, a warm bed and more poker could be found there. My decision was easy. South Lake Tahoe was beautiful, would love to return there someday on a snow skiing trip. Tuesday morning I got up early and rode around the West side of the lake.





At this point I had to decide where to go next.. Would I make my way further North into CA, perhaps the wine country? The "apex" of my journey tho was always going to be the Golden Gate Bridge.. That was the ultimate goal... once I rode across it I felt like the trip would be half way over, everything else afterwards would be heading back South and East to get me home. And I didn't want to be rushed getting back. Heading down from Tahoe it was raining pretty hard and very cold. I decided to make a beeline around the North side of San Francisco Bay and go see the bridge. The time was right!


to be continued....

[Big Bend]

Part 5 of 9

Tuesday October 16. Noon. Cold. Raining. I made it tho! I was at the Golden Gate Bridge! It was so nice to be there. I pulled over at the scenic overlook park on the North side, took some pictures which didn't turn out good cause it was so cloudy. I rode around the area towards the army base, then came back down. The weather cleared a little. I got these pics...





To me this was a great accomplishment, to have gone this far from home on a bike, almost 4000 miles so far. I loved it! I sent everybody I knew a cell phone pic of my bike by the bridge saying "I made it!". I had originally thought I would do some sightseeing in San Fran, but it was like 1pm and I knew traffic would start to suck soon.. and I just felt like riding some more. Plus I really wanted to avoid all the big cities on this trip (except Vegas). Heading South over the bridge the weather cleared, so I kept going. I decided to stop by the Lucky Chances casino, but couldn't find a hotel near by.. so I kept heading south to San Jose and the Bay 101 casino, found a hotel nearby, played more poker that night. The next morning I made my way back to the coast and then down to Monterrey. I love fish tanks (I have 2 big aquariums in my house, one salt one fresh) so a trip to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium was in order.







My camera ran out of batteries so I didn't get more pics. Time to stock up on lithiums. After a nice visit there I stayed on the Pacific Coast Highway, heading South. Wow, what a wonderful place to ride a motorcycle!





That evening I pulled over to the side of the road, watching my first Pacific Ocean sunset.



That night I stayed at the lodge at Ragged Point on the coast, a beautiful little resort with its own private beach. It was perfect! The next morning I hiked down the very steep cliff to the ocean for sunrise, had the beach to myself. I knew that in exactly 2 weeks it would be November 1 and I would be back at work. But I knew I'd be ready. This trip would be long enough. The psychic batteries that were charged that morning on the beach will carry me for months and years to come.









After a lazy morning I finally got on the road around noon. More beauty along Hwy 1 heading down the coast. Oh and lots of seals too. Way cool!











A little further South I see the famous Hearst Castle. Xanadu! I had to stop by and visit it.


to be continued...

[Big Bend]

Part 6 of 9

Thursday October 18

I'm having one of the best trips of my life. I'm about 3 weeks into my adventure. All the stresses of life have left me. I'm eating healthy. I'm sleeping good at night for the first time in years. I can't believe how fortunate I am, to be riding this amazing GT, on this epic highway, it was all just so perfect. One of the best things to ever happen in my life... As far as I know Mr. Hearst himself never got to ride a BMW motorcycle. His life was not complete. Mine is. Hearst Castle tho was pretty awesome.







Some 3000 year old statues, he really liked to collect art.







It was a really neat tour, what an estate! Late afternoon I saddled up, said goodbye to the Pacific Ocean, and headed into San Luis Obispo. This was a really cool town, one I would love to live in.. if only it wasn't in California but I digress.. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Apparently every Thursday for many years they have a big farmers market festival in town.. which I just happened to stumble upon. Booths of all kinds selling fruits, vegetables, art, so much more.. live music.. like 8 city blocks of fun, lotsa town people turn out every week for the festival. Quite the party! One live band I saw playing was incredible! (I've been playing blues guitar for 25+ years, love live music.) I wish I had gotten their name, bought a CD. The music (fender strat guitar thru a marshall amp, drums, and some sort of small keyboard/organ, reminded me of the Doors) was amazing... long jams, great guitar. The guitar player had a young daughter selling the CDs. They were playing in front of a book store. If anyone in SLO knows who I'm talking about please let me know, I really want to hear their music again.

Friday October 19. My original plan was to head to Bakersfield, then way around South to Joshua Tree National Park. But when I got to Bakersfield, I was kind of depressed about the prospect of 8 days or so with nothing but desert ahead of me, making my way back home thru Southern CA, AZ, NM and TX. It just didn't feel right. So instead I headed back to Death Valley. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Turns out this was an excellent decision cause if I had headed South I would have run right into the San Diego fire evacuation mess. I was totally ignoring the news on this trip and had no idea about what was happening down there. But I was very happy to head back to Death Valley again, and with a working camera this time. It was a pretty long ride from SLO all the way back to DV, but worth it! I entered the park late afternoon, and rode thru it at sunset. It was so beautiful!







Back to Badwater, the lowest point below Sea Level in North America. The little white sign on the cliff behind my bike notes where Sea Level is. An amazing place! Dried salt lakes, great roads, beautiful mountains in the distance.. I was very glad I headed back this way.















I love all my reflectors and “Back Off Please – Thank You!” letters. They really seem to help! I managed to get back to Pahrump late that night, stayed at a casino hotel but I was too tired to play poker. The next day Saturday was laundry day, then I went back to Vegas for 2 days of R&R at the Imperial Palace.. This time I was by myself tho.. and going to Vegas solo isn't as much fun. I was getting homesick too. Where was Jeff? Back in Houston wishing he was still on the road with me. I slept alot, played some poker, walked around alot.. but by Monday morning I was ready to get out of town.


to be continued...

[Big Bend]

Part 7 of 9

Monday October 22. I packed up early. Decision time.. would I head to the Grand Canyon South Rim or the North Rim? Either way was a major commitment and would define my final journey back home. At the last minute I decided to go North. I hadn't made it to Canyonlands NP earlier in the trip, and being able to ride thru Utah again was gona be great fun. From Vegas I rode out to Grand Canyon National Park (#9 on this trip). The North Rim was a ghost town tho, everything was closed, only a few tourists were there like me. Apparently they shut down all services in Mid Oct. It was weird, but I liked it being empty. Quite beautiful, an American treasure! What a view...





I'm hoping to return there Summer 2008 and backpack across the Canyon with my older son. I learned that I'll want to start down on the North Rim and hike back up the South.. since the North is a much higher elevation. Just beautiful, words can describe how epic GC is. After that I rode thru Navajo country in Northern Arizona. Again, incredible vistas! That night I camped at Lake Powell. It had been a long day as I pulled into camp right at sunset. Slept great! The next day I made my way back into SE Utah, then visited Canyonland National Park (#10). It was worth the ride getting back there, just like our Durango friends said it would be several weeks before. Some of the best motorcycle roads in the country.













That night I stayed in Monticello UT, not exactly sure which way I'd head in the morning. I loved having a plan each day that said "ride where you want, have fun". A great way to travel!


Wednesday Oct 24. I decide to make my way SE towards Mesa Verde National Park (#11 and counting). I had been there before but it had been like 20 years. Its a great place to visit, seeing the cliff dweller houses where the Anasazi people lived some 800 years before. Quite historic, a very unique national park..







When I was leaving Mesa Verde that afternoon, I was originally thinking that I would head back to my uncle/aunt's house in Albuquerque. I knew that Colorado had gotten some snow the week before. But looking North the mountains were so beautiful, my GPS weather said the high temp in Ouray was 63 degrees. Surely the roads would be clear. I decided to head up the West side of the San Juan mountains, check out Telluride, and maybe make it back to Ouray before it got too dark. This turned out to be a great ride, crisp blue skies, incredible mountains. I loved it!







It was dark when I got to Ouray. I ended up staying at the Cascade Falls Inn again, the same place Jeff and I visited some 3 weeks previously. The nice lady running the place was glad to see me again and amazed at the adventures I had had. If you are in the area I highly recommend staying here. That night I returned to the bar for dinner and drinks, and Game 1 of the World Series had started. The locals tho were not happy when the Red Sox stomped on their Rockies. As a Houston Astros fan, I could certainly relate.



There were piles of snow beside the roads, it got Very cold that night... but it was great being back in Colorado one last time on this adventure.


to be continued....

[Big Bend]

Part 8 of 9

Thursday Oct 25, I was looking forward to heading back South on the Million Dollar Highway. But boy was it COLD that morning! 20 Degrees! There was lots of ice and snow on the side of the highway. It was too cold to stop and take pictures, and I was afraid of ice cause I saw some wet patches on the road. But I pressed on and really enjoyed the ride, tho I was glad the road conditions weren't a problem. There was an hour delay tho at one point due to road repairs.. but still it was a great day. I love those mountains!





Back in Durango I headed East for awhile to Pagosa Springs, then South back to Albuquerque, taking a more scenic route. Back in New Mexico, I suddenly saw Echo Amphitheater. When I was a kid my family stopped there for lunch one time while on a road trip. I hadn't been back since, like 35 years ago. But I instantly recognized it, the memories flooded back. I stopped to visit, and took a much needed nap. It was a nice unexpected surprise.



That night I returned to my uncle/aunt's house. They too enjoyed hearing about all my travels. So much had happened since the clutch cable was repaired. It was all good. What an adventure! The next morning I'd begin the final leg of my journey.. with a few more parks to visit along the way.

Friday October 26.. I left my uncle/aunt's house early that morning, and decided to head down to the Roswell NM area. I didn't see any aliens, other than all the stuff in tourist shops I drove by.. only stopped for gas. Afterwards I decided to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park (#12 on this epic journey). I had visited this park earlier on road trip #1, but since I was in the area this time too, why not visit again. Its always great to see this amazing cave. My cave pics suck but we try... These are alot better. Seriously, try to visit this park if you can, you'll be truly inspired by how incredible this cave is.





After that it was time to re-enter my beloved Texas, I had been gone for 4 weeks.



I then made my way to Guadalupe Mountain National park (#13). I've been to Big Bend like 30 times, and Guadalupe is only another 3-4 hours past it.. but in all my travels I had never been to this park. It was great to finally visit it. I now know what I've been missing, and I really want to return again soon for more hiking and camping. I managed to get one of the last campsites in the park when I arrived at sunset. It was a wonderful night, camping in Texas again. I was getting close to home.









Saturday morning I packed up and made my way towards Big Bend, the final park on my journey, a triumphant return to an area I love so much.. This would be the first time to ride there on a motorcycle tho. Taking scenic back roads just north of Alpine TX, I suddenly saw Mitre Peak. That brought back a ton of memories.



Back in my college days, my friends would love to make a road trip to "Mount Chi-Chi" as we called it (a reference to a part of a woman's body the peak looks like). I have a friend back then who had gotten his pilot license, and he flew 4 of us out to Alpine where we hitchhiked out to the mountain, climbed it, spent the night on top, then hiked back down the next day and hitchhiked back to town before flying home.. That was a fun weekend! I hadn't seen the mountain since, in like 23 years. And there it was! What a pleasant surprise..


to be continued....

[Big Bend]

Part 9 of 9

Saturday October 27. I arrived at Big Bend National Park, my home away from home, the 14th and final national park I would visit on this journey. 14 Parks Woohoo! I'd say I got my $$'s worth out of the park pass. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I've now been to many other national parks, but BBNP will always be my favorite. Its so huge, out of the way, incredibly beautiful, with mountains, the river, desert landscapes and much more. If you want to be alone, truly alone, out in a huge wilderness, you can do this at Big Bend. When I die someday my ashes will be scattered in the park. I love it out there.





I made my way down to Rio Grande Village in the park and setup camp there that night, then relaxed the rest of the day.



Sunday morning I decided to move up to the Basin campground, inside the Chisos Mountains. Yes we have some mountains in Texas. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]









I had a tasty lunch at the Basin Lodge, took a nap in camp, then went on a nice ride in the park around sunset. An awesome day...













Monday morning, October 29. It was time to pack up and really start heading home.



As I'm leaving the park tho, I see a GS with a sidecar carrying a dog heading my way.. Its Beemerchef and his dog Spirit! I love reading his ride reports, and I truly admire his style of adventure. I made a quick u-turn and flagged him down, we had a great visit, a super nice guy. It was the perfect way to leave the park, making a friend I want to meet again someday on the road.



I ended up riding to Kerrville TX that night in the beautiful Texas Hill Country.. a very popular area for motorcycle gatherings and rides.. But I needed to get home. I got up early Tuesday Oct 30 and finished the journey by arriving in Houston that afternoon, right before the kids got home from school. It was great to be with my family again, after being away almost 5 weeks. This was the first vacation I'd ever had that was truly long enough, and I was very glad to be home. I spent the next day Halloween unpacking, doing laundry, resting, spending time with the family, going trick-or-treating with my younger son and handing out candy. The next day Thursday November 1st I returned to work. Exactly two weeks before I was at the Pacific Ocean for sunrise.



Since then I've felt like a new person, more relaxed and peaceful and healthy than I've felt in years. I really needed that trip!

Can't wait to go on another one soon. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Special thanks to -

My wife and kids, who did a great job getting by without me, supported my trek, and just wanted me to get home safe. I made it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
All the great folks at i-bmw.com and bmwsporttouring.com who provide so much excellent advice. I wouldn't be the rider I am today without these resources.
My friend Jeff who helped kick this trip off in style. Lets do it again someday! He was also very helpful getting me started in motorcycling last year. Thx again!
My coworkers who gave me this opportunity to get away, truly away, for over a month. This was Much Needed! Work is much better now.
All the friendly motorcycle riders I met along the way. There are alot of good people in this country. Its great to get out and see the world on a bike.
And BMW, for making the perfect bike of my dreams. May my GT last for many years, hopefully longer than I can ride it. I love this bike!

Take care ya'll.. Allen

the end

[Shilly]

Very nice TR--glad you averted disaster. I've never had any desire to own a motorcycle, but this thread has piqued my interest. Well done!

[Jim Kuhn]

Thanks for the great trip report! I hope to make a very similar trek in a few years.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
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