1983 The Original Stray Cat Tour
by C. C. Crow
All photos copyright C. C. Crow
6-3 MON
Left home (Everett, Wash.) 10:30 a.m. - cloudy. Mid-afternoon
stopped and Fred and Irene's (my aunt and uncle in Portland).
Roseberg- p.m. $20 room. 400 mile day.
6-4 SAT
Left 9 a.m. Met R. Cranston at rest stop, a BMW rider who wants me
to say hello to Bill Buckingham. CHIPs is bummed out at me for
going 75 mph. Had bigger fish to fry (guy going about 90) but
gives me horizon to horizon look. Yes sir. Arrive Sunnyvale - 9:20
p.m. Rooti was at burger world, met Steve. 500 mile day.
6-5 SUN
Head east. Slide to first- "safe", on oil slick. Endlessly windy
road to YOSEMITE - Tioga Pass closed (snow). Lucked into valley
floor campground due to floods (as seen on TV). Introduced to
blazing "Canadian-style" fire. Rivers and waterfalls are really
beautiful. Raging.
6-6 MON
Check out valley. Move to Wawoma - south of Yosemite. Had large
campfire, loss beers in river.
6-7 TUE
Kern River via Fresno, through sugar pines. Pass Kings Canyon but
not in. Stop at Jack's Motorcycle shop, buy rear shocks. Rooti's
engine- Rooti-tunes.
6-8 WED
DEATH VALLEY via Mt. Whitney. Softball game at Stove Pipe Wells.
Steve losses his watch. My stomach is upset (heat).
6-9 THUR
LAS VEGAS - Frontier Hotel. Room 736, no air conditioning, move to
716. Gambled and loss money ($35).
6-10 FRI
Go to Big Al's motorcycle shop, buy tank bag. Change lower plugs.
6-11 SAT
GRAND CANYON - North Rim. - met Rooti's brother Courtney at 7 p.m.
Hot-dogs. Stomach finally settles.
6-12 SUN
Left Hermits Rest at 12:30. 5:30 Hermits Creek Camp. Beat. Sleep
under sky. Rooti forgot purification tables. We bum eleven from
ranger. Get scolded.
6-13 MON
Rooti wakes to find scorpion on his bag. Courtney hikes back out.
We go on to Hermit Rapids on the Colorado River. Saw small
rattlesnake on way. Steve bums a beer from rafters. Legs ache.
6-14 TUE
Climb back to Hermits Creek. Meet Larry the Lizard. Squirrel kicks
my ass, scored direct hit on trail mix right through the top of my
pack. Swim in small pools. Crushed garbage into small sack. Kill
ants. Eat most of food. Rest.
6-15 WED
Climb out of canyon. Left at 5:30 a.m. Kept up with Steve and
Rooti most of the way but died at top last mile. They leave me
behind and were out at 10:20. Took me another hour.
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A Bad Indian Story
So I'm hiking along, thinking I needed a mule. My legs ache,
my pack grinds down upon my shoulders. My head's down
pondering the path before me when there's a voice, it's Rooti,
telling me I'm almost there. And "there is a refreshment stand
right over there".
A refreshment stand? Wow, that sounds nice.
Outside I dig through my entire pack to find my wallet buried
deep at the bottom. We haven't needed a wallet or money for three days.
Now suddenly I desperately need it.
Finally in line a couple are just leaving when the young guy in
front of me, an Eastern Indian (not a native North American Indian),
slaps his hand down on the counter and says he'll have a bag of chips
and a candy bar.
The clerk turns around to retrieve the snacks, turns back
with them and says that will be one dollar. The Indian states that
when he walked up to the counter he smacked down a dollar and the
clerk already has it.
An argument ensues which is very upsetting to me.
My dry mouth is savoring a hot-dog, washed down with an ice cold
lemonade and these guys are arguing over a dollar. One stupid dollar.
They go back and forth. I put the dollar on the counter and you took
it. Sir, I did not. You never gave me a dollar. If I had a gun I would
settle the arguement. I would shoot the Indian. He clearly did not
give the clerk a dollar. Fortunately, for him I didn't have a gun but
I did have a dollar so I reached in with it and said "Here, I'll pay."
At first the clerk is saying no, I don't need to do that and the Indian
is thanking me profusely, he's thanking me and my mother and the holy cows
in our front yard. I won't even acknowledge him, looking directly at the
clerk, my dried face and three day scruff demanding service. Without any
more words the clerk understands and asks me what I'll have. "A hot dog
and two lemonades."
"Right away, Sir."
The Indian is still thanking me as I indulge in the first sip. I
suck the cup dry instantly still ignoring him and biting into the most
delicious hot dog I have ever eaten.
|
Camp at the Grand Canyon South Rim campground. Eat charcoal
broiled steaks. Early a.m. I had nose bleed but it quickly stops.
6-17 THUR
LAKE POWELL - camped at Wahweap near Page. Steve chases around a
14 year old. Luckily he didn't catch her. BQ chicken. Camp has
water by each tree. Check out boat rentals. NA
6-18 SAT
ZION NP via Kanab. Eat root beer floats at Tequila Shela's. See
tons of BMWs (rally). Change top plugs. Eat ham and cheese. Go on
ice cream run at 10:45.
6-19 SUN
Zion. Scratch North Rim. French toast. Check out Narrows. Then go
to Emerald Pools. Fried Californians. No photos. Pools were real
nice. Eat hot dogs and beans. Photo run to checkered board mesa.
6-20 MON
Zion. Fried eggs. Rode with Jim to St. George looking for 1 hour
photo. Shop. Hike to Angles Landing- photos. 2.5 miles up. Picked
up Swiss girls, give ride to campground. Spaghetti.
6-21 TUE
Zion a.m. Play ping pong while doing laundry. Steve sees Swiss
chicks at P.O. Leave for Bryce Canyon. See bus across highway.
Camp 394 sunset. Eat salami sandwiches, roam campground at night.
Poor food selection.
2-22 WED
BRYCE CANYON Walked Fairyland Loop trail. Very mushroonic. 8 mile
w/ walk from CG. See Swiss chicks again. Ride to Topic looking for
food. Not much there. Enough for tacos. Stop by river for
firewood. Tons of it. Walked down Queens Garden, up Navajo to
sunset. Eat tacos. BMW 100/7 next camp.
6-23 THUR
Leave 9 a.m. north over gravel road. Rooti is bummed (gravel).
Coyote skins tacked to fence. Plane TB cliff plateau (?) Grain
mill. Stairs. Stop at Koosharem store. Freemont River to Capitol
Reef. Very cool cliffs. Gray and brown, Golden crowns. Hanksville.
South to Glen Canyon- LAKE POWELL. Camp Bullfrog Basin. Check out
marina and boat rentals. Orange sky. Big wind storm. Steve and
Rooti climb hill. Eat chicken over fire. Boat City.
6-24 FRI
LAKE POWELL - Debate what to do. Weather looks gray. ?Rent boat at
Bull Frog. $24 Tin Can plus gas. Go to store for milk, have French
toast. Decide to take boat. Where else to go? We're here.
Investigate Moki Canyon. Pretty cool. Back south to explore rock
canyon. Water is warm. Returning home we run into head wind and
waves. Just make it back to dock, gas and store. Rain with wind.
Hot-dogs for dinner. Storm dies down.
6-25 SAT
My birthday. Rain. I'd like to move on. Rooti doesn't. Probably
best but I'm bored. Want to go or do something. Anything. Just
hang around camp. Our tens are wet. Cook French toast anyway. Go
to store and check weather. Eat sandwiches, 3 types of cookies.
Meet "Two Bells Delania", rangerette.
6-26 SUN
Break camp- Steve leaves early and will meet us at Arches. He's
decided he needs a new tent and a razor. Rangerette charges us cut
rate $2 camp fee. Leave Bull Frog at 10:30. Stop at Hite Crossing.
Natural Bridges is very nice and we would have stayed except for
rendezvous with Steve. Rain storm looms ahead but not bad. Meet
BMW from Tucson in Blanding. Eat. 30 miles of road work. Blast up
to MOAB. No campsites at Arches at 4 p.m. We go to Dead Horse
Point CG, mosquito world. Steve shows us his new tent. We take a
food run to Moab. Thunderstorms. Meet BYU rangerette. Meet
Gabriel, West German girl traveling solo on Honda 400. She's been
all over world by herself. Talk and eat pork chops for dinner.
6-27 MON
French toast. Drive up to ARCHES NP. Explore Courthouse towers,
Devil's Garden. Walk to Landscape Arch, Double O Arch. Find Rooti
Box Canyon. The sandstone rocks roll up and down. Strange fins and
shapes. Very cool place. We climb up ribs and explore top. Take
cross country route back. Partician Arch. Bird. Ribs for dinner.
6-28 TUE
Eggs for breakfast, break camp and head for Grand Junction. Steve
wants MC tires. Closed Sunday. See car being towed- blown tire and
rolled down hill. Go to Mesa Mall. River is flooded by Interstate.
1 hour photo. Eat bad soup. Play vidiot machines. Cycle shop-
Steve gets tire. Rooti and I want to go to Montrose for BMW
dealer. No tires, in transit, maybe tomorrow. We stay overnight in
Black Canyon Motel. Thunderstorm. Steve forgot saddlebag! Must
return to GJ. Rooti may go have to go for tire but they won't
coordinate. I often wonder. Rooti calls his friend Buck. Watch
news. Walk to pizza- I'm good and pissed.
6-29 WED
Steve leaves early for GJ. Rooti goes to laundromat, doesn't say
anything. Goes to bike shop, no tire. I call home, shower, goof
off. We try tire again, still no luck, go to lunch. Rooti leaves
for GJ but finds a tire in Delta, half way. Steve and I go to
Ouray/Silverton. Steve sleeps in field while I walk around and
take pictures. Train station is closed. Camp at Purgatory CG.
6-30 THUR
Wake up at 6 a.m., tea and Rooti bars. 6:25 leave for Silverton.
Drive for half hour and buy tickets. Take bus into Durango for
9:25 a.m. train. DRG&W NARROW GAUGE RR Steve and Rooti graze. Get
milk and donuts. Car 28, seats 19,20&24. Loco 481, a class K-36
Mikado. We are in first coach right behind loco. Watch tender rock
back and forth. Cinders in my eyes. Every once in a while someone
yells out the f-word. Sounds like a lady. Weird. Finally, without
really turning around and waiting, we discretely figure out it is
this old woman, some one's grand ma, who simply blurts out the
word "fuck" from time to time. She also spits out other sounds
from time to time, apparently uncontrollably. Later we learn its
called Turret's syndrome but this is our first exposure. The rest
of the trip when we're waiting in line somewhere or walking down a
trail one of use would yell it out. Poor woman. It was a great
train trip. Halfway I asked Rooti and Steve if it was okay. They
agreed it was a lot of fun. The little narrow gauge train worked
it way up the canyon, following the Animas River to Silverton.
There we wondered around and ate lunch before returning to camp.
Pork chops.
7-1 FRI
Break camp and ride down into Durango. Gas. Go to train depot for
postcards. SJ Decide to see Return of Jedi, get our q of movies.
Drive to Mesa Verde. Camp site %359 of 388. Drive back to Cortez
for groceries. Steaks for dinner. Relaxed.
7-2 SAT
MESA VERDE Drive out to far view. Go to Spruce Tree House. check
out cliff dwellings. Walk Pictograph trail. Met "the family". Rest
on rocks, get some sun. Go back to get ice cream and beers. Go to
cliff Palace. Need bread and Coleman fuel. Get stung by bee on
temple on way to Cortez. Couldn't dodge him! Stop at DQ. Come back
and take nap. Spaghetti for dinner.
7-3 SUN
Wake up, right eye is swollen. Eat and go to laundry. Write
postcards. Rooti changes his oil. Break camp. Ride to Pagosa
Springs. Stop for gas and eat. West of PS is condo city. Drive up
Wolf Creek Pass, very nice. Stop at summit. Come down to Del Norte
buy grocers. Ride north to Poncho Pass- 4th of July weekend.
Impossible to find camp site. Go into Mt. Princeton- all full.
Come back down to highway and stay at Fisherman's Bridge CG behind
teepees. Tunis One Eyed Tacos.
7-4 MON
Fourth of July. Wake up, right eye is worse, nearly won't open.
Fucking bees. With work I get it opened. Break camp after eating
Tunis toast. Ride to Leadville. Get gas. Take Fremont Pass, to
Climax, I-70, Loveland Pass, stop on top, watch skiers. Go down to
Georgetown. Drive up Brethoud Pass. Eat a Frazier. Eye is much
better. Had swelling all the way around forehead. Pressure and
much itching. Have to watch it. No more bees. Stop in Grandby for
food. Stop at lake but decide to go on into ROCKY MOUNTAIN NP.
Camp at Timber Creek. Call Condo.
7-5 TUE
Eye is back to normal. Pack up and head to Condo's. Rooti goes to
Fort Collins and job interview with Ball. Steve and I stop for
photos and pizza lunch. Stop at Boulder for parts. Check out fancy
hardware store. Ride to Condo's, arrive early, ride unicycle
around. Rooti and Brian arrive. Eat ribs. Seadog and Helen
(Condo's sister) plan to get married at Xmas.
7-6 WED
CONDOs Ride to Longmont to MC shop. Check out parts. Rear brake
res. is leaking. Squirts fluid when braking. No res. Rooti and
Steve go to YMCA to play ping pong. I ride to Denver and go to
train stores. Stop at Ward BMW. Buy rebuild kit- should be no back
pressure. Stop at grocery, chicken for dinner. Two chickens not
enough. Return for more. Longer ride than I thought. End up
burning chicken and only eat half. Have a good time anyway. Slide
show, Rooti w/ long hair.
7-7 THUR
Wake early, ride and climb Torry Peak. Left camera behind. Would
have been nice- Hike flats, go up right ridge, snow rocks. Reach
summit, beers and munchies. Walk down 400 ft and slide down snow
swoosh. Right leg gets sore down hill. I'm last one down- slow.
Everyone is ready but me. Change pants and bust down hill. Just
past Georgetown Steve's rear tire goes flat. Stop- no tools. Go
down to Idaho Springs, get wrench. Go back, remove wheel- return.
Go to cycle shop, small wait outside- girl helper. Fix tire
$25/hr. See dog at Pom Pom's Pet Grooming with curlers on bangs.
Return w/ tire. Put on, bust back to Condo's. Steaks and leftover
chicken for dinner.
7-8 FRI
Rooti goes for another Ball interview. I start reading The Right
Stuff. Wash dishes. Read some more. Go into town for groceries.
Cook spaghetti for dinner.
7-9 SAT
Relax, read more, do breakfast dishes. Drive up to Ward with
Condo. Go up to lake. Stop in town for groceries. Girl in
blue at store. Hippie shop. Return. Cheeseburgers.
7-10 SUN
Get up at ten till five. Ride to LONGS PEAK. 40 miles. Condo and
Seadog breeze along, know roads. An effort to keep up. Obstacle
course. Steve stayed behind because he has a blister. Start hiking
at 7 a.m. Trail goes through pines, switch-backs w/ logs across
path every ten or twelve feet. Cross stream. Trees begin to
shorten. More snow in spots. Boulder field at base of the mountain
has huge Winnebego rocks. Trail goes to right side through a key
hole. Rock shelter on other side is full of ice. Almost turned
around- not feeling good. Wind is gusting- trying to blow me off
mountain. Clouds are honking. One gust was enough that I couldn't
stand up. Pisses me off. Keep going. Lucky the wind died on the
other side and the trail stayed low. Cross snow and rocks. Then go
up sometimes using all fours. Cut across again and up to the top.
Great views. Eat smoked oysters, cheese, crackers, beers and
fruit. Its cold and windy. Stay 20 min. Head back down. Get to
steep part and slide in snow. Went to false key hole. Watch the
red and yellow dots, rock cairns. I'm below. Left behind. Have to
keep up. Stop three times. Crazy. Talked with chick from NC. Storm
clouds look pretty bad. Get to bikes and it begins to pour. No
rest. New obstacles, dirt, rain, potholes, sleet, fog. Welcome to
Colorado. Down a few at bar, groceries, back to Condo's. Eat
chili. Crash. Read.
7-11 MON
Get up and pack, moving to Fort Collins. Go to Boulder. Use rec.
area at school. Play ping pong. Grasshopper bummed. Shower. Steve
and Rooti go to Ball. Wait at DQ. Rooti gets job offer. Steve
applies as tech. 5:30 Rooti finally shows up. Bust to Buck and
Lindi's. Tacos for dinner. Cleaning Co.
7-12 TUE
Rooti and Steve go to Ball again. Leave me behind. This is a pain.
Has nothing to do with trip. Rooti has physical today. TB results
by Friday. It's fucked. Says we can go without him. We should.
Take ride out Peudre River, nice. Wash bike. Screw with oil, seal
leaks. Rooti has date with receptionist! Leaves Steve and I with
Buck, Rooti's friend. We make ice cream, strawberry, eat chicken
and go to movie, 007 Octopussy.
7-13 WED
Hang out some more in FORT COLLINS. Went to golf course to drive
some balls. K-Mart for film. Mailed stuff home. Drive to Longmont
and have dinner with Rooti's old CSU friends. Lights out on bike,
rear tail and right turn.
7-14 THUR
more of same. Rooti goes with Buck- we're not invited. Get food.
Go to movie, Twilight Zone.
7-15 FRI
Same. We fuck off in Fort Collins. I want to leave. Rooti says
okay but has to go to Ball a.m. Says he'll return by noon but it's
2 p.m. We want to go but Rooti thinks its going to rain. I'm about
to kill him. Wait till Saturday. Stating the obvious- I tell Rooti
he's stupid. (But its the other way around.) Wasted a whole week.
7-16 SAT
Leave Ft. Collins. Ride up Poudre River Canyon, Cameron Pass, to
high plains. Stop at Craig for groceries. Split Rock, river. To
Dinosaur NM. Camp at GREEN RIVER, dust campground. Burned out
spots, hill w/ kids, our radio's too loud at 7 p.m.
7-17 SUN
Leave for Flaming Gorge Res. Stop at dino quarry. Mushroom rocks
very happy. Walk. Road to Vernal is very nice. Steve's rear tire
goes flat at rest stop. We change it. South end of res. is very
nice, trees. North is desert. Go into Green River, Wyoming looking for
Courtney. Find his car but not him. Phone doesn't work. Eat at
Circle A. Stop at Safeway. OYGBYNCB. Liquor store. Ride back to
Buckboard Crossing and camp. Ham sandwiches.
7-18 MON
Pack up and go back to Green River, visit Courtney. Ride up to
TETONS. Go back to Hoback Canyon to camp. Many many tourists in
RVs. Many, many, many. Camp host tells us to watch for moose.
Yeah, right, moose in camp.
7-19 TUE
The Yellowstone 200. We decide to ride up to Yellowstone for the
day, sight see, wash bodies and clothes. It takes forever. Mass
RVs and cars. We pass them 3-4 at a time. They crawl. We go to Old
Faithful but there are no showers there, no laundry. At Old
Faithful. Watch OF blast off. Take short walk come back and wait
25 min. to see it again. Geyser girls. Blue and red. Mom and Dad.
See OF. Ride back to Jackson, do wash, play videos, back to camp.
7-20 WED
Go to Tetons. Ride to Genny Lake, hike 5.6 mile to SURPRISE LAKE.
Through trees, stop on hill side for views of valley, switch
backs, weirded out kid on rock, hey man. Sun ourselves at top.
eat. go to next lake. Rest. See packs- we could have stayed here?
Right hip is sore from downhill. Ride to Colter Bay for showers.
Back to Jackson camp.
Early morning hear noises. Put head out of tent to see what's
happening. Turn head to see Mrs. Moose next to picnic table. She
sees me and swings her head around right over me. Oh, Mrs. Moose!
Don't trample me. Baby moose is in back ground. I hide under
sleeping bag.
7-21 THUR
Run down Snake River, nice road, blast. Go by lake. trees to
shrubs. Idaho Falls, through town and out into desert, towards
Sawtooth Mountains. Lava beds and first nuclear plant. Test M-80.
Pops like nothing. Butte, stopped at rest area. Arizona, man,
Marigold County. Eat at Holy Ancient China God's Ontario, Ore.
Ride out to Bully Creek Campground. Nice valley at sunset. Big
campground, host family. Corn fed. Sit up, play Frisbee. Lake. RL
7-22 FRI
CRATER LAKE Ride east up river valley into desert. Have problem
with bike going into reserve- sputters. Okay with full tank. Stop
in Bend, grocery. 92 is busy hwy. Ride up to Crater Lake. Snow
still piled up around campground. Take site G-17. Steaks and
mosquitoes for dinner.
7-23 SAT
Wake and eat. Go to Kalamath Fort for Coleman fuel. Eat lunch
there. Return to camp, then go to Cleetwood Bay, hike down trail
to water. Very blue water. Strange rocks. Trees, snow, sky. Cliff
divers (nuts). Hike with girls going out. Back to camp, hot-dogs.
Amphitheater, Bird Snow song. Check out fuel system.
7-24 SUN
Break camp. Ride back up to lake, return Oregon beer cans for
refund. Drive to east end of lake. Talk with beemers. Photos. Ride
over to Oregon Caves NM. Stop at store. Spaghetti for dinner. Camp
host puts us all the way in corner, site #21, by river.
7-25 MON
Ride to OREGON CAVES. Lee is our guide. Mushroom Gods be very very
happy. Walk through caverns, bear, rooms, graffiti, bark on lodge.
Return and break camp. Go over mountain on new back road, very
nice bike route. Rooti almost looses it on sharp curve. Messing
with tape. Stop and think about it. Go on to Yreaka. Need rain
gear for I-5. Only for 20 miles or so and it stops. Ride by
Shasta. Stop at campground, all full, keep trying. Finally find
spot. Play Frisbee. Cook chicken.
7-26 TUE
Gramps tells us how to... fire. Break camp. Ride through Lassen
Peak NP. 89 to Lake Taco. Go to south shore. Room at travel lodge
three blocks from casinos. Eat w/Rooti at 10 p.m. Steve feels ill.
Loose $35. Quit at 2 a.m. Rooti hits green three times. It is his
birthday.
7-27 WED
LAKE TAHOE - South Shore State Line. Eat at buffet. Lounge around
pool too long. Get fried. Gamble at casinos. Eat at 5 p.m. Loose
another $15. Get tough. Wait for same color 3-4 times then bet
other. Build $20 into $100. QUIT. Rooti looses on green.
7-28 THUR
PARTY's OVER - Rooti gets up early and packs. We talk him into
staying for breakfast. Go to Harrah's, good food. Rooti splits.
Steve and I pack up. We say good-bye. I ride north along lake. Go
over mountain and down into Carson City- race way. See mud slide,
desert. Go through Reno. I head north without stopping. Eat at
Susanville. Cheeseburger, fries and a shake. Go by Shasta same
road. Hit I-5 to Roseburg, FAIR, cheap-O hotel, sunburn is bad.
Shower and sleep.
7-29 FRI
Leave Roseberg, go 100 miles and eat at diner- soup. Ride through
Portland, decide not to stop. Want to get home. Too bad its Friday
rush hour. Stop and go all the way into Seattle. Welcome home at 6
p.m. Tootes Cat greets me.
8800 miles in eight weeks and one day. $1600.00. Good job.
Next Log - 1984
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Cycle Tales
MOTORCYCLE TOUR LOG - 1983