Escape From the Prison Planet

[DRIVEN]

I ran to the Owyhee store for a delicious gas station burrito then hit Tunnel Canyon.


If I can locate the front half to this Model A I'm coming back for this thing.



I don't completely trust OnX yet. I made a few side spurs that ended up going nowhere. There was one that maybe used to be a road but I eventually ended up just following a cattle trail. It did eventually get me to a real road though.

On my way back though Succor Creek I nailed a couple big rocks. One bent my shifter forward and the other bent my left peg mount back. Made for some interesting shifts. About 10 miles from home I came to a water crossing I did about 3 years ago. It was deep and I stalled out. Since I'm 3 years wiser now, I bypassed that and found another that looked to be only about 8" deep. Well, the water was, but the silt on the bottom was another 12" deep. I ended up knee deep in sludge and high centered on a rock but managed to climb out the other side.
I found this if any of you guys are interested.




Last landmark I passed on the way back to the barn was the Poison Creek stage stop. I fear this building probably won't be around much longer.


And here's where it all settled out.

 

[pagrunt]

If I can locate the front half to this Model A I'm coming back for this thing.

Why wait to see if the front half is around, claim it in the name of your kingdom.

 

[Supercharged111]

Landscape looks like northern NV and the area we surveyed around Havre, MT.

 

[DRIVEN]

90% of the area I rode was just across the Oregon border. Elevation varied from about 2500-4000' with lots of canyons and rock formations on the east side of the lake. Further to the east and to the north is all farm land. The west side of the lake is more rolling hills and high desert. Southeast of the lake it gets into the Owyhees (back in Idaho) and elevations get in the 6000-8000 feet pretty quick. I'll be riding out there today. The terrain varies quite a bit in close proximity.

 

[ssn696]

Good luck on your adventures. Hope you have a wingman today out there in the 5G-free zone.

 

[DRIVEN]

I went over to my dad's shop Wednesday afternoon to sort out my damage. Shifter bent back easily with channel locks but I had to remove the peg mount and use the torch to straighten it out. It was also time for my chain adjustment so I clicked up a notch on the snails.
After that I moved on to the bags. After I emptied and cleaned them I came up with what I think will be a decent solution. Since rain is forecast for the weekend I'll save this project for then and decided to remove the mounts from the rack.

I met up with 3 other riders at the Oreanna church (1883) yesterday morning.


One of the other guys is pretty familiar with the area so the rest of us were tourists on his route. First stop was this stone ranch house at Hart Creek. There are some pretty rustic corrals close by.


He took us to an overlook off a huge bowl in the middle of the desert but it really didn't translate at all in the photos. One of those had-to-be-there places. After that, on to a miner's shack.

I saw this little Garter snake snatch a lizard and put him in a lung crushing submission hold. It all happened 6' away from me.


On up to the lookout for Castle Creek. Another spot that is far more impressive in person than in photos.



Beyond the canyon we went single track for a while then over a pretty undeveloped grade to the Bluebird(?) Mines. They've been backfilled but there's still some remaining ore cart track.


From there we circled around to the Doyle place.

Just across the creek was another cabin dug into the hillside back in the sagebrush.


It was a little out of the way but we side spurred over to the missile launch location. I'm told that this was to be a test facility but was never used.


The last waypoint he was calling the Castle Creek catacombs but I can't find it on a map so it may have a different name. Pretty cool rock formations in a slot canyon that had evidence of flash flooding. In fact, the road leading in to it is really just a drainage wash.





It was about 10 miles back to the church from there for a total of just over 90. Perfect riding condition in the mid 80s. No one broke down, no one got hurt. Except the lizard.

 

[Turbolq4]

Those garter snakes are actually mildly venomous. Nothing that will hurt people really but I'm guessing the lizard was feeling it. The stink they put off is enough to keep me from wanting to pick them up.

We found a new little bull snake at home

 

[DRIVEN]

I don't really like snakes but I hate mice so I don't mind having bull snakes around.

 

[DRIVEN]

Made an attempt to remedy my saddlebag situation. Made some reinforcement plates for the inside and used screws with nylocks and large washer to spread the load better. The original rivets were super soft when I trimmed them off. I moved the mounts down about an inch, giving me that much additional ground clearance.




I added some additional hook points and a deeper support loop to the mount too.


Now they have stronger support on the mounts, better bracing an the lower third, and I can strap them tight against the bike so they can't bounce around so much.


I think I might patent the new support system and market it as "The Borat".

 

[DRIVEN]

Went over to my dad's and worked on the wagon for a while but didn't take any pics. Drove it to lunch then switched gears back to motorcycle chores.

Built a saddlebag mount and got them mocked up. I may sew in a couple more D-rings so I can strap them down tighter.







It really just needs to be sturdy enough for 5 days on the trail. Then it probably goes in the scrap pile.