Day 65 to 68
September 9th to the 12th, 2007 |
From Emery to Salina, Utah
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!!
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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... |
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Semi-select club... |
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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!
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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... |
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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. |
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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.
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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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