Forth and Back-TOR '18

[signit98]

I had not seen Ricky in nearly a year and I was really looking forward to our trip... so, when I heard the (rather throaty) sound of the AT, I was delighted... but, we had to put in an extra day for some repairs to his NEW bike... which he bought, mind you, to avoid road repairs...

[hellfishtat]

great photos and report!

[RBMann]

Day 6-No miles today as we decided to check my oil leak and let Ralf load some more stuff on his bike.

Ralf was nice to Bessie and put a pillow under her head so she could rest while we tried a repair. We only found thread lock on the oil pressure sensor plug in the main oil passage. It sure looked like it wanted an o-ring so we used one and some sealer. No leaks in 6,500 miles-







With that out of the way we headed over to Ralf's coffee shop Brew Coffee Spot for lunch.

Brew Coffee Spot

The place looks really nice and I enjoyed my sandwich. I am not a coffee drinker so I can't comment on that-





One last San Diego note. Ralf's neighbor has a huge butterfly bush and plenty of butterflies to go with it-

[RBMann]

Day 7-San Diego to the Apache Trail, AZ 436 miles



The simple plan for the day was to try and cross the hottest part of the whole trip in one day.

Bikes prepped and packed-check.
Rides suited and ready-check.
Cool morning air-check.
Ralf's battery is dead-check.

He had been playing with his electronics the preceding week and not running the bike. Luckily it bump started and we were off-



We stopped for gas and his battery had charged enough to start the bike. We stopped to turn on the AC vests and things were still going well-



After 200 miles we stopped for gas again. This time Ralf's bike would not start with carb issues. Ralf was emotionally down and talked about going back home to get his GS. I was thinking it would be a really test of friendship if I had to ride 200 miles back with him and another 200 miles just to get to where we were now. Mind you it had been 200 miles of 104-107F. to get here today. The good news was he decided to soldier on and never had a battery or fuel problem again in three more weeks of riding.

We made it to a touristy western town of Goldfield near Apache Junction, AZ for food before heading up the Apache Trail to camp at the Apache Lake Marina-









Camp had a nice view but possibly one of the top three nastiest shower I have ever used. While I had a snack Ralf kept taking my picture. Little did I know he was hoping one of the turkey vultures in the tree above me would take a bump-

[signit98]

Sadly, though... it didn't happen.

[signit98]

A Bear in it's natural habitat...

[signit98]

Somewhere... we were having fun!

[RBMann]

Day 8-Apache Marina to Glenwood, NM 292 miles



Nice comfortable morning to be camped on a lake then go for a ride, cooler than yesterday's heat. I used to ride in AZ when my mother lived there in the 70s. I had seen pics of the Apache Trail and always wanted to do it. This morning we would finish it. Check another one off the list-









Beautiful bridge at Roosevelt Lake, the end of the trail-

[RBMann]

Day 8 cont.-

I had not been through the Salt River Gorge on Hwy 60 in 40+ years. Very cool section of road-



We had planned to use Hwys 73 & 260 to get to NM and skip Show Low, AZ but a big lightening and rain storm changed our mind-



A really nice vista east of Show Low-



The goal for the day was The Catwalk near Glenwood. When I tried to see it in the early 70s it had been destroyed by a big rainstorm. I passed through the area about 15 years ago on my Continental Divide trip but it was after sunset so I kept going. We had a nice afternoon hike and I am glad to finally see it. Check another one off the list. Most recently destroyed in 2012 and reopened in 2016-







Mr. Brave crossing the stream-



Mr. Fumble Fingers with a camera-



Boy Scout Ralf won a $5 bet that he could start a fire with the wet wood around our campsite just north of Glenwood. Of course there was a burning ban and the smoke caused the Forest Service fire truck to make a drive-by to check it out. They didn't say anything but if Ralf had been written up the fine would be $500 but then he would only be out $495. Also checkout Mr. I Travel Light's full size pillow-

[signit98]

The exclamation point on his tent means "Here sleeps the King!"

You are just jealous of my pillow...

At least you know that, no matter what conditions, I can make a fire and keep us warm... for $5!

[RBMann]

Day 9-Glenwood to Bluewater Lake SP, NM 250 miles



Last night's rain had chased us away from the fire and into our tents. Lightning lit up the tent several time during the night or was it Ralf's paparazzi? Obivous signs of the night's rain and fog in the morning-





The plan this morning was to ride through the old town of Mogollon then up over the Continental Divide. Not sure I want to know what is behind door #1-





Starting uphill from Mogollon had me doubting our route selection but the view from Sandy Pt. at 9,200' was worth it-





As we dropped down the other side of the Divide, Ralf used his Rockwell Scale App to check the dirt hardness and then moisture content before recommending tire pressures-

[Droptarotter]

Hope your boots weren't left in the rain overnight!

Cheers

[RBMann]

Day 9 cont.-

It had taken us 4+hrs. to ride from camp to Reserve, NM for breakfast/lunch at Ella's Cafe. Today would start a trend, Ralf would order Mexican food then later complain about his stomach-





Nice ride to Grants, NM where we heard about the state park a Bluewater. Good campground with showers and a view. Beautiful sunset with no extra fee-

[RBMann]

Originally Posted by Droptarotter

Hope your boots weren't left in the rain overnight!

Cheers

Nope, just unloading the tent.

[RBMann]

Day 10-Bluewater to Great Sand Dunes NP, CO 333 miles



Drove to Cuba, NM for breakfast. Ralf had Mexican again and I had boring-





We hit dirt again on Hwy 112., saw evidence of a fire and passed El Vado Reservoir. Managed to go 250+ miles on a tank of gas but it was really close to empty. Of course dogs love Ralf-

[RBMann]

Day 10 cont.-

We crossed into CO on Hwy 17 then over Cumbres Pass where saw the stream locomotive making its run from Chama-





We made it to the Great Dunes but the campground was full so we used the private one just outside the park. We did have a view and showers so $26 wasn't completely bad. Watched a Humming bird eating bugs off my bags. A fellow camper and oil rig worker from Louisiana had an interesting trailer. Oh, Ralf wearing the shorts I found on a bridge in Northern California. Another great sunset-

[Rapid Dog]

...ahh gee why din't I go?!...looks like a great route, with some dirt!

[RBMann]

Day 11-Great Dunes to TOR, Paonia 271 miles



In the morning I discovered what Gummy Bears in a ziplock bag look like after a couple days above 100F.-



The dunes in the morning light. I am reminded of ants on a pile of sugar-





Center, CO is where I received a warning for speeding two years ago. Just after we passed through town there was a radar cop on the side of the road. Unfortunately we were in the left lane passing two cars. Fortunately after a brief panic I realized we were still doing the speed limit. Not to much later we stopped in Creede, CO for lunch. Again Ralf ordered Mexican-



Some people just have more imagination than the rest of us. Across the street from the restaurant-



According to Ralf this is the headwaters of the Rio Grande River-



Made it to TOR in the afternoon and Ralf pointed out where we were camped-

[ckcarr]

Two Paonia Eagles...

[signit98]

I have a semi-credible "source"...