Wet a line, get big time Omega's

Fishing for Rainbow Trout during our first two weeks was the best ever.

Up near the "tree line", elevation 9000 feet at water's edge, the fishing was incredible. Only half full from the August dry spell, spent the first hour with line and split shots casting around to find the drop offs. After that came the first 15" rainbow. In 10 minutes, another. 5 minutes later, one more, the next two within a few minutes. Honey hole. Could have caught 200 lbs by sunset, but we left 'em biting. Returned the next day in a driving rainstorm and bagged another limit. The fishing was h-o-t.

You can camp free, nearly anywhere, but... beware.

 

Amazing how few people know we're free to camp anywhere inside any US national forest. Set up a couple hundred feet off the road (if there is one), set up camp, eat, fish, bury any dukey, and live life large. This is remote country, inhabited by wild animals, including humans. Some campers feel safe without packing. That would not be ABM. Due to dry weather (until lately), bears are on the prowl, venturing well outside their normal range. BIG tracks are abundant. We had to stop for one crossing the road in front of where we were camped. They aren't trying to eat people, they just want sugar, honey, preserves, anything to bulk up for winter, including trout, a good reason to match up a small cannon with your fishin' gear, just to scare 'em off, not to kill, unless it gets ugly. Nearby Pagosa Springs, Colorado is on the edge of some of America's wildest country. A homeowner returned to find his pantry and kitchen had been bear-ransacked. He spent the rest of that Sunday afternoon cleaning up, then settled down for a good night's rest. At 4am, the bear returned, smashing out a window to gain entry. Since most residents are firearms owners,

it was not a nice second visit for the black bear.

You never need a gun until you..need a gun.

Around 2am, a lone dude allegedly wandered into a remote camp, some six miles off the beaten path, occupied by two local college students. Shot(s) were fired, one student lay dead. Deputies say they recovered a firearm. The dude is in lock down, we hear it may be for murder in the first. We're camped less than six miles from the scene of this crime. We choose the bear option.

Dude, this is truly hard core:

So we're blasting down a desert four lane, en route to the Moki Dugway, and Mexican Hat, Utah. We leave early. It's 85 by 9am. Off to the side of the road, 3 dudes drinking what I cannot fathom..I chalk it up to excessive bugs on the goggles. Next afternoon, the local "police blotter", shows a dude is busted for shoplifting a giant economy size bottle of "Listerine". They detained him, but not before he chugged most of the bottle for it's reputed 50% alcohol content. Wild country, wild people/animals, yet we're not sure the high country is any more dangerous than our city where it isn't unusual to cap a murderous weekend with one to three.

We don't take chances there, either, and it's not the gun, it's the brain (or lack of) behind it. Ban the brain.

BMW Dualies Are Everywhere:

And these bikers have discretionary money. Check out this pic from an alpine campground where we stopped to catch dinner. Couple arrived, cramped as hell between them and the equipment. They paid the same fee as that gonzo-bus parked next door, for the privilege of having electricity.

Dual sport motorcycles aren't the most comfortable bikes for cruising, especially in a cramped two up deal, and aren't intended for hard core trail busting, but they do a little of both well enough to attract a growing number of bikers who want to ride to the trails instead of loading a dirt bike into a pickup truck. Each year, we see more of these combo off-on road bikes. We bet cash money the orient big three are losing dualie market share to German cage/bike maker BMW. Dude, they're everywhere you look, alone, in pairs, in packs. We get the feeling many are converted cruiser riders, 'cause most wave to us.

As we always say, it's not what you ride, it's that you ride.

ABM is camped around 20 miles south of Silverton, Co, at the base of the "Million Dollar Highway". There is no way to predict the weather up here, so take whatever you wake up to. F-t around if it sucks, ride when it doesn't.

 

If you can only make one trip in a lifetime, the "Four Corners" of America is a great choice.

 

One tank day trips:

From the point where Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico meet, one tank of gas will take you to desert so arid, almost nothing can grow without irrigation. Caves and canyons of the Ancients are everywhere. New Mexico surprises as the scenario changes from desert to lush green hay fields, back to desert again, you never know what's over the next small ridge. Then there's Colorado, where places like Lizard Pass will make an unadjusted, carburated motorcycle choke on it's own fuel. At 11,000 feet you strain for enough air to chop a pile of ponderosa pine for the evening. By the time you are truly used to no air, it's time to head back to 5 feet above sea level. Compared to the high life, ocean side breathing is like akin to a hospital oxygen tent.

What's happening with the "Four Corners" mc rally.

What used to be a huge gathering of up to 100,000 bikers, small by Sturgis/Daytona measure, had fallen on hard times, due to a festering feud between the local tribe and cowboy dudes. Much as we wish they'd settle their differences, to bring back the huge biker crowd of the early 2000's, we skeptical. No one wins until both sides tell the lawyers to take a hike. An ABM thanks to the dudes at Durango HD for speedy service on a busted valve stem. One of the shop guys seemed to think the ongoing Hatfield-McCoy rally deal was over. We don't see it that way..yet.