Chasing Rovers, a Western TAT Adventure

Day 10

Baker, NV to somewhere past Eureka, NV

We rolled out of Baker and got back on the TAT, within 10 miles Fletcher made a wrong turn and got lost, I learned from previous mishaps to stay put and not try to go look for him, about 30 minutes later he found his way back. We rounded a bend and ran into the Land Rover crew again and stopped and chatted for a little bit then headed off in front of them, we thought that would be the last we saw of them, we're much faster than a car in the desert. Of course they caught us again at the next town and offered to buy us lunch but we'd just ate, thanks but we're out of here. We rode into Eureka too early to stop so we gassed up and got groceries and headed out into the desert. As the sun was starting to go down we found a cool old mine to camp at with great views of the valley below.

A cool old ranch


...and these guys again.



Nevada Stonhenge


More wide open desert


And cool canyons


If you like old mines, ranches and homesteads Nevada is paradise, so much cool stuff to see









Eureka, and wouldn't you know it, the other Rover crew was there, this is getting weird


Finally, our camp for the night

Day 11

I hope I'm not boring you guys with this, it's helping me re-live the biggest motorcycle adventure of my life so far and has inspired me to do this kind of stuff much more often.

Somewhere in Nevada to Battle Mountain, NV

We woke in camp and decided to check out more of the old mine, the one we camped next to was the newest part, probably from around the 50"s, as we wandered around it looked as if this place was mined for quite a while, there was several different older mines all around us which all looked to be from different times. We packed up and headed out, it quickly got downright hot this day. From reading another TAT report I thought we might cross a closed down pit mine/quarry that was filled with water, I kept my eye out, I needed to get my cooling vest wet. We were just going to stop in Battle Mountain for lunch when I noticed Fletcher's rear wheel wobbling badly, uh oh, rear wheel bearing are toast, we headed to the local NAPA and with the help form Dan at MotoXotica got the part numbers we needed, they could get 2 of the 3, the third one (which we needed) is an odd ball bearing, Dan said he could overnight them, Vacaville, CA to the middle of nowhere Battle Mountain, NV overnight on a Thursday...we'll see, we had no choice. We rode over to the Super 8 to get a room and take the old bearings out, the motel staff was very understanding, they let us move their retaining wall bricks around to prop up the bike in the front entry way of the motel to work on it. Before long several Land Rovers pulled in, wouldn't you know it, they were staying there also. Tom Collins, who is somewhat of a star in the off road world, offered to drive Fletcher around to find somewhere to get the old bearings out, some nice gentlemen at the local diesel repair shop said no problem so they left the wheel there with hopes to get it rolling again when the bearings showed up. Later that evening the Land Rover crew took us out to a pretty good steak house for dinner and drinks, we had a great time and got to meet some very cool people from several motorsports media outlets, these guys get to do trips like this and actually get paid for it, what a life.

The mine/camp in the morning




Water! I wet my vest and Fletch went swimming




Somewhere along the way we ran into this old Chevy


Land Rovers, again


That bike needs a wheel

Not boring at all. Great pics and keep'em coming.

HUSQVARNA, "BUILT TO CONQUER THE EARTH" Keep the pics and stories coming....

You are bringing back great memories; keep it up! On our TAT we ran into a couple doing the TAT in a lightly modified Jeep Cherokee, complete with rooftop tent and gear on racks in the back. This was at Denio Junction as I recall. Next day we found we were much faster in the rough, but once the trail turned to gravel, they were Gone! With leather seats, stereo and air conditioning. Most of the TAT is 4 wheel drivable except for the tight spots. I plan on doing the western portion again, soon. Too much fun...

Fletcher made a wrong turn and got lost,

For the record, I was taking a short cut, but Sharpie didn't follow. So I had to back track to collect him.

That guy on the Husky must be special. Just look how the Rover group is looking at him in awe, except that Motorweek kid, but what does he know he works for a PBS show. Probably a liberal

Day 12

Battle Mountain, NV to an unknown location in Northern Nevada

In the morning we said our goodbyes to our LR buddies and waited...and waited...hoping Fletchers bearings would arrive. We checked the tracking number and it says the package is in sitting in Winnemucca. Fletch called UPS and they said "Sorry, you should get them Monday", Hhmmm, it's Friday. Our new plan, try to find a vehicle to get to Winnemucca to pick them up. I went to the U-haul place in town (at the furniture store), the lady working there said she wouldn't rent me a truck to go get the parts, she would find someone to get them for me. The people in Battle Mountain were incredibly nice, she started making phone calls and leaving messages, she then called her friend Marcy, who happened to be the UPS driver in town, Marcy just dropped off Fletchers bearings at the NAPA store, sweet, it wasn't even noon yet, they forgot to scan the package in Winnemucca. I rode back to the motel, grabbed the bearings and headed over to the diesel shop. The guys there threw the new bearings in and refused payment, Fletchers money burning a hole in my pocket, I tipped them well. We were on the road by 2:30. With our late start we didn't stop much today or take too many pictures.

Yet another cool abandoned ranch, from the writing on the walls inside, it seems to be common TAT stop




The mountain range we camped in


The sun was setting fast so we cowboy camped barely off the road

Day 13

Somewhere in NV to Bogg Hot, NV

We found out in the morning if we would have just pushed on for 45 minutes last night we could have had grass and water to camp by. We passed 2 old ranches in the morning, one with a nice little pond. We rode into McDermitt, gassed up, had a snack and continued on, the trail after McDermitt heads into southern Oregon before crossing back into Nevada. We were using just the TAT GPS tracks which are not perfect and ended up going through 2 gates (neither of which was marked stay out or no trespassing) and rode right through someones yard (between their house and their barn), luckily no one came out shooting. Our goal today wasn't too far, we wanted to get to Bogg Hot and have a long soak in the springs, we rolled into Denio Junction then headed north to Fields, OR to get gas and a "World Famous milkshake". When we arrived at the Fields store there was an airplane at the gas pumps, and the LR crew there filming everything. Apparently since Denio Junction does not have fuel anymore the small planes have to come up here land on the road to get fuel, when they leave they taxi out to a small hill where they can see traffic for several miles, when it's clear they take off. We had a long lunch at Fields and talked with the LR guys, it would be the last we saw of them, they were pushing on much further today and our trip was beginning to wind down. We eventually rode back through Denio Junction and over to Bogg Hot to set up camp and soak in the springs.

Someone put a new roof on this old ranch recently...


and stacked all the old shake shingles in one room to burn in the woodstove.


This section was pretty cool, I watched Fletcher wind his way down



More abandoned buildings



We couldn't quite figure out what this was


World famous shakes and burgers, with odd happenings outside for entertainment


Our camp at Bogg, we must be getting tired of each other, our tents are getting farther apart

Day 14

Denio Junction, NV to Gerlach, NV

We put quite a few miles on today, from Denio Junction we headed through Happy Valley and into the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge and eventually into Fort Bidwell, CA where our TAT journey was over. From Fort Bidwell we headed south to Cedarville for lunch and gas. Fletcher was pretty burnt out and didn't want to hit the dirt to Gerlach so we parted ways, I took the dirt and he hit the highway, about an hour and half later we met up in Gerlach. We wanted to camp at the Frog Ponds (hot spring) but Burning Man was starting and there were Burners everywhere so we decided to hit a nice little reservoir called Squaw Valley reservoir and set up camp next to the water. So close to home...

Heading out into the desert


Wild ass


...and wild horses


This is where the LR crew was camping, I guess they're way ahead now


In the Sheldon


Yet another abandoned ranch


Fort Bidwell, it's kind of bittersweet leaving the TAT, wanting to get home but wishing we could ride on forever


An ancient petrified forest is here, these trees were massive in their time


They are everywhere, my bike is even parked on a petrified log


The Playa, if you look close you see Burning Man setting up


Fletcher going swimming at camp



Our camp for the night

I wish Fletcher was faster with the camera, I got dive bombed by a fighter in the Utah desert. He came down at me from the side, I never saw him coming, probably locked on to me then ascended after he passed over me, so close I could see the rivets on the thing and holy crap he scared me, that thing was extremely close and loud.