Trip Log

  • 1 fighter jet (the Navy’s TOPGUN training program is based in Fallon)
  • 3 flat tires (on the first day)
  • 1 12 oz New York Steak
  • 1 Nevada rancher and his 18-year-old son who were one week away from moving to Bryansk, Russia to work 5,000 head of cattle. The contract is for three years. (Austin)
  • 1 local Aussie who spent the last 3 days searching the backcountry for an old mining claim. Still hadn’t found it. (Middlegate)
  • 1 local Nevadan who grew up in Whittier, CA and worked in canaries in Alaska and mines all over Nevada. Now he is the handyman at Middlegate.

  • 3 highway patrolmen seen in the entire state of Nevada
  • 3 >100 mile day
  • 3 saddle sores
  • 1 Chaco blister after the Zion hikes
  • 1 close encounter with a rumble strip and a guardrail
  • 5 stretches with the perfect tailwind
  • 1 car slowed to ask if I needed anything
  • loads of peace signs, thumbs-up, friendly honks and cheers from passing cars
  • 1 instance of being flipped off by a passing car
  • 1 diesel truck that proceeded to slow down as he passed me and expel clouds of black exhaust right in my face
  • 3 eastbound tourers spotted
  • 5 westbound tourers spotted
  • 1 northbound tourer spotted
  • too many deer to count
  • 1 badger between Eureka and Ely
  • 0 bombers at the Navy’s Fallon Range Training Complex
  • 10 road-killed snakes
  • 1 rattlesnake crossing the road
  • 1 Uhaul-driving man named Skip who pulled off the road to chat with me. He walked from Boulder to Santa Cruz years ago and wanted to see how I was doing. skipswalk.com
  • too many antelope to count
  • 0 elk
  • 2 fields of windmills
  • 2 cows in the middle of the road
  • 1 reptile biologist working in Great Basin National Park. He had just finished his first week. Veteran of the war in Afghanistan is now tracking rattlesnakes in the backcountry. (Baker)
  • 1 German couple from Berlin who are on a 4-week road trip of American National Parks. I might run into them in Zion. (Baker)
  • 1 bearded Harley Davidson-driving man on his way to the North Rim to deposit his friend’s ashes in the canyon.
  • 1 RV ride with a family on their way to Provo from Southern California to drop off the son and one of the daughters so they can begin their mission.
  • 3 friends from Vegas who spent the weekend in Zion. I camped next to them my second night in the park. They shared a weak Utah Budweiser with me.
  • 3 big-horned sheep
  • 2 herds of beefalo (bison)
  • 2 hikes (Angel’s Landing and the Narrows)
  • 1 all-day adventure on a dirt road that paralleled the North Fork of the Virgin River (the river that formed Zion Canyon).
  • Solo man in his 60s (Gene) biking from Flagstaff to Montana. I caught him on his fourth day. He was walking his bike and trailer up a hill as I was coming down. He is going to try to find temp work along the way so he can afford the trek.
  • contingent of about 15 Harley-riding Frenchmen and Frenchwomen.
  • 1 afternoon spent with a mother selling Navajo jewelry at a roadside gallery (Cameron)
  • 1 night spent behind a gas station/art gallery in the Navajo Nation.
  • 4 caves explored
  • 4 Amtrak rides
  • 1 Stone Foxes concert
  • 2 nights spent without Toby
  • 1st visits: Zion NP, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Cedar Breaks National Monument
  • 3 times ID’d at bars since the beard filled out
  • 2 Double Doubles (Carson City and Tucson)
  • 1 ride on Little Doc the horse
  • 2 couches surfed
  • 1 night spend in a Superliner Roomette
  • 1 night spent at the San Antonio Amtrak station
  • 3 nights at the River Bend Ranch
  • Met on the train: 2 Okies from miscogee Oklahoma (yellow dog democrats) and a 86 year old retired episcopalian priest
  • 3 dozen oysters eaten with Joe in New Orleans
  • 7 shows seen in New Orleans
  • 3 museums in and around Leland, MS
  • 9 road-killed aardvarks
  • 1 Vegetable Lasagna MRE
  • 1 meal of Summer Pasta
  • 1 wrong turn east of Houston, MS
  • 2 Mississippi River Crossings (train and car)
  • 1 duct tape patched tire
  • 1 night camping in a torrential downpour
  • 1 overflowing creek
  • 1 dinner with 2 of my great-grandmothers
  • 1 swim in the Etowah River
  • 254 tracks added to the Touring Tunes playlist
  • 82,855 feet of climbing
  • 2,080 miles of riding
  • 67 miles per day average (31 days of riding)

2 Comments

  1. NN
    September 28, 2013 at 3:37 am · Reply

    Were you expecting elk ?

    • Daniel (Author)
      October 1, 2013 at 12:26 pm · Reply

      I was hoping to see at least one in Utah since there were warning signs all along the highways.

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