Forth and Back, TOR '23

[RBMann]

Day 8 - Jordanelle to Capital Reef, UT-325 miles



Here is the unique camper of a young couple that stopped me last night while I was out for a walk. They started out with, "Can you help us?" I wondered what was happening then they asked, "Do you know how to start a fire?" I almost laughed since I am not an expert. They had called a father and a grandfather but could get one going. They had three pieces of cord wood without any kindling or an axe to make some. They did have four packages of brick fire starters so we made it happen. They got to have their marshmallows and thanked me, nice kids going off to college in the fall-



I noticed a lot of development happening in Utah, just like around where I live. Condos right across the freeway from the Jordanelle State Park-



Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon-



The old and new, Provo City Center Temple and Courthouse-





The Provo City Cemetery, sometimes I stop to look over the stones. You can usually see how diseases and war added to the population-



I turned off Hwy 89 in Spring City for a snack and drink as it had been getting warmer and found another church with some shade-



Just south a few miles is the impressive Manti Temple-

[RBMann]

Day 8 - Continued

It started looking like rain to the SE approaching I-70. I decided to keep going south then cut east later. Ralf aka BeeKeeper & signit98, had been texting me with his progress. I stopped in Loa, Ut and let him know I would meet him in Fruita at the camp site. A big storm had passed through with mud and water puddles all over the place. Our site was completely unusable and covered in mud. The host didn't appear helpful when I asked about options. Ralf arrived and sweet talked her into a site switch and we move over and set up camp. As we were finishing it started rain again with dirt splashing a foot and half up the sides of the tent. Good thing we were mostly set up and ready-



After the storm and BeeKeeper donned his new mosquito suit-



A little later and everything is good again and drying out-

[RBMann]

Day 9 - Fruita/Torrey/Fruita-25 miles

Woke up, ate some fruit off the apricot trees and had pie. Lazy day around camp cleaning and drying. We went into town for the afternoon to make some phone calls and get food. Also tried finding a cable so I could link to Ralf's laptop and update my Spot device. Its had not been sending messages since day 2-









Nice evening back at camp-

[RBMann]

Day 10 - Fruita to Paonia, CO-367 mmiles



Out a little early for us with a possible long hot day ahead-





First stop was Swing Arm City OHV Park-





Near the Dallas Divide in the San Juan Mts.-



Finally arrived at TOR, Paonia City Park-

[RBMann]

Day 11 - Around Paonia

I spent the day at the rally and walking around town while Ralf went on a Hike. I was walking to get ice cream with CKCarr when a Lamborghini club road rally had their rest stop in town. 19 cars total-





Nice hand guards-



I am not a big rally goer but the scale of TOR and the involvement of the locals keeps me coming back. Friday's spaghetti dinner run by the high school and breakfast every morning are used as fundraisers and work experience opportunities-

[RBMann]

Day 12 - Paonia/Crawford/Paonia-40 miles

We decided to visit the coffee shop that Ralf befriended last year to see how it is going for them. Ralf gets to talk shop for awhile and have a snack/drink. We also checked out Joe Cocker's grave again-



We went east of Crawford so I could show Ralf Needle Rock then we rode back to the rally-



I believe this was a young couple doing a round the world trip with their Tanzania plate sticker-



Never had this happen before but Ralf and I got sunburned while sitting in the shade watching the field events-

[Droptarotter]

All great photo's RB, well, except for the last one!

You guys seem to plan some of the best routes!

Cheers

[RBMann]

Day 13 - Paonia to Steamboat Lake SP-299 miles



This will make it go vroom, vroom again. Two or three times on this trip we had to jump start the BeeKeeper's sled. Once because he left something plugged in. I don't remember why the other times. Always a nice start to the day when you are all packed and ready to go then dig back in to find something-



Several times we have gone north over the mountains from Newcastle on I-70 to Buford. This year I thought we could go a little farther west then north passed Riffle Cap SP up and over to Buford. 17 miles in, we came to a very steep hill with baby-head rocks and we turned around. We lost some time so pavement up to Meeker. We have tried twice now to go east along the White River from Meeker through Buford to Yampa, CO. Rain has changed our minds and route both times. At lunch in Meeker the sky said, "NO!" again-



Interesting how there always seems to be a power plant near a coal mine in this part of the county-



So, more pavement and some rain up to Steamboat then dinner at Beau Jo's Colorado Style Pizza. Kind of funny but the owner remembered us from last year. Wonder why, the motorcycles?-



We made it out to Steamboat Lake. This year the we were dry and so was the campsite-

[RBMann]

Originally Posted by Droptarotter

All great photo's RB, well, except for the last one!

You guys seem to plan some of the best routes!

Cheers

Thanks Mr. Rotter. The plans don't always work out. Probably the most enjoyable day this year was nothing special on the map or any place else. Just a good combination of roads, scenery, weather and food made a very pleasant day. Didn't hurt to have nice campsites at both ends.

[Droptarotter]

No kidding things don't always work out! I planned to be in Paonia, but that never happened again!

Cheers

[RBMann]

Day 14 - Steamboat to Colter Bay CG in Teton Nat. Park-378 miles



Pleasant morning ride through aspen trees north of Steamboat Lake. The plan was to not make the same mistake as last year and at the Y-junction go west towards Baggs, WY-



Another broken dreams photo-



I do love aspen trees-





Someone has a nice little cabin in the woods. Actually, 'The Lodge and Spa at Three Forks Ranch'. Rooms starting at $1995 a night per person-



We backtracked east a few miles to take Sage Creek Road which becomes Hwy 71 into Rawlins, WY-



Minutes before this shot was taken the voltage on my Africa Twin jumped up to 16.7 volts. Not good! While I was checking over the regulator and its connections, friends came to visit with Ralf. A very curious group but really shy at the same time-



As we started riding again the voltage was normal and I thought it had been a loose connection. 10 minutes later it went back up to 16.7 V. I had a spare regulator at home. While in Rawlins, being a wise man, Ralf suggested I call my wife right away to have it overnight shipped to Jackson, WY. We would be in that area the next two days. My wife texted back that the regulator would be delivered to the UPS store before noon the next day. Cool, just have to make it to Jackson. My wife paid extra so I could get it by noon but UPS was 24hrs late-

[RBMann]

Day 14 - Continued

Riding NW from Lander, rain appeared to be in our future. The rain came on quick and hard as we donned our rain gear at the side of the road. The good part was as the temperature dropped so did my voltage-



We came out the other side of the storm and the temperatures stay down all the way to Colter Bay-





Around Dubois the hills become more colorful-





The Pinnacle Buttes near Brooks Lake were spectacular in the late afternoon light-



We setup camp then walked down to the marina for dinner. This year the water was back in Jackson Lake and the boats were there too-

[RBMann]

Originally Posted by Droptarotter

No kidding things don't always work out! I planned to be in Paonia, but that never happened again!

Cheers

Yeah what happened? I thought we would see you at TOR.

[RBMann]

Here is a dilemma I often face, which photo? I just looked and I don't know if I included the correct photo for Day 14. This is the one I posted, I will call it 'shaded'-



Or this one, I will call 'more sun'-



I like both of them and can't seem to choose which one should have been posted. Both were taken at the same spot about two minutes apart as the clouds shifted. So choose one, 'shaded' or 'more sun'.

[RBMann]

Day 15 - Colter/Lewis Falls/Colter-60 miles

Last night rain started falling forcing us into the tents from the picnic table. Ralf plunged into his tent while I walked to the restroom. Walking back to the tent a super bright flash and an instant huge boom. I must have jumped about five feet sideways. It was the closest lightening strike I have ever experienced. As I approached the tent I hear Ralf, "That was loop B." We were in loop C. In the morning we were dry but the tents were wet-



We walked down to the marina again then found a beach by the campground for Ralf to swim. I just put some bait in the water hoping for fish dinner-







We went for a small hike then in late afternoon decided on a ride into Yellowstone to see Lewis Falls. Also to charge Ralf's battery after another 'low' episode. Of course the falls' parking lot was closed for road/bridge construction so we just took photos of Lewis River-



Riding back to camp there was a highway caution sign which read 1-bear, 2-deer, 1-elk and 1-coyote hit last week, slow down and be alert-



Surprise, pizza for dinner again. Another nice day in the books-

[Droptarotter]

Originally Posted by RBMann

Yeah what happened? I thought we would see you at TOR.

I decided to stick closer to home and did a bicycle race in Drumheller Alberta instead.

Maybe next year??

Cheers

[sgoodwin]

Hey Ralf, I see you traded your beemer for a new Norden 901, how do you like it?

[signit98]

Originally Posted by sgoodwin

Hey Ralf, I see you traded your beemer for a new Norden 901, how do you like it?

I like it... A LOT!

The Norden is very lively, lighter than the GS (by quite a bit), and overall a fun bike to ride. For as long as they work, there is something to be said for modern electronics!

I upgraded the suspension for my type of riding and I am madly in love with the cruise control. Other than a few self-inflicted battery issues (I keep forgetting to unplug devices that are charging) and one brief and largely inexplicable whiff of coolant-smelling smoke on a cold morning in Jasper, the bike performed flawless.

I usually got MPG somewhere in the mid 50's and when you twist the throttle, it hopps. All modes can be changed on the fly, the only downfall is that the cruise control does not work in Explorer mode and will not until the bike has been changed into any other moded and then switched off and on again.

The GS needs some love, after over 70000 hard miles and for now, is relegated to being a commuter until that happens. She'll stay, though.

[signit98]

Originally Posted by RBMann

Day 15 - Colter/Lewis Falls/Colter-60 miles

Last night rain started falling forcing us into the tents from the picnic table. Ralf plunged into his tent while I walked to the restroom. Walking back to the tent a super bright flash and an instant huge boom. I must have jumped about five feet sideways. It was the closest lightening strike I have ever experienced. As I approached the tent I hear Ralf, "That was loop B." We were in loop C. In the morning we were dry but the tents were wet-


I seriously expected everything around us to catch on fire after that one.. it was insanely loud and insanely bright... Alas, Ricky didn;t raise any kind of fire alarm, so back to reading it was.




Riding back to camp there was a highway caution sign which read 1-bear, 2-deer, 1-elk and 1-coyote hit last week, slow down and be alert-

SO, my mind instantly went to George Thoroughgood and rearranged it to One Coyote, One Bear, One Deer... to the music of "one bourbon, one scotch, one beer...

[RBMann]

Day 16 - Colter Bay to Polaris, MT-307 miles



When we have been to the Tetons in the past I always thought the mountain with the racing strip looked really cool. Today I went ahead and figured out its name, Mt. Moran-





On the way out of town I figured we needed to kill some time to give my voltage regulator time to arrived in Jackson. Ralf suggested we hike out to Leigh Lake. Looking across String Lake at Moran-



Teton native checking out the tourists along the hiking trail-



Family fun at the Duck Water Park-



Finally, Leigh Lake with Boulder Island in the foreground and Moran again. Truly beautiful hike and lake-



At the UPS store my package was in and it took about ten minutes to swap out the regulator. Huge feeling of relief that deserved a thank-you call home-



Lunch in Jackson then on the road again. We aimed north from Rexburg, ID through the unimpressive St Anthony Sand Dunes. Around Dell, MT we started encountering thick smoke from a fire somewhere west of I-25-



Our campsite was way better than expected and we had a delightful stay. You never know when you will find a pearl in the oyster-