Looking Down the Road...

This road I'm on is every bit as long and difficult as I expected.

The ache to get back to the freedom I knew on the road... until being chained down this past year... is strong.

It's a real job cutting loose the bindings my bad choices wrapped around me... but that day is far closer.

I'm waiting now on the last few bits, ordered just a day or two ago, to make my camp long term sustainable.

Some drifters choose to go on just their bikes, and it's a fine way. Very fine. I much treasure long, far rides... just me, the road, and my bike.

Just, for me, for ling term sustainability, there is what I feel, again, for me, a better way.

Having to rely on the generosity of others has left me twisting all to often... and I'll let that lay right there.

Also, For me, I don't like feeling pushed by the weather. When you live on a bike it can seem that way.

A long time ago I was taught and learned to embrace the weather. Fight it and you will lose. The weather will eat you.

You have to embrace the weather, not fight it. So... to live with it I equip to deal with what comes. For long term sustainable life on the road I've chosen to have a hard side "hooch".

With that, the wind, rain...even snow and bears don't push me. I can just hunker down and drink my coffee, warm, dry and secure.

In the past I had larger rigs. Too big. Too heavy. To complicated. Downsizing to this little 72 square foot hooch lightens the burden of that little bit of "security" to insignificant "weight" on body and soul. 

In fact I am left with a pretty awesome camp... though I may be biased!

I'm hoping to be "back in the wind" around April Fools day... isn't THAT appropriate!

Made a lot of progresd since the last post. The pic is the couch/bunk folded out for my bed, and the shelf setup that holds my "tour pack" closet. ALL my clothes are in that...and the jacket duffle and helmet rack just above... minimalism!

***edit*** had to hop through new hoops for google and microsoft to get the post to load and then yet more... to get a pic up... so I added a couple others as well... their screwing around is making computer use a massive hassle rather than a benefit...

*Couch folded out for my bunk*

*Table folded*

*table raised for coffee and sketching*

I'm actually living in the nearly finished trailer now. Figured I better work the unnoticed kinks out of the outfit while I still have a bit of a safety net here.

Once I am I'll do up a short video tour of the bikers hooch camp I am finishing up right now.

Pushing hard with an empty wallet to get loose! 😊

- Brian

p.s. The last few posts had been emailed from my phone... I've missed a couple of comments that got hung up unseen on my phone "awaiting moderation"... I'll try and do better!

A Pass Baggin', Figure Eight'n, Continental Divide Crossin' Wander Through Colorado

I left out of Fort Collins bound up the Poudre River Canyon for Walden and North Park.

Before I'd gotten even three miles I got stopped for quite some little while waiting for the boys with their trains to move their toys out of the way and clear the road...

... Thennnnn... as soon as I entered the canyon... six and a half miles of chip and seal road work. I was getting a lil' nervous how this ride was starting out!

Buuuut once I broke out past those obstacles it was open road!

I crossed over six good tall passes on the 750 some miles I rolled in the four days... starting at the west end of Poudre canyon with the often crossed Cameron Pass...

Rolled down the west side of the pass which brought me down into North Park and Walden...

 I do believe North Park might be one of the nicest bits of cow country in Colorado... even if the winters are brutal... and the summers... at maybe 46 growing days is damned short!

I was coming near to my planned camp for the night about the time the clouds were piling up fast.

I raced over Muddy Pass and a few seconds later... Rabbit ears trying to beat the threatening storm.

I wasted no time and had my camp set in under ten minutes. ;) The thunder was booming and the lightning flashing as I hustled to get a dry camp set... and then with only a light shower it passed on by.

Climbed back on the scooter to run on the last 19 miles into Steamboat to pick up the fixin's for supper... and a brew to wash it down.

Now... I'm no cook so I've come up with some quick and easy ways to have a decent meal at the end of day... cook or not.

The best and easiest to have some tasty and good food I've found is this; I stop at the last town, if there is one! (Walden ain't got a grocery any more, hence the run into Steamboat from my camp east of town) ... anyway...

I stop and pick up a "Healthy Choice" Cafe Steamer!

Yeah they're made for the microwave or a regular oven... buuuuut...

I just open 'em up, and peel that celophane stuff off. Scrape the sauce out of the bowl into my pan... often it's still froze even if it's been in a saddlebag for a couple hours!...

... and then dump in the rest of the goodies... and heat it up on my stove. one pan... they provide the bowl so fewer dishes to do! ... or I often just eat it right out of my pan...

When you've been on the road, especially if conditions are tough, either cold or real hot, windy, rainy... anything that saps your strength and energy...

... it's critical that you take care of yourself. Decent food, not gas station coffee and three muskateers bars is a gotta have.

This makes it quick and easy for a non-cook to eat well.

and simple as hell for the guy on a bike with limited places to carry hardware. Eat supper and doing the dishes is largely... throwing them away! :)

It also deals with the problem of riding through BIG bear country up north. You pick up your food just before you eat it... and it's that much less to deal with for safety... Bear Bags hung in trees and such...

Anyhoo, after supper, while you savor that fancy brew you just kick back and contemplate the nice country you rode through and into.

*Dumont lake east of Steamboat*

Yeah... and laugh at the looks on everyone's faces when you walked out of the grocery store in a frog strangler downpour there in Steamboat... climbed on your scooter... and rode off into the storm! :)

... To have your supper in the sunshine that came along after that second storm passed!

Got up to a soft and quiet sunrise...

... and then dawdled around and visited with some folks in the camp... while I waited for last nights rain and the HEAVY morning dew to dry off enough to pack up camp.

It's kinda nice to not be in a rush to get somewhere.

My plan for the day was to head south on U.S. 40 past Kremmling turn onto Hwy 9, cross Hoosier Pass and on to Fairplay.

I'd choose my direction once I'd got there... and when I did... that lil' voice inside my head said; Swing around and turn back north on U.S. 24 To Buena Vista...

City Market in Buena Vista supplied my second nights Cafe steamer and another fine brew... That I enjoyed at the Diamond Point Campground near Twin Lakes... Just below the eastern approach to Independence Pass...

You can't see it in these... but there was a pretty constant breeze across that like... that kept the skeeters blown away... and made for a pleasant camp... just soaking up Far Country.

It was fairly cool... and that rectangular $29 walmart Coleman Bag I recently got because I can't stand the confines of a high dollar North Face mummy bag any more did an awesome job of keeping me toasty along with plenty of room to wiggle around. ;)

Shortly after the sun set... I crawled into my bag and zoned out for the night... though I left the door open so I could see the moonlight on the lake when I'd wake during the night. :)

In the morning I headed west again on Hwy 82, to climb Independence Pass... but that's another post.

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

I've Been Reworking Some of My Touring Gear

I picked up a New Ultra Touring Bag from Kuryakyn about a week ago. Found it in the Beaver's Den Motorcycle Leather shop on a ride up Highway 34 west of Loveland...

*My New Kuryakyn Ultra Tour Bag*

There's been a bit of evolution over the years... for how I pack my gear.

*How I packed my gear on my Alaskan ride*

*Another evolution from a ride a couple years back*

*My current packing and gear arrangement*

I used to carry the tent up on the bars. Not a bad way... but there was some interference with the ignition key... so I'm trying out some new packing of that.

Also, I abandoned my old mummy bag. I just can't tolerate the confines of that thing... and I'm now carrying a cheapie walmart rectangular bag that seems to keep me as warm and a hell of a lot more spacious. But it is a bit more bulky. 

The Kuryakyn tour bag so far is proving out well. I took it on a "Test ride" up a twisting mountain canyon and into Rocky Mountain National park the other day. I thought it a good idea to test it and the way I've got everything packed now on a real world hundred mile ride... before I take off on a weeklong trip hopefully later this week... and it all rode without a hitch.

The bag is something I'm becoming real happy with. It carries actually more clothes than I took to Alaska... and does it without having to stuff and punch to get it in. The quality of the bag seems top notch...

This is what I put in it... and still have a bit of space if I DID feel like stuffing... Likely I don't need that much... you just stop at a laundry a bit more often. :)

 ... and this pic doesn't include the drinking water bladder I'm testing out in the top road side pocket... a convenient place for drinking water on the road (one of the bigger mistakes people make on long hot tours... they fail to drink enough water) Make it convenient to get a drink... It should improve that... which makes you a safer rider. (dehydration is going to slow down your thinking/reaction time)

Likely one of the biggest improvements for me is that it attaches rock solid. I've tried to cheap out for a while, (not a good choice really) using "other" gear and not bags designed explicitly for bikes. That left me always having to conjure up ways of strapping it on secure.

This bag locks onto my seat with two built in straps from the bottom front and a wide, velcro strap that wraps around the back rest.

Combined with two straps from D-rings on top of the tour bag that I use as anchor points to secure the tent...which is also secured to the sleeping bag below it... which is secured to the luggage rack... it is a rock solid load.

It does come with a heavy duty rain cover... but with all my other gear, that doesn't look like it's going to fit. The bag itself seems like it should be pretty water resistant... but I'm scouting for a rain cover that will cover the whole load... thinking maybe a light nylon tarp sized right and a lil' bigger net to secure it... always some sort of gear to fiddle with...

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

Itchty and Antsy... I'm Ready For The Road...

Wednesday morning I'll swing a leg, twist the throttle and put it in the wind.

Yesterday Sonja got her fresh oil to ready her for the road. I hope she appreciates it. At better than $10 a quart and needing better than five quarts (more than my old 390 cubic inch V8 Hot rod from years ago!!)...

... Oil changes are a pricy bit of maintenance!

Especially when you move away from Dino oil and go full synthetic... This is my first full syn run... buuut it's supposed to be better on your machine. Since I seem to be a lil' hard on 'em... I finally decided I should go with some of the more modern technology.

That's not an easy task with a Raider neither!

That bike has THREE drain plugs! and of course, they're set right where the jack needs to be to lift the bike high enough off the ground so you can swing a wrench... since two of 'em are on the side tucked in between the crankcase and the frame...

So... you have a bit of a balancing act to get the bike up straight... and just high enough to clear for the drain pan and wrench access... which puts it kinda far back...

It be a bit spooky workin' under near 800 lbs as it teeters and wiggles balanced up on that jack. :) Her tires are barely touching the ground. Only lift a couple inches... But I got her done with no great excitement so she's ready to roll!

Finished up checking and rechecking my gear... almost couldn't stop just swinging a leg and leaving early!!!

*Sonja be like; "Le's go dude!"

Though I'm only rolling for a week... That load is actually sufficient for a run to Alaska! ;) I've distilled it again after all these years... I carried too damn much clothes to the Yukon... Three/Four days of changes is plenty... you just hit a laundry a lil oftener. ;)

Oh yeah... I found a bit of special gear that is, so far, pretty cool.

I was watching a movie just last week; "Lone Survivor"... The tale of Marcus Lutrell and what I think is a pretty awesome movie. One lil' thing caught my eye... which has nothing to do with that story...

All of those guys, Warriors in the Finest Sense of the word, were all wearing Mechanix  brand gloves. I did a lil snooping and discovered they have a style that they call "Tactical"... that has good finger and knuckle protection for soldiers/sportsmen etc.

Then being textile, they should be a lot more comfortable in summer weather. You can find 'em in cammo prints too, not just black.

I've seen MECHANIX gloves many times before... made for mechanics... but those were bright blue and such... never gave 'em a thought...

But these... they call the M-pact style.

Fit like a "Glove" :) are comfortable and even have a vibration absorbing pad material on the palms...

The two pads are a "Poron" material under the synthetic "leather" that are supposed to soak up vibration and impact...

... and it don't hurt that they look Bad Ass ;) and are priced at Sportsman's Warehouse at just $25 bucks.

Even us poor boys can afford that!

... So now it's watch the clock... watch the calendar... and get ready to put my knees in the wind again.

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

New Gear and Making Ready for a Circle

A few guys from a forum I frequent are having a "mini" rally down in Flagstaff. It's one of those "Brand" sort of rallys. I sorta wanted to go... buuuuut... really, when I look in my wallet... there ain't much in there but space... still...

Then one of the fellas wrote and sorta pestered me to meet up with 'em... so I said... What the hell... and so I'm goin'. Don't know how... maybe a liquor store or two ;) ... but come the 18th I'll be hangin' it in the wind for a 1500 mile circle to Flagstaff and back. 

That said... my road outfit has gotten a bit scattered so I have to whip it into shape and quick.

One of the things needed has been a new tail rack.

I been meaning to put that on ever since I swapped out the back rest... near two years ago now. It just never seemed to make it to the top of the list...

But, lashing a camp on a bike without one is fairly difficult... so I found the dinero and got it ordered in.

You know... Yamaha is a lot like HD when it comes to parts. HD might mean "hundred doller"... but I'm thinkin' "Yamaha" must mean "Lots of cash" in Japanese...

anyhoo... with the saddlebag repairs and paint done, the pipes refinished, the signal lights and plate carrier and the charging block all finished up...

The old scooter is lookin' pretty good to me. :) She's ready for a ride...

Another part of my outfit that's been needing attention is my bedroll... thinking about that I thought of making part of this a motel run... if I could get one or two nights at cheap Motel 6's along the way...

You know... $36 bucks and all that? Wellll... I checked up on one in Moab... Which would be 'bout the halfway mark and a decent near 400 mile ride that first day... "The cheapest of any chain"??? well... how does $160 bucks for ONE NIGHT in Moab sound? Pretty reasonable huh? Bwahahahahahhahahahahaha!!!

Well... I know this pretty lil' meadow just west of Durango... just before you get to Mesa Verde that'll make a nice lil' FREE camp half way to Flag... Sorry Motel 6 but 160 bucks for ONE night is NOT any sort of a reasonable rate! ;)

So... my circle will be made under canvas! Buuuuut... that's a problem too... cuz my last circle I discovered that my old mummy bag is no longer tolerable. I just can't stand the confinement... but... sleeping bags are costly!!

Then... I was walking through good Ol' Walmart... getting some lil' bit of something or other and happened to notice their sleeping bags... polyester just like the big high $$$ backpacking brands. Same weight of fill...

... and $32 bucks compared to a hundred and better for the big names... So I got to thinking about bags.

You know they've always been sort of a problem... summer weight or winter weight. You're too warm or too cold... And with their cost... who can afford all sorts of different bags?

 Well... I got this "idea" for a relatively low cost experiment... with seeing Wally worlds price... I got to thinking... IF... they were decent quality... a guy could carry a couple of the lighter ones... and layer them just like we do our clothes! My imagined "problem" would be solved.

They've got like three weights... warm, cool and cold... and ALL below $40 bucks!... so... even if a guy goes with two... he'd have a bag a lot warmer than the "big" brands... at less than half the price when you look at the cold weather grades.

...so I grabbed a cool weather for $32... and it's rectangular so I eliminate that confinement issue I built up with the damned old mummy bag.

Gave it a "soft" test last night. The weather here went pretty chilly and wet last night. I left the windows and roof vents open and checked that bag for comfort and warmth.

That cheap $32 cool weather bag was almost too warm :) and more... though one night don't measure it for sure... I can't see a fault in the quality of materials. it's the Coleman brand, which has always served me well... how much variation can there really be in polyester these days?

I've got a couple of poncho liners I can pin in or around it to add a few degrees if necessary... and After the "real test" of this circle... I believe I'll add that second Walmart discount sleeping bag... for the earlier spring rides and late into the fall.

I saw one really light thing. Only like a pound of fill... THAT would make an excellent liner.

So... Nigh on to ready to roll

Grab Your Handles and Ride.
Brian

A Way of Thinking for Motorcycle Touring Repairs... Far From Parts

You don't have to get deep into the hinterlands of China to get to a spot where there just aren't parts for your Ducati.

Hell, SW Arizona had me failing to find parts for my '08 Yamaha Raider!

I was loading it to move camp a week ago and happened to spot a hole where there was supposed to be a bolt. When and where I lost it I have no idea... or how long my senile self managed to miss a bolt missing out of the left hand fender strut! But there it was.

Then came the confusion in finding out that Yamaha don't stock the bolt in the shops... and I had to leave town. Another rig was coming along behind me in a few days and was supposed to pick up the order for me... on their way through... of course... the order didn't come for them either... so There I was... out in the desert with the scooter un-rideable with the missing bolt and me having used up my patience.

So... I went looking in hardware stores around the area...

A half dozen hardware stores and one dedicated fastener dealer later and I came up with zip... because I had made the mistake of looking for THE part.

Rather than A part that would do the job until a proper and correct replacement could be acquired.

I had just left the last hardware store in Lake Havasu city without the RIGHT bolt... when an old lesson FINALLY broke through the crust that's formed over my brain pan the last few years. ;)

I did a very nice military style about face and trotted right back in. The clerk that had helped me looked kind of surprised. I told him I'd had a Cowboy epiphany and crooking a finger at him said; "Follow Me."

Yes sir... when you're a long ways from town on a ranch... you learn to make do with what you have until something better comes along.

This first pic is the right side fender strut and how they should look with both proper and correct button head bolts.

*How the Fender strut bolts are supposed to look*

This next pic is the left side from where the left hand bolt had vanished... and my improvised fix...

*Raider Fender strut with temp bolt for a fix*

The only thing any of the hardware stores had was HEX head bolts. None of the Button head in the right thread rate/metric.

The problem as I saw it was going to be fitting a socket on the hex head bolt and getting it down into the recess in the fender strut... so I kept to my single minded search for the RIGHT type, rather than one that would get things put together and functional in a pinch.

My cowboy epiphany was that I could space the TOO large head out with washers or a spacer and have a good strong 10.9 grade bolt in there until I can get my hands on the bolt you have to Order from Yamaha.

*washers spacing the hex bolt on a Raider Fender strut*

Turned out, the recess isn't as tight as I thought it was... but it don't change my point any. :)

That point being; Do you really want to sit in a parking lot somewhere for a week or ten days waiting for some ordered part to get to you from a Motorcycle dealer?

Go find a decent hardware store or mechanics shop of some kind. You can almost always find bits and pieces in a hardware store or shop; Parts that were made for something else; BUT, parts that you can, with a lil' imagination, fit together to get the job done securely, until you can replace the faulty bits with the permanent repair.

When you're broke down and a long way from home and other help... think outside the box, Use your imagination and don't just stay broke because you don't have a piece with the proper part number!

Hell... a metal strap bent around and with a few holes drilled in it could likely be worked up to replace a busted shock and get you rolling to find the permanent fix. It'd be a tough testing hard tail! ;) but then I did see that old man on a '36 Indian riding to Alaska... on his Old HARDTAIL! :)

The Bike is fixed... and now I've got the excuse to make the 300 mile or so round trip ride to Phoenix to pick up a pair of Proper Raider Fender Strut replacement  bolts! ;)

Where there's a will... There's a way... just let your imagination run.

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

Getting the Last Good Out of a Motorcycle Helmet

I replaced my Nolan N103 Helmet a few weeks ago. It should have had another year or two before needing to be replaced, for safety reasons from the shell age... but the mechanisms in it to operate the the visors and the modular face shield were coming to operate so poorly I was fed up with it.

I opted this time for a cheaper but better fitting HJC CL16, Standard full face.

The only problem with this new helmet was that it doesn't have the slick and still operating well, chin strap quick release that's built into the Nolan Helmets.

I picked up a variety of quick release when I bought the HJC...

But... I can't say I'm satisfied with it.

It laces onto the existing helmet chin straps... but for me it operates kind of clumsy/awkward.

Once you have it laced in and adjusted up right... You have to have the prongs aimed just right for it to fit into the slot...

Which for a lot of riders might NOT be an issue...

For me it has proven to be. Funbling around with something under my chin, that I can't see, is apparently... NOT... a skill of mine.

I got the dang thing wedged wrong a couple of times... and had a hell of a time getting it loose so I could take the helmet off. :)

Sooooo.... since that Old Nolan was still cluttering up the floor of the rig (I hadn't used it as dumpster filler yet) I had the bright Idea of scavenging it's Nolan quick release and splicing it onto my HJC Helmet!

Only took a couple minutes spinning a grinding stone in my Dewalt cordless to wear off the rivets and yank the whole strap system out of the Nolan N103.

It turns out... I could have just cut the hardware loose for the most part.

After I cut a couple of bits loose from the straps on the HJC helmet and one piece of the Nolan's strapping, to let me lace in the hardware I was in business.

The male piece just laced right onto the Longer of the HJC straps. Snugged up tight it was right where it needed to be.

On the other side... the female piece, is right up against the D-rings. It adjusts up snug enough but there's nothing left if I get any scrawnyer!

I can still work the red release lever to pull it when I'm taking it off.

If I gain the ambition I may just remove the D-rings and rivet the strap holding the Female end of the Helmet Strap quick release to the HJC factory strap. That would allow me to bump it over a lil' bit and gain a little more adjustment flexibility in the system... but for now, being lazy... I'll just use it as it is, since it is secure and works!

You just push the male end in slick and easy. A lot smoother system. Was I HJC I think I'd try to license the use of Nolan's Motorcycle helmet quick release! :) 

As for the strength of the rivets I'd use? ... Having run my own custom leather and tack repair shop for ten years or so... The helmet would rip my head off before four or so of those rivets would break! So on that account I'm not concerned at all.

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

Tailoring a Trip to the Unfortunate Reality of...

... I'm a buster with more ambitions than dinero to finance 'em! :)

I sat in that Motel 6 pullin' and stretchin' my last dollars, tryin' to make 'em fit a run for the coast... and no matter which way I tweaked it... that last dollar kept snappin'. Wantin' to run out to the Oregon coast was just a mite over ambitious this time...

It'd be a real unpleasant couple of weeks... pushin' that 800 lb motorcycle the last 500 miles or so home...

So... I made the decision that, this time, a lil' discretion was in order and I decided I should shave a thousand miles or so off this run and make Boise the far end of this circle.

When I got up in the morning I coffee'd up, fueled and headed South East on I-84. I've never been partic'lar fond of interstates... and I still ain't... but that piece of slab was the onliest way to get where I was headed that morning; The Thousand Springs Scenic Byway / Hwy 30 that starts near Bliss, Idaho.

Just south of Bliss is the Hagerman National Monument and Visitor center. That's the place where they found the fossils of what used to be the Native Horses... leastways, 3 million and some years ago!

*Hagerman National Monument Horse Fossil*

They were actually a lot bigger than I thought they'd been. Nearly what a modern Mustang is...

Climbed back on the Raider and kept moving easy down U.S. 30. Just a few miles down the road from the Nat. Monument Visitor center is a section of the Snake river with high bluffs on the north side. It's the area that gave the byway its name.

 A thousand springs blow out of the side of the bluffs and pour into the river...

 For a mile or so ... you'll have to work at keepin' one eye on the asphalt while the other is tryin' to focus on the many springs cascading down the bluff...

When you come down into Boise out of the mountains you enter the high desert of Idaho. Running SE you pass through long miles of that dry, open ground broken up here and there by irrigated fields.

I kept moving and turned straight south onto Idaho 27 at Burley... and discovered one of the... uh... difficulties slow witted drifters can encounter when they're using multiple paper maps! :)

Just 'cause grey means pavement on one map... don't mean that's the legend working on that Other map. Turned out the road into the City of Rocks Reserve... AIN'T paved all the way.

Now, I'm not so wussy that I avoid un-asphalted chunks of road just 'cause I straddle a road bike... but... I might have made excuses to travel a different way if I'd known how washboardy that trail was gonna be...

... and I'd have gone another way to my Loss! It's a pretty sweet camp you'll find in there... even if the road is not quite prime.

*Just south of Oakely Idaho on the way to City of Rocks*

Yeah... for 8 or 10 miles it was often a first gear thumper of a gravel/dirt road. Somebody on a dual sport wouldn't even notice it likely... on a fat tired road bike... it got my attention here and there! ;)

*Past the worst of it and nearly to camp*

*West entrance to City of Rocks National Reserve*

Though it was a lil' unexpected... If that buddy of mine succeeds in talkin' me into a return ride to Alaska next year... along with accompanying him up the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe... I guess I can consider lil' jaunts like this'un to be good training.

It hit me as I was pullin' out of Oakely where I'd picked up my supper for the night at Searle's Market. I had one of those Cowboy Epiphanies... This'un is about why I like these solo rides into lil' corners of no where so much.

I'd passed a couple of small feedlot operations earlier in the day and it struck me that Those are how I see cities for the most part. The Human version of a feedlot. Yup, pack as many critters as you can into as small a space as you can and then squeeze the profit out of 'em.

Such thinkin' always seems to set maybe my favorite John Denver tune rollin' through my brain pan.

"To the Mountains, I can Rest there

To the Rivers I will be Strong

To the Forests I'll find Peace there

To the Wild Country where I Belong

To The Wild Country Where I Belong"

'less of course it be "Wild Montana Skies"

Ran that last lil' bit from the entrance monument and found a sweet camp among the City of rocks.

*making notes of the day*

*Left the rain fly off to see the stars in the Sweet Weather*

If you're a climber or hiker there's every sort of climbing in this lil' park I guess.. That's what the few people there seemed to be doin'.

Me? I was cowboy engineering...

*First you build your kitchen*

You remember I blew up my stove... and hadn't a good experience with the minimal Sterno Stove I replaced it with? So... bein' stubborn... and hungry, I erected a biker cowboy kitchen to shield the cooking from the wind the lil' stove lacks the power to fight...

 With proper ventilation and drainage and good wind protection ya'll got some hope...

but... the flooring design interferes with the contents of your "cooking pot" and requires...

The construction of proper support legs to level the stove on the well drained floor!

That'll keep your supper in the "Pot" while it cooks...


But then you'll discover that Sterno's designers apparently didn't feel the need to actually test their design before the slung it on the market...

The result being that you need to install a height adjustment device to get the heat near enough to your pot to actually cook anything...

*Adjusting the Heat on a Sterno Stove*

So... While I was looking around camp while supper heated up I discovered they had added a few amenities...

Like Cup Holders scattered amongst the scenery viewing seating...

*City of Rocks National Reserve Cup Holder!*

But shortly supper was done and the table was set...

*Two Course Biker Cowboy Gourmet Cuisine!*

Now, Ara the Beemer Chef might be able to whip up five star, one pan recipes in camp... but it takes a broken down old puss gut Biker Cowboy to spin up a fine 2 Can feast like this! :)

*Tough Little Flower in City of Rocks*

*Sunrise over City of Rocks*

I believe this camp may have revealed more stars and constellations... and the Milky Way than any other I've been in. The darkness and silence was awesome...

and tomorrow is yet to come...

Living High and Free
Brian