4,500 In 10 Days On The VTR.... Lots Of Large Pics! (56K WARNING!)
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4,500 In 10 Days On The VTR.... Lots Of Large Pics! (56K WARNING!)
I recently got back from a 4,500 miles rode trip from Prescott, Arizona to Banff, Alberta via PCH and back via US 89 & I-15. I went with a couple of good friends, childhood friends actually... Rob (2003 SV1000S) and Brandon (1998 VTR1000F), neither are forum members. This was my second PCH trip, man I can't get enough of that road... and I still have a lot of it to explore. I'm gonna try to keep this as short as possible, so please excuse the (sometimes) very brief descriptions. 
Half of the photo's were taken with my cell phone camera, as I did not have room for my good Sony. The rest were taken with Rob's Canon PowerShot SD900.
The general route.
Half of the photo's were taken with my cell phone camera, as I did not have room for my good Sony. The rest were taken with Rob's Canon PowerShot SD900.The general route.
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 11:51 PM.
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-Day 1: Prescott, AZ to San Simeon, CA
I only have one pic from this day, at a gas station in Salome, AZ, but if you don't know what eastern SoCal looks like, or what gridlock in L.A. looks like, then consider yourself blessed. We just wanted to knock it out as quickly as possible. Lot's of Interstate, and lots of nasty desert... man it got hot quick!
Filling up in Salome, AZ
I only have one pic from this day, at a gas station in Salome, AZ, but if you don't know what eastern SoCal looks like, or what gridlock in L.A. looks like, then consider yourself blessed. We just wanted to knock it out as quickly as possible. Lot's of Interstate, and lots of nasty desert... man it got hot quick!
Filling up in Salome, AZ
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-Day 2: San Simeon, CA to Fort Bragg, CA
Hearst Castle, no tour, just hit the visitor center then split.
Elephant seal beach... damn fog!
After Castroville we cut inland to escape the freezing cold temps. No photo's of San Fran this time... waaaay too much traffic, we just wanted to get the hell out of there. After San Fran, we took the 101 up to Willits. It must of been well over 100 degrees the whole way up. We jumped on CA20 to cut over to Fort Bragg, what a fun road that was! Miles and miles of twists and turns! We ate dinner and had some beers at the North Coast Brewery, then called it a day.
Hearst Castle, no tour, just hit the visitor center then split.
Elephant seal beach... damn fog!
After Castroville we cut inland to escape the freezing cold temps. No photo's of San Fran this time... waaaay too much traffic, we just wanted to get the hell out of there. After San Fran, we took the 101 up to Willits. It must of been well over 100 degrees the whole way up. We jumped on CA20 to cut over to Fort Bragg, what a fun road that was! Miles and miles of twists and turns! We ate dinner and had some beers at the North Coast Brewery, then called it a day.
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 8, 2009 at 09:53 PM.
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-Day 3: Fort Bragg, CA to Gold Beach, OR
Downtown Fort Bragg
Just outside of Fort Bragg on PCH
The remainder of CA1 from Fort Bragg on out was pure bliss! Traffic was minimal turns were bountiful and the scenery was awesome!
Next stop was the Chandelier Tree for an obligatory photo
Somewhere in the Redwood Forest...
Downtown Fort Bragg
Just outside of Fort Bragg on PCH
The remainder of CA1 from Fort Bragg on out was pure bliss! Traffic was minimal turns were bountiful and the scenery was awesome!
Next stop was the Chandelier Tree for an obligatory photo
Somewhere in the Redwood Forest...
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 11:38 AM.
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-Day 4: Gold Beach, OR to Kelso, WA
Heceta Head Lighthouse. Simply beautiful cove.
Bridge near Yachats OR, where we stopped for a little fishing at Tenmile Creek.
Heceta Head Lighthouse. Simply beautiful cove.
Bridge near Yachats OR, where we stopped for a little fishing at Tenmile Creek.
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 11:29 AM.
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-Day 5: Kelso, WA to Athol, ID
Mt Rainier National Park
Mt St Helens
Puffin' away...
The "VanDamage"... 29 years after the eruption.
Spirit Lake, half filled with dirftwood.
Mt Rainier National Park
Mt St Helens
Puffin' away...
The "VanDamage"... 29 years after the eruption.
Spirit Lake, half filled with dirftwood.
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 12:53 PM.
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-Day 6: Athol, ID... Day Off
Took the day off from riding to do a little fishing at Lake Pend Oreille with Brandons dad. The lake was massive, especially by Arizona standards. Caught plenty of fish, but nothing big... also caught a good buzz. Also did a much needed oil change on all of the bikes.
Took the day off from riding to do a little fishing at Lake Pend Oreille with Brandons dad. The lake was massive, especially by Arizona standards. Caught plenty of fish, but nothing big... also caught a good buzz.
Also did a much needed oil change on all of the bikes.
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 01:57 PM.
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-Day 7: Athol, ID to Calgary, AB, Canada
Took highway 95 up to Eastport Idaho to get into Canada. On our way we passed through a beautiful town called Bonners Ferry where we exchanged some of our American dollars for some Canadian dollars. At the border check point we were asked to park the bikes and come inside. We were each asked a few questions about who we were, where we were from and what our plans were in Canada. The border patrol officer was a very attractive woman... I'm liking this country already!
This is the actual border between the two countries.
Parked for interrogation.
Our first stop in BC was Cranbrook for some fuel and lunch.We ate at a litte pink cafe across from a hemp clothing store. I forget the name of it, but the food was damn good, especially the bread! The next stop was Radium, BC where I spotted the first two VTR's of the trip. On to Banff...
Banff National Park
Nestled in a valley below sky scraping mountains was the town on Banff. It looked like a modern Swedish village... definitely on the "posh" side of things. For whatever reason, we didn't take too many photo's of Banff, so these are "borrowed" from the net...
Took highway 95 up to Eastport Idaho to get into Canada. On our way we passed through a beautiful town called Bonners Ferry where we exchanged some of our American dollars for some Canadian dollars. At the border check point we were asked to park the bikes and come inside. We were each asked a few questions about who we were, where we were from and what our plans were in Canada. The border patrol officer was a very attractive woman... I'm liking this country already!
This is the actual border between the two countries.
Parked for interrogation.
Our first stop in BC was Cranbrook for some fuel and lunch.We ate at a litte pink cafe across from a hemp clothing store. I forget the name of it, but the food was damn good, especially the bread! The next stop was Radium, BC where I spotted the first two VTR's of the trip. On to Banff...
Banff National Park
Nestled in a valley below sky scraping mountains was the town on Banff. It looked like a modern Swedish village... definitely on the "posh" side of things. For whatever reason, we didn't take too many photo's of Banff, so these are "borrowed" from the net...
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 02:34 PM.
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-Day 8: Calgary, AB to Livingston, MT
This is the line to get back into the USA. The border patrol agent was a dick.
BP: How long were you in Canada.
Me: 2 days
BP: You're telling me you rode all the way up here from Arizona to spend 2 days here?!?!
Me: Yes, we're on a road trip
BP: That's what I meant, don't get smart with me!
Me: Uhhh, yes sir.
Sunburst MT, the first gas pump in the U.S., we rolled in on fumes. It even had it's own refinery.
We ate at this little cafe across from the gas pump, surprisingly good food. The lady running it was the waitress, cook, busser, and cashier.
At the restaurant I had called ahead to make us a hotel reservation in Gardiner MT, the doorstep of Yellowstone. After calling 20 different hotels I finally found us a room at the Yellowstone Village Inn. http://www.yellowstonevinn.com/ , made a reservation with the credit card, and told here we would be there by 11pm. She said she was off at 11pm, so if we were not there in time she would leave our room key at the counter and we could finish our check-in in the morning. We arrived at the hotel at 11pm sharp, thanks to a lot of speeding on the wide open Montana Highways. I went inside to check in and she was still there. She then informed me that she sold our room to someone else because my card was declined (locked because of use)! This is just F**king great! Every hotel we've stayed at so far did not run the card until we got there or until we checked out! I brought several cards with me just for this reason. She basically told me tough s**t and said I should of called to make sure it was still available.. What the hell was the point of the reservation in the first place? We sat in the parking lot for about an hour while I called every hotel in the area trying to get any kind of room... no luck. I finally found a jacuzzi suite at a Rodeway Inn in Livingston MT, about 50 miles back where we had come from. We back-tracked the 50 miles though critter country, at 45mph to avoid hitting any deer, which we saw plenty of. Got dinner at a gas station, yummy, then hit the hay around 2 am.
Because of that b**ch at the Yellowstone Village Inn we lost half of our day at Yellowstone.
This is the line to get back into the USA. The border patrol agent was a dick.
BP: How long were you in Canada.
Me: 2 days
BP: You're telling me you rode all the way up here from Arizona to spend 2 days here?!?!
Me: Yes, we're on a road trip
BP: That's what I meant, don't get smart with me!
Me: Uhhh, yes sir.
Sunburst MT, the first gas pump in the U.S., we rolled in on fumes. It even had it's own refinery.
We ate at this little cafe across from the gas pump, surprisingly good food. The lady running it was the waitress, cook, busser, and cashier.
At the restaurant I had called ahead to make us a hotel reservation in Gardiner MT, the doorstep of Yellowstone. After calling 20 different hotels I finally found us a room at the Yellowstone Village Inn. http://www.yellowstonevinn.com/ , made a reservation with the credit card, and told here we would be there by 11pm. She said she was off at 11pm, so if we were not there in time she would leave our room key at the counter and we could finish our check-in in the morning. We arrived at the hotel at 11pm sharp, thanks to a lot of speeding on the wide open Montana Highways. I went inside to check in and she was still there. She then informed me that she sold our room to someone else because my card was declined (locked because of use)! This is just F**king great! Every hotel we've stayed at so far did not run the card until we got there or until we checked out! I brought several cards with me just for this reason. She basically told me tough s**t and said I should of called to make sure it was still available.. What the hell was the point of the reservation in the first place? We sat in the parking lot for about an hour while I called every hotel in the area trying to get any kind of room... no luck. I finally found a jacuzzi suite at a Rodeway Inn in Livingston MT, about 50 miles back where we had come from. We back-tracked the 50 miles though critter country, at 45mph to avoid hitting any deer, which we saw plenty of. Got dinner at a gas station, yummy, then hit the hay around 2 am.
Because of that b**ch at the Yellowstone Village Inn we lost half of our day at Yellowstone.
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 03:25 PM.
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-Day 9: Livingston, MT to Idaho Falls, ID
Getting to bed at 2am got us a pretty late start the next morning, I think we rolled out of Livingston around 11am and re-arrived in Gardiner around 12:30pm. In Gardiner we were greeted by our first rain storm and a ridiculous entry fee into Yellowstone. The entry fee was $20 per bike... WTF?!? $25 per car, 4 people, $20 per bike, 1 person... doesn't make sense to me. Nonetheless, I paid $60 for us to get in... this better be good.
Yellowstone National Park
Traffic came to a halt and was backed up for a few miles because of some buffalo on the road. We hung tight for a while to see if it would clear up, then decided to take the "motorcycle only path" (the shoulder) to get ahead of the congestion... pissing off a lot of cagers in the process.
This was another small geyser in the park. The wind was blowing all of the steam right over the walkway to the other springs. The steam was intense... and smelled like a truckload of ***'s.
This was a really neat muddy spring. It continuously tossed mud in the air... almost looked artificial. Obviously the photo does not do it justice.
Old Faithful, crossing that one of my list of things to see...
After old faithful we decided it was time to get going to Idaho Falls.
Getting to bed at 2am got us a pretty late start the next morning, I think we rolled out of Livingston around 11am and re-arrived in Gardiner around 12:30pm. In Gardiner we were greeted by our first rain storm and a ridiculous entry fee into Yellowstone. The entry fee was $20 per bike... WTF?!? $25 per car, 4 people, $20 per bike, 1 person... doesn't make sense to me. Nonetheless, I paid $60 for us to get in... this better be good.
Yellowstone National Park
Traffic came to a halt and was backed up for a few miles because of some buffalo on the road. We hung tight for a while to see if it would clear up, then decided to take the "motorcycle only path" (the shoulder) to get ahead of the congestion... pissing off a lot of cagers in the process.
This was another small geyser in the park. The wind was blowing all of the steam right over the walkway to the other springs. The steam was intense... and smelled like a truckload of ***'s.
This was a really neat muddy spring. It continuously tossed mud in the air... almost looked artificial. Obviously the photo does not do it justice.
Old Faithful, crossing that one of my list of things to see...
After old faithful we decided it was time to get going to Idaho Falls.
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 03:56 PM.
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-Day 10: Idaho Fall, ID to Prescott, AZ
This was supposed to be the "Iron Butt" 1k mile day, but because of route changes it ended up only being 820 miles.
Not a whole lot of photo's from this day as we only stopped for gas an a quick bite to eat.
Marble Canyon, AZ
This is basically where the Grand Canyon starts. It's a geat place to fish... and/or throw rocks from a bridge.
Fin
This was supposed to be the "Iron Butt" 1k mile day, but because of route changes it ended up only being 820 miles.
Not a whole lot of photo's from this day as we only stopped for gas an a quick bite to eat.
Marble Canyon, AZ
This is basically where the Grand Canyon starts. It's a geat place to fish... and/or throw rocks from a bridge.
Fin
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 04:24 PM.
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I have new love for PCH after riding it with the Hawk. With my car it was so difficult to pass hundreds of campers on DY, no problem with the hawk though. It's better during the week also obviously.
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Hey man,you came through my part of the world.Northern Ca. That bit of road between Ft.Brag and Legget is part of one of our regular rides.And 20+ years ago I lived in phoenix and my favorite ride then was 89 up to Prescott and back.I love that town.I was telling some one about it just the other day.It's been 11 years since I did a big road trip,I'll be thinking and remembering all day.
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I sure do miss the trip.. My buddies were getting home-sick by the end of it, but now that we are back home, I'm feeling a little "road sick". Too bad there's not a way to get paid for riding across the country.
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Couple of questions for you Inde, regarding the trip, if you don't mind:
What kind of preparations/planning did you make for the trip? What did you pack?
What are your impressions of the 'Hawk for an extended trip in terms of suitability for touring? Seat/bars/wind protection and general comfort?
The 'Hawk gets a lot of flak for poor fuel range. How did you guys do? Did you carry spare fuel?
And finally, WHY NO PICS OF THE HOT BORDER PATROL OFFICER??!!
What kind of preparations/planning did you make for the trip? What did you pack?
What are your impressions of the 'Hawk for an extended trip in terms of suitability for touring? Seat/bars/wind protection and general comfort?
The 'Hawk gets a lot of flak for poor fuel range. How did you guys do? Did you carry spare fuel?
And finally, WHY NO PICS OF THE HOT BORDER PATROL OFFICER??!!
Last edited by jbaxx; Aug 9, 2009 at 06:01 PM.
.
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Couple of questions for you Inde, regarding the trip, if you don't mind:
What kind of preparations/planning did you make for the trip? What did you pack?
No planning really, just picked a general route and went. Nothing quite like wingin' it right? We did spend some time preparing the bikes though. Fresh tires, fluid changes, lubed bearings, checked nut's, bolt's for tightness, chain for correct tension, etc. We also brought along a sparerectifiere for each bike, a stator for the VTR's and a tube of HondaBond... justin casee. As far asluggagee goes, I tried to pack light but I needed to fill up the tail bag in order for thebungeee chords to hold it tight. I also put the hydration pack in my tank back so that I could keep weight off of my shoulders... I think it helped tremendously!
What are your impressions of the 'Hawk for an extended trip in terms of suitability for touring? Seat/bars/wind protection and general comfort?
The Hawk is a geat tourer with a couple of add on's. A double bubble windscreen, Helibars, and a Sargent seat really make a huge difference in comfort. I really never thought the VTR to be all that uncomfortable in stock form, but now, it's definetly better.
The 'Hawk gets a lot of flak for poor fuel range. How did you guys do? Did you carry spare fuel?
We never carried any spare fuel, there was never a need for it either. At worst there was maybe a 40-50mile gap between gas stations and that was extremely rare. My worst MPG's were in Montana, but that'll happen when you doing a constant 90-100mph. I think my reserve light came on at 85 miles. I didn't bother calculating it out, but I'm guessing it was high 20's. My best MPG's were from Yellowstone to Idaho Falls. We did the speed limit the entire way, 65mph. I rolled into the gas stationwith 145miles on the trip meter and 2 bars left on the fuel gauge. Calculated out to be 52.5mpg. BOOYAH JENKINS, a personal best!
And finally, WHY NO PICS OF THE HOT BORDER PATROL OFFICER??!!
For whatever reason, Canada has a slew of hot women with great bodies. I'm not saying they were all beautiful, but damn, there was a lot of them. I assume they must work out all winter long.
What kind of preparations/planning did you make for the trip? What did you pack?
No planning really, just picked a general route and went. Nothing quite like wingin' it right?
We did spend some time preparing the bikes though. Fresh tires, fluid changes, lubed bearings, checked nut's, bolt's for tightness, chain for correct tension, etc. We also brought along a sparerectifiere for each bike, a stator for the VTR's and a tube of HondaBond... justin casee. As far asluggagee goes, I tried to pack light but I needed to fill up the tail bag in order for thebungeee chords to hold it tight. I also put the hydration pack in my tank back so that I could keep weight off of my shoulders... I think it helped tremendously!What are your impressions of the 'Hawk for an extended trip in terms of suitability for touring? Seat/bars/wind protection and general comfort?
The Hawk is a geat tourer with a couple of add on's. A double bubble windscreen, Helibars, and a Sargent seat really make a huge difference in comfort. I really never thought the VTR to be all that uncomfortable in stock form, but now, it's definetly better.
The 'Hawk gets a lot of flak for poor fuel range. How did you guys do? Did you carry spare fuel?
We never carried any spare fuel, there was never a need for it either. At worst there was maybe a 40-50mile gap between gas stations and that was extremely rare. My worst MPG's were in Montana, but that'll happen when you doing a constant 90-100mph. I think my reserve light came on at 85 miles. I didn't bother calculating it out, but I'm guessing it was high 20's. My best MPG's were from Yellowstone to Idaho Falls. We did the speed limit the entire way, 65mph. I rolled into the gas stationwith 145miles on the trip meter and 2 bars left on the fuel gauge. Calculated out to be 52.5mpg. BOOYAH JENKINS, a personal best!
And finally, WHY NO PICS OF THE HOT BORDER PATROL OFFICER??!!
For whatever reason, Canada has a slew of hot women with great bodies. I'm not saying they were all beautiful, but damn, there was a lot of them. I assume they must work out all winter long.
Last edited by inderocker; Aug 9, 2009 at 09:56 PM.
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From: PA now VA
Awesome trip. I did the PCH in '02 in a Miata. Would have been so much more fun to be on two wheels.. but the open air is amazing.
As for the bungee cords being tight, just tie a knot in them. Did that for my PA/FL trip back in April.
Nice to see Canada keeps the same quality personnel at all border crossings. I love crossing at Niagara Falls, but hate coming home.
As for the bungee cords being tight, just tie a knot in them. Did that for my PA/FL trip back in April.
Nice to see Canada keeps the same quality personnel at all border crossings. I love crossing at Niagara Falls, but hate coming home.
