A Hot Day in Wyoming and Utah...

[Phil Tarman]

T'was a busy day yesterday, getting details cleared up at work, running errands for Joanne and then cleaning the bike yesterday afternoon and mounting a new SW-Moto Pro City tank bag. It's a stiffer tank bag and to keep it from interfering with things (like turn signals and horn buttons, I rotated the handle bars up a bit. I had nearly every thing but toilet articles packed when I went to bed at about 11:30 with my alarm set for 6AM. I slept for a couple of hours, then got up to make a short trip. I went right back to sleep, took another trip at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep till 6. I had set the alarm for 7:30 but slept till 8:30. I got away at 10, got about 10 miles from the house and realized I didn't have my Kindle. You know I need my Kindle! So I turned around and got it. I stopped in Laramie and got gas, even though I can usually make it to Rock Springs unless the wind is blowing. Actually, I've NEVER made it to Rock Spring because the wind is ALWAYS blowing in Wyoming. For a long time there were warning signs that said "STRONG WINDS LIKELY FOR THE NEXT 5 MILES." There were 84 signs along I-80.

By the time I left Laramie the temperature at 7500' ASL, was 98. I stayed that hot and got a little hotter until I stopped to rehydrate and grab a Subway in Wamsutter. I stopped again at Evanston, for gas and personal liquid exchange and by then it was down to 88F. By the time I got off 80 and headed to Heber, it made it down to 72F, but as I came downhill to Provo, it got back up to 94F when I pulled into the Marriot.

In spite of the heat, the ride had been good. But my first couple of hours here at the Marriot weren't great. The desk clerk took 15 minutes to find my reservation. Then there weren't any luggage carts. It took an hour to find one. I loaded it and got up to my room on the 8th floor. And I was trapped on the 8th floor. The elevators weren't working! They finally got those fixed, and then I went to park my bike in the garage. They have a gate that you open by using your room card. I was feeling pretty wobbly by then and talked another rider for using my room card to help me get it open without having to get close to the card reader. The lane for the turn up to the next level was real narrow and real steep and the two of those I had to make both had a rider merging as he came down from higher levels and a rider merging as he came down. I had to stop on the steep, narrow curving ramp -- I felt like I had a pretty good opportunity to stall the bike and drop it! But I didn't.

I'll leave here Monday after the Iron Butt Rally folks get out. I'll probably go to Rawlins and/or Casper and leave for Spearfish early Thursday. I think I'll go up through Wright and Gillette. I hope to be in Spearfish by 2 or 3 on Thursday.

Here's a link to the new.spotwalla.com map of today's ride: https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/e912-258aa076-4efb/view

I'll get some pictures added tomorrow.

 

[Woodaddict]

your nights before a trip are always interesting for US to read about, but not for you to live it!!! been seeing on news those temps are scorching. ride safe and have a good trip. you went right past Sundance, where my sister lives and my 2015 trip to see her. got a motorglider ride from Heber City over MT Timpanogus (brother in law)

 

[Yoda]

We’ve had a persistent high pressure zone parked over Arizona for nearly a week.
Our high temperatures here at 7100 ft elevation have been as high as 103 F, with most days above 99 F. Very unusual for the mountains.
I am hoping the temp will subside some in time to leave for spearfish Monday morning.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Here's the 2021 Iron Butt Rally logo:



I guess the theme is "Planes, Trains, and Motorcycles."

 

[DirtFlier]

It appears the entire western 1/3 of the US is locked in a bleeping oven!

Today, it'll be in the high 80s with humidity driving the real feel temp into mid-90s so it's past time to retrieve my shop box fan from the garage attic! Yesterday, I heard tornado sirens going on/off from the mid-afternoon to early-evening and they sounded strangely distant. This area has a siren only about 1/4 mile from my house so when it fires up, I KNOW IT! Turns out the tornado touched down about 20-miles southwest of here and its course took it over lightly-populated areas.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I saw one southeast of Greeley last week. At first they were calling it a "landspout." But I watched it get bigger without much apparent movement. It ended up being an EF-2 and damaged a few houses.

S'posed to cool off a bit next week. Down to the low 90s!!

 

[Phil Tarman]

Today was not quite so hot or quite so windy. The temperature was about 15F lower than Thursday and the wind was probably 10-15mph out of the WSW. Getting out of Provo was fine once I got out of the hotel parking lot. The hardest part was getting the paper parking pass into the reader so the gate would open, but I made it. I didn't get away till late (surprise for everyone who's ever ridden with me!). I'm in the Comfort Inn in Rawlins and will only go to Casper tomorrow.

 

[Phil Tarman]

A little further up the road! I didn't have far to go today (Tuesday) -- only 120 miles from Rawlins to Casper, but it was a good ride on lots of levels. I had gotten one of my best night's sleep and that felt good. Another reason I enjoyed the ride was because back in 1979 when Drilco transferred me from Santa Rosa, CA, to Casper, the road from Rawlins to Casper was the first time we were off an Interstate. From Rawlins to Muddy Gap junction, where 287 splits west to go to Lander and Riverton, it's mostly just a straight ride through mesquite and dry grass (greener this year than most) until just before the junction, you do some sweepers while climbing and diving between a lot of broken rock.

After Muddy Gap, on the right side of the highway, there's a range that gets up close to 10K'. It's about 15 miles long and the north face is a long steady sweep with spruce and pine as you get above about 7500'. There are several places where melting snow and then small springs not only water the slope but have gradually eroded fairly small canyons. The Ferris mountains are kinda' my mountains. When we lived in Casper, a friend of mine and my wife hunted the Ferris's every fall. We were hunting doe antelope because after permits for buck antelope were sold out in early September (IIRC) doe permits were only $7 and could be used anywhere. I was hunting with my .54-cal Hawken muzzle-loader built from a Thompson Center kit. I "made meat" every year. We ate all the antelope I took. Beyond that WY-220 takes a NE and then easterly heading.

Once I was going east, I had a humongous tailwind. At 70mph I could barely feel any wind. I'm going to be curious to see what kind of mileage I get out of that tank! I rode past a place on the south side of a steep rock rampart where Mormon immigrants usually took a break of a few days to fatten their livestock before pressing across Wyoming. Another landmark is Devil's Gate, a narrow cut through the rampart made by the Sweetwater River. After that was Independence Rock, a large dome of rock that was a critical marker along the trail. If you made Indepenence Rock by July 4, that meant that you had a good chance of getting across the Sierras before snow closed the Trail. The Donner Party famously were late getting to the rock.

It was a beautiful day and there were lots of bikes out. Most were ADV type bikes and I'd guess most of those were GSs. I saw a couple of Africa Twins and a KTM.

I had a good dinner in a steak house only two doors down from my Motel. Both the Comfort Inn in Rawlins and the Quality Inn here in Casper beat the heck out of the Marriot Inn and Suites in Provo. The Comfort Inn was almost as expensive as the Marriot, but I think they were nearly full. The Quality Inn is the cheapest so far, at only $120/night. Camping saves money, but I'd never be able to get off ground.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of you tomorrow in Spearfish!

 

[Phil Tarman]

I got to Spearfish on Wednesday afternoon after my weird engine issue and now (it's Sunday the 27th) and the bike has run just fine. On Thursday it rained off and on all day and after breakfast, I just hung out at Bell's. After we finished eating breakfast at Perkins on Friday it was raining and I went back to Bell's until later in the afternoon, when I rode to Chris's Campground and visited with the guys and ate pizza until 7:30 or 8 and went back to Bell's again. Yesterday morning, Ken Malone and I got out of Spearfish and rode to Gillette bucking very strong and gusty winds with the temps around 65. We stopped for gas at Gillette and I put on my heated gear and zipped up all the vents on the 'Stitch. We took US-14 toward Spotted Horse and by the time we passed Gillette's airport we could tell things were going to get pretty nasty. There was a roll cloud in front of us going as far to the east and to the west as we could see. When we got close to gusts of 50+ hit us pretty much from dead ahead and then the rain started. It rained hard for close to 20 miles but by the time we got to Spotted Horse, it was down to a drizzle that continued for another 20 miles or so. By the time we crossed the Powder River, it turned in to a beautiful ride. The grass was lush and it looked like a wonderful place to be a rancher. That green beauty continued to Ucross and most of the way to Sheridan. About 15 miles from Spearfish it rained briskly until we were about a mile from our motel. The rain continued through the night and finally stopped at 8 this morning.

We fiddled around getting ready (that's a good reason for Ken and I to travel together -- we both fiddle around a lot and neither of us care a whole lot about making a quick departure. We finally got out of Sheridan at 11, rode north to Ranchester, through Dayton and into the Big Horns on 14. It was cool, but not cool enough to wear the heated gear today. As we started down Shell Canyon, it got down to 51, but we knew it would warm up quickly as we rode out of the canyon. Shell Canyon was just magnificent. We caught a couple glimpses that made it look the Stelvio in the Alps. The last few miles of the Canyon were through magnificent red rock. When we reached Greybull, we turned south on US-14/20 and got to Thermopolis at about 2. We were going to grab a quick lunch at McDonalds and didn't notice until I was out of my 'Stitch that the dining room was still closed due to Covid. We went back to downtown to a restaurant I ate at several years ago (probably in '13... Rick Ryan was with me at the time) and got there and it was closed. Finally found the One-Eyed Buffalo and had good sandwiches there and made reservation for the Rodeway Inn Pronghorn in Lander.

The ride through Big Horn Canyon is always a treat, and then from Shoshoni through Riverton to Lander. We got here at a little after 6. There's a restaurant next to the motel and we went over for a drink and ended up having a good meal.

According to my GPS, I have about 397 miles to get home tomorrow night. We'll go southeast past the abandoned town site of Jeffrey City which was a uranium mining bonanza in the early '80s, turn south at Muddy Gap to Rawlins, then east for a few miles on I-80, then south to Saratoga, Encampment, and Walden, and then take CO-14 over Cameron Pass and down Poudre Canyon to intersect with US-287 just north of Ft Collins. We hope the temperature will be as nice as it was today. It never got over 80F and was down to 73 when we got to Lander tonight.

My SPOT's battery died today and I haven't been able to find any Lithium batteries yet. Hopefully when I gas up in the morning. When we turned south on top of the Big Horns between Burgess Junction where US-14A ends up in Lovell, on the north end of the Big Horn Basin, I noticed we had a slight tailwind. When we turned south leaving Greybull, we had a strong tailwind. My indicated gas mileage was mostly in the 65-75mpg range until we got to the Wind River Canyon south of Thermopolis. There was a strong headwind in the canyon, but that shifted back to a tailwind by the time we got to Riverton. I've ridden 248 miles on this tank and the needle just dropped below the bottom edge of the red as we pulled into town.

Good night!

 

[Hondafan]

It hit 116F in British Columbia today.....the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada.

 

[DirtFlier]

The NT seems to thrive on high revs on the highway without any fuss or bother although quite honestly, it bothers me (old school) more than it does the bike! From my experience, the high speeds don't seem to effect the fuel economy as much as a strong headwind.

 

[mikesim]

Lithium batteries are widely used in the manufacture of methamphetamine thus are the number one target of shop lifting meth heads. Most stores have 'em, you just gotta ask for 'em. You look a little iffy... so maybe you oughta wear your collar.... I'm just sayin'.....



Mike

 

[junglejim]

Phil, I think that one of these days you're going to run out of gas. I remember pushing the gas limits with you when we rode to Valdez AK and I had 253 miles on my tank and I also remember that your NT always took about 5% more gas than mine. That was too close. I recommend stopping for gas earlier.

 

[mikesim]

Phil, I think that one of these days you're going to run out of gas. I remember pushing the gas limits with you when we rode to Valdez AK and I had 253 miles on my tank and I also remember that your NT always took about 5% more gas than mine. That was too close. I recommend stopping for gas earlier.

You ferget, JJ. He's got the Big Guy lookin' out fer him....



Mike

 

[Hondafan]

It can also help your fuel pump run cooler.and probably extend it's life.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Phil, I think that one of these days you're going to run out of gas. I remember pushing the gas limits with you when we rode to Valdez AK and I had 253 miles on my tank and I also remember that your NT always took about 5% more gas than mine. That was too close. I recommend stopping for gas earlier.

Jim, I knew how far it was to Lander, and I know that I'm just slightly below a gallon left in the tank when it gets to the bottom of the red. The fill-up in Lander took 4.368 gallons. When we got to Walden the needle was just below the bottom of the red, and the fill-up took 4.338 gallons, for a difference in those fill-ups of 0.030 gallons.

But, you're probably right -- one of these days, I may get caught. So far in 328,000 miles I've run out of gas once. I was within a mile of the nearest Ft Morgan gas station when I ran out. And of course, it was hot day (103F). I called a friend who brought me a gallon of gas. That experience scared me nearly into be more cautious.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Lithium batteries are widely used in the manufacture of methamphetamine thus are the number one target of shop lifting meth heads. Most stores have 'em, you just gotta ask for 'em. You look a little iffy... so maybe you oughta wear your collar.... I'm just sayin'.....



Mike

Mike, if I ever knew that, I'd forgotten it. There were three places in Lander that sold them (Dollar General, Walmart, and Safeway) but it wasn't worth stopping, getting off taking off my gear, putting it back on and getting back on the road just to have a SPOT track for the last day.

 

[DirtFlier]

The most fuel I ever put in my NT was 4.7 gals so I still had 1/2 gallon remaining.

As regards the hot temps, I read where they're having record heat in British Columbia with a large number of people dying from heat-related problems.

 

[Brillot2000]

The most fuel I ever put in my NT was 4.7 gals so I still had 1/2 gallon remaining.

As regards the hot temps, I read where they're having record heat in British Columbia with a large number of people dying from heat-related problems.

I cut it even closer. 5.0 gallons about a month ago. Too lazy to fill up in the morning heading into the office.

All this talk about Wyoming being hot. I’ve been here in Rock Springs for 6 days now. The temperatures haven’t gotten over 85°. For locals those temperatures might be considered hot. But, me being from SoCal I have to say no. I’m just saying…

 

[Phil Tarman]

All this talk about Wyoming being hot. I’ve been here in Rock Springs for 6 days now. The temperatures haven’t gotten over 85°. For locals those temperatures might be considered hot.

Uh, no. 85F is not considered hot by the locals in Rock Springs. It was 103 when I went through there on the 17th as I was going to Provo. And there's nothing particularly hot about that.