Eastern Arizona

[evermill]

Ray

Glad you made it home ok. Yes my shoulders are feeling the week of riding.

 

[PosseRider]

Left this morn, in Amarillo Tx tonite. Everyone safe journey home.

 

[MikeyTX]

How bad was the smoke from the fires ? Two weeks ago I went to the Grand Canyon. Not good air quality. The haze was so bad it was hard to make out the colors on the far rim. The tour guide said it had been that way for several weeks. :gah:

 

[ultrafxr]

We had a great time and enjoyed meeting everyone - some for the first time and some again after way too long a spell. Didn't get to ride Saturday as we had to boggie on back home and made it safe and sound today (Sunday). Looking forward to next time!

 

[evermill]

Hope trip was good. Great to meet you guys.

 

[TonkaDriver]

How bad was the smoke from the fires ? Two weeks ago I went to the Grand Canyon. Not good air quality. The haze was so bad it was hard to make out the colors on the far rim. The tour guide said it had been that way for several weeks. :gah:

The Coronado Trail was smoky from a fire on the NM/AZ line but it was clear other than that. I am working on photos and will be posting some very soon.

Kurt

 

[TonkaDriver]

Coronado Trail

The gathering started out with everyone except Lola (LadyonaMission) who had ridden 435 miles showing up at camp the afternoon before our first day of riding. We all met at the BW in Eager in the morning for our longest day of riding.

We had 8 trikes and 11 riders. The first ride was The Coronado Trail (US-191) between Alpine and Morenci, Arizona. Our route took us on a loop through New Mexico after the trail.

Lined up and headed towards Alpine.



Nelson Reservoir.



A beautiful day for riding



Fall colors.



Smoke from a fire on the NM/AZ line.



Morenci is 73 mostly twisty miles away.



Hannigan Meadow



Back on the road.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Coronado Trail Cont'd

Spectacular riding today.



The smoke took a little away from the incredible views.



Roadside break to stretch a little.



Jerry's wheels with the polished backing plates.



We are riding through open range which is common in the southwest.



Wide open vistas.



More curves



The open pit mine in Morenci.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Coronado Trail Cont'd

The highway runs right through the mine for a few miles and allows for viewing of the huge haul trucks rolling on the haul roads.



Bill and Janiene in front of haul truck tire.



My trike in front of a 16 cylinder haul truck engine.



The rest of the group.



Several years ago the mine rerouted the highway to be able to expand the pit.



A small example of the conveyor system in the mine.



Headed home.





Shadows are getting long.



The road back into Alpine.



This road should be on everyone's list of rides that have to be taken. There are hundreds of curves with thousands of feet in elevation changes.

Kurt

 

[ultrafxr]

Great photos Kurt.

 

[PosseRider]

great pics Kurt

 

[Ne farmer]

Looks like a good time. Hope to be able to join the fun in the near future' Wife and I decided this is her last year of teaching. So that will open up some time in winter and early fall to ride more. we are planning to spend some of winter in Texas , New Mexico or Some where south of here

 

[Zammy]

Thanks for the pics Kurt, the weather looked really nice.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Looks like a good time. Hope to be able to join the fun in the near future' Wife and I decided this is her last year of teaching. So that will open up some time in winter and early fall to ride more. we are planning to spend some of winter in Texas , New Mexico or Some where south of here

I was told that I will be putting another ride together next year.

Kurt

 

[PosseRider]

Looks like a good time. Hope to be able to join the fun in the near future' Wife and I decided this is her last year of teaching. So that will open up some time in winter and early fall to ride more. we are planning to spend some of winter in Texas , New Mexico or Some where south of here

Keep a check on the Kerrville gathering.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Day 2 Short Ride and Dinner

I planned the rides to have a short easy ride after a long day on the road the first day. The idea for dinner came later. While we were riding the first day, My wife Sally made potato salad and got her delicious beans ready so when we returned from our short day we could pop them in the oven.

Here are some photos.

Today gave us some fall colors as well as it highlighted changes in terrain and foliage over a small area.





Sierra Blanca Lake.



More grassland.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Day 2 Cont'd

More photos:

Today's route was all sweepers and easy grades. Pretty much the opposite of Day One. Plenty of fall colors to enjoy along the way.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Day 2 Completed

A few more photos:

Big Lake.





Our Group.





Shark Tank.



Once back at camp I got the burgers cooking. Sally and I got food put out and we all had a tasty meal as well as some good socializing.

 

[paws]

Hey Kurt.. appreciate the pics. Just curious...how long ago was the wildfire?

 

[TonkaDriver]

Wildfire

Hey Kurt.. appreciate the pics. Just curious...how long ago was the wildfire?

The fire damage you see here is from 2001 when an arson fire and lightning caused fire combined to be the largest wildfire in AZ history and was caused by Bill Clinton ending all forest management. If you remember, Yellowstone was devastated by fire a year or two previous to this because they took the approach that the forest will manage itself and wildfires were left to burn themselves out.

Kurt

 

[LadyonaMission]

I had a blast. I really enjoyed visiting with friends and meeting people who are now friends for life.

2,425 miles of fun riding. It didn't take me until today to get home, I was too busy to post.

Kurt and Sally did a wonderful job fixing dinner for us. Next year I hope the weather in Arizona is as wonderful as it was this year. Kurt said he will plan different rides, but the ones we did were so perfect I could do those again.

I was shocked and appalled by how fast the temperature rises in AZ. The last day it was cold when I first stepped out of my room so I was totally overdressed. I was told that before we took off, but being from south Texas I am not fond of cold wind. At the first stop I had my jacket unzipped, ready to start peeling off layers ASAP. I may some day learn to listen to the locals, but then again....

- - - Updated - - -

Looks like a good time. Hope to be able to join the fun in the near future' Wife and I decided this is her last year of teaching. So that will open up some time in winter and early fall to ride more. we are planning to spend some of winter in Texas , New Mexico or Some where south of here

If you come anywhere near San Antonio, please be sure to let me know so I can meet up with you.

 

[paws]

Hey Kurt.. appreciate the pics. Just curious...how long ago was the wildfire?

The fire damage you see here is from 2001 when an arson fire and lightning caused fire combined to be the largest wildfire in AZ history and was caused by Bill Clinton ending all forest management. If you remember, Yellowstone was devastated by fire a year or two previous to this because they took the approach that the forest will manage itself and wildfires were left to burn themselves out.Kurt

WOW!! 19 years ago! I would have guessed 1/2 that long. What a terrible shame...it takes so long to recover.

 

[PosseRider]

We arrived home today about 1pm. Talked on the phone with Kevin & he is also home by now.

 

[DK Custom Products]

We got home late Thursday afternoon.

What a Great Time in Arizona.

Kurt put together some fantastic rides.

Kurt and Sally fixed a great meal for everyone.

The new friends made and old friendships strengthened, these are things that are priceless.

We have a bunch of photos and video that we'll be posting, but it may be a bit. We had already been on the road for a couple of weeks before Arizona, and we're going thru the photos and videos in order.

Here are a few that I just grabbed-

Big Lake Ride on Day 2-

Most of the crew waiting on the grub...

...Kurt working on the burgers!

Great time!

Kevin & Mary

 

[DblTrbl]

Great pics. Mad at myself for missing this trip.

I had to make a trip to Maine to pick up some of my stuff before the snow decided to fall. Also, registered my vehicles, voted and had a dentist appointment. 4500 miles round trip. Only stopped for a couple naps and stretch breaks each way.

Trike in shop trying to solve the vapor lock issue. Hope to get it out this coming week. I believe its either a bad gas cap or a valve thats malfunctioning.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Great pics. Mad at myself for missing this trip.

I had to make a trip to Maine to pick up some of my stuff before the snow decided to fall. Also, registered my vehicles, voted and had a dentist appointment. 4500 miles round trip. Only stopped for a couple naps and stretch breaks each way.

Trike in shop trying to solve the vapor lock issue. Hope to get it out this coming week. I believe its either a bad gas cap or a valve that's malfunctioning.

I am thinking there will be a ride the same week next year.

Kurt

 

[LadyonaMission]

Great pics. Mad at myself for missing this trip.

I had to make a trip to Maine to pick up some of my stuff before the snow decided to fall. Also, registered my vehicles, voted and had a dentist appointment. 4500 miles round trip. Only stopped for a couple naps and stretch breaks each way.

Trike in shop trying to solve the vapor lock issue. Hope to get it out this coming week. I believe its either a bad gas cap or a valve thats malfunctioning.[/QUOTE

You should be. You missed some really great riding and I know you could have eaten at least 2 burgers.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Day 3 - Salt River Canyon

This was our last day of riding and today was starting from our camp. We headed west from camp to Show Low. We got gas and headed west on US-60 to Salt River Canyon about 60 miles away. As was standard for this trip the weather was spectacular. It seems I didn't take that many photos today so for a wider selection you can watch for Kevin and Mary's updates on their ride report. Here is what I have;

Janiene was so kind and bought my wife Sally a small plant as a thank you for the dinner we had after Big Lake on day 2.



Fall Colors.













Roadside corrals.



The trees were really showing off their colors.

 

[TonkaDriver]

Salt River Canyon Cont'd

One more shot of the trees.



The Canyon.





The rest area at the bottom.



We took a short break before heading back towards the high country and cool temps. Even though it was early in the day we hit a high of 93 degrees on the way back to camp.

It was early enough in the day when we got back to camp to be able to visit just a little more before everyone headed back to town.



Before this I had never hosted a gathering or led a ride but this group made it easy. It was a really good three days of riding and making new friends. If we can get the weather to cool down just a bit, next year will be even better.

I am going to start editing video and will start a new thread for those very soon. Thanks to everyone that put in the effort to travel from all over to be here and a special thanks to my wonderful wife for all she did.

Kurt