BEARS TOOTH PASS TRIP

AUGUST 2004

How this trip came to be:

Somewhere around the year of 1999 or 2000 I read an article in a motorcycle magazine of a rider’s favorite ride over the Bears Tooth Pass. I was so intrigued by that story that all I could think about was how to make that trip happen for myself. I thought that it would be the trip of a lifetime. I started looking at maps and possible routes for the next four years. Then in the early summer of 2001 I was able to make a ride out to Sturgis, SD with one of my older brothers. He makes this Sturgis ride every year. So I started thinking that I could incorporate a ride over Bears Tooth Pass into this. Once we got to Sturgis and I saw how much there was to see there in the Black Hills I never made it to Western Wyoming where I had hoped to. There just wasn't enough time. Every day for a week we made day trips into new areas of the Black Hills of South Dakota and then our time was up. We had two weeks to ride from New England, out to Sturgis and Back. Through out that whole trip my thoughts were still on Bears Tooth Pass. So I kept on with the planning and dreaming of possible routes and dates for this dream trip. During the winter of 2003 I decided that come summer of 2004 I was going to make it happen. The original plan was I would ride to Sturgis along with my brother Roger and then I would continue on to Cody Wyoming on my own. As time grew closer Roger decided that he would skip Sturgis and go the whole trip with me. We would stop at Sturgis for one day on our way through. It was done! The date was set and a plan was in place.  We would leave on August 4th.  The plan was to camp as much as possible to save on motel costs and to stay off the super slabs unless we really had to make up lost time.

            We got to shopping for camping gear and settled on down sleeping bags for the sole reason they can be compressed real small to save space and I got a 3 person back packing tent.  It was a Eureka Apex 3XT. It had two separate zip down doors, one on each side and had 2 vestibules, one also on each side over the doors. It packed small and was light but of good quality in case we had to spend some time in it during bad weather. Finally we both bought Thermarest sleeping pads and I bought a book listing camping areas. I had loaded my Valkyrie with all my stuff packed onto it and made some practice rides to check out how it would all ride. We were ready!

            Then I got a call a few days before the start of the ride from Roger saying he couldn't make this trip. That wasn’t a problem as I originally had planned on making this trip alone anyways. I was actually more excited then knowing that I could stop wherever and whenever I wanted too for as long as I liked. I would feel no pressure to keep to a schedule or another’s expectations of this planned trip. I got my maps back out and rethought my route. I decided that once I got to the Western part of Pennsylvania I would look for route 36 in Eastern Ohio and stay on it until I got into Colorado then turn north and end up in Cody Wyoming. I no longer had to stop by Sturgis. The only planned reservation I had was for 2 nights at the KOA in Cody. The last thing I did to get ready was to post on the NE Board looking for someone I could use as a contact in case I needed to use the VORTEX. I didn’t want to print out the whole list of people along my planned route. So I was pleased when some one named Dalai Lama gave me both his cell and home numbers to use. Thanks again Brett for being there if I needed you.

Day 1 August 4th 2004:

            The plan was to leave early AM but when I woke I decided to hang around the house some with the kids. I was anxious to get going but then again one never knows what could happen either to the kids or to myself while I was gone and I wanted to spend some extra time with them before I left. The weather forecast was good for most of the day with some showers coming in late in the day in Pennsylvania. After that the weather looked good for the foreseeable future.

            I finally left home in Colrain at 11:15 AM. My starting mileage was 34,111. It was great riding weather until I got to Pittston, PA around 5:15PM. There I hit the rain so I decided to stop there and motel it for the night. My ending mileage for the day was 34,365. 254 miles.  I had traveled over Rt. 2 west into Williamstown then took rt. 43 into NY onto rt. 22 south. When I got to rt. 44 I took that west and then took the Taconic Parkway south until I reached rt. 84 which I took west into PA.  The ride was going nice and I was traveling familiar routes. Just before I reached Scranton at about where rt. 380 meets with rt. 84 all the traffic stopped. It took quite sometime to get through that stretch of highway. They had one lane of a bridge closed for reconstruction just after rt. 380 and rt. 84 met. So we had to go from four lanes down to one. That’s when I could see the rain coming and it was heavy traffic time. Once I got through that and the rain started I found a Super 8 motel and called it a day. I would get an earlier start the next morning.

Day 2 August 5^th 2004:

            I woke early, packed up, had breakfast and was back on the road by 6:30 AM. It had rained all night but the roads had dried. The skies were still dark and overcast. I took rt. 81 west to rt. 80 and stayed on that all the way until I reached rt. 8 south. I was glad I started out early. There was a lot of one lane bridge reconstruction going on and I was out early enough to have little traffic with me. I stayed on rt. 8 south for a short distance then took rt. 108 until I reached rt. 79 south to rt. 68 through Beaver PA. That ride through Beaver was the worst of the whole trip. The traffic there and all the stop and go through the lights took what seemed like hours. I would surely bypass that area next time through. I stayed on the north side of the Ohio River and finally crossed into Ohio. I took rt. 7 south a short distance then got onto rt. 39. That was an awesome ride along 39. Beautiful winding rolling hills all to myself. I stayed on rt. 39 until I got to Roswell then cut across south to rt.36. I was now on the route that would take me all the way into Colorado. The Valkyrie started to pick up the pace and act a bit punchy just as I was coming through Marysville. She knew she was riding through her birth place. I stopped and camped for the night at the Drake County Fairgrounds in Greenville, Ohio. It was a place I had seen on my list of campgrounds. The time was 7:30 PM and my ending mileage was at 34,945. 580 miles for the day. The grounds were nice there and so weren’t the people. The facilities were horrible though. I wouldn’t camp there in a tent again. I found a restaurant within walking distance and had a good supper and a few pints. The few pints was a mistake. Having to get up several times during the night was let out the rented beer was a pain. I had to get out of the sleeping bag, get something on as there was lights on all night at the fairgrounds, unzip and get out of the tent and make my way to the horrible facilities. Then back track back to the tent and do this at least once more during the night. Remember, we only get to rent the beer!

Day Three August 6^th 2004:

            I woke at 7:30. I found that I had indeed slept good. It was nice to be sleeping out in a tent again. I had breakfast while waiting for the dew to dry off the tent then packed up and was back on the road at 9:30. It was a nice sunny day. I took rt. 465 around the north part of Indianapolis and right back onto rt. 36. I stopped at a rest area and took some pictures in a place called Dana before leaving Indiana. It was the home of Ernie Pyle and I saw a lot of damage done by a tornado earlier that week. I crossed into Illinois at 12:00 noon. My odometer said 35,119.  I continued on through Illinois and was able to pick up the pace some once rt. 36 and rt. 72 combined until just before crossing over into Missouri. I stayed on rt. 36 through Missouri until I got to Cameron then found Wallace State Park just south of there where I camped for the night. I stopped for the day at 8:00 PM central time. My ending mileage was at 35,494. A 549 mile day and a great day of riding it was. Rt. 36 was working out great. There was not a lot of traffic and it was a two way two lane roads like we’re used to around here but the posted speed limits were usually 65. Camping at Wallace State Park was a treat. It was a really nice place with each camp/tent site pretty much secluded. I think the fees were less than $12.00. And the facilities were really modern and nice. I got some firewood and made a fire and just sat up for quite awhile thinking about how great a trip this was so far.

Day Four August 7^th 2004:

            I started out on the road at 9:15 am. I’m still on rt. 36 crossing through Kansas now and it’s some awesome scenery. I stopped and visited the Pony Express and the Oregon Trail sites at Hollenberg Station. Then I stopped at the Geographical Center of the US.  I could see a bad storm approaching off to the west of me so I took rt. 27 north into the very south west corner of Nebraska and got onto to rt. 34 into Wray, Colorado.  That’s where the storm and I met. I pulled off the road and got a room just as the wind and large rain drops started. The time was 5:45 mountain time and my ending odometer was at 35,953. 459 miles for the day. It was so open and flat out there that there just wasn’t any place to hide from it. I got one of the last rooms available and unloaded the bike. I was watching the TV‘s weather channel showing that tornados had been spotted in the area. At that moment I was a happy guy knowing I missed that. It wasn’t 20 minutes later though that the storm was gone and the sun was back out. I had planned and riding to Brush, Colorado that day. I still knew I could easily reach my destination of Cody, Wyoming the next day and it was good to sleep in a bed after camping the last two nights. My gas mileage had gone down a lot. I don’t recall now what it was but the bike sure was running richer as the elevation increased. Riding along you didn’t notice that change except for each little town I came to had its name and elevation posted on their signs. That evening I had some free time so I got my maps out again and changed my planned route. I was going to go on rt. 34 into Greeley just North East of Denver then go up rt. 85 into Cheyenne. Instead I decided to take rt. 71 north out of Brush just east of Fort Morgan, Colorado. Cross back into Nebraska then west into Wyoming.

Day Five August 8th 2004:

            I was on the road at 6:30 am. I did get a much earlier start when ever I stayed in a motel. I think that in the tent I was content to sleep in and let any dew there was dry before I packed it up. I started out on rt. 34 West into Brush then took rt. 71 north. Crossing north through the Pawnee National grassland was an awesome site. I stopped beside the road and just gazed all around me. I could picture the Indians there roaming the grasslands along with the buffalo. I took pictures and video clips with my digital camera. There was a nice steady gentle breeze blowing and I just stood there watching the tall grasses moving in the winds. I finally snapped out of the trance and got back on the bike and made it into Kimball, Nebraska. There the tranquility of the trips past few days stopped as soon as I got on rt. 80 heading west into Wyoming. It was back to the fast paced busy traffic. I got onto the super slab to make up some lost time as I knew it was going to be a haul to get to Cody when I wanted too. I had had rt. 36 from Ohio and then other roads to this point almost all to myself. Well not any more. There were trucks and lots of them plus the cars and a lot of other bikers now too. All going at 85 plus mph. Man oh man did I suck up some fuel now. I was having to switch to reserve at 100 miles. Once I got to Cheyenne I took rt. 25 north and my mpg didn’t improve any. I was now going against a strong head wind. Looking back on it I should have stayed on rt. 71 North in Nebraska until I reached Scottsbluff then taken rt. 26 over to rt. 25 in Wyoming. I stopped at a rest area on rt. 25 to stretch and noticed a motorcycle with Vermont plates. At this point there were motorcycles everywhere. I walked over to the rider and asked where he was riding from. He was from Brattleboro, Vt. That was right near home for me. We visited for awhile and he told me of his trip so far. He had been where I was going to and was making his way back home to Vermont via Denver, Colorado. I got back on the road and had to stop for gas twice more before leaving rt. 25 in Casper and onto rt. 20/26. I was sweating it gas wise when I got into Shoshoni 100 miles later. This was some awesome country here along rt. 20 through the Wind River Canyon and Indian reservation. I stopped and topped off just 33 miles later in Thermopolis. I could see the Rocky Mountains to my west and I knew I was gaining in elevation. When I would really get on the throttle there really wasn’t much response. Just sort of a deeper humming sound. It was starting to feel like I was riding with it at full choke and it was going to be another 85 miles before the next available fuel stop in Cody and the elevation just before Cody was at about 6000 feet then back down t about 5000 in Cody itself.  There was a lot to see along this part of the trip since leaving Casper. Places like Hell’s Half Acre and the Wind River Canyon recreational area. I stopped and took lots of pictures. This was all new country for me and I couldn’t get enough of it.

            I got into Cody, Wyoming at 6:30 pm. The ending odometer was 36,549. 596 miles for the day. It was a long hot day but through some beautiful country. So far this trip was everything I had hoped it would be. I was finally at my destination. Tomorrow would be the Bears Tooth Pass into Red lodge, Montana.

            I found the KOA camp ground and got checked in. I was so disappointed at how it was there. I had been camping at roomy parks and campgrounds. Here it was like being jammed into a packed parking lot. I had to take it as there was not going to be any refunding the $$ now. There was a lot of Harley’s there also but on their trailers. There was this one Harley rider standing just outside the check in office. I noticed how clean all his leathers were and how he was trying to talk to everyone who passed by him. He was watching me as I got off my bike so I looked right at him and walked right directly towards him. He just sort of stood back and said hi and I returned the greeting and went inside to check in. When I came back out he was standing by my bike. He was so surprised that I rode all the way there from Mass. Well, his story was that he had just recently bought a brand new Harley Road King and a new trailer to haul it on plus all his new Harley Brand riding duds. He stopped just outside of Cody and rolled it off the trailer to ride into to town like most of them (real bikers do) and his new HOG wouldn’t even fire up. He was pissed. He got a hold of the nearest local Harley Dealer and took his prize bike there. They told him what was wrong. I forgot what the part was that failed but I guess they told him that it was a common part to fail and that hey were all out of them. He would have to wait at least a week for the parts. So he was pissed and was telling everyone who would listen to him how he felt about it all. He truly was a nice guy and I did feel for him. 

            I got my tent set up and rode back into Cody to find a cold pint and some good food. It didn’t take me long to find both. There were bikes everywhere. I asked a local if they were on their way to Sturgis. He says some are but it’s like that almost every weekend there. All the riders wanting to travel by bike through Yellowstone and few over the Bear Tooth Mountains and the Big Horns where I was going the next day.

            Day Six August 9^th 2004:

            I was glad I had bought a down sleeping bag. It was cold there at night. I slept terrible. There was such a dysfunctional family camping not but 6 feet away from me. A woman and her two teenage children. One boy and one girl and from what I could tell was her boyfriend. The boy was an idiot, there was nothing but constant yelling and screaming and fighting. This kid was taking his sisters game boy and stuff like that and smashing it. And all the mother wanted was someone to feel sorry for her for having kids that acted like her. Finally the kid ran off and then the mother threatened to go back home to what ever hell hole she came from and the tore off in the car. The daughter and the mother’s boyfriend sat there and visited quietly for most of the night. When I got up at daylight the car was still gone. What a downer after having such a great trip out to there so far.

            It was cold when I got up and going at 6:00. Everyone else was still sleeping in as I dressed up in all the warm clothes I had with me. I headed into Cody and got a quick Breakfast then gassed up and was off along rt. 120 and then onto rt. 296 the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. With in a matter of about 22 miles I went from an elevation of 5016 in Cody up to 8,048 at Dead Indian Pass. I decided not to go into Cooke City and instead turned onto rt. 212. This is what I had waited years to do and rode thousands of miles to get to. It was still real cold and hardly anyone else was out there yet at that early a time. This was great. The scenery and the roads were breath taking. This was in fact a trip of a life time for me. It was stopping often and taking lots of pictures and video clip. As I was riding up over the Bears Tooth Pass I was looking out for a dirt side road that I had read about. It would lead me up to a fire tower with awesome views. I found the dirt road and turned onto it. It was rough washed out gravel. It also said it was closed. I though bull after riding all this way I was going.  I made my way up it winding along then I came to an opening and there were several trucks with their horse trailers attached. They must have been out packing back farther into the mountains.  I rode up to where a gate blocked my way and there was no way to get around it. I parked the bike and grabbed my camera and started hiking. It wasn’t long at all before I was out of breath. I was hiking at over 10,000 feet and I couldn’t get enough air in. Now I knew how my Valkyrie was feeling. The hike up to the fire tower was worth every step of the way. What a place and what a view. I decided to hike higher up the mountains and look back down and take pictures of the tower. The sign on the tower said 9,811 feet. I walked back to the bike and continued on. I had yet to reach the pass.

            Once I got to the top of the pass at about 11,000 feet there was still snow beside the roads and ice on the lakes in some spots. This was almost mid August and I was cold. I took a few more pictures and decided I hadn’t better be stopping so much. I still had places I wanted to get to that day. The views and the roads there are just hard to describe with words. You just have to go there and see it all for yourselves. Pictures don’t do it justice. Not at all!

            Well, I made it into Red lodge with gas to spare. I was surprised. The trip from Cody up and over into Red lodge was about 100 miles. But half of it was all downhill. That was it! I had done it! I made the ride that I had dreamed about for four years. It was worth every bit of the travel to get there and do it.

            One other thing I wanted to do was to have a brew from the Red Lodge Brewery. The Brewery itself wasn’t open yet at that time of the morning but I did find a place open and had a pint and a burger. I well deserved treat for making the goal.

            From Red lodge I took rt. 308 through Washoe and Bearcreek and into Belfry. Along that road as I was descending I saw an old eerie building off to my left. I stopped at the roadside marker and read about how this is the Smithfield mine and how there had been a tragic mining disaster there. I believe the worst in Montana’s history. It was sad and eerie at the same time. I had since  bought the book about that from Red Lodge Press. From Belfry “I don’t believe there was but two houses in that whole town” I took rt. 295 back south into Wyoming and into Powell. From Powell I took Alt. rt. 14 east through the Big Horn Basin and then up over the Big Horn Mountains. Again the roads and the scenery was awesome. It was so hot down in the basin but cool up in the mountains. Along that route I passed by the Medicine Wheel National Historic Site. When my rt. met up with rt. 14 I took that back into Cody. I didn’t track times but my mileage for the day was 360.

            My original plan was to ride the Bears Tooth Pass then come back down it and down through the Grand Teton’s and back to Cody. Then go out Alt. rt. 14 on my way back home and stop at the Little Big Horn National Monument and ride rt. 212 back through the Black Hills of South Dakota. The rider I had talked to the day before from Vermont had come out that way. He said that the road reconstruction along rt. 212 in Montana was the worst of his whole trip. So I rethought my route once again rode this plan instead. I was happy. It was great.

            Day Seven August 10^th 2004:

            Well it was another horrible night at the KOA in Cody. The dysfunctional family was gone but I had a new neighbor now. One with a yappy dog. At some point during the night this woman finally takes her dog out of her car and brings it in her tent with her. It shut up. Then a few minutes later I could hear this dog start puking in her tent. Then she starts puking too and at this point I’m really starting to enjoy this. Then she gets out of her tent and starts up her car with the blowers on inside trying to dry out I guess. This car that’s running is but six feet from my tent. Finally both her and her dog settle down for the night. I woke early and packed up the bike. Enough of the KOA in Cody, Wyoming for me! I had to make new plans for the trip home. Rt. 212 was now out of the picture. I decided I would retrace my route back down through Wyoming for starters then get onto rt. 20 East just below Douglas. I didn’t make note of my starting times but the starting mileage was 36,911. The scenery along rt. 20 at the Wyoming/ Nebraska border was awesome. There were lots of trains along the north side of rt. 20. Lots of them! All were hauling coal and lots of it. They were lined up for miles and some were stopped and the engineer’s were out talking to each other.                                                                                                          As I was coming through Nebraska I saw what looked like a really interesting camping area. So I stopped. It was only late afternoon but I had plenty of time. By skipping the Black Hills I was taking a day or so off my trip. That was OK at this point. Funds were starting to run low. I had spent two nights so far in a motel that I hadn’t planned to. Plus I spent way more on gas at the higher elevations that I had planned also. I found where to check in and found that I was at Fort Robinson State park. What an awesome place that turned out to be. There is so much history at this one old Army Post. Camping there was cheap and the whole area was great. The food in the old military hall was good too. I could have spent days there and one summer I will. If you have a chance Google it and check it out. I really enjoyed camping there that night. I also hung around that next morning and checked it out more. That’s where Chief Crazy Horse was killed. And POW’s were kept there in later years.

Day Eight August 11^th 2004:

            I was on my way at 9:30 am. Starting mileage was 37,284. I stayed on rt. 20 east until just beyond O’Neill. It was a long slow and horrible day. The scenery was ok but I think I was in scenery overload. There was so much truck traffic coming towards me and a real strong wind blowing from the north. I was having to really constantly lean heavily to my left side into the wind. As I would meet a Semi truck the blast of wind from it would stand me back up straight and almost off the right side of the road. They were going 70 plus mph. I’m trying to do the same in the other direction. As the truck passed I would be leaning for all I could to my left to stay on the road then the blast of air was gone in a second and I would be in the oncoming lane facing another truck. It was like this almost all the way across Nebraska. Add to that the road conditions. Then most of it was the Ka chunk Ka chunk of what used to be cement sections and my suspension was about bottoming out each time. I was beat by the time I got to where rt. 275 split off from rt. 20. I decided to take rt. 275 over to rt. 77 south a bit then onto rt. 91 into Iowa. I needed to make up some lost time and was going to jump onto the super slab of rt. 80 and boogie. I was tired and was done with the scenery thing and was wanting to get back home. The weather had been great the whole trip with the exception of that first day in PA. I had been thinking of the kids a lot and how I wished they could have been with me to see all I had seen. I used to take them with me on the bikes to Rolling Thunder and that 450 miles in a day was almost too much for them. Never mind what I was doing now. I got into Iowa at about 5:30 and gassed up and ate. I decided I was going to ride as long as I could then find a motel. 

            After getting past Des Moines it started to rain lightly. It was dark now and I was getting real tired and chilled. I started stopping to look for a room. All were full already. Then I remembered what my brother Roger had told me. If you’re traveling out in the mid west and want a room you had better stop early for one or make a reservation earlier in the day. The rooms a few and far between if you wait too late. Well it was too late. I had stopped at several exits in a row and they were all full. Some even had sighs written on card board in the window saying so.  I decided that I would try at one more exit and if nothing then I was going to ride on through the night. I got lucky! I got the last room at that motel just east of Iowa City. I was so cold I could hardly write to fill out the paperwork at check in. It was midnight exactly when I stopped. My ending mileage was 37,956. 672 miles for the day. And most of the seat time was the first part trying to get across Nebraska along rt. 20.

Day Nine August 12^th 2004:

            I slept good and felt rested. But I was getting pretty weary from being on the road so much. I was on the road again at 8:30 am. The day before was not enjoyable at all. Today I had to either pick an enjoyable route or just boogie for home.

            I got back onto rt. 80 and stayed on it until I got to rt. 74 south in Illinois then got on rt. 24 east near Peoria. I took rt. 24 east until I got to rt. 224 near Huntington, Indiana. I had wanted to cross way below Chicago. I crossed into Ohio on rt. 224 then got onto rt. 30 near Van Wert. Crossing through Ohio on rt. 30 was pretty good going. It was depressing though. The farther east I got the more congested it got and the more arrogant the drivers were. I wasn’t sure how far I was going to travel this day. I was getting road weary and was no longer planning my ride for the day as well as I had been. I was no longer eating right either. Once I got to Mansfield I started looking for a camp site. This was going to be my last night on the road. I hadn’t planned a head and it was getting dark and misting and I had no idea where I was going to camp at. I saw a sign for a camp site and followed it. It wasn’t too far off the highway maybe about 5 miles. Just before I pulled off rt. 30 I was seriously considering just riding right through the night for home. I could be there by mid morning in my own bed. But I reasoned with my self that I was already tired and it was misting. The mist was making it hard to see the road in the dark and I knew if I was to push it now I could very easily hit something on the road during the night like a piece of tire from a semi. My plan from here was to take the super slab all the way to Albany, NY. I decided that I had to make the right choice, be smart and stop for the night. I had had a safe trip so far. No really close calls at all other than the trek across Nebraska on rt. 20.  The camp ground was a private one but it was nice with nice facilities. I stopped at a little after 9:00 PM. The ending mileage was at 38,544. About 588 miles for the day.

Day Ten August 13^th 2004:

            It had rained during the night. I was dry and warm in my tent. I don’t recall what time I got out and got going but I know it wasn’t too early. It was only a light mist falling of and on when I got back on the highway. I was now on rt. 71 heading towards Cleveland. I turned onto rt. 271 and then onto rt. 90 north of Cleveland and into PA. There’s no more mention of scenery in my notes. All that was back west of me. I was getting back into the depressing congested traffic of the North East. It was a dark dreary day and light rain and mist off and on but really not bad traveling. Once I got past Erie I got onto rt. 86 and into New York State. Near Binghamton I got onto rt. 88 and was headed towards Schenectady. I had traveled this road before and was going to cross over to Troy and bypass rt. 90 and Albany. Somewhere along there I missed my turn and ended up going through downtown Schenectady before I got myself to Troy. And it was about the evening commute time. So that was frustratingly slow going. When I got into Troy along rt. 7 the skies opened up. I got drenched. It rained so hard I could not see. Coming up out of Troy along rt. 7 they were doing road construction and had dug down into the gravel. Those areas were full of about two feet or more of water and I had to go though them.  I couldn’t believe it. I was so close to home and in such horrible weather. In Brunswick I crossed over to rt. 2 along rt. 278. I stopped at the Stewarts there and waited for the storm to let up. I waited about a half hour.  I shouldn’t have. Only a mile or so up the road the roads were dry. Go figure. I got home in Colrain at 8:00 PM soaked. The ending mileage was 39,167.I believe that was 623 miles for the day and 5,056 for the whole 10 day trip.

            Despite the lousy weather at the end of the trip, over all it was great. It truly was a trip of a lifetime for me. It is my hopes that one day my kids will save this trip report and travel the same route and enjoy it all as much as I did. And then their children after that. I realize that this was a long report and I hope you enjoyed reading it. It was a joy to relive this from the notes I had on my PDA.  I have lots of pictures and video clips. At some point in the near future I will post this at my own web site with hyper links to the pictures through out the report. Until then I will ask Ron if he can post the text part to the clubs site.

Russ Gilbert

VRCC # 639