9/5/16 Northern Nevada Ride with Walt, Mike and Dave

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9/5/16 Northern Nevada Ride with Walt, Mike and Dave

Postby Tawmass » Wed Dec 14, 2016 9:24 am

(All pictures by Tom unless otherwise noted)

Walt and Mike headed over a day early from the Portland Metro. Meanwhile Dave drove down the next day via S. Oregon to pick me up and we pooled it over to Elko, Nevada - the meeting place. It was a very long trip and fortunately Dave was tolerable to be with for that long. The trip wasn't without it's flaws though, as we ran out of gas near Denio Junction and had to drain from the bikes.
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9/5/16 Day One

We awoke the next morning bright and early and were of course amped! But it was cold! We hurriedly donned our riding gear, went through our backpack checklists and headed out from Elko, making our back way towards Carlin. We were about seven miles into the ride when I got to wondering if Dive (say that with an Aussie accent!) had actually closed the door on his pickup, since I remember it was open as he was checking things. I eventually stopped the others and explained to Dave my suspicions and you could see the look on his face that he did in fact leave his pickup door open. I figured he'd ride back and close things up, but he did have cell service and called the motel. The nice man behind the counter said to hold on and he went outside. Sure enough, Dive had left the door open, and THE KEYS WERE STILL IN THE IGNITION! Plus I had my laptop behind the passenger seat! The guy came back to the phone laughing and said he took care of it. Whew!
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Then we got back onto our adventure train and enjoyed the countryside.
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Dave Klug photo

We topped off with petrol in Carlin and started to make the long trek towards our destination of Mcdermitt. We made our way up in elevation to the tops of the peaks.
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Dave Klug photo
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Dave Klug photo

We then descended back down to normal elevations. It's amazing how desolate some of the valleys and plains are!
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We soon came to the small community of Midas. Such a quaint little town with a rich history - boxing history too!
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We headed up a scenic canyon and descended into a valley, and this is about when things went awry for Walt. We dropped down a ridge, turned left along a stream with a water crossing. Vehicles certainly had gone through it, so how deep could it really be? Evidently Walt stopped at the edge, scoped it out, then gingerly made his way across the first half, which wasn't too bad. But the second half had a considerably deeper hole and the front end on his Husky 350 dropped, therefore prompting a quick reaction from Walt to hit the throttle and the front end came up, sending the back end sideways deeper into the hole. His bike was completely submerged! His bike wouldn't start, no matter what we tried. We spent a LOT of time stripping down his bike, reassembling it, trying to start it, stripping it down again, yadda, yadda. The saying for the day was, "There's no cow piss in that!" We couldn't get the bike started and we were in a bowl of a valley - everything was up to get out. We pondered about spending the night even. Yes, it was that bad. We figured we'd try to tow it out, but the uphill was very rocky and rough. I was the tow-er, so thought I'd at least give it the ol' college try. As I was starting to tow Walt towards the beginning of the climb, he dumped the clutch and THE BIKE STARTED! I quickly stopped, unhooked the tow strap and pointed him up the climb. His bike was running rough, but he made it up the brutal climb. I'd swear I thought I heard angels singing...
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Dave Klug photo
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Dave Klug photo
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We decided to take the tarmac since Walt's bike was running quite sketchy and would NOT idle. Problem was, the pavement was considerably out of the way, but would eventually get us to Mcdermitt, so that's how we went. The sun was setting and it started to get cold, so we donned our jackets.
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After miles and miles of droning down the highway, we pulled into the motel in Mcdermitt quite literally as the sun was setting. It was a LOOOONG 261-mile day and it was time to get cleaned up, hit the Say When Cafe and drop our heads on the pillows. Day One was done and so were we.
-Tom
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Dave Klug photo
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Dave Klug photo
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<----best viewed in HD mode, or click the Vimeo logo for better streaming.
https://vimeo.com/185486441
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.
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Re: 9/5/16 Northern Nevada Ride with Walt, Mike and Dave

Postby Tawmass » Wed Dec 14, 2016 9:30 am

9/6/16 Day Two

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise in Mcdermitt, NV. Mcdermitt is literally south of the Oregon border by about 100 feet! We strolled over to the cafe and had breakfast and discussed what our plans were. Walt was extremely distressed with his bike's condition as it still wouldn't idle and would occasionally miss and sputter. He offered up that he could hitchhike his way back to Elko and the three of us could continue on. No, we were a band of brothers, so staying as a group was key. The next option was to see if his bike would run this morning, so we hiked back to the rooms and Walt tried to start his bike. Nothing. We field stripped it again, looking for any water or electrical gremlins. We made phone calls to knowledgeable people of fuel injection systems for their advice. Still nothing. We decided to tow it and see if it ran any better, so I of course had my protective gear [flip flops] on just in case. Walt's bike fired up with a tow and he then rode it down the highway a ways and back. Still wouldn't idle, but at least it would now start with his electric starter. That was a good thing! With that status, we decided to continue on, however we would leave out some of the gnarlier options. It would be catastrophic if Walt's bike died somewhere that didn't have enough room for a tow start.
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Dave Klug photo
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Dave Klug photo

So we decided to slide into our riding gear and soldier on. About that time, some guy walks up to us asking about our trip, when low and behold, I recognized him - it was my friend Eric Timberlake! What was he doing here and what a chance meeting that was! He drove his truck over and we drooled over his new Honda Africa Twin and all the cool bells and whistles it had.
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After our small-world visit with Eric, we took off towards our destination of Owyhee. We went up a long, beautiful canyon with pristine valleys and eventually ended up on a high plateau. Wild horses were everywhere and it was a treat to see so many herds out in the middle of nowhere. We also went through some sections that were miles and miles of choppy dirt, littered with rocks. Little Dive kept himself busy continuing his trend of emptying his small bladder. And how do people get the supplies to these extremely remote places to build structures?
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Dave Klug photo

We eventually turned left onto a main, gravel road for miles upon miles and we finally descended to the village of Owyhee, NV, which was just south of the Idaho border. Owyhee is in the Duck Valley Indian Reservation and the motel was a welcome sight after a long 145-mile day. Walt knew the motel owners and, since there were no restaurants (or at least ones that served liquor!) on the reservation, he worked a deal with the nice motel lady to taxi us up to nearby Mountain City, where there was a bar that served food. We got cleaned up and she took us up to the Mountain City Steakhouse and agreed to come pick us up again later in the evening. We of course cut loose in the bar! Our bartender Krista took good care of us and our drinks. We got to hang with some of the locals too and they had stories! One miner dude even bought us some rounds! All too soon, our ride back to the motel showed up and we had a fun time laughing on the way back. Day Two was done.
-Tom
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<----best viewed in HD mode, or click the Vimeo logo for better streaming.

https://vimeo.com/185552650
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Re: 9/5/16 Northern Nevada Ride with Walt, Mike and Dave

Postby Tawmass » Wed Dec 14, 2016 9:30 am

9/7/16 Day Three

The sun came up bright and early on Day Three to clear skies in Owyhee. Though it was a wee bit chilly, we all hiked down to a local eatery for a tasty breakfast. In retrospect, this day would have the most diversity of terrain and challenge. It would also entail the most scenery, hence the longer video compilation below.
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Dave Klug photo
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We had coffee and thanked the nice lady for delivering us to Mountain City the night prior, then pointed the bikes towards our day's-end destination of Jarbidge. I've always heard about this place, but never been there.

We started up into the mountains and soon started riding through the many aspen groves. After riding through so much desert, these groves were downright stunning, especially with the sun as a backdrop. We rode through canyons, over peaks and straight up open ridges that seemed to go forever! We even happened upon bonafide single-track cow trail that, although sketchy, was a blast! Per the video below, we had to dodge thick brush, cattle and just finding our way through it was not easy! There was even a spot where we rode up a ravine in the middle of nowhere and a big, Chevy truck was parked. I looked around for campers, but upon closer inspection, the truck had been abandoned for some time and the poor saps who were driving must've had a long walk out!
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Dave Klug photo
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Dave Klug photo
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Dave Klug photo
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We eventually went off the grid again and took a very old, rough two-track road down a canyon riddled with rocks and water crossings. In the desert, who knew? This very old road led us onto a main, gravel road that continued further through another canyon, then took us to the top of another range.
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Once on top, it was decided to skip some of the more challenging routes due to Walt's ailing Husky, so we auto routed towards Jarbidge. We rode at a fairly high speed on these open, freeway, gravel roads, then suddenly came to a spot where the main road veered right, but we went straight onto an old, rough and scenic two track down a steep cliff.
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After tip-toeing down the steep cliff, we hit the main dirt road to Jarbidge. What a quaint little town! We settled in to our rooms, hung all our riding gear up to air out (The Clampetts would be proud!), got cleaned up and had a bite to eat at the restaurant. The local sheriff (Basque descent) befriended us as did other locals and we had a good visit.
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Dave Klug photo
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Dave Klug photo
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Dave Klug photo

We took a short hike around town to take in the sights and rich history. Turns out Jarbidge is from the original Indian pronunciation of "Ja Ha Bidge", which was the name of a magical, giant Indian who would pick up White men and put them into his large basket, take them out and eat them. Wow!
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Then it was time to hit the bar! They didn't have good tequila, but we made the best of it! The nice bartender told us that Jarbidge was voted the most remote town in the US - Twin Falls, ID was about 100 miles north and Elko, NV was about 100 miles south. At the last minute, a guy who was on a Honda 500 adventure bike asked to bunk in Dave's and my room. Nothing left but a couch and we were fine with that. Come to find out this guy was good friends with Harold of Giant Loop in Bend. Another small world! Day Three was in the books.
-Tom
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<----best viewed in HD mode, or click the Vimeo logo for better streaming.

https://vimeo.com/185552650

You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Re: 9/5/16 Northern Nevada Ride with Walt, Mike and Dave

Postby Tawmass » Wed Dec 14, 2016 9:31 am

9/8/16 Day Four

We awoke bright and early to another sunny day, this time in Jarbidge, NV. After breakfast, some of our ADV neighbors were taking off, plus our 'roomate' (forgot his name) was also taking off. Our motel manager didn't like her picture taken, but she was hilarious as she doubled as our harassing waitress too.
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As we worked our way to the lone gas station in town, Dave and I took in yet more of the local flavor including the historic jail.
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Dave Klug photo
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We headed south out of Jarbidge on our way to Elko and almost immediately headed up into a scenic vista of the canyon. Did I say we love Jarbidge? The scenic vistas on the mountain tops were spectacular!
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Then we headed into the lower valleys out of the Aspen groves. Dive continued his efforts to keep the dust down.
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We eventually descended back down to Elko and civilization. Though we had problems on Day One, we persisted onward and clocked in 602 miles with no other mechanical gremlins and no injuries - success! What a great ride! And Dive's truck was still locked up on our return. Sure hope he tipped the motel manager!
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But wait, we still had the evening to go in Elko before heading home in the AM. We got cleaned up and feasted on an amazing Basque dinner at The Star. Of course we hit the bar for celebrations and libations! And who should show up but the sheriff we saw the day prior in Jarbidge! Yet more small world situations!
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Photo by our waitress
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After dinner we had to walk off our food, plus take obligatory photos of the cat houses in the neighboring district, after all, we were tourists!
-Tom
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<----best viewed in HD mode, or click the Vimeo logo for better streaming.

https://vimeo.com/195663694
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Re: 9/5/16 Northern Nevada Ride with Walt, Mike and Dave

Postby Tawmass » Sun Dec 18, 2016 7:15 am

Driving home always takes longer than the drive out, but Dave and I solved the world's problems and simply enjoyed the easy drive. Thanks Dave for letting me carpool with you, and huge props to Walt (our fearless leader), Mike and Dave for allowing me to be part of the band of brothers!
-Tom

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You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Re: 9/5/16 Northern Nevada Ride with Walt, Mike and Dave

Postby davek » Sun Dec 18, 2016 8:26 am

That was such an awesome trip and BIG thanks out to Walt for setting it up, Tawm for photo documenting the entire experience and Mike for making each day fun, I don't think that guy ever has a bad day. And for all you ADV guys, the trip in to Jarbidge is a much see destination, almost like the US version of Mike's sky ranch in Baja. Sign me up for the next one!
DK

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Re: 9/5/16 Northern Nevada Ride with Walt, Mike and Dave

Postby Walt » Mon Dec 19, 2016 7:42 am

Shout out to Jim Williams, Bob Schaefer and Jimmy Sones for providing me with the tracklogs and advise to plan this trip, could not have done it without you.

Thank you guys for another Great adventure!

Walt


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