Getting lost, Klim, and Hardley Ableson's.

Day 3.

Woke up early, kind of excited for the day. Ate, broke camp, loaded up and was on the road by 8.

The Hog Catcher was rarin' to go.



While I was bumbling around in the dark the previous night I found a very small very dead tree. It didn't like me much...



The ride into Salmon was pretty good. Neat little town. Got out of town and was a 'goin...



And a goin...



and a goin some more... but wait. Ain't I sposed to be on the OTHER side of those mountains?!



DANG IT. I missed the turn back in Salmon, and now I'm in Leadore. 44 miles wrong. I could go on, I'm more than half way to my destination and this road will definitely get me there, but the road is looong and straight.

I'm going back.

Made it back to Salmon, filled up with gas, and got on the RIGHT road.

Thats better!





The Hog Catcher strikes again...



Mountains and me.



Fun!



THAT'S the side of the mountains I'm sposed to be on!



And then it got boring.



Miles and miles of desert.



There was NOTHING and NO ONE around. Turns out the Hog Catcher has some pretty long legs.

Saw this thing out on the desert- It's HUGE.



Turns out it was a hanger for the nuclear jet they were building back in the 60's(?). Now it's where they manufacture the depleted uranium armor for tanks.

Made it to Rigby pretty early even with the 90 mile detour, so I stopped at the Klim plant to see an old friend that works there. He took me on a tour and tried to sell me some new gear.

One of his bosses walked into the showroom while we were there- Told me I was a brave man to show up at a Klim factory wearing MSR pants. Good thing he didn't see my jacket or gloves!

It was plenty cool. Got a stack of free stickers too. I'll explain the Hardley in a minute... Took this picture on the way back when the parking lot was empty.



After the tour I headed over to my Brother's house. He lives about a a mile away. He was still at work so I got to hang out with Ridge, who was having a hard time letting me take a picture of him...



So my brother "won" a Hardley rental at a benefit auction. I rode in to meet him at the dealership. Should have seen the looks I got when I parked the Hog Catcher in the special motorcycle parking. Then I put on my propeller head hat and got outright laughter.



My brother with the dealer guy checking out his new ride.



He may be taller than me but I'm much better looking.

Got it figured out, and after the Harley guy and some other random dude got done drooling over my bike (What the H$&* is it?!) we headed back to his house.



Map of the day. Notice the big long spur out to the east. Whups.



Day's done!



Totals for the day:

Odo start: 57,394
Odo end: 57,837
Total Day 3: 443 miles.
TOTAL: 1,142 miles.

Money spent (Gas, Lunch, Gas, Campground): $25.69

Lots cheaper today for a couple of reasons- Only bought one tank of gas (barely), and didn't have to pay for a campground because I got to sleep in a bed!

Day 2: Hank the squirell and the Three Frogs.

Day 2.

Left Rainbow Point campground by Donnelly about 10:00. Slept in a bit, felt good. I'm not in any hurry and don't really have anywhere to be, so why not enjoy it?

Today's ride was pretty tame. It ended up being my shortest day as well. It was interesting to go through some of the towns- Riggins, the "White Water Rafting Capital of the World", then Hells canyon was definitely cool.



These are from near the top of Hells Canyon.





It was a looonnngggg hard pull to the top, but flying past all the cages struggling up the hill is what makes it so much fun!



Then I saw THIS:



Thought I'd died and gone to heaven! It turned out to be a bit of a let down... It was a fun road but their definition of "winding" was pretty tame. It went on for miles and miles... little twist left, little curve right. little curve left, little twist right. On, and on, and on...

And then I got a bee IN my eyeball. Tried to take a pic but apparently I managed to blink it all out. Hurt for a couple of days after.

Note to self: VISOR DOWN. Even with the windshield on!



I had stopped in White Bird (?) at a grocery store and bought some lunch. Made it to this campground- Wendover, and stopped to eat. Nice shady place, superb campground, with great water right out of the hand pump well!



Movin on...



Moooovin on! (lyrics by MxPx?)



I did hit one INCREDIBLE stretch of road- Hwy 13 between Grangeville, Id and Kooskia, ID. AWESOME. Made the entire day worth it! Even managed to scrape the pegs on both sides a time or two through there.

I *really* wanted to ride up Hwy 14 to Elk City, because I've heard it is a great road. I stopped and debated, but decided I didn't have time for an extra 100 miles.

In hindsight, I should have done it. Ah well, something to do next year.

Oh look, rain again?



And right where I'm headed...



I made it all the way through Lolo, MT and down past Hamilton to my campground- the Three Frogs on Lake Como.



I thought the lake was going to be teeny, but it was actually a very good sized lake. Had the campground mostly to myself too!

All set up:





Was sittin there in my chair and I heard a *thunk* over by my bike. Turned around to see this little guy...



He was intent on getting into my food... I named him Hank. He climbed up tires, he climbed up the kickstand, he just couldn't quite make it. Then he tried jumping- and smashed right into the side of the case.



He got a little smarter and eventually jumped up on the passenger peg and then into the case.



Think he wants to go for a ride?



Lake Como was great. I was super hot so I even went down and jumped in the lake for a bit. Felt awesome, and it was hot enough that I dried off lickety split. Good thing, I didn't bring a towel.

There's where I jumped in:



Went for a hike that evening around the lake. Made it about a mile up and then turned around but found all sorts of cool stuff-

Moonrise:



Sunset:





Deer:





Some goofy guy with a propeller head:





Ducks:



and finally, bedtime.





End of the day:



Totals for the day:

Odo start: 57,062
Odo end: 57,394
Total Day 2: 332 miles.
TOTAL:  699 miles.

Money spent (Gas, Lunch, Gas, Campground): $56.92.

Was hoping to keep the costs bellow that... Part of the reason for this trip was to get a better feel for the expense entailed- I WOULD eventually like to ride to Alaska you see.

Day 2 done!