Topic: Interesting Roads and Destinations

[ofreen]

Here are few photos from a few years ago rescued from photo#$%*et.  My brother had never ridden Chief Joseph Highway, Beartooth, or the Going To The Sun road, so we decided to make it a trifecta. 

US 150 through the Uintas in Utah was a good start, a great road in its own right. 






Chief Joseph Highway -





A couple of pix on top of Beartooth Pass -




The general store in Neihart, MT -



Going to the Sun -





The town park at Dupuyer, MT.  Free camping and highly recommended.  Apparently grizzlies like it too, which some people may consider a drawback.

[madmtnmotors]

Wow, you guys even pack a recliner too?! 

Beautiful country, thanks for posting! 

[Stev-o]

Great pics, thanks for sharing Greg...

[ofreen]

Thanks guys.  That chair was in the middle of the road when we came on it.  I think it had laid there all night and it had been rained on.  It made for a good photo, but it was a cool morning and my ass was damp for the next 100 miles. 

[ofreen]

Frisco, Utah lies west of Milford on Utah 21.  It was an active mining town established in the late 1870's and sounds like it was a wild place at the height of activity.  I first poked around it in the early 90's and compared to then a lot of the old buildings have caved in.  But what catches the eye from the highway are the charcoal kilns up on the hillside.  So here are a few pix of old Frisco, a town that is quickly being reclaimed by the earth like so many other forgotten mining towns in the west.  Some irony there, I reckon.








The charcoal kilns are quite a feat of masonry.  Time is taking its toll though, and I wouldn't want to be standing in one during an earthquake, or even a heavy thunderstorm. 










I ducked in one to take a couple of photos but didn't linger.  I don't think the HJC would have helped much if something came loose.


A little history is provided on a plaque at the site -


It is a long stretch between Milford and Garrison on 21.  We also traveled US50 in Nevada (touted as the loneliest highway) on this trip and saw a lot more vehicles there than on 21. Maybe three in over a hundred miles on 21.  Not a lot of curves on the road, but it is scenic and there's old stuff to stop and check out.

[RAFster122s]

More fun time on the road...  nice pics and great story.  What are charcoal ovens used for in mining?

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Glad the foot is better 

[ofreen]

More fun time on the road...  nice pics and great story.  What are charcoal ovens used for in mining?

Thanks David.  The kilns generated charcoal to feed smelters by slow burning wood with limited oxygen available.

Glad the foot is better 

Thanks Jerry.  I was able to go on a couple of week-long rides in July and September.  Just had more surgery last Monday to remove a plate on the fibula, which gave me some time to put this post together as I have to sit around with my foot in the air for the next couple of weeks.  But it is coming along.

[754]

 Anyone remotely close to Idaho and Utah, Ofreen is an expert on these roads.
 I don't know if there are any paved ones he missed in these 2 states.
 20 rides in 2020

[ofreen]

Thanks Frank, lots of other states in the bag too, but thankfully there are plenty more to travel, especially east of the Mississippi. I am looking forward to it.

[RAFster122s]

Greg, I hoping you are healing up well from your surgery. Glad you are doing well. You are doing well in the recovery aren't you?!
Looking forward to seeing more great photos.
 Crazy that it was common practice to run smelters in a mine long ago.  Saw a show not too long ago trying to figure out where King Solomon hot all his gold from and archeologists were piecing together clues about mining and smelting the ore as well as the cultural discoveries and revaluations in thinking about the status in society of the workers and workers who ran the smelters and refined the precious metals of gold, silver and other valuable commodities of those times. Was interesting to see these massive piles of cast offs from the smelting and the technology they had and theories developed and confidence level in the conclusions and revelations in thought about the status of those who understood how to extract the gold from the ore and the concentration of remaining gold left in the ore. They studied the trash and were able to piece together a story because of the fish bones and where those fish were found. Of the undigested grains or grains found and where grains were found relative to this desolate area the mining occurred in. Genetically testing those items to narrow their origins. The bones of workers who died yielded their location of birth and if they were slaves could be determined by the mix or lack of mix in their genetic information.To figure out who ran the mines or who they thought ran them by looking at the diets they found a varied and surprisingly rich diet in fish and grains and dates and other uncommon things and fish that only were in the Galilee were present in significant number. That the fish was a long distance from home where it was caught. The lack of refrigeration dictated the distance and the preservation of the fish to get it the hundreds of miles southeast to the mines. So piecing together things they discovered some changes in the way they originally thought about these mines previously by scientists was incorrect and they formed a different picture upon the evidence and quantity of these very costly and or uncommon and expensive diets which treated a large group of miners and conclusions about who these alchemists were who refined the gold and the astounding percentage of the gold extracted rivaled today's refining methods  or equalled them.
So, your smelting ovens were interesting and that program I heard and partially watched while working on something else was timely.

[ofreen]

Thanks David, doing OK.  Hurts a little to walk and running is out, which I miss because being able to do so comes in handy sometimes.  No more stairs three at a time.  No more jumping out of the back of the pickup.
But I can walk, so no complaints. Maybe one more surgery this spring to take out the remaining hardware if the surgeon agrees to it.  He wants to wait until things quit changing, which makes sense.  But I think the remaining stiffness and pain have to do with the metal.  Bones naturally flex a little but the plates don't, so it hurts.

[ofreen]

Once in awhile I'll 'discover' something that is famous, except somehow I was oblivious to its existence, always fun.  I was riding along Colorado SH 165 last August on the good 'ol GS on a smoky but otherwise very nice day.  I was trying to remember if I'd ever been on this road.  Coming around a curve at a pretty good clip I saw cars parked on both sides of the road and little kids running across the road.  With the congestion I focused on the road as I navigated through but I saw what looked like a rock wall out of the corner of my eye.  I thought what the hell was that doing way out here?  So I turned around and 'discovered' Bishop Castle.  Google it if you've never heard of it.  It is quite a story.  After the motorcycle ride, my wife and I drove to Colorado to visit our daughter a couple of weeks later and went back up there.  That time, I had the pleasure of talking of with its builder Jim Bishop for a bit.  He has the reputation of being something of a curmudgeon who doesn't have a lot of use for some people, but we had a good conversation.  He told me about his late wife and showed me a picture of them when they were young (I told him he married out of his league and he agreed), his own health challenges and we talked about building of the castle. 

Here are a few photos.  My brother was carrying his drone on his Harley, so the video was made by him.  I climbed up the towers, interesting enough because I am still gimpy from the hit to my leg a couple of years ago.  The construction is also interesting, to say the least, with plenty of exposure out of some of the windows.  Being unsteady on your feet, or nervous about heights is not recommended.  Made of stone, steel, and mortar, it is an engineering marvel.  You will marvel that it hasn't fallen down.  While climbing the towers, (one is over 160 ft tall), don't look to closely at the welds or the expanded metal steps, broken and repaired with weaved bailing wire.  And watch your head while climbing inside the towers if you are over 5 feet tall, the stone has sharp edges.  But don't take that as criticism, as I admire the creation and its creator's vision.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

I didn't realize that Jim lost his wife. Few other tidbits. Their house was consumed by fire a few years back and many years ago Jim lost his son to a fall while working on a tower. It's pretty amazing that as beat down as his old ass is that he is still active and it was said he is suffering from cancer. That dome seems pretty rickety when you're inside. The dragon no longer breathes fire from the wood stove below. He has battled the different government entities the whole time he has been building and won each time. I just hope when Jim is gone his castle is preserved as a testament to what one man can do over a lifetime.

[RAFster122s]

That is quite amazing...thank you for sharing it. Will have to visit it when touring the area sometime in the future...

[70CB750]

Nice story and great pictures.  We got a castle near here:

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/bullrun.htm

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/virginia/bull-run-castle-hidden-va/

Much smaller and humbler.

[ofreen]

I just hope when Jim is gone his castle is preserved as a testament to what one man can do over a lifetime.

I hope so, too, but it is hard to imagine how that would happen.  It would take money, and I can't see it staying the way it is after he is gone. I could see the government blocking off access to it, or even knocking it down.  It is amazing it exists at all, even more amazing when you see kids climbing all over it, and their oblivious parents.  But it makes me proud to see the thing, though.

That is quite amazing...thank you for sharing it. Will have to visit it when touring the area sometime in the future...

You're welcome David.  It would be worth the trip.

Nice story and great pictures.  We got a castle near here:
http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/bullrun.htm
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/virginia/bull-run-castle-hidden-va/
Much smaller and humbler.

Still pretty cool.  I doubt Bishop Castle will ever house a bed and breakfast. 

[754]

Very cool thanks for posting it.. will try to see it if I ever get back that  way..
 Colorado meet in 17 was the first time back there since 77..

[RAFster122s]

Anyone game for updates?

[ofreen]

Thanks David, yes the thread has languished a little.  So here are some photos from a ride through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota a couple weeks ago.

About here is where the dial-up warning would go back in the good old days. 

We went up US20 out of Mountain Home, first stop at the rest area south of Sun Valley at Timmerman Junction. 


We were tenting it as usual and the first night was at a campground in Ashton, ID on US20.  As pleasant as it gets,  No, the water from the pivot didn't reach us, though it looked like it might for awhile there-





The next morning, we continued up US20 to 87 to 287 and followed the Madison River.  These photos are in the Madison River canyon, the site of the 1959 earthquake that triggered a massive landslide that corked up the river and unfortunately some camper's lives were lost.





We worked our way across Montana, ending up in Broadus.  Our first spot for a camp turned out to be a bust.  They wanted $38 for a weed patch. 


So we found another one that cost $14 that came with a petting zoo.





The next morning we went through Alzada on the way to Devil's Tower.  Here are some photos of the famous Stoneville Saloon.  Cheap drinks and lousy food.  What more can you ask for?







As always, I can't resist roadside art and old cars -





As much as I enjoy riding down the road, stopping for a break at some store to eat rotisserie hot dogs or breakfast burritos is a simple pleasure to be savored -



We headed to Devil's Tower from Alzada.  The road (326/112) becomes great immediately.  Here is an abandoned ranch on the way



And Devil's Tower.  There are bison mixed in with the longhorns -




In Aladdin, the Wyoming Mercantile/Aladdin General Store, 1896 vintage -



We headed down to Spearfish to get on US14.  Geez, what a nightmare getting through there.  Even South Dakota is getting congested.  You'd expect it in August around the time of the rally, but I guess this is the 'new normal' dammit.  But the crawl through town was worth it as the riding was great on 14.  An old homestead squashed by Mother Nature -







Here is the most ridiculous place we pitched the tents, an RV park in Gillette.  A true rustic experience thanks to the fence made of pallets.  Just ignore the parking garage.  At least the price was reasonable.



Doc Huson's house built in 1891, at the site of what was supposed to be a thriving town named after him. But the railroad went elsewhere and the town died.



A short blip on I-90 from Sheridan and then back on US14.  Very scenic -



After a couple of hours waiting out severe thunderstorms and eating dirt while holding onto the bikes to keep high winds from blowing them over we made it to Cody and found this nice campground -





Some shots along the Chief Joseph Highway -




Jackson MT -





Toward the end of a long ride, we will have a bacon and egg and pancake breakfast to cap things off.  I can recommend this place in Wisdom, MT -




US12 in Idaho -




Almost back home.  A view north from the rest area on US95 on Midvale Hill.

[RAFster122s]

That is some gorgeous scenery and looks like a fun ride or two...

[Stev-o]

Looks like a great trip, Greg.  Thanks for sharing.

[ofreen]

Thanks gents, it was a fine ride.  The weather treated us well, aside from the gust front in Wyoming and really nasty crosswinds all the way from Townsend to Dillon, Montana.  Made it interesting.

[754]

Man that looks like Fun. ALZEDA BAR and Wisdom  are favorite stops.. nice riding..
 How many days ? Your riding partners look like they were not missing work..lol..

[ofreen]

Howdy Frank, we were out for 7 days.  Got another ride planned for August for about 10 days.  I don't know where we are going yet.