Doug set off on his way, and we tidied the truck and trailer, and had a good cooked breakfast at Denio Junction:
We had 185 miles to get from Denio, through California, and into Oregon - but Phil was on the small KTM, and it only had a very small tank range - we though 70 miles ! So the 2 gallon tank was strapped onto the XR again, the trails tightened into dual and single track.
After bumping around for a while, the 2 gallon tank slipped off again, this time puncturing. So we put the remaining fuel into the 2 bikes, and set off to the first refuelling point (a roadside meet with Caroline).
We got there ok, and decided to try to meet every 50 miles !, and carry a one gallon tank in a rucksack !
After about 30 miles, we caught Doug up on the trail - he had suffered a cracked subframe so we decided we would ride with him to the meeting point so that he would be able to unload his luggage into the truck , and seek a welder !
The mountain trail lead down to the meeting point on the edge of a salt lake;
Unfortunately , Caroline wasn't there. So we headed North on the graded road (the direction she would have come from), after a few miles the KTM ran out of fuel (about 55 miles - so a great tank range then !!). It was refuelled with the 1 gallon tank - and we continued to Adel. I was sure Caroline would be there - she only had about 70 miles to do on the road. We reached the end of the road - which was road 35 in Nevada, unfortunately, as the road entered Oregon - they had changed the road number to 315 - I was unsure how Caroline would find this - she was looking for road 35 !!
Phil stayed at the end of the 35/315, and I went to Adel, which was the turn off point from the main road. It also had a gas station - which was closed until Tuesday -as the fair was in town !!!
The nearest fuel station was in Lakeview 35 miles away.
So, after ensuring Phil would remain at the end of the 35/315, incase Caroline turned up, I set off for fuel. I left Phil with my rain jacket, as the a desert storm was brewing - as it happened it did rain, but I escpaed it by being on the other side of the hills, heading for fuel :-)
When I got to Lakeview, I phoned Teresa (our helpdesk :-) ), and it transpired that Caroline had indeed missed the (badly numbered) junction, and had had her own adventure, but had managed to find a local rancher, who lent her his phone. She left a message that she would remain at Adel until 4:30 then head to Lakeview.
WIth this positive info, I refuelled, and headed back to Adel. She wasn't at Adel, so I turned off in search of Phil. When I got there, I found the 2 of them having a BBQ !!
After a few exchanges of stories from the day, we set off to complete the final 70 miles to Lakeview - 30 miles to Fort Bidwell, California by road and then 40 through the forests.
Wary of the tiny fuel range (55 miles) of the KTM, we took the gallon tank and headed off to Fort Bidwell - entering California on the way;
Arriving at Fort Bidwell, we found the gas station - closed !
We transferred the fuel from the one gallon tank and headed to Lakeview - some beautiful trails through the forests, and we finally met up in Lakeview - WITHOUT any further issues !!
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