Day 65 to 68

September 9th to the 12th,  2007

From Emery to Salina, Utah

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          after /  après >>


To get to Salina from here, we have to ride across the mountains. After spending over 4 hours in Emery looking for gas, it's now a race against the clock! We can see the rain falling on the horizon and the trail that climbs to the top is impassable when it rains. It's very steep, filled with switchbacks and either washed out by rain or covered with clay. Clay becomes grease-like when it rains...Not exactly the best situation on steep up-hills or down-hills..

 

Ouf! After about 9 miles of climbing, we're at the top! Did'nt get rained on, yet...

By the way, trails are very well marked here and the map is pretty accurate in this area. A nice change!...

 

Speaking of change, check out the contrast between yesterdays' environment and todays'. Between the east and west side of highway 10! Amazing!

 

Water! After having spent a few days in semi-desert like conditions, where the closest thing to water is a reddish mud hole... Makes you really appreciate a creek, my friends!

In the desert, you must wisely use each drop. Here, water flows non-stop... Somebody could live here, you know...

 

At 10,000ft and over, trees become fewer again. But the temperature reminds us we're in high elevation!

 

 

 

Yeah ! A reliable trail map!!
Yeah ! It's good to be able to rely on it...Actually, I don't understand how I can still rely on a map...
Bof... Member of the ''roll over'' club...
Bof... Semi-select club...


Here we are back on the Great Western Trail at about 10,500ft.

 

 

 

One thing or the other. Either the trail is rough or the fridge was'nt secured well...Either way, here's the end result:

The lid, where the motor is, is dangling by the wire...There's salsa and jelly all over the trail...At first, you'd think someone was hit by a car...
France plugs the fridge back in and...Bzzzz, the motor comes on, the thing still works!...

Most incredible is that not one egg out of the dozen was broken!

We pick everything up and head for the campground!

 

Beef barricade!

 

In Salina, we set up camp in a campground located right in town. This gives us the opportunity to experience another good reason not to get a good noght sleep...

Some of the reasons you don't sleep to well when camping:

-Sprinklers.
-Tent flapping in the wind.
-Highway traffic zooming by all night long at mere feets from the tent (noise).

 


September 10th, 2007.

For those wondering if the trailer is any restriction to our travels...

...Lets say that, every now and then, you have to be a little inventive! A rock under each wheel and...It's close...But it works!

Today, not much happenning, execpt we move to City park to be able to sleep tonight. I must say that Salina Police close the City Park gates at dusk, so we had to move (again...) to be just outside the gates...


September 11th, 2007. (As it been six years, already...)

Today is a very special day for us as we meet our friend JEG (Jean-Eric Gaulin) who volunteered to drive our truck and trailer from Canada to Arizona and then store them there.

It's already been 2 years since we began talking about it and, now, voilà, another part of our trip will be behind us. After chatting (a little) and eating (a lot), we all retire for the night (JEG in the car and us in the tent).

Of course, in and around the park, there's a lot of nice green grass that would have made great spots for the tent but, since our experience in Ferron, we got smart and parked on the pavement right beside the grass. (We may be crazy but we're not dumb...). The only thing we did'nt think of was that sprinklers always shoot a little bit over the edge of the grass...Results: A heavy shower every 5 minutes for most of the night...Should I have parked one foot further, we would have slept...

In the morning:

JEG: "Aaahhh! I slept like a rock! How about you guys?"

Marc: "Baahhh...You don't wanna know..."

 

Totally Unrelated:

Somebody need a pair of boots? Found those ones on the side of the trail...

To celebrate our reunion and to do something a little different (sic) Marc and JEG decide to go for a ride.

Marc: "We've been talking about it for so long, let's take a ride on the GWT!"

JEG: "Yesss!"

So here we go! We leave France behind, working on the computer, while we head out to explore the area.

 

JEG On the phone with  Cri. 13sept_11_trail_jeg.jpg (20241 octets)



Everything's cool, we ride the GWT, enjoying the incredible scenery, then we take other trails, some rougher, some easier but each one as interesting as the one before. On the way back, a little routing mistake forces us to backtrack and for a second time, ride a section that is not really steep and has...not really sharp switchbacks, but...

 

 

Ouch!!! While trying to avoid a big rock in the middle of the trail, Marc gets too close to the edge that is too soft and...it gives...In a second, that's it...It's rolling over...One complete roll and the machine lands in a tree. Fortunately, the trailer stayed back at the Park! Is this the end of our trip???

 

We'll never know exactly how but Marc was able to avoid being crushed between the quad and the rock covered ground...Not even a bruise...

OK, now, how do you take a 1,100lbs machine out of a tree?? The left wheels are on the ground (rocks) while the right wheels hang about 12inches off the ground, the machine being held by the tree...Long story short, we were able to take it out of there using both winches, some arm juice and some creativity...
(You can see the big rock on the picture).

Well that's great! But we're still at about 30 miles from Salina...After a basic inspection, we see no important damage...Not even a bent tie rod...Only bent plastic that, really, almost went back to normal! That's surprising, to say the very least, considering the position the quad was in. The right front fender was bent so badly that we even hard a hard time turning the ingnition switch on and off...

All right, it's time for a test...Turn the switch on, fire it up...It starts!

Marc: "Let's give it a try..."

A few miles later...

JEG: "So, how is it going?"

Marc: "Incredible! Like new! No difference with before! No vibration, steering is good...Incredible!"

 

 

     Polaris Industries - Canada                            Polaris Industries - USA

 

 

Marc:"Well, you'll probably remember your first ATV ride for a long time, won't you!"

We sort of expected our renion would created memorable moments, we just never thought...

In short, those few days spent with Jean-Éric were filled with emotions...We spent good times together, had great meals, good drinks and talked a lot.
Thanks for everything, Jean-Éric. Sincerely.

(A very special thanks also to Christiane and the girls, Éloïse, Jeanne and Sandrine for "lending us" their Daddy (Hubby for Cri...)

 


How to keep eggs intact on rough trails.

Important: Avoid having eggs in contact with water (soften the shells).

Use "anti-skid mats", the same as we use to wrap up cans in the fridge. (availble at any RV dealer)

Place the egg container lying flat at bottom of fridge.

Tip: Place container in a plastic bag. If ever one egg should break, it would limit the damage. It will also prevent moisture frrom getting in contact with eggs.

Eggs.

 

Pour voir la liste de
tous les trucs,
cliquez ici

to see all the
tricks and infos
click here

 

Oh Yeah! We also added a little comment besides the sticker we got in Ferron!!

 

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Vue d'ensemble/
general view

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carte  détaillée/
detailed map/

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                 GPS

Au / At    Salina
Date       10 sept/Sept 10 Lat    N    38 56 39'8
Long  W  111  51 23'1
Elevation  5225 pieds/feet

 

 
50C   122F
     
  40C   104F
     
30C   86F
     
20C   68F
     
10C   50F
     
0C   32F
     
-5C   23F
     
-10C   14F
orages.gif (1331 octets)

In Emery

soleil.gif (1277 octets)

In Salina

 

 

 

 


Facile

Moyen

Difficile 

Easy

Moderate

Difficult 

Except the up-hill out of Emery...


Les statistiques

Total

216 Miles
2831 Miles: à date/to date
15 Nb of times we went under I-70 yet
$123 Resto
$50 Épicerie/Food
$28 Essence/fuel
$26 Camping
$55 Divers/Misc.
$282 Total


 

 

                

Déjeuner/Breakfast:
-juice
-resto
-toasts + coffee
-bacon + eggs

Dîner/Lunch:
-tomatoes + cucumbers + beef jerkey
-snack
-snack
-snack

Souper/Dinner:
-resto
-resto
-steak + rice
-spaghetti

 

 

Les Oscars-The Oscars:
...et le gagnant est... L'ITEM LE PLUS APPRECIÉ:

 

THE MOST APPRECIATED ITEM:

A hot shower!

 

 

 

 

Nous sommes fiers de vous présenter nos partenaires.
Ils nous ont fourni un soutien important afin de nous aider à réaliser cette aventure. MERCI À TOUS
 

 

 

We are proud to introduce you to our partners.
Their precious collaboration helped us live this fabulous adventure.

THANKS TO ALL.

Polaris Industries - Canada
Polaris Industries - USA



RM Motosport





Durocher Transirt









Cellutron





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