Hi Club,  Super Suz here to inform you about a really cool feature on our new website.  Ever check out really great forum sites like www.ADVrider.com or www.pashnit.com or www.thumpertalk.com or many other motorcycle forums where people post all kinds of cool stuff?  I do.  And I figured out how we can post on our forum in the same way, using pics and text.  You can even post links too. 

Here is an example of something I posted on www.advider.com.  I cut, copied and pasted the same 'html' formatting into this forum and it showed up just like it did on the other forum site.  Cool!  That means when you post ride reports at other sites, then you can duplicate them here so your club member friends can see the report too. 

example...

Update:

Since I've been back, I have updated this thread a little.

Here's an addition. One of my favorite pics of the trip. It's the Buena Vista Colorado thrift store.

Since last Thursday, June 25th, I’ve been on the road and enjoying the Sportsmobile. The Super Sherpa is on the hauler in the back and it‘s holding tight. The van is a little lower with a huge, full tank,a full water tank, and the Kawasaki 2003 Super Suz Sherpa on the back. It rides like a boat and it hauls uphill like a big rig. Only, I don’t have a bunch of gears to get it going, just the overdrive off button. But overall, the ADVan Sportsmobile is driving well.

Here is a link to the thread about the van....

The Super Sherpa rides great also. The nimble little air-cooled 250 can go 50 all day long. The extra Mayco-style fork clearance gives me a little extra bounce on the big rocks. The disk brakes on the front and rear have super stopping power and the little gas tank puts balances the bike in the center faster than a big tank sloshing about would. It’s great. I can push it and pull it into the direction I want to go and it pretty much goes there. It did very well on the Assault on Tahoe ride that was posted in the West Region.

Some of you may be wondering about my riding sytle and if I am any good at getting around. Let’s get this out in to the open for those who have not ridden with me. I’m a noober goober. I ride really great at about 23 miles an hour on dirt roads. On the hard splits, I struggle to get through. On the sand or powder stuff, if it wiggles, I still freak out on sand and am learning to keep up the throttle and let the bike straighten itself out with a little nudge. I go slower than most but get through to the end. I have a lot to learn, including how to change the tire out on the road. While in Reno, I bought two heavy duty tubes and a tire change tool kit. Learning what to do with that equipment comes later. Though, that’s got to happen sooner than later. And there you have it, now that is over with, let’s proceed with this vaycay report.

So far, I’ve been…

25 Thurs night: Loon Lake roadside BLM quick camp at 1:30 am after picking up the borrowed hauler from RocknTroll. Thanks, Eric

26 Friday: Loon Lake and went to South Tahoe with MotoGeo on the back of his Cagiva to pick up and ride back the Super Suz Sherpa from Tahoeacer’s house. He was out working but his lovely wife made sure I got it. Rode it back to Loon Lake in as the dusk turned to nigh and the chill was in the air, trying to keep up with the Cagiva.

27 Sat: Loon Lake riding around the Rubicon slab and the Gerley Creek area. That footage was lost on my camera, unfortanately. But Moto Geo's footage was used instead. MotoGeo was riding with me on his Cagiva with street tires. That crazy dude like he was on an urban freeway, whipping over the rocks with the method of speed-floating over them. I, on the other hand, took it nice and slow and did the trials bike method. It drove him batty but he simply did all the riding twice by going back and forth as I putter putted through. Later, I used his kayak on the lake. Beautiful shots were preserved

Sunday: After learning how to install the bike to the hauler, thanks to the fellas, I took off to Incline Village in the Tahoe area for a visit with old friends who live there. Everyone else headed home after a good weekend of riding, campfire chat, and beautiful Sierra scenery.

Monday: More visiting with the Incline Family and had a chance to ride out on Lake Tahoe with their family SeaDoo. Wow, that was fun!

Tues: Hung out in Truckee trying to get the bike registered and plated. But I forgot the paperwork so I’ll have to use up the temporary registration all the way through July. The hauler bike was on the hauler and I had no ramp yet to roll it off of there so the DMV worker refused to look for the engine number. I found a good ramp in Reno. I ened up hanging out in Reno a liittle longer for a few more camp supplies. I Visited with RiverRat while he was in that area. Wow that Cabelas store was fun. If you ever go there, make sure you try out the rifle games in the store. Dinner was a late-night double bacon pizza at Mountain Mikes and I dilly dally’d my way out of town.

At around 1:00 am, I finally made it to Travertine Hot Springs nearby Bridgeport. Of course, I had to soak before I slept. It was a beautiful, clear night- just the right temp for soaking and relaxing with the multitude of moths and bats in the area. In the morning, I explored the area and hiked to another soak that overlooks the valley and mountains. It's called Mollies and the wood beam that is positioned over the soak and rocks is from the 1800's when they used ut dip sheep in the same area. I ran our of battery on the camera on that soak. Don't let that happen to you. Camping is not allowed but camp at the lower end of the road or the shooting range that you wil not find in the dark. It gets loud during the day, though.

Weds: Travertine in the daytime exploring and soaking followed by a drive past Lee Vining, Mono Lake, and into Mammoth. Thanks to the good folks at the forest service station, I found a good, free campground in Mammoth called Big Springs. I took a quick look around Mammoth town, used the wifi at the coffee house, and settled in to a nice meal of bbq stick meat terriaki when I returned back to camp.

Thurs: Stayed at the same campground. It has old, huge trees, big camp lots, and afresh water spring along with a fast creek.

The camp host said that it used to be an Indian camp.

Took the bike out to Little Hot Creek off of Owens River and rode around the east side of 395.

Fri: Took the bike out to the top of Bald Mountain. The view at the top is very nice, but it does not have the expanse seen from atop White Mountain. You can see it from there, nevertheless. I sure am glad to have fit this area’s riding into my trip because I’d miss the WMRS ride this year all that much more if I had missed our own California mountain ranges. I met the lookout volunteer as he handled his duties. He showed me the various ranges within view and pointed out the wamring hut/ cabin behind the lookout station. It’s open all year long to whoever wants to use it. I checked that out along with a couple of plaques of fireman who are buried on the mountain. They were lost in a fire from the 1960’s.

This lead me to July 4th and wondering what to do on that day. I knew that there would be free fishing all day on Sat in the Mammoth area and I am trying to learn how to fish. Thanks to River Rat for helping me buy a crap load of little fishing doo dads at Cabelas to t me ready for fishing. I decided to stay and celebrate with the local community. The biggest thing within fifty miles was the Mammoth main street parade. I had footage of that lovely event, complete with the grand finale fire brigade big show with all the engines and ambulances. But alas, that footage is missing. Bummer. It was worth the stay in Mammoth with the little mice scooting underneath me as I slept in the bunk. What an uneasy feeling! I suppose it's easier than bears or cayotes hanging around my tent or van, though. In town, I enjoyed an all you can eat pancake breakfast with the Lion's Club, the little hoaky community parade, some music at the local coffee house, (very good bluegrass), and then some fishing at Convict Lake. While one fella, who looked like he knew what he was doing, was able to catch TEN bigguns, I caught naught a one. Once I master my how-to-fish book and check out youtube videos, I'll catch my own. I’ll get lucky and land a biggun. I don’t know what to do with it if I did, but I’ll figure it out, I guess. After all, I do have a book on how to fish. Maybe there is a chapter on how to gut.

This Big Springs campground has a cold water spring that is potable but untested. It has the old growth, scarce and huge pine trees and it’s said to have been used as an Indian camp. The rush of the creek drowns out camp noise and the location is in a good spot to find other dirt roads. Take the paved road out and it turns into Owens River Road that leads to the hot springs and to Benton Crossing. It is close by Bald Mountain and not far from Mammoth proper. I have yet to try out the other forested Mammoth campgrounds but would come back to this one again. Best of all, it’s free. Just be sure to set up your tent well. By July 4 ended with a soak at Pulky's hot springs that turned out to be a great soak. There's nothing like a hot spring to join people together for a good time. I met some really fun women from other parts of the country in that tub and we had a great time. Afterward, I drove off to Tonopah via Benton Crossing Road and watched a wonderful sunset. I could see the fireworks show about twenty miles from Tonapah. It was a really good show for such a town of that size. There's nice rest stop just before Tonopah and that's where I slept with no mice visiting me in the van thank goodness.

The next day was a slow drive through the extraterrestrial highway. I wondered if I was going to see any alien space ships or pick up any alien hitchhikers. Maybe I was going get shot if I got too close to the side of the road near area 51. Nothing like this happened, obviously. But I did get to stop off at the Little Alie-Inn rest stop and bar. While you are in the area passing by on the way to West Fest, make sure to get the chili dog and not the burger. And to make the stop even more meaningful, pick up some alien junk from the trinkets store. Get yourself an Area 51 No Tresspassing poster for your garage or a foam alien beverage holder.

On the way to Las Vegas to visit my dad I stopped off at a warm springs and I can highly recommend it. Just be careful not to slip and fall like I did. I slept on a rock and hit another rock right into my back. Now my back is out. I mean really out. I hurt. What I need is some Advil, a cortisone shot, some vicadin, a back massage, and a really,really cold ice pack. Then I think I would be much better. Hopefully in a few more days I'll be able to ride my bike again.

Back to the springs... It's called Crystal Springs: GPS N 37 31.920 W 115 13.980. This is a real oasis with warm water similar to a heated pool. There's two big natral pools to it with a bridge in the middle. Find the side that does not have that big irrigation spout in it. The water is crystal clear and blue but the rocks are slippery. You have been informed and warned. July 6 was spent in Las Vegas at my dad's house with a cushy bed with and an ice pack.

So now this brings me into Monday, July seventh which was spent taking care of some business in Las Vegas and driving to Zion national park. I was able to get the very last campground space available that night in a very nice campground. Now, it was really hot. But it was a dry heat and I was in Zion with a huge cliffs on either side of the campground. Even though my back was out the next day as I did manage to go hiking by keeping to the easy trails. The night was spent nearby lake Panguitch. The campsite was cool and by a great fishing stream. There were really great bathrooms, something I found to be true thruought all of Utah campland. But I couldn't say it was worth the long drive out there uphill all the way.

July 8 was spent on BLM Land at the grand staircase Escalante national monument. I found the dirt road that was certainly manageable by the van and high enough in elevation to avoid any kind of flood since there was a chance of thunderstorms. I thought this road wouldn't have much traffic but since I've been here, there's been tons of preteens in beat up old trucks driving this dirt road. Luckily, they seem to be pretty good drivers and very nice. It must be that I'm pretty close to residential area over the hill. Whatever. It's beautiful here and it's free. And yeah, it's hot.

Today I hike Bryce since my back is a better and I want to experience was like to be on Mars. Pics to follow…