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Utah Backcountry Discovery Ride

Joined
Jun 21, 2005
Messages
512
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0
Location
Paron, AR
First Name
Richard
A good riding friend (JGlow) of mine told me about the UTBDR ride and his plans to ride it in Summer of 2012. Well he bought the butler map, we downloaded the tracks and began studying and planning the trip. We chose some dates and made the arrangements for time off. I told my dad about the trip and he really wanted to go so we now were 3. Just 3 weeks before the trip, JGlow had to have surgery on his ailing knee and it just happened to be right in the middle of the trip so we did the only logical thing, we went without him. (Sorry dude, next year)

The players:
KirbyKajin_Sr
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Motokirby
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The bikes: Both 2008 Yamaha WR250r’s fitted with very similar goodies 3.1 IMS tanks, GL loop bags, 1 gallon rotopax, and other essential goodies . I would have to say, these bikes were pretty much perfect for this ride.

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We started our drive from Allen TX on Wednesday after work, making it to Amarillo where we spent the night. If you find yourself in Witchita Falls around dinner time, go ahead and skip the Carl’s Jr just off of 287. Our 2nd day on the road took us through Raton NM and to our destination of Grand Junction CO, where would start on the bikes the next day.

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I had planned a route utilizing Mesa County 25 for most of the miles from Delta Co to Monticello, then just highway riding down to Bluff UT. We got to Bluff much earlier than expected and it was really to hot to camp so we decided to go ahead and start the route. Well just up the road we ran into some nasty looking thunderstorms. So we turned north on a nice dirt road to kill some time. With the storms passed we got back on route through the Valley of the Gods, up the Moki Dugway switchbacks. When researching, I had found a nice camping spot just at the edge of Glen Canyon and it turned out to be a beauty, although it rained right after we got camp setup.

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Day 2 we had planned to ride all the way to Needles outpost, but that got changed because when we got there, it was closed! So we decided to go ahead and press on into the evening. It was really too hot to just sit around our tents so we rode the expert route toward Moab, and did not stop until after 8:30pm, just 25 miles short of Moab. Before this we got to ride on the sandy washes of Snow flat road, Comb wash, and Butler wash. My Dad had his first sand nap, as he was not all that comfortable just yet with letting the bike float around. (My riding at Sam Houston NF is finally paying off)

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Day 3 our destination was Green River. After two days of primitive camping and hard riding, you can imagine we needed a good hot shower. Well the day did not disappoint with beautiful views and great riding(especially onion creek). Then, it got a little epic when I found a nasty Mudhole just 10 miles from our destination, this left us digging my bike out for over an hour. That shower felt even better.

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Day 4 would have us heading to camp again at Soldier summit, although when we got near there it was looking like rain so we decided to keep going north. This would test our fuel range as the next gas station was just over 240 miles from our last stop in Wellington. (We made it with .4 gallons to spare!) This day was a nice change as we hit some fast gravel roads and then got our 1st taste of the Wilderness/forest that Utah has to offer. We snagged another great primitive camping site right on the fast moving Currant Creek.

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Day 5 took us through much more forest, a short section of Wyoming(not much to see here) then up to Garden City, which has a great Rasberry Milkshake.

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Day 6 was going to be a long slab day, as we had to cover 350 miles to get back to the truck in Grand Junction CO. Really the only highlight of the day was riding through the Flaming George area. We made it to the truck around 3pm, got on the road and drove all the way back to Raton NM.

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Thank you to the guys over at www.UTBDR.com for putting together an incredible ride. I am sure I left some things out, and some pictures but I recommend to anyone considering this ride, go for it. Hope you guys enjoyed.
 
Wow! Now that's a real vacation! Great ride report and stunning pics. Thanks for posting.

I'm curious, how many other "tourist" did you encounter on the ride?
 
Wow! Now that's a real vacation! Great ride report and stunning pics. Thanks for posting.

I'm curious, how many other "tourist" did you encounter on the ride?

Oddly enough, we didn't run into any other riders on the trails. The only time we saw any adventure riders were when we got on the highways to go get gas. Except on one time crossing a desert area on day 3 we met two guys just off the highway heading into the desert.
 
Time to see what I missed out on... :eek2:

These smilies should about sum it up for me:
:photo::bow::drool::dude::jammin::rider: :rider:

Bummed that I couldn't make it :argh:

Great Job! :clap:


jordan
 
That looks like some serious fun. Nice pictures. Can you show us the route?
 
Nice Ride Report and Great Pictures!
 
Heading to Utah in Sept. Thanks for the previews. Beautiful pics.
 
Great RR and photos! Thanks...:rider:
That's a trip my nephew and I are going to try!

The Wife and I are heading to Idaho in September via hauling our bikes up there 1 KLR 650 for the logging roads & 1 C14 for the slab twisties !:trust:
 
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