kENNETH Y FAB. WOW-. Could you tell me about the tyres you used in that trip.. ?? your opinion. do you think much better TKC80?
Both of us used Dunlop 908RR rears, and they are very good, long lasting DOT knobbies. I have 3000 miles on mine now and lots of knob remaining. My front is an IRC jTR8, similar to a TKC 80 but much longer knobs. After just a bit of wear in it has been stable at speed, and they are not expensive. The knobs are just a bit closer together than on a Dunlop 606, so quieter on the pavement. I will run these for a while I think, and have a new one waiting in the wings. TKC's are very good tires on pavement, though expensive, and not bad on dirt, but the IRC and 606 are better on the trail or gravel. Yea Fab, more ride report. Hope you got an elk!
Ok...I don't know if it is rude to leave a ride report and come back to it months later, but its just how it's gonna have to be. Large work projects and getting ready for winter got ahold of me. Back to what is important....motos and the cafe! Sorry Ken, no elk this year. The fancy little REI camp chair that we raved about on this moto trip turned out to be the reason I have no elk....funny how things work. Back to Browns Park! It would be hard to beat the John Jarvie ranch from the day before, but I knew of a place to take Ken that would be equally or possibly more impressive. Our destination is a small cut in the earth that very few people know about. The riding is great on the way there too! This is a bad photo, but it is where we are going. Here is a part of Colorado you don't see in the magazines. The road gets narrower and Ken, for the first time, gets a little sideways! He got it straightened out before I could get the camera out and he managed to keep the bike upright. The sand almost got the best of him. Our destination ahead on the right.
This couple greets you at the entrance to the canyon! The lighting this time of year and this time of day is very bad to spot a lot of these petroglyphs, but if you don't know any better, it's probably not that bad.
Those little sand ruts gave me fits coming and going, and I'm still embarrassed that they did. Going too slow and not looking far enough ahead. Oh well..... The canyon, and what was beyond, was worth it! Glad you are back on the report!
I'll post more of petroglyphs later, but l....and Ken are eager to move on to something a lot more rare. I told Ken about this and he was anxious to get to it the whole trip and actually maybe even months before the trip even started. Few people know the exact location of this medicine wheel. They have only heard there is one in the area. My cousins and I set out to find it on a mountain bike trip and found it with the clues we put together from the web. When Ken and I told the forest ranger we went to see it, he was very surprised. I read an article once that said they weren't really sure what it was used for. They thought it might be a compass, but it didn't line up correctly. Then they thought it was just used for ceremonial purposes.....Are you fricken kidding me!? The people who created this could probably only sense where magnetic North was and I think they made a damn fine COMPASS! Back to some petroglyphs. There are hundreds in this canyon, panel after panel. This one is a mystery to me. It is very high in the canyon and the half indian, half cowboy character is probably the newest which makes me really question it's artist. It is half pecked like all the other petroglyphs, but then it is half rubbed. Indians have been pecking these out in this canyon for hundreds of years and you can see that spread of time very well in this photo. Another thing, look at the other less dominant character below the necklace of the large one. He shows up two or three times in the canyon and always has the line of headless figures on both sides of him.....hmmm. Lots to ponder in there and you could do it for days and never see anyone! This is one of the few on the opposite side of the canyon.
Nope! You are going to have to fill me in. So each rock is a Fido!? . Maybe it's a pet cemetery compass! Dogs under the north rocks, cats to the south, roosters to the east and so on. In your defense, they did love their pets!
Well I came across tracks one morning and followed them up the mountain side and knew they would bed down for the rest of the day and got back down before I spooked them up. Later that day I hiked to the other side of that same mountain to where I thought they may be going. I found a great spot with a few good shooting lanes and was a little early...I thought, so I set my bow down ( all this is in super slow motion too by the way), slowly opened my pack to get out my little chair and heard something. I looked up and they were right there! Two perfect shots at less than 20 yards away went by as I was slowly trying to grab my bow. I managed to get the bow and get an arrow knocked when they caught my scent and took off. I had an either sex tag and the bull stuck around about 30 yards away testing the air to see why the lady's took off. I sat and watched him for about three minutes before he finally caught my scent as well. He was a three point and it is only legal to harvest a four point or better. Even if he was a four point or better, I had no sure shots. My whole day hunting and planning was ruined by that little chair! This was my first year bow hunting and even though it could have turned out better, it was an awesome experience. I will be back next year...without that chair! I just thought I would be quieter and not move as much sitting comfortably. Good theory....bad timing!
Awesome Story----really enjoying this. Fab---I just sent you a free DVD of our Colorado and Utah BDR ride--hope you enjoy it. The Medicine wheel ???? Got to go there. Kudo's from the BigDog BDR group.
Thanks Mark!!! What is the title?...."BDA's on the BDR's". That will be a nice addition to Moto Movie Night with my other riding buddies. Wish I had it today. It's snowing like mad outside. Cant think of anything better than a fire, coffee, and a Big Dog Adventures movie! Good thing I have a stash of other BDA movies! The Medicine Wheel is a must see and the Canyon near it. We will make sure you see it someday. After the movie, I really should finish this ride report!
Outlaws loved Browns Park. In the picture below I am facing South East looking into Browns Park. Wyoming is about to the left about 20 miles away, and Utah is to my right at about 10 miles away. If an outlaw wanted to evade a lawman in the Wyoming territory all he had to do was ride into Colorado or Utah and the same applies to evade a law man from Colorado or Utah. Plus it was just too far from anything and pretty much out of reach for the law. The citizens made there own laws here and often supported the outlaws and hired them on their ranches. Leroy Parker (aka, Butch Cassidy) had a reputation of being a very hard worker in the park. The historical Allen ranch and the John Jarvie ranch are below on the left and right of the green farmed section. There is a very narrow V canyon to the right of center in the mountains right behind the trees at the John Jarvie ranch. Make a mental note of it for the next post. This is my favorite outlaw and one who was never convicted. She was also the first white woman born in the park. It was a very important and noted event when Ann Bassett was born. People came from all around to see the new born. She would grow up to become "Queen of the cattle rustlers".
Ok, lets say that Ken and I are in Brown's Hole (what it was called at that time) and are outlaws in the year 1885 and we wanted to go and wet our whistles somewhere and get some new spurs for our boots. First we would ride to the John Jarvie ranch and he would try and sell us some of his home made brew (way too stout) and his selection of spurs is very plain and limited (Ken wants more sex appeal and wants to look good for Ann Bassett when she comes of age, she is only seven now). John tells us we need to go to Vernal, Utah if we want sexy spurs and weak whiskey. The law is thick in Vernal, but we decide its worth the risk. John put us and our horses on his ferry for a fee. We cross the Green river and head for Crouse canyon. This is exactly what Ken and I are going to do today, in 2013, but the ferry is long gone and we have to find another way. What we find is almost as exciting as a ferry. An extremely awesome, narrow and not so stable bridge!!! And on to Crouse canyon.
Crouse canyon is very inviting to our modern day steeds! We ride on to Vernal. They are big into Dino's here since Dinosaur National Monument is just outside town and extends all the way to The Gates of Lodore. I don't know for sure if Crouse canyon is in the Monument. I need to check on that. We got a bite to eat in Vernal and headed back into Colorado on the Pavement. We pushed on to Rangely and stayed the night there. Something kind of funny happened in Rangely. We asked the guy at the hotel we checked into if he knew of a good place to get a burger and a shake. He said they had good shakes at the 7-11 type convenient store. Ken said we wanted a good old fashion shake. The guy said "well the shakes at the store are pretty good". We didn't believe him but headed to the convenient store anyway. The guy was right! This thing pumps out a helluva shake! We had to get our burgers at the new joint in town (don't remember what it was called) and there is where Ken ordered our one and only beer on the whole trip. After we left Rangely, we went to Meeker and then own to Grand Junction. I stayed at my cousins house and Ken had a lot of buisness to attend to buying his new house and opted to not be rude on the Internet and phone and got a hotel. This is our last night on the road.
