Hangin' with my motorcycle

**Nightwalker** · 07-24-2010, 01:28

I'm such a male. My first reaction was to notice the beautiful smile on your wife. Lucky man.

And, oh yeah: I'm just a bit jealous that you got to bike in CO. :-)

**MacEntyre** · 08-02-2010, 07:12

What a great thread! I want to follow you on my '73 airhead!

I haven't done a trip with it this year. What I really want to do is the West, a north-south or south-north route.

- MacEntyre

**Cookie** · 08-02-2010, 09:29

Just want to add my two cents....What a great trip report. I like the way you rig the tarp with the extra suspension line holding the side up. I never tried it that way but I think I will on my next trip.

**sef650** · 08-02-2010, 16:06

Love it.

I'm just getting ready to ride from San Jose up to Seattle on my F650GS. Then out to Chicago later in the month. I've done it with a tent, but after a few nights in my hammock I'm thinking about just traveling with the hammock this time.

Have you always had luck finding a spot to hang? Is kosher in all forests or are you flying under the radar? What if you don't find a good spot? Ever tied the tarp to the bike to make a shelter? So many questions...

**Harpo63** · 08-04-2010, 05:38

Ive had no problem finding trees on my ride up Rte 1. Depending on where you ride, you probably can find a place to pull out and do some stealth hammocking. Especially in the redwoods! Then you better bring LONG straps. Depending on your route east to chicago, lots of prairies without easy access to trees. I was able to do it by staying at KOAs along the way which tended to have trees surrounded by prairies and farms. Even the KOA in Nevada had canopies at the tent sites so I was able to hang from the posts. It will be hit and miss in some areas east of the Sierras.

I did a trip when I lived in Sacramento- out thru Tahoe, SLC, Colorado, Kansas then a rally in Ohio. Return trip took me north to Luddington MI (The carferry over Lk Mich was cool) and north portion from WI over to Yellowstone, up to Glacier, ID, Columbia River then back to Sacramento. Another trip was just a ride up Rte 1 from Santa Monica to the Oregon border. Fun.

**Dunk** · 08-04-2010, 05:50

Nice GS mate. I had one for years. Great pics of the trip.

**Land** · 08-07-2010, 06:42

Thanks for all of the comments.

I just finished the trip Monday, so this trip report is thousands of miles and weeks behind.

I'll add to it some this weekend.

MacEntyre, I'd love to see that Airhead sometime.

Cookie, that extra line to put the tarp over is something I do if I am going to be at a site for more than just a few hours of sleeping. It makes it easier to get under it and use it as a porch roof.

Sef650, that should be an awesome ride.

The only place/time that I was not able to hang was the one time that I tried to camp in a national park.

The national forests are another story. I had no trouble there.

There were times/places that I was concerned about finding a place to hang because there are so few trees, but it usually worked out in some way.

Harpo63, that CA-OH-CA-and-then-some ride sounds awesome.

Nightwalker, I know that I'm a very fortunate man.

Odds, stay tuned.

I shot waaaaaaay too many pics, and I'll be posting some of 'em here.

Dunk, what are you riding these days?

TNRat, I'll post up a final GPS mileage shot later.

See that little line of yellow pixels along the top of the GPS screen? Those dead pixels appeared after I drooped the receiver onto the tile bathroom floor in Denver, and they got worse.

Much worse.

I have a lot to tell y'all about.

Stay tuned,
Chris

**Land** · 08-07-2010, 11:25

In my last installment, I was knocking around some old logging roads in Oregon, waiting to hear from my friend. I heard from her, and, back on the asphalt, I made a run up to Vancouver, WA.

There were some good sights along the way.

Melanie, one of my dearest friends in the world, lives in Vancouver with her husband and two kids.

It was great catching up with Melanie and her family. I got there Sunday in time for a great burger for dinner.

On Monday, I took Melanie's suggestion to take a ride on the Three Capes route while the family was doing their things. I only made it to two capes.

I blame it on the ice cream at Tillamook Cheese.

The trip out and the coast itself were beautiful.

This bike and I have been on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts this summer.

After nearly running out of fuel

, I headed back to Vancouver and nearly lost my phone on the highway.

I felt something hit my leg and looked down to see my Droid between my thigh and my tank. I took a glove off and carefully pushed the phone up so that I could get it.

I spent another night with my friends in Vancouver. After too-soon goodbyes Tuesday morning (July 20), I hit the road for Darby, Montana, and WestFest -- by heading back down the Oregon coast.

(WestFest is an advrider.com annual rally.)

I went down to Reedsport, then turned inland along the Umpqua River so that I could head back up toward Washington to head over to Montana.

I made it back up to Salem for the night and got a motel room.

I slogged on the interstates/freeways all day Wednesday, July 21. I took a long route on the superslab.

It was hot. I didn't stop much, so there aren't many pictures.

I had thought that I would make it all the way to Darby on Wednesday. I was traveling along a section of I-90 where the east-bound interstate lanes had been turned into a two-lane highway because the west-bound lanes were being repaired. I saw a couple of deer on the side of the road. Pretty much as expected, but a factor in my decision-making process. A few miles down the road, I saw a guy holding his head, standing by a banged-up car. I stopped to check on him. After he assured me that he was okay, I said, "Deer?"

"Bear."

"Bear?"

"Yeah. I don't think it was a grizzly."

I decided to call it a night.:lol Incidentally, the smashed-up car was from hitting another car that was avoiding the bear, not from hitting the bear.

A few miles down the road was a National Forest campground accessed through a rest area. Quartz Flat was my home for the night.

These are from Thursday morning, July 22.

Next, we'll go the last 100 miles to the advrider WestFest in Darby, MT.

Stay tuned.

Chris