Our route for this little vacation took us south from Omaha on two lane highways, and briskly accross the great windy state of Kansas. If you've never been to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Colorado, it's something to see. You ride accross the plains for miles and out of nowhere these huge sand dunes appear on the horizon. |
Being September it was a bit cool, but we opted to take advantage of the campground at Dunes. It's a well kept facility with groomed campsites and bathrooms with running water, but no showers. It was 41 degrees F out when we woke up. This picture is of my freind and traveling companion, Kevin Ingalls in front os his tent, as seen from the front door of my tent. Kevin was so proud that he set up his own tent, and he didn't think that his wife, Shawn, would believe it, so we needed a picture. |
This is one of those 'over the shoulder with out looking' pictures taken on our way to the camp store to get provisions. |
Here you see our bikes loaded down with everything you need for an evening around the campfire. On this trip I was riding my trusty Kawasaki KLR650, which has been christened 'Shrek' because it is big, green, and ugly. Ingalls is riding his Suzuki DR650. These are both "dual-sport" motorcycles, but at some point on this trip the term "tri-sport" came into use since we were planning to ride them over 2400 road miles (covering seven states), on black diamond trails at Moab, UT, and on the track at Mid-America Motorplex all in the same week (and on the same tires, I might add). |
K.I.'s tail trunk, loaded with ice and essential provisions. |
By the time we got around to climbing the dunes, the sun was low in the sky. |
The climbing of the first dune. That's me. |
Ingalls must think I'm cool, 'cuz he always has to copy me. |
Looking back towards the campground. |
You can see why it can be a bit of a challange to climb the dunes. Thankfully, it was cool that day and the sand was moist, so there were places where you could walk without sinking in. |
The full moon breaking over the horizon, as seen from our campsite. Tomorrow after breaking camp we plan to continue west accross Colorado on highways 160 and 666 (yikes - what a name for a highway) then we'll catch Utah highway 191 into Moab. |
At the campground in Dunes, we met a guy who was on his way back from Moab with a trailer load of dirtbikes. He told us about a trail called "Schaefer's Trail." He said that you ride into a blind box canyon and then up and over the rim at the far end. He said that as you ride into the canyon, you're riding towards what appears to be a sheer wall, and you can't even see how the trail could possibly wind it's way out of the canyon. This photo was taken along the dirt road that leads to Schaefer's Trail. |