• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

my weekend in photos... July 09, 2011

B

Bruce_H

Guest

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

my weekend in photos... July 09, 2011


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I was excited to start this ride as it will be the first time I have packed gear on the 650 Dakar for several days of riding. A shorter duration of miles traveled is in mind as two weekends ago I rode some fourteen hundred miles across Oregon on my GS Adventurer. I never know exactly where I am going so a check of the weather forecast is in order, all indications are that southern Oregon might be the best choice. On my way out of town I pick up something to eat, I don't carry food but choose to eat out or go hungry. I am not loosing weight so guess that strategy it is working. I don't have much experience with this bike for distance and gas mileage, the station is closed, I eat my sandwich and then head up to the overlook.


the shadows are getting long...

07_09_20110051.jpg



I was thinking of camping on this overlook but the mosquito situation has changed my mind...

07_09_20110021.jpg



the sun is setting on my way back down, I still need to find a place to camp...

07_09_20110171.jpg

I found a place to camp for the evening but the mosquito situation wasn't much better. In this rest stop I know that the sprinklers come on sometime in the night so place my tent on the gravel drive. I wake up as one of the sprinklers begins to bounce water off the concrete picnic table nearby and into my tent. I didn't put on a rain fly so it just splashed thru the netting. Getting up I drag my tent out farther into the drive then crawl back inside.

Drifting to sleep the next sound is a LOUD call I can't describe very well, GAWK!... It is most likely a bird living in the wetlands or else one that is about to get eaten. Back to sleep for what seems like a short duration, across the street a truck comes by to make a delivery at the local store. In a short amount of time the sky will lighten, still I hope there are a few more winks of sleep before that happens.

No one is up in as I start my day, no gas either. The next town isn't awake yet, a sign in the window of the gas station says they open at eight. I could go for breakfast but the restaurant doesn't open until eight either. Thought cowboys got up early? Onward but how far will this bike go? I dun-know... It is a nice morning and as I pull into the next town they have gas, YES! I fill and then look for breakfast, after I will look for a hot spring or two. What will today bring?

I rode out here to look for a hot spring that I never found...

07_09_20110211.jpg



I stopped at this hot spring for a quick soak...

07_09_20110452.jpg

I needed to get gas and something to eat but the sky is darkening and the wind was starting to blow. Soaking in the spring I could see lightening in the distance, wonder if it is a good idea to be in here? Thinking it was time to move on I got dressed and headed out. Didn't get very far when in the distance I could see lightening pummeling the plateau below. Some of the strikes were three at a time, don't think I should go down there until it passes.

In time it moves off and I ride down the ridge to the valley below, around the next mountain it is still raining so have to wait a bit. I ride out to a favorite hot spring where the ground is very wet. There is water everywhere, in places flowing across the road. The spring is the color of coffee with cream, filled with muddy run off from the downpour. Gas and something to eat are waiting in the distance, so I hope.


remember that likely situation of better weather in southern Oregon? well might not be...

07_09_20110551.jpg

The storm has passed on and blue sky abounds. I soak in this hot spring then move on. The ground is wet from the passing storm and on my way out instead of going around the puddle I decide to ride thru, big mistake. Instantly I was down and covered in that slick cream colored snot. Wasn't the smartest thing to do, now to pick up the bike. I couldn't get much footing so unloaded everything to lighten the load. Chances of someone coming by to help were slim to none. By now I am covered in sticky mud so decide to ride back a ways and clean up. There is a spring that has been well headed and just runs into the desert. I can clean up there and then hang my clothes to dry. The clear blue sky doesn't last and the wind starts to blow, several more thunder storms pass, one bringing hail. The ice pellets explode on contact with the ground, not very frozen do you think? Eventually they pass and it clears up for the evening. I head back to the spring where I had soaked earlier in the day to spend the night.

a favorite hot spring in the desert...

07_09_20110691.jpg

The next morning I am off, breakfast is the first order and I know just where to get it. Not as warm as the day before and no clouds either. Hope the thunder storms have gone away. On my way past the desert I find it is flooded, won't be camping here. Water extend all the way across and to each end, I have never seen so much. Might be very late in the year before it will be possible to get onto the playa.

water water everywhere...

07_09_20110811.jpg



a soak in this hot spring is in order, I have it all to myself...

07_09_20110891.jpg



I venture out to these springs, very eerie to walk across this landscape as the crust is thin and sounds as if it is hollow...

07_09_20111031.jpg



there is life here, sparse but not barren...

07_09_20111071.jpg



this water is very hot, almost boiling...

07_09_20111251.jpg




07_09_20111641.jpg


At the end of the day I tried to drive thru the woods but my map and the roads didn't jive. They split in places and weren't marked so back to town and a place to camp, another hot spring for sure. This one isn't real warm so I don't spend much time in the water, still a nice place to camp. I had picked up a sandwich from Subway while in town, most appreciative to have. In the morning I wake up to glorious sunshine. Won't be as warm today but still very nice. After breakfast and gas I will try the route thru the woods again. Somewhere out here there are rock trucks!?... They are paving the frigging road? I thought we didn't have any money? Guess they found some to spend, have the road to nowhere paved on Saturday! Go figurer.

My distance on this weekend was nine hundred and sixty five miles, much more than I thought possible on this bike in the comfort that I had. Guess it will make a good addition to my garage! Still think is should have had a bigger gas tank but I can add some one gallon peg packers for peace of mind. I still need to get tools to change a flat tire, in any case ready to ride I am.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bruce H, thanks for riding along...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


.
 
Thanks for the responses. It was a very nice ride and who would have thought that little bike would take me so far.
 
Harry, I have a Canon 5D and on this ride I used a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. I do take other lenses when I am riding the Adventurer but the Dakar doesn't have as much spare space.
 
Harry, I have a Canon 5D and on this ride I used a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. I do take other lenses when I am riding the Adventurer but the Dakar doesn't have as much spare space.

Thanks.

That's a nice camera. I have a Canon G2 and am thinking of going to a DSLR.

Harry
 
Back
Top