Utah and Big Bend and stuff

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fixxervi6
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Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by fixxervi6 » Sun Dec 09, 2018 10:59 pm

Not planned out yet but putting it on the calendar so it can be planned

February - moto camping trip to big bend, dual purpose/ADV trip
This will be a long weekend trip, maybe take off a Friday and a Monday haven't figured out all of the logistics yet and will be highly weather dependent.

June - Utah Capital reef/Escalante/elephant mountain/white rim haven't figured it out yet but in that general area, I'll be on 4 so can act as support. I might have a second 4 wheel machine that can be taken.

Somewhere between June and September Colorado if I can squeeze it in (ouray) pure jeep run for me on this one

Somewhere between August and October multi-state run all pavement

Somewhere else on here moto camping run through Arkansas, I already have the routes for it someplace, 2 days of riding, Dual P/ADV
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by dufremle » Mon Dec 10, 2018 10:47 am

Cool. Should be in for the Feb trip, weather dependent. Out for June as I already have vacation plans. In for the multi-state run.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by DarcShadow » Mon Dec 10, 2018 12:33 pm

I might be in for the multi-state run, hopefully I'll have a bike by then, if not the Viper is always fun. Will have to see when it gets closer.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by fixxervi6 » Mon Dec 10, 2018 1:10 pm

February will be tricky due to weather, I've been in Big Bend when it's 75 and the snow is flying up here.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by Tooner » Mon Dec 10, 2018 9:02 pm

fixxervi6 wrote:Not planned out yet but putting it on the calendar so it can be planned

February - moto camping trip to big bend, dual purpose/ADV trip
This will be a long weekend trip, maybe take off a Friday and a Monday haven't figured out all of the logistics yet and will be highly weather dependent.

June - Utah Capital reef/Escalante/elephant mountain/white rim haven't figured it out yet but in that general area, I'll be on 4 so can act as support. I might have a second 4 wheel machine that can be taken.

Somewhere between June and September Colorado if I can squeeze it in (ouray) pure jeep run for me on this one
Sounds like my kind of fun. I'm a maybe for February. I may hike the Eagle Rock Loop in May.

I have my pathetic, 2 week, allowance of summer vacation already committed to 10 days of backpacking at Philmont Scout Ranch in July.

My best chances will be for CO in September.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by SputnikSam » Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:07 pm

Subscribed!
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by JeffStrom » Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:51 pm

I would be in for some of this, but we'll have to see based on particular dates and work demands.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by fixxervi6 » Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:41 pm

I'm going to big bend to boon dock December 23rd through 29th so that's my primary focus right now, I'm out of time to plan it.

but lets talk February since that's sneaking up fast

Last February temperatures in the month had high's of 62 - 85 degrees, I figure if we are in the same ballpark even on the low side that's perfectly acceptable, the rub is DFW, it gets damn cold and log rides in the cold suck bad cause it's hard to stay loose so it's like pain factor 1.75X

ideally I'd load up here and roll out with everything I need on the machine, tent, food, cloths, blow, water etc. and ride all the way to big bend on 50/50's, direct route is 550 miles and round about route is 700 miles, both of which are an ass beating because the 550 is slab, and the 700 is a long ass day. Camping sites are also first come first served without the ability to reserve in advance. Camping is cheap and there is free bulk water fill up at the headquarters, it's drinkable.

So the way I see it

option 1 suck it up and slab out, ~9 - 10 hours in the saddle, we would have to be rolling at 7:30am to be able to break camp before dark (gets dark about 6pm that time of year). This is the easiest since there are no other logistics to deal with, ride out, book the site, go to site, setup and freeze our asses off
option 2 camp 3/4 of the way there to break up the trip. The problem with this is we'll be quite a bit further north so we'll definitely freeze, and 3/4 of the way there, there ain't shit
option 3 grab a hotel 3/4 of the way there, like in alpine/fort stockton. My last trip down I left after work on Friday, stayed in Odessa, hit big bend on Saturday and stayed in fort stockton on the way back, then finished the drive Sunday and it worked out pretty good. I can stay in Odessa for free because I have mega points but for ya'll it would be damn expensive they price gouge badly all in that area so we'd have to dip south into fort stockton to avoid the ass rape of hotel prices in oil country. This option works out pretty good because we don't have to rush the first day and we can start the next day after a fresh sleep in a real bed with plenty of time to get to the park and break camp.
option 4, haul it. Makes it easy to make big bend in one shot but logistics suck, where do you keep the truck how do you haul the stuff, even the trailer could only handle two pigs in it at most. What do you do with the trucks - the campsites are small, but if we have a mechanical or a get off that results in a mechanical at least we have an easy way to get it back. If I hauled down I'd probably take my camper too but that's 1 bike and 1 camper max for that haul.

Given option 3 is probably the most rounded non-crazy option -

Friday ride out to fort stockton, dipping down through san angelo would allow us to avoid i-20 slab to see some other slab with some small towns here and there, it's slower but breaks it up a bit.

Saturday, ride into the park, pay entry fee, hit the headquarters and get camping permit with camping reservation. Depending on the site chosen, just getting to the site would be "an adventure" of it's own so that would most likely take the day Saturday, for example if we stayed at telephone canyon we'd have to go through the north part of the park, then into the park after stopping at panther junction for permits and shit, then down to old ore road and up into telephone canyon, Jim can tell you about old ore road, we wouldn't be breaking any speed records and lifting a fully loaded GS off the ground will be work.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/29.3471 ... c5!1m0!3e0

Sunday choose our poison, if we've had enough off road we can go down through presideo (AMAZING RIDING) then back up to fort stockton or fort davis (all good riding up through there) or we can head out to glenn springs and try to get to mariscal mine ( or whatever)

Then Monday haul our busted asses home the rest of the way with some time left at the end of the day to sit on frozen peas and unwind


The park -

Roads I refuse to do on the GS: River road (SSSAAAAAAAND), probably Old Maverick depending on the condition, last I was down it I wouldn't even take my truck or jeep it was so bad, painted gap, and black gap. Black gap wouldn't be bad until we got to the gap, it is probably passable real careful right now, but it's degrading fast. I've scouted most of the camp sites, anything up pine canyon and grapevine hills is good to go, old ore road, telephone canyon all good as well. Black gap has good stretches of sand too so, you know, I don't like that anyway.

No speeding - extra special ticket since it's federal land (I'll speed anyway) but don't say I didn't say so

animals - all of the camp sites have bear boxes at them, for good reason. I've had a bear walk no more than 15 feet in front of me there before. So I don't suggest you wear bacon to bed, if you do, let me know so I can setup a go-pro and move further away that night.

weather - it can get BAD down there and COLD so we'll have to play it by ear all the way up to the date, but I have been down there in shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of winter before.

If you haven't been to big bend your missing out. It isn't the most amazing place I've been, but it's pretty amazing and in our back yard (relative in Texas distances)
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by fixxervi6 » Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:47 pm

Oh and my YJ just fucking broke down so I'm back down to 1 jeep
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by dufremle » Wed Dec 12, 2018 9:56 pm

What happened to the yj?
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by fixxervi6 » Thu Dec 13, 2018 5:49 am

I dunno, coil wire or something like that, running on 5 cylinders now
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by dufremle » Thu Dec 13, 2018 8:28 am

fixxervi6 wrote:I dunno, coil wire or something like that, running on 5 cylinders now
Time to trade it in on a new Rubicon :-)
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by JeffStrom » Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:06 am

Reminder, Motorcycle ADV camping expo this weekend. Going to check it out.

https://www.motorcycleadvshow.com
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by JeffStrom » Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:28 pm

JeffStrom wrote:Reminder, Motorcycle ADV camping expo this weekend. Going to check it out.

https://www.motorcycleadvshow.com
Don't bother.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by fixxervi6 » Sat Dec 15, 2018 7:14 pm

If it was like the last one, pretty weak
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by dufremle » Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:45 am

JeffStrom wrote:
JeffStrom wrote:Reminder, Motorcycle ADV camping expo this weekend. Going to check it out.

https://www.motorcycleadvshow.com
Don't bother.
Not any good?
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by JeffStrom » Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:58 am

Not worth the time.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by Tooner » Mon Dec 17, 2018 8:11 am

Do you have dates for the February adv ride?
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by JeffStrom » Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:28 am

Feb Trip Comments: (just thinking out loud)

Feb average temperatures in Fort worth are 40 F low and 61 F high, which is doable. Have good gear, stop every hour or so and I will be fine, those of you with heated grips and seats and stuff will be golden. Now it could be colder than that, even below freezing first thing in the AM at departure time so that could be an issue. Lowest temperature in February this year was 23 deg F at 7am. That, I think, would be a problem. OTOH there were a couple days where it was over 65 F by 7am. Big bend shows a February temperatures can get down into the high 30 F range.

Sun up in mid Feb in Fort Worth is about 7am, sundown around Big Bend is listed at around 7pm, but that's the pitch black time, it will be getting dark before that. If it is cold early on that may slow us down if we stop more to warm up. I show 7.5 hours actual rolling time from White Settlement to the north entraceif we do all slab, not including stops for food/warmth. Don't know how far from there, but I'm coming around to the hotel stop option. I don't have a preference for Odessa vs. Fort Stockton, I can make either work and right now I'm not seeing huge differences in rates. But I'm not opposed to camping en-route either.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by dufremle » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:45 pm

My sleeping bag is rated for 40 degrees. If I wear my freeze out onesey suit I might be able to do a bit less than that. Like 1 or 2 degrees. Lower than that I'll need a hotel.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by fixxervi6 » Mon Dec 17, 2018 8:46 pm

Tooner wrote:Do you have dates for the February adv ride?
Nothing solid yet, for me its going to depend on work and weather.

One of our biggest pipelines is in progress in new mexico right now, if that keeps getting delayed I'll be screwed but I'm hoping to have more info in the coming weeks.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by JeffStrom » Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:43 pm

dufremle wrote:My sleeping bag is rated for 40 degrees. If I wear my freeze out onesey suit I might be able to do a bit less than that. Like 1 or 2 degrees. Lower than that I'll need a hotel.
From my past experience... If I eat a good meal with high energy food (e.g. pasta) the night before, I will sleep much warmer than if I just eat something fast. Many very health conscious people are eat-big-in-the-AM types, not wanting to let their body convert fuel to fat during the night, but if you are trying to push the temperature rating on your sleeping bag, it isn't a great idea. My metabolism isn't as high as it once was, so I don't know how well this would still work for me.

Another thing, getting into a marginally rated cold bag already feeling cold isn't going to do you any good. You may eventually warm it up, but you waste a lot of time and energy and may never achieve a really good sleep. If it isn't too cold out, a brisk walk with heavy clothes on will warm you up prior to getting into the bag, just be sure not to sweat, you don't want to sweat up the bag. If it is very cold out, and you are well fed, doing a few crunches or leg lifts in the bag will help speed the warming process.

Depending on what you have with you to carry water, you can heat water over a stove before bed time and put it in bottles or bags and put those in your sleeping bag to get the night started off right. ABSOLUTELY MAKE SURE YOU TRUST THE CONTAINER TO REMAIN WATER TIGHT. If your bag gets wet, it is all over.

Make sure you have a good sleeping pad. Some air mattresses are comfortable but don't provide a lot of insulating value.

Don't forget other things you have with you that can help. If you have additional insulating layers (aside from long underwear or other thermal base layer) put that on the outside of the sleeping bag. Ideally it shouldn't be so heavy that it compresses the fill of the bag, and it should be breathable (I'd avoid Mylar space blankets) to avoid getting condensation between it and the bag (your body will lose moisture throughout the night). A fleece jacket or a sweatshirt thrown over the top will help some (thermal liner of your MC jacket?). If you know in advance your bag is going to be challenged, a cheap fleece throw on top of your bag will help significantly.

If your sleeping bag doesn't have a hood that cinches around your face you are going to lose a lot of heat through your head and neck. If you must use such a bag, be sure to wear something like a balaclava.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by JeffStrom » Thu Dec 20, 2018 9:51 am

Things could change but right now it looks like February 12th is going to be difficult for me to miss. If that ends up being the best weekend for everyone else I'll do my best to get out of it. Or maybe try to just turn around and head back Sunday, but that would suck.

I've never tried this, but another idea for helping in the sleeping bag, if buying a new one really isn't an option. This is cheap to try, I think it should work if your bag is just marginal and you have a tent or other wind protection. You'll need more than just one two pack per night. Put a couple down by your feet and a pair near/on your upper torso.
https://www.amazon.com/WORLD-BIO-Warmer ... pa?ie=UTF8
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by dufremle » Thu Dec 20, 2018 11:53 am

I haven't bought a new tent yet, but I'm planning on doing a dry run in my back yard using my old 3 person tent. Assuming the weather is similar to what we will have in Feb, it should be a good test to see if my pad and bag will keep me warm. It will also be a good test of my CPAP battery.

Since my sleeping bag has the hood I may need to use an older CPAP mask that goes over my nose. My current mask uses nasal pillows and the hose attaches to the top of my head.
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Re: Utah and Big Bend and stuff

Post by SputnikSam » Sat Dec 22, 2018 7:59 pm

Good info! Looking at some of the historical temperatures, seems it'll be similar to Utah back in May ~40-50 F at night... which means I'll need a warmer sleeping bag! :)
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