RangerG
Well-Known Member
FIVE CANYONS TOUR
Day 1 August 6/15
I started my big tour of the year on August 6/15. As I left home a thick fog had settled in. I was having to wipe moisture off my visor like it was raining. After a few hours it finally decided it should rain, so on went the rain gear. I stopped in Outlook SK for lunch and met up with three more riders for the trip. We were on our way to the 9th Annual Wardens on Wheels rally at the International Peace Gardens.
We left Outlook and pinned the throttles pretty hard as we were trying to catch the Riverhurst ferry. It leaves the west shore on the ½ hour and east shore on the hour. Didn’t want to sit around for an hour and wait for it to come back. We made it!
The Riverhurst ferry pulls a huge cable up off the lake bed, through the hull and drags itself across. It’s 1.5 km or .93 miles across.
After the ferry we rode through mixed rain and clouds and pulled into Assiniboia for the night.
Mileage 739 kms.
Day 2
It was raining while we sat and ate breakfast. It stopped before we left and throughout the day it got hotter and hotter. We had a strong tail wind so mileage was very good too. We picked up two more riders in Assiniboia and now had six bikes in the group.
We rode through the Big Muddy Valley in southern Saskatchewan.
I had to feed my pet gator along the way. He likes Fritos Twists and we can only get them south of the border.
Lake Metigoshe State Park was our home for the next two nights.
Mileage 610 kms
Day 3
This is our Wardens on Wheels rally day. A group of Game Wardens meet on our bikes for a meeting, poker run and have a lot of fun. In the 9 years we have raised over $20,000.00 for the non-profit Game Warden Museum located in the International Peace Gardens.
The poker run took us to the Geographical Center of North America in Rugby ND. Along the way I got a bee sting in my throat. I guess I’m not allergic to bees!
That evening around camp we were accosted by five young women from the Becoming an Outdoors Woman group that was meeting in the park. A couple of them mooned us from the road then asked if we had beer. They had been skinny dipping and were wet and cold. We gave them a beer and I advised that to avoid hypothermia they should get out of their wet clothes and warm up by the fire. Lo and behold, one girl peeled off her jeans, stuffed her panties in her pack and put her jeans back on! Sorry, no pictures. They moved along before anyone got in any trouble.
Mileage 316 kms
Day 4
Gerry and I were heading south from here and the other riders were heading back home. We rode with Doug down to Hazen, stopping in Garrison to see the big Walleye.
As we headed west we were running low on fuel and pulled into Taylor ND. There was one gas station that appeared closed. The pumps were just skeletons. A Harley was parked out front and Gerry spotted an above ground tank. A guy came outside and sold us some fuel. When we told him we were heading to Glendive, MT, he said to stop at the Shamrock in Wibaux for supper. We took his advice and had the best meal of our trip! I ordered a burger and Gerry had the huge slab of Prime Rib.
The brew pub was going to be our second choice for supper.
We had ridden through the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I love this kind of badlands terrain!
We spent the night in Makoshika State Park on the outskirts of Glendive.
Mileage 621 kms
Day 5
We struck out on a gorgeous day. No wind, blue skies and hot! We spent some time at the Little Bighorn Battlefield site and learned what an idiot Custer was.
We spent the night in Casper WY at a shitty campground right in town.
Mileage 710 kms
Day 6
Gerry’s V-rod had been sounding poor since day 2 of the trip and we had found an exhaust leak on the crossover pipe. First thing in the morning we hit the Oil City Harley Davidson dealership. They were awesome! They took Gerry’s bike in, had the gasket needed in stock and proceeded to fix his bike. By 1:00 and only $140.00 later we finally left Casper heading south. While the bike was getting fixed this nice Super Bee pulled in. It looked nice but ran like crap. Stalled about 6 times before he got out of the lot.
We decided that WY is indeed the Antelope Capital .
As we rode towards CO, we crossed the Continental Divide 4 times. There is a weird basin in SW WY where nothing flows out of. It was getting late in the day when we made it to Rifle Gap State Park just north of Rifle CO. We had lightning and thunder all around us but never got wet.
Mileage 590 kms
No canyons yet!
Day 1 August 6/15
I started my big tour of the year on August 6/15. As I left home a thick fog had settled in. I was having to wipe moisture off my visor like it was raining. After a few hours it finally decided it should rain, so on went the rain gear. I stopped in Outlook SK for lunch and met up with three more riders for the trip. We were on our way to the 9th Annual Wardens on Wheels rally at the International Peace Gardens.
We left Outlook and pinned the throttles pretty hard as we were trying to catch the Riverhurst ferry. It leaves the west shore on the ½ hour and east shore on the hour. Didn’t want to sit around for an hour and wait for it to come back. We made it!
The Riverhurst ferry pulls a huge cable up off the lake bed, through the hull and drags itself across. It’s 1.5 km or .93 miles across.
After the ferry we rode through mixed rain and clouds and pulled into Assiniboia for the night.
Mileage 739 kms.
Day 2
It was raining while we sat and ate breakfast. It stopped before we left and throughout the day it got hotter and hotter. We had a strong tail wind so mileage was very good too. We picked up two more riders in Assiniboia and now had six bikes in the group.
We rode through the Big Muddy Valley in southern Saskatchewan.
I had to feed my pet gator along the way. He likes Fritos Twists and we can only get them south of the border.
Lake Metigoshe State Park was our home for the next two nights.
Mileage 610 kms
Day 3
This is our Wardens on Wheels rally day. A group of Game Wardens meet on our bikes for a meeting, poker run and have a lot of fun. In the 9 years we have raised over $20,000.00 for the non-profit Game Warden Museum located in the International Peace Gardens.
The poker run took us to the Geographical Center of North America in Rugby ND. Along the way I got a bee sting in my throat. I guess I’m not allergic to bees!
That evening around camp we were accosted by five young women from the Becoming an Outdoors Woman group that was meeting in the park. A couple of them mooned us from the road then asked if we had beer. They had been skinny dipping and were wet and cold. We gave them a beer and I advised that to avoid hypothermia they should get out of their wet clothes and warm up by the fire. Lo and behold, one girl peeled off her jeans, stuffed her panties in her pack and put her jeans back on! Sorry, no pictures. They moved along before anyone got in any trouble.
Mileage 316 kms
Day 4
Gerry and I were heading south from here and the other riders were heading back home. We rode with Doug down to Hazen, stopping in Garrison to see the big Walleye.
As we headed west we were running low on fuel and pulled into Taylor ND. There was one gas station that appeared closed. The pumps were just skeletons. A Harley was parked out front and Gerry spotted an above ground tank. A guy came outside and sold us some fuel. When we told him we were heading to Glendive, MT, he said to stop at the Shamrock in Wibaux for supper. We took his advice and had the best meal of our trip! I ordered a burger and Gerry had the huge slab of Prime Rib.
The brew pub was going to be our second choice for supper.
We had ridden through the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I love this kind of badlands terrain!
We spent the night in Makoshika State Park on the outskirts of Glendive.
Mileage 621 kms
Day 5
We struck out on a gorgeous day. No wind, blue skies and hot! We spent some time at the Little Bighorn Battlefield site and learned what an idiot Custer was.
We spent the night in Casper WY at a shitty campground right in town.
Mileage 710 kms
Day 6
Gerry’s V-rod had been sounding poor since day 2 of the trip and we had found an exhaust leak on the crossover pipe. First thing in the morning we hit the Oil City Harley Davidson dealership. They were awesome! They took Gerry’s bike in, had the gasket needed in stock and proceeded to fix his bike. By 1:00 and only $140.00 later we finally left Casper heading south. While the bike was getting fixed this nice Super Bee pulled in. It looked nice but ran like crap. Stalled about 6 times before he got out of the lot.
We decided that WY is indeed the Antelope Capital .
As we rode towards CO, we crossed the Continental Divide 4 times. There is a weird basin in SW WY where nothing flows out of. It was getting late in the day when we made it to Rifle Gap State Park just north of Rifle CO. We had lightning and thunder all around us but never got wet.
Mileage 590 kms
No canyons yet!
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