UTAH...
I've made some great friends over the years, and my comrades Keith, Garrett and Joe are some of the greatest.
The four of us hatched a plan to head to southern Utah for 3 short days of motorized chaos. We chose Utah because it was in the "middle" of all of us. Joe drove from Nebraska to Colorado where he met Keith, who came from New Mexico, and together they drove 12 hours to Utah. Garrett came from central Idaho and drove 13 hours. I started in southern California and drove 7 hours. Pretty even, I'd say, considering that I had to drive through the Mojave desert.
I left Los Angeles on Thursday at 7am. It took 4 hours to get to Las Vegas.
I made a pit-stop at the Husky dealer to pick up a 14 tooth countershaft sprocket because I knew I'd be needing more low end control to follow Garrett and Keith in the technical spots.
Another 2 hours northeast of Vegas I hit Cedar City, where hwy 14 takes you up into the mountains, toward Brianhead ski area and our destination, Duck Creek ohv.
I was the first to arrive at the Duck Creek campground (8700 ft elev.) about 40 miles east of Cedar City. This place was really spectacular. There were trails everywhere.
Keith and Joe showed up around 4pm. We shared a beer and some laughs.
The one and only Turfdraagster
Joe - Diesel Mechanic & Great Wall Erector.
Garrett didn't show up until 3 am Friday morning. More beer, more laughs.
BTW, Garrett lives the good life.
The dirt was our food and the beer our water.
Well, not actually. We did eat breakfast and drink coffee.
From camp, Duck Creek Village was a short 2 mile drive or a fun 4 mile 4x4 trail.
Fun Fun Fun.
The trails were long and straight with some fun curvy sections, but for the most part, the riding was moderate, relaxing and fun.
We'd come back to camp to tinker and refresh.
There is always something to be fixed, tightened or improved on these moto trips.
Keith fixes a slow leak.
The culprit was obvious...
Garrett stitched the giant crack in his tail fender with a nail, some stove gas and bailing wire.
This worked like a champ and the bailing wire came in handy when we needed to hot-wire the Husky.
The new neighbors were kind enough to let us know what we could expect from them.
It was great to see old friends, catch up and spin some dirt in each others eyes. The trip was a total success.
Well, except for my trusty Husqvarna.
This is how my bike started.
I was plagued by problems. The new lynx headlight fairing broke off on my first ride of the trip. The base bolt sheared off at the triple-clamp and the fairing began flapping like a leaf in the wind.
No problem there, just remove the entire contraption.
It was the unexplained electrical issues that stopped me dead, 15 miles out on beautiful trail #7, my last ride of the trip. Getting out was a real challenge. Keith had to tow me most of the way with a 6ft tie-down and on a motorcycle, that's no simple task. I lost the bike once and jumped off just in time to watch Keith drag the husky like a roped calf. We made it to hwy 89 right as it got dark and soon became stranded on a lonely turnout. After some deer crossing the road jokes, a few inappropriate stories and a funny mishap that re-broke my kickstand, a sheriff spotted me wrapped up in my silver space blanket and stopped to check in. We ditched the bikes in the bushes and the copper took us back to camp.
Earlier, Garrett and Joe had left us to go get the truck with the intent of driving it down the 4x4 trail and picking up my dead bike. But with Keith's towing abilities, we were able to get out of the forest. So Garrett and Joe searched the woods for two hours, finally seeing our tracks to the road and heading back to camp.
Garrett and Joe pulled up 10 minutes after the sheriff dropped us off, and when we saw them coming, I asked the cop to cuff us for their arrival and he said, "should I have you at gun point?" We laughed and decided that would've been a little much. After the fact, I think we should have done it anyway.
If you look carefully you can see the weld that fixed the last crack.
By the time the trip was over, the te610 didn't run and looked like some bad custom job.
Oh well...Sh*t happens.
