The bikes

We will be leaving in 12 hours! Our destination: Inuvik, NWT. We all met last night for the final huddle. Adam, undoubtedly fueled by his British enthusiasm surrounding Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, informed us that he purchased some LED party lights to dangle from our tarp in the evenings. We will be traveling in style this time, apparently. Photos of them in action will be forthcoming... Adam is pictured below. Instead of the LED lights, perhaps he should have made room for a portable shower...

Despite his British background, and despite Mark giving him a hard time, Adam has elected to be a BMW owner. He rides a BMW R1150GS. As an aside, Adam and his bike are famous for being pulled over by the California Highway Patrol, not for speeding, but to be complimented on his phenomenal riding and avoidance of large SUVs making U-turns immediately in front of him, and subsequently avoiding certain disaster.

Mark is riding, in his words, "the best bike ever made". That motorcycle is a KTM 990R Adventure. He just put some new Wings pipes on it (made in Slovakia) and it sounds good!

Because Adam couldn't represent for his country, I am standing in for him, riding a Triumph Tiger 800XC. All of the boys are jealous.

The first day plan: Boise, Idaho to Heyburn State Park in Plummer, Idaho, by way of New Meadows, on our way up to Canada.

Shakedown 2012: Planning for another arctic adventure!

A few years have passed since we completed our first trip north. Some motorcycles have come and gone, and we have managed to do a smaller-scale trip every summer since our big 2009 trip. In 2010, we joined our friends Grant, Cynthia and Adam to do a 9 day trip around the Frank Church Wilderness--it was spectacular, and all on dirt. Last year, Mark and I did a little tour of British Columbia, up to Bella Coola, BC, on the coast, and then we hopped a ferry down to Vancouver Island and looped back to Idaho. Last weekend, we rode around eastern Oregon to make sure we have everything dialed for our next big trip, which will happen in July.

We started out on a rainy Saturday and headed to Rome, Oregon, where we stopped to warm up and dry off, after getting hit by a torrential downpour. From there, on the recommendation of a guy in the little roadside cafe in Rome, we cut west to Crane, Oregon, home of Crystal Crane Hot Springs, a classic diamond in the rough camping location. There, we enjoyed an evening soak in their hotsprings.

In the morning, we headed south to Fields, Oregon, along the east side of Steens Mountain. It was windy. And beautiful.

In Fields, I had the best milkshake of my life. Everyone should go to Fields Station to have a milkshake.

We camped just north of Burns, Oregon, at the Idlewild campground. The next day was spent heading north to the Wallowas. Our last day, we completed the loop, up one our favorite roads, FR39, on the way back home. Stay tuned for more posts on our preparation, our bikes, and our traveling companion!