Lets share ideas for next year's rally.
I would like to explore Either Spearfish Canyon or Head more south towards Custer State Park. I was just thinking that we haven't seen any wildlife on either event. We could maybe take the bikes through Bear Country USA. However, the Yeti might be the only one to survive with his Kevlar reenforced riding jacket. I would like to see some Buffalo, Elk, or maybe even a Deer. Soo, any thoughts fellas?
I think the southern hills is a
great idea, there seems to be less baby-head sized rocks in the south. ;D Also, Brian doesn't know his way around down there, so he can't lead us into his so-called "fun" trails. ;D
Not sure if Bear Country allows bikes to ride through...during the Sturgis Rally, I always see lots of Harleys parked at the entrance with bikers loading up on their buses.
QuoteI would like to see some Buffalo, Elk, or maybe even a Deer.
You WILL see buffalo in CSP of course, you may see an Elk, but those deer are pretty darn rare. ;) CSP has VERY limited offroad opportunities, but the one that I know of is a beautiful ride and I've been told that there are Elk back there, although I've yet to see one. Most of the offroad in CSP is gravel. There are MANY jeep trails, but the general public isn't allowed on those (AFAIK), unlesss you plead ignorance... Then there's the entrance fee (I buy a yearly pass every year anyway).
Off topic:
Earlier this year, I took a ride down Playhouse Road. About a half a mile down the road, there was a fire road (at least it looked like a fire road) heading off to the left. There wasn't any signs saying I couldn't go that way, so I did. 8)
Ended up in a very pretty area (I have pics, but not loaded on Photobucket). The road became kinda vague, and could tell it was rarely traveled. There was quite a few little creek crossings. Was a fun road. Then, I came around a corner, and there to my left, about 20 feet away, was a VERY large BULL BUFFALO just laying in the grass. At the time I was negotiating a pretty rutty piece of the road and thought to myself, "don't you DARE drop it here!". The bull got up as I went past, and my heart skipped a couple beats as I tried to ride away as fast as I could. I looked back about :30 seconds later and he was headed out in the opposite direction...whew! (I have been chased by a buffalo in CSP once before on a bike, did not want a repeat performance.)
Anyway, this road came out onto the highway eventually, and there WAS a sign on this end of the road saying NO OFFROAD TRAVEL PERMITTED...oops. ;D
Back on thread: Wind Cave park (also in the southern hills) has a lot of wildlife as well, and doesn't cost anything to ride through, I know nothing about off-road there.
I do know A LOT of trails around the Rockerville, Hill City, Mt. Rushmore, Sheridan Lake areas and if we stayed in the southern hills, these would be easier to access (less slab to get there).
Not sure where to camp. The Mt. Rushmore KOA is centrally located, has all the ammenities of home, but is always pretty crowded, and it ain't what I'd call cheap. I'll do some checking around and see what our options are.
The Hills are not that big and since they took really good care of us this past June I like the situation we have camping at fish n fry. Plenty of room with a nice sheltered place to hang in case it rains with food, grill, and showers close by. I am fine washing in a stream but I know that is not for everyone and not everyone can cook up dinner without a microwave. Basic needs are food, shelter,rum/beer, backwoods cigars, and showers, and there are not many places in the souther hills south of hills city that meet those needs in additoin having a shop with tools close by.
To spend a day in CSP it is going to be a heavy road day with very few off road options so to commute down there would take a little over an hour. I am only a piece of the cog that spins this wheel but that is my 2 cents.
I would like to also explore the area south of spearfish or the western hills because there is nothing but trees, hills, and roads that could lead? Like that idea.
I am down with anything and will get the weekend off. If the general consensus if for the southern hills, I live off of hwy 40 about 6 miles out of keystone and have 6 wooded acres and plenty of spare room/bathrooms for people to use. Also a fridge just for booze and two large grills. Everyone would be welcome to stay here for the weekend. Plenty of room for tents and I could even find a stream just for you Chad ;D
that is one heck of a generous offer. what a guy!
VERY generous offer!!
Can we have a bonfire?? ;D
That is a great offer. Keep in mind though that if it's like last year there could be 20+ people! That might overload your facilities a bit!
Lets ride rocks
Lets do it and pretend that we are not riding them ...(mentally project our body and mind to a flat freshly paved road )and then say we did . :)
Let's NOT do it, and ride nice, smooth fire roads, but project our minds & bodies to Camp 5 (or worse...whatever, I'm not really riding it so it could be a glacial scree field or freakin' Mars for all I care), and then say we did! ;D ;D ;D
I'm in. i would recommend the southern hills though that time of year. odds are it will be wet up north. the other bonus to the southern hills is the loop potential. we can ride 100 mile loops for days and barely touch asphalt. can you say jasper burn area? there are plenty of camping opportunities from hill city to the south that would fill all the needs. i'd like to buy in with the E ticket this year. last year was a blast if only for one day with all you guys. i'll do some checking on the camping too.
i'm liking the skiing right now but wanting to ride real bad!
Hey Chris! Great to see you finally found us!
I'm with you on the dry, southern hills loops...and I know you know your way around them parts! I spend the vast majority of my riding time in the northern/central hills and would like to see some of the offroad opprtunities in the south that I haven't seen before.
Hey Chris - I was wondering when you'd show up! I hope you make it in June.. show us some more of those excellent, little known trails!
I think the southern hills sound like a good plan as well.
How 'bout the 1st or 4th weekend instead? ;D ;D ;D
:P
Brett - I'm building my own skid plate to be ready for the BIG ROCKS this time!! With any luck if I start now I might be able to finish it before June.
Hopefully I will be a little warmer too!
Quote from: AquaTop on February 10, 2009, 10:36:29 PM
How 'bout the 1st or 4th weekend instead? ;D ;D ;D
:P
I'm actually very flexible, so whatever works for everyone else!
Quote from: Dustin on February 11, 2009, 12:52:02 PM
Bret - I'm building my own skid plate to be ready for the BIG ROCKS this time!! With any luck if I start now I might be able to finish it before June.
stout skid plates are pretty important out in the hills aren't they. gives a bit more peace of mind when the weight of bike and rider comes down hard on a large rock. can't wait to see your handywork.
It might not be as pretty as the purchased ones but I guarantee it will do the job!! ;D
here is my suggestion for camping for the ralley. Sheridan Lake north campgound has group sites. i should be getting the price list from a co-worker yet this week. should be pretty cheap though. here are my pros for this local...
1. great jumping off point for rides to central, south, and northern hills.
2. close to hill city for amenities (5-6 miles)
3. at the intersection of 385 and 16 (2 miles) there is a nice/big convience store (beer :chug, fuel...important things like that.)
4. nice place to camp.
that's my two cents worth. when i get the prices i'll follow up this post.
sounds like group sites run from about $50 to $100 a night depending on the size of the sight. Any guesses as to how many folks this summer?
Last year the number right around 48 people but around 20 came from Min and only camped the one night with our group before heading home. Really hard to say this year because we now we have more members than we did with the msn site but with people cutting back might cause those that are farther away to skip it. I would anticipate at least 20-30 people though.
area map.
(http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv33/hayduke-klr07/sheridanlake.jpg)
google earth is fun though i am having limited success with saving images.
(http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv33/hayduke-klr07/sheridanlake.jpg)
oops here is the new map.
(http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv33/hayduke-klr07/centralhills.jpg)
I see you got the pic posting figured out!
+1 for camping at Sheridan Lake! Only thing, the camp nazis won't allow campfires like the one we had last fall.... :P "Fire can't be higher than grate....blah, blah, blah...."
maybe we can space the grate up about 6' :evil
yup. the taller the fire the better.
I agree. Raise the grate!
We all know a fire's not really going good until it shows up in space on a satellite's thermal imaging camera!
Nothing like having a Nat. Guard Blackhawk scrambled to the coordinates of the fire to insure a low-yield
nuclear device didn't go off in Western South Dakota!!!
"Nope HQ, it's just those pyromaniacs from the 2009 DDSR Rally!"
"It's cool, they've got their own tanker standing by to water down the flames if it gets out of hand!"
Now the real deal...I did go camping one Memorial Day weekend down at Deerfield, at the Dutchman campground, I think it was. The boys got a fire going one night and we did have a BlackHawk fly over to check on things. I think they were in the area training already. Anyhow, we didn't think much about it until the next morning. By the light of breakfast, we could clearly see where the branches in the trees above the fire pit had been blackened by the flames. So, guess we might have had a fire just a little bigger than they ordinarily expect you to have. The branches were 30-40 feet in the air!!! I was late getting back from paddling my kayak on the lake so I didn't have a hand in that pyro-exhibition. It was one of those moments when you go sheeeeuuucks!!! Glad it wasn't me!
However, I was party to one "LARGE" campfire years ago when I was stationed at K.I. Sawyer AFB, MI. This was in the Upper Peninsula or U.P. and took place during firearms deer season. Two of us had camp set up down in a cedar swamp alongside one of the branches of the Escanaba River. We had that cedar and pine square-stacked about 3-3 1/2 feet tall, then, we had logs 5-6 foot in length formed in a tepee around the square. This area is waaaaay up North and I know some of you Minnesota boys know what I'm talking about when I say it gets dark, real dark in camp way up there! Did I mention that it also gets pretty cold, too?! So, anyhow, it's dark and cold. We got this wood, it's stacked just right, and look...I have a match! We lit that puppy and I swear you could have walked away 50-60 yards and still had enough light to see to read the paper by! The fire burnt from about 8 Pm through 1 AM and with plenty of snow around, there was no place for it to go. It burnt a round ring in the snow so there was a big circle around the fire and this is what caused what I like to think happened later on. It was a clear night and the stars were shining brightly overhead. I remember thinking, I wondered if the Soviet satellite boys could see us on their monitors (they flew over our bomber base all the time watching our B-52s). I could just imagine their initial panic...
"Kommrade Boris, Kommrade Boris, the crazy Americans have launched a missile!!! Ve have a missle launch in the northern United States!!!!!!!!!"
"KALM down, you fool und tell me the location of this so-called launch"
"Kommrade Boris, it is in the upper peninsula of the U. S. state of Michigan, near their K.I. Sawyer air base."
"Igor! You idiot, that is a bomber base! There are no missiles there!"
"But Kommrade Boris, ve have such a wery large heat signature on the display!"
"Igor, have our launch indicators sounded!"
"Not yet, Kommrade Boris!?!"
"Igor, increase the resolution magnification on our 'communication' (wink-wink, nudge-nudge) satellite so ve may see vhat is causing this alarm."
"Kommrade Boris, there it is! See the ring of fire shooting up!?! It is just like the fire vhen it shoots out of the missile capsule at launch time!" "See, Kommrade Boris, there are two technicians standing beside the launch capsule right now!"
"YES, I DO SEE, Igor! But, tell me this...vhere are the other military wehicles, the military instalation, the other technicians??! That's right, Igor, there aren't any at all and ve are not vatching a launch!!!! Igor, take a closer look, you id-dee-ott, those are not technicians und that is not a missile silo!!! Igor, that is a tent und those are simply hunters who for a lack of anything better to do have ignited a battalion-sized camp fire! Igor, I have read about them, those are YOOPERS and they are taking part in the annual hunt for the 'Thurty-point Buck'! This campfire is just part of their ritual. Remember the time you und I und your stoopid brother-in-law, Stanislaus (who always smelled like rotten cabbage rolls) vent to Siberia to hunt for the Great Bear? Remember how he almost set the whole Siberian wasteland on fire from the campfire he made?!"
"Ya Kommrade Boris, ha ha, I had almost tried to forget that. The Kommissar was not wery happy that ve burned down his hunting lodge and ve almost received permanent orders to the gulag."
"Ya Igor, instead, ve got permanent night shift vatching the launch screens vith strict orders not to screw up again or else!"
"Kommrade Boris, look, look at the screen. They are looking up and seem to be vaving to us; I can not believe it!"
"You are right, so they are,Igor. I told you they are not much different from us. Igor, push the stobe signal switch three times and let's vatch vhat happens."
"Kommrade Boris, look they have seen it and they are raising something in their hands towards the satellite. Vhat is it do you tink?"
"Igor, I tink they are toasting us with drink. Do we not take drink with us vhen ve camp und hunt? Increase the resolution a bit more und let's see what these fearsome hunters drink."
"Kommrade Boris, it is a red, white und blue can...it is, ahhh yes, it is a Diet Pepsi!!! Ha, ha,ha,ha! Some fearsome hunters, no?!!!"
"Yes, Igor, some fearsome hunters indeed! Igor, give them three more long flashes on the strobe to acknowledge their toast."
"Ya, Kommrade Boris. Look, a final salute from them!"
"Ahh yes, Igor, I tink Mother Russia has little to fear from these two gentlemen tonight. Now vhere is that bottle of wodka that you've been hiding from the duty Kommander? Ve should return their toast, ya?!"
And so ends another night of de tant when soldiers in the night look across their lines at each other and think, he could be me, I could be him..."See, Igor, I told you they are not so wery different after all. Salut! DasVadania, my brothers!"
A big, controlled fire can be a good thing! A big, uncontrolled fire never is!
Enough of story time. Ride safe.
......Stanislaus (who always smelled like rotten cabbage rolls).....
Good stuff. I love your stories and reports Larry.
Great writing! But sometimes I wonder what it's like living in your head. ;D
Every day is a new adventure!
Seriously, working juvenile corrections like I have for the last 12+ years, you sometimes need to get away from the
depression and hopelessness you see some of our young people and their families stuck in. You need some way to re-charge your batteries. I do it by writing, hiking, riding bike (mtn. & moto), kayaking, climbing, and such other things which require your immediate focus. It's tough to think about work when repelling off of a 3-pitch climb like Spire 2 with nothing between you and the ground but your harness and and the rope in your hand! I can tell you we didn't think about work much we Number Two/Aaron and I made the Laramie Lap back on the 7th of last month. It was more like,okay shift weight, put your feet down to stay upright, get off the throttle, let off the brake a little and keep the front tire rolling, dang...hope I don't fall over like Number Two/Aaron did, dude...are we giants today or what, hey..got another cookie, nuts...hope my tennis elbow will quiet down enough for me to gut out this ride, where is the ibuprofen, etc, etc.
So, yeah, we all need a little adventure every day and sometimes we have to create it when it doesn't come to us readily. We all need to flush our minds at times. Besides, I bet there's things others of you do to achieve the same thing I do through my writing. I use words to paint a story, some of you create things with metal, some create stories through pictures, some create stories by the people you've come to know in your life, while others are simply waiting for the right moment to share their gifts.
One things for sure Yeti...sometimes it does gets crowded up in my head. When that happens, I simply need the solace of a "small campfire and the dark, starry sky above to make things right again.
Right now, though, I'm about a half-bubble off of plumb. I'm sitting at home with the doggone flu. Hope it gets gone by the next time we have good weather.
Catch you later.
Uncle Larry - you scare me, in good way! (Plus you're probably close to my age and work in the same type of asylum). Hey, get well soon!
Any thoughts to the group of camping "off the grid"?
My experience camping anywhere near a res/lake is high price and high enforcement. Some of the backway and out of the way campgrounds go largely unnoticed, but may not offer showers and close prox to beer/fuel. I should also note that my times in the Hills have been later in the summer and fall. I was thinking of spots like Ditch Creek, or towards Cement Ridge for away from the crowd venues. Good riding in the areas, but maybe not the most convenient. Those who are lucky enough to live in the Hills certainly have the best knowledge of what that weekend would look like re: crowds and available camping. Really doesn't matter to me - 12 hr drive regardless.......
Hey All, did you know that the 2009 V-Strom gathering is the 25th - 29th of June here in the Black Hills ?
Here is a link for anybody interested.
http://sites.google.com/site/2009vstromgathering/
or
http://www.stromtrooper.com/showthread.php?t=31549
FYI
That's cool! I'll have to try and crash some of their rides, maybe show 'em Camp 5! :evil
Quote from: The Yeti on March 09, 2009, 11:14:32 AM
That's cool! I'll have to try and crash some of their rides, maybe show 'em Camp 5! :evil
That would be very very evil Yeti!!! You'd need to video that train wreck!! :evil
Camp 5 on a vstrom would be interesting. I'd set up an exhaust repair shop at the end of the route (they have low head pipes).
Camp 5 ??? ???
Camp 5
(http://i443.photobucket.com/albums/qq153/DustyKLR/DSC02772.jpg)
Lots of that stuff
Quote from: cman60 on March 31, 2009, 09:15:01 AM
Camp 5 ??? ???
These are a few pics of Camp 5 area. See here for more:
http://dev.dakotadualsportriders.com/smf/index.php?topic=104.0
http://dev.dakotadualsportriders.com/smf/index.php?topic=83.0
(http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn308/fringefan/Dual%20Sport%20PICs/100_0885.jpg)
(http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn308/fringefan/Dual%20Sport%20PICs/100_0891.jpg)
(http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn308/fringefan/Dual%20Sport%20PICs/100_0876.jpg)
(http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn308/fringefan/Dual%20Sport%20PICs/100_0878.jpg)
(http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn308/fringefan/Dual%20Sport%20PICs/100_0885.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn97/DakotaDSriders/Bret%20-%20Loingrader/P9200039.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn97/DakotaDSriders/Bret%20-%20Loingrader/P9200040.jpg)
ah. camp 5. how i miss thee.
june rally is gettin closer!
I expect Ryan will start the official sign up thread soon.
In the meantime, its looking like I wont be making the June rally except for maybe Sat. night camping and fellowship (beer). Paul and I are currently planning on doing a saddle sore that week Wed, June 17 from Watertown to Glacier Park (1050 miles) then spending Thurs there to enjoy some R/R and a ride over Going to the Sun Highway, then we'll ride back to the Hills Fri / Sat, possibly through Yellowstone and hit the Hills to camp w/ you boars on Sat night.
Hate to miss the DS'ing, but there is always the Sept rally.
This is all pending me getting my GS road ready by then, but I don't expect that should be a problem barring any major mechanical disasters that occur between now and then.
Man I thought you would be taking that little enduro you where working on ;D then you could call it an iron but day.
I don't think riding the 400 w/ its 70mile fuel range 1000 miles in a day would be much fun.... maybe after I've done a couple on something more practical ;D
that will be an awesome ride jason. glacier and going to the sun highway are on my short list of trips in the near future. we will miss you guys at the rally though!
Will be my 3rd or 4th time there on bike.. but it's been almost 15 yrs. I'm excited.
And I'll be doing it on the oldest bike yet... funny.
Quote from: Hank on March 31, 2009, 05:53:49 PM
I expect Ryan will start the official sign up thread soon.
In the meantime, its looking like I wont be making the June rally except for maybe Sat. night camping and fellowship (beer). Paul and I are currently planning on doing a saddle sore that week Wed, June 17 from Watertown to Glacier Park (1050 miles) then spending Thurs there to enjoy some R/R and a ride over Going to the Sun Highway, then we'll ride back to the Hills Fri / Sat, possibly through Yellowstone and hit the Hills to camp w/ you boars on Sat night.
Hate to miss the DS'ing, but there is always the Sept rally.
This is all pending me getting my GS road ready by then, but I don't expect that should be a problem barring any major mechanical disasters that occur between now and then.
WTF, Hank?? You gonna make me the sole KTM representative this time 'round?? How dare you plan a trip during the DDSR rally....wrong, just wrong I tell ya!
Seriously, I'm kinda jealous, have never been to Glacier on a bike, and haven't been there in about 30 years (same goes for Jellystone). If you can't get yer GS goin', you gonna take the 950?
I probably would take the KTM if the GS blows up on me.. but I think the GS will be lookin' good by then. It's pretty close already.
GS has a little bigger seat.. which I'm thinking will be seriously beneficial for that first day.....
I am bummed about missing the DDSR rally.. no doubt.. but since I had already planned to be gone that weekend, and it's ~ the longest days of the year, and I've got this Iron Butt bug (you can thank Paul for that).... I guess the stars have aligned for that weekend. I'll still come drink beer and talk smart Sat night though!
Hank - That is a very adventurous trip! I have never traveled that many miles in one day! I think it would be a very fun trip, I'm kinda jealous actually. Hopefully the GS hangs in there and doesn't fail, maybe you can hang out Sunday and take the GS thru camp 5 :evil.
God speed and good luck!
Any way with the recent news now leaves me flying solo out to the hills :(. I know there are a few fellow easterners like Ryan and Brett. What are you guys planning on doing? If there is any one else coming thru on I-90 maybe we can meet up and ride together.
Dustin, there are a few guys north of the boarder that said they where heading out here. Send scuba a pm and see how they are comming down.
Should be a good time and look forward to the camp fire stories again this year.
we'll see when we get closer dustin, but you are welcome to ride out with me. you'd still be solo for awhile, but i'll be taking highway 44 out again this year, which is much better than i-90 on a klr. ryan will probably be coming out that way again this year too i bet.
Quote from: loingrader on April 06, 2009, 09:13:45 AM
we'll see when we get closer dustin, but you are welcome to ride out with me. you'd still be solo for awhile, but i'll be taking highway 44 out again this year, which is much better than i-90 on a klr. ryan will probably be coming out that way again this year too i bet.
Cool! Good to know. Yea highways are much better, I don't think I've ever taken my KLR on the interstate. I was just too lazy to pull out a map for hwy #'s. :D
did you guys take 212 out in sept? i bet that is a lonely highway (which is how i like em).
Nope.... We took Hwy 14 to Hwy 34 right into Sturgis. It was a very lonely highway! Always nice not having to deal with traffic. ;D