Dan and Casey's "Slabtastic Voyage" official tracking thread!

Casey went ahead and purchased his own SPOT Satellite Messenger Monday. Hopefully he'll figure out how to clear the map and get us tracked by Friday night.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0XCqzByMW3g5OEfkSEqIOHP5ecOIUC93t

Click the link and track us on our voyage! The device will plot a little footprint icon every 10 minutes. Take note that it won't track if we're stopped. We'll have the options to ask for help (e-mail or text to our contact's phones) or summon emergency personnel with the push of a button. Since its tracked by GPS, it'll be fully functional in the craziest locations. Even if there's no cell service!

Use this thread to discuss our progress! I'll start another thread for an official ride report!

No scroll wheel support? Epic fail.

On the second day, God created Jack in the Box!

Kennewick, WA to Missoula, MT
Miles: 357
Moving Time: 6h 36m
Stopped Time: 3h 34m
Moving Avg: 54MPH
Overall Avg: 35.1MPH



After a round of thunderstorms the night before, we woke up to a mostly cloudy, yet dry morn on Sunday. I wanna say we left Jeremy's around 10:30am. I replaced the 24oz Coors Light can with a "custom", mushroom can heat dissipator. Worked pretty damn well!



Jeremy and his daughter Sam on my trusty steed.


US395 over the Columbia into Pasco, WA


Rollin' through the vineyards east of Pasco. HWY124 Aside for the Ontairo-Payette area, this was as lame as the scenery got.



It wasn't long before we got into the rolling hills of SE Washington. HWY124





The highest point we crossed in SE Washington.



Interesting facts at Alpowa





Looking back toward the way we came. Got some sprinkles but, nothing big.


Out of boring SE Washington...Thank god!



The highlight of our trip in Lewiston, ID...

Just kidding!

The skies above Lewiston were getting mighty dark after lunch. We thought it may be a good idea to get a move on. As we rolled further into Idaho, it was pretty warm and the skies became relatively friendly. From Lewiston, HWY 12 got progressively prettier and curvier!

Not sure on the specifics but, here are shots from Lewiston to Kooskia, ID




Must have been going to a VW Thing convention...







On a break outside Kooskia, we see this dank mass of moisture dropping in the direction we were heading. "Should we put on our rain gear? NAW!"


We got a little wet along the way, but not too bad. Here are some shots from the interior portions of Idaho.





See a trend here? The scenery slowly gets more and more appealing!

To be continued...

Almost 300 miles into the day, I was getting shooting pains in my throttle hand. I'm not used to this long slab thing. Reaching Lolo Pass and the Idaho border took my mind off the pain.





Eww...


It was getting dark (and we lost an hour with the time change) and cold so, we beat feet into Missoula for some cold drinks and a warm bed.


Our Kabin at the Missoula KOA.




This is how we do it in Montana...



Lemme tell ya...2 cans of Sparks+Empty stomach=DRUNK

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Day 3: Bitterroot River Valley

260 miles
Moving Time: 4h 56m
Stopped Time: 3h 15m
Moving Avg: 52.4
Overall Avg: 31.6
Max Elevation: 7200ft

Missoula, MT to Stanley, ID



Casey and I had agreed the night before to head south instead of north out of Missoula. Glacier's Going to the Sun Road was still closed and NW Montana/Northern Idaho had the greatest chance of precip. I've always heard the Sawtooth Mtns of ID were bitchin' and we'd bypass all the boring scenery of Eastern Washington this way.

Weather was looking decent out of Missoula. Mid 50's, Mostly Cloudy...




I really wanted to see the Bitterroots in all their glory, but the clouds shrouded their alleged beauty. Pics are from US93 between Lolo, MT and Darby, MT.






As we approached Darby, the valley narrowed and the sky darkened. We took another pit stop to gear up.



Shit...We we're headed up there? 7200ft at pass level Vs 4000ish if we went north. At this point, we were pot committed. Head for the hills! Photos from south of Darby into Idaho.


It was a good thing we did. Sure, it rained a little, but we saw some neat stuff. Like these sheep! Bighorn, I think.




They we're all coming down from the rocky bluff in the background to graze roadside. I'm really surprised they stuck around for the photo shoot. Sad but true, this would be our only "cool" wildlife sighting. Saw an okay amount of deer. Shitload of dead skunks and snakes. One coyote in Eastern Oregon. No bears...no elk...no moose.



Bitterroot River...


As we ascended the mountains, the rain stopped and it got chilly. 40F-45F maybe? Didn't see too much snow through 7200ft...Weird.



Right before 93 crosses into Idaho, we b-line it East on MT43 to accomplish this great feat...



Alright, back down to 93 and into Idaho. Shots from MT43:

Looking into Idaho from the north...



Part 2 of Day 3 coming up!

As we wind our way down the mountain, I'm thinking to myself...Why is everyone moving to Bend? Sure Bend is pretty and diverse but, Idaho is fucking amazing. Pictures don't do the place justice and if I took all the pics I wanted to, it's take me 2 months to get home!




I wanted to take more pics on the way down to Salmon but, the gnarly rainstorm we rode through hindered that desire.

Salmon. Not the prettiest town but, in a pretty setting. It was hard to get good pics in town. Stopped at Subway for grub and shelter.




Sun!





Now that we're dry and fed, time to head west. Challis and Stanley. We went from a high desert to more of a desert-alpine mix, like the Pine Mt area.








There were steep canyons where there was only enough room for a 2-lane road and the Salmon River. No shoulder, no turnouts, no fences.

About half way between Salmon and Stanley, you start seeing more trees.




Roadside hot springs. Not really soak-able. Had to be over 120F. The steam got me to pull over.





The Salmon...



Around 8PM that evening, we rumble into Stanley. This was gonna be a great place to hang out for the night!



We settled in to our rustic little room and relaxed after a long day.



Tamales this time...



Hopefully I can wrap this report up tonight. I need a brake!

*Note: I have added maps to the beginning of each day. Check it out!

It was awesome tracking your progress, even if it was only in Google Maps and the forum. Thanks for posting all the pics. Can't wait for the conclusion.

Wow, you were right about Stanley - beautiful!

Day 4...A wet ending.

Miles: 339
Moving Time: 6h15m
Stopped Time: 3h55m
Moving Avg: 54.2
Overall Avg: 33.3
Max Elevation: 7200ft

Stanley, ID to Hines, OR



Morning in Stanley, Idaho






The motel folk were nice. They left us towels to wipe down our bikes. It got a little frosty here at 6200ft last night!


Be careful...Regular in parts of Idaho is 85 octane! Had to buy plus!





The road out of town...West.


Banner Summit - Top of the Sawtooth range.





More good stuff along the way. Sawtooth Range from the west.


We lost SPOT right about here...


The Payette River



About 20 miles west of Lowman (I got the name confused with Lowell, up north) we stop for a break at this grass airstrip, Just east of Garden Valley, ID. They do a good job of keeping it green!


Also ran into a pair of ranchers and their dogs at that spot. I guess they're good buddies with the Hatfields of Brothers, OR. They were waiting for a truckload of cattle to arrive.



At this point, Casey realizes that SPOT had jumped ship and calls our friend Jenny to have her track it's current location. It was back in Lowman...WEAK! Like a dumbass, I failed to input the exact coordinates of the SPOT (I actually didn't think of it until later.). Casey asks me, "What would you do?" I told him I'd go back for it!


To be continued...

Casey decided to buzz back up the mountain to try and find spot. It was gonna take some time for me to get out of my rain suit (it was getting warm). I told him if he didn't see me along the road, I'd be in this spot. After Casey left, the cattle arrived!





Alright! Enough fucking around. After 30 mins or so, I went to find Casey. I ran into him about 10 miles in. He said he made it all the way to Lowman and came up empty handed. Since we were already behind, I chose to run back up the road and search with a second set of eyes. Casey ran back down into cell range to make some phone calls. I didn't mind heading back up...It was scenic and twisty!


Unfortunately, I came up empty handed as well. Oh well. Back to the airfield to regroup.



We made out way down into the boring farmlands of Emmett to get gas and lunch.


At this point we heard about the gnarly storm that ravaged Bend and that storms were in and around the Burns area. It sounded like we should be clear hours down the road. We went for it! I made a left, instead of a right onto US30 and put us on the freeway for 10 miles. That was a white-knuckler!



After Ontario, we tried to get as many miles as possible under us before our next break here, 100 miles east of Burns. I couldn't help but notice the storm brewing to our SW. I told Casey it was prolly 100 miles away and we were gonna get hit.




One more break...Coffee kicking in!

Here are some shots along US20 toward Juntura. Didn't take tons of pics...Trying to beat the weather!






We took another break at Drinkwater pass. At this point, the storm was upon us and there was no avoiding it. It was time to bundle up!




Between Drinkwater and Stinkingwater passes, the sky opened up.


It would continue to rain the 35+ miles into Hines and all through the night. We shacked up at the Best Western in Hines. Nice place for a little cow town!



They were all out of rooms, so we got their apartment/suite. Not bad for the dough. We had an outside door...kinda weird.

My lobby puddle!


Room...






My extra socks got a little wet in my bags so I tried different methods to dry them out. No hair dryer!



Pool fun!





That concludes day 4! I have a handful of pics from day 5 coming up!

Day 5

Miles: 129
Moving Time: 2h12m
Stopped Time: 50m
Moving Average: 58.4MPH
Overall Average: 42.1MPH

Hines, OR to Bend, OR


Spotty showers on the way home but, nothing major. Some shots between here and Hines...

Road work!

The Glass Buttes in the clouds!


The road ahead...

Wildflowers...

I wonder how long this has been here?


A break in Bros...



After 1,342 miles and 84 hours on the road we were finally home!


THE END!

My overall GPS track.


Thanks for reading!

Wow, it took a long time to look through all those. Loved checking out your voyage, though! Stanely, ID looks awesome! When South Sister erupts we should all move there! And I'm sorry about the SPOT, but it's somewhere on the east end of Lowman. Go back and get it!

I went thru your travels again, before I went to bed, late tonight. I enjoyed it even more, this third time. The pics of the mountain range in Stanley were so much richer and clearer than on the big screen. Plus your talent with narration made me feel like I was there. I think you have stumbled onto your calling, kiddo...freelance journalist for National Geographic!

Thanks to all for your kind words. I love riding. Writing the reports however, is a love hate thing.

Hey Dan, what happened to your pics? Dad was trying to look at them last night and all you see is a Photobucket square in place of the photos....can you check on this? I see the same thing on my comp.

I've exceeded my bandwidth! Fuck! It won't come back online until July 7th or something. I may be able to give you my username and password to get into my acct. Let's try a direct link first...

https://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y8/djcdrz/EPIC%2009/

I was able to sign out and view the album without a user and pass. The pics are in chron order. No story to go with it but, oh well. Enjoy!

P.S. Lemme know if it doesn't work for ya.