My first motorcycle camping trip

Practice

My BFG and my own walking around sense told me that I should do some practice trips to see how it went, what I could improve on, what I might need help doing, and if I even liked camping out of a motorcycle.  And, to that end, on the spur of the moment, I decided on a Monday to go on a trip that Friday.  Nothing like putting a ton of planning into a trip!  I HAVE said I could be impulsive.

The food and gear

There were some logistics to plan for, and I am usually a planner, but this time, my desire to go try this kind of got in the way.  When I’m backpacking, I plan all my meals meticulously, make them, and dry them but this time, I didn’t even give myself time to cook anything.  For the first time in my life, I went to REI and bought prepared dehydrated meals.  While I had eaten MREs back in the day when I was serving in the military, I hadn’t eaten a prepared, dried meal since, and never a commercial one.  Glenn assured me they were much better than the MREs I had eaten, so I went with mushroom risotto and roasted 3-bean chili, both vegan.  I went through my own backpacking gear and my BFG offered me his Jetboil stove and his tent.  My stove is made from a couple of aluminum bottles and runs on denatured alcohol.  VERY light and small, but the Jetboil is fast, so I took that.  BFG has a REI quarter dome and I’ve a Black Diamond Hi-Lite.  While his tent is bigger and heavier than mine by a bit, his is a double wall and easier to set up, so I took it.  This trip was so rushed, I was certain I’d forget something.

The gear to go on the bike.

The ride up

I packed the bike Thursday night, really not knowing what I was doing.  I knew the weight should be fairly evenly distributed between the two saddlebags, but that was it.  I lifted everything and tried, without actually weighing anything, to make it fairly even, then proceeded to try to fit it all where I wanted it to go.  It was like playing Tetris with a motorcycle!  I ended up fitting everything, and left about 0800 Friday morning.

My plan was to head to Whiskey Springs Campground near Butte Falls, Oregon, spend the night and drive to Washoe Lake State Park in Nevada to see my friend that worked there.  I would head home on the third day.  I’m fortunate that my schedule at work is such that I get every other Friday off.  I did pick a weekend that extreme hot temperatures and severely unhealthy air due to smoke from fires was predicted, but I was eager and how bad could it be anyway, right?

Navigator

I bought a BMW Navigator VI for Lucille, and after much tinkering and research, I figured out how to load a route from Google Maps into it to use as navigation.  I didn’t really test this out, I could see the route uploaded, so I assumed it was working as I expected.  I jumped on the bike, told the Navigator to take me to Whiskey Springs, and set off.  I was a little worried about the weight balance on the bike, but I seemed to have it dialed enough for the bike to handle it well, as I didn’t notice it at all.  I sat back and enjoyed the ride.  At least until I got to the Highway 70 exit outside of Oroville.  My GPS started to insist I take that exit, even though my planned route was to take 70 to 99 to I-5 to Medford, Oregon.  When I didn’t take the exit, the thing started to insist I take a u-turn!  This was crazy.  Eventually, all of its flashing and insistence that I turn around made me cancel the route and just drive.  I knew how to get to Medford, so it wasn’t a worry and I thought maybe I had done something incorrectly in the route planning.

The planned route.

The drive to Medford was beautiful and freeing.  I was stressed about finding a campsite and a little worried about finding the campground itself, but I enjoyed riding up immensely.  Lucille is so comfortable and smooth!  Once I got to Medford, I asked the Navigator to take me to Whiskey Springs campground.  This is where things started to go sideways.  I knew I needed to go east but the Navigator told me to go west.  I ignored it.  It freaked out and repeatedly told me I was going the wrong way.  Now, I have said I’m not the most confident person and while this might sound weird, even though I KNEW the Navigator wanted me to go the wrong way, I thought it was smarter than I was.  Eventually, I got so scared that I was lost, I asked my phone to take me there.  My phone’s directions were the opposite of the Navigator, so, by now, I’m figuring I got a dud Navigator.  I got to the campground and found a spot but realized they only take cash.  There was not even one folding dollar in my wallet, but I figured I could get some once I got all set up.  I erased the spot I chose from the available board, set up my spot and, as I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, asked my Navigator to find me a grocery store.

A campsite.

No service equals trouble

Now you may ask why I asked the Navigator to take me to a grocery rather than my phone.  The answer was simple, I had no cell reception.  I stopped by the camp host, explained what I had done and she told me to take a right and another right, and I’d find a grocery with an ATM.  Perfect.  I looked at the Navigator and hit the road.  The Navigator took me on the first right, but then it told me to go left.  I do not know WHY I believed it, but I turned left.  The GPS told me the grocery was in 12 miles, but 18 miles later, it dumped me at a boarded up building and told me I had arrived.  This was not good.  I checked the phone, no service.  Damn.  I asked the Navigator to guide me to another grocery and off I went.

Turn right here.  What a phrase.  I turned per the Navigator, and it was a sketchy, one-lane road.  I started up and decided this was not a good idea, visions of Deliverance floating through my head.  There was no way I could turn the bike around on this little, steep road, but I came to a tiny rock turnout and took it.  The rock was fairly deep and large and the bike bogged down in it.  In addition, the ground was uneven to the point that I couldn’t put the kickstand down and the hill so steep, I couldn’t hold the bike up without the brake.  I cancelled the route to the grocery and decided to follow the camp host’s directions, so I directed the Navigator to take me back.  Of course, I needed to turn the bike around.  I tried to roll it forward, got off balance and it started to tip.  This bike weighs about 700 pounds, even more with gear in it.  If it falls over, there is NO WAY I can pick it up alone.  And I am now in the middle of nowhere with no one anywhere near.  I yelled at myself to not tip over and got control of the bike.  Now I was scared and shaking where I should have been triumphant.  I finally got Lucille turned around and followed directions from the camp host and found the grocery, ATM, and some, by now, much needed gasoline.

Settling in

I went back to the campsite, paid, made dinner and tried to relax.  My tires were down a couple of pounds of air, but I had a new mini-air compressor, so I would just try that out, no worries.  I got down to that after dinner.  Unfortunately, as I started to screw the air hose onto the valve stem on the bike, air started to leak out, and I panicked.  I turned the compressor on and tried to get the air in.  By the time I gave up, the front tire was down to 20lbs.  I was worried, but figured I could make it the 45 or so miles to Klamath Falls and get air in the tire there.  I gave up on worrying for the night and went to bed.  I relaxed and fell asleep and woke up ready to go.

My camp for the night.

Lucille looks so happy.

Good morning?

I had coffee and packed up, jumped on the bike and started to drive off.  There was no way I was going to make it to Klamath Falls on that low tire.  I drove the bike to some pavement, dropped off my trash, and tried the compressor again.  I remembered that when I use the regular air compressor at home, while air leaks out initially, but once you get it right, none does and you fill the tire.  Maybe I just hadn’t screwed the air hose on tight enough?  I tried it again, fully tightening the hose, and it worked!  Tire full!  And huge relief.  This got me on the road later than planned, but I was going.

Somewhere in Oregon.

 

I ate my lunch at a gas station in Alturas.

Lost

The route I programed in the Navigator took me to Highway 140 to Highway 395, which would take me right to Washoe Lake State Park.  I turned it on and told it to take me there.  Guess what?  That stupid thing deviated from the route, and I ended up getting “lost”.  I was still following road signs, but now I was no longer on the route I had planned.  I got to Highway 395 without a problem.  The drive was nice, but it was really smoky and blazing hot.  I drove through some recently burned areas, and a lot of sagebrush, before arriving at Washoe Lake.  My good friend Mike worked there and I’d stay with him for the night.  It was wonderful to see him and it had been a long time since we’d actually seen each other, so we had some serious catching up to do.

It was so good to see my dear friend Mike!

The smoke from all the fires made for some strange light.

Idea

After going to bed, I fell right to sleep and an idea came to me while I slept.  Maybe there was some setting on the Navigator that was messed up and causing it to go crazy?  I would look, but if I couldn’t find anything, I was returning it.  That thing was crazy.  In the morning, while Mikey still slept, I took it out and started to go through it.  Sure enough, it was set to only navigate me on curvy roads while avoiding all major highways.  This could explain a lot.  I changed the settings and, even though I knew how to get home from here, asked the thing to take me home.  I performed flawlessly for the 150 or so miles that it took me to get home!  Finally!

Home

I arrived home full of a sense of accomplishment.  I had done my first motorcycle camping trip!  A lot went wrong, a lot went right, I learned a LOT, and I DID IT!  I would need more practice before my big trip, but this was doable and I could have a great time!  I am looking forward to more practice trips, and the knowledge that will come with those.