These blogs posts are listed in the order i post them. So to get this ride report in the right order, you should scroll down & read the start of the ride, then this one. I suppose i should post the last day first, in reverse chronology, but it's easier for me to just post them in the order i write them.
Also, if your connection isn't very fast, or if you want to speed up the viewing of the video clips, you can pick 320p from the tool icon by the video window.
We left the hotel & took pavement for about 50 miles south. We went past Needles to a dirt road that came out by Parker, Az & crossed at the dam. That was another 40-50 miles of some pretty challenging riding. The road was pretty easy most of the way, but it was rutted out in several places, with many wash crossings & a lot of ups & downs.
Notice how green everything is from the winter rains.. well, it's green for this part of the country, anyway.
This was really a powerline road. It was fairly well maintained, but had a lot of damage from the previous weeks' rains.
This was just a big hole in the rocks.
Occasionally you can see glimpses of Lake Havasu in the distance. In this clip we caught up with the road grading crew.. a little over halfway through the road. The first part was pretty fun with all the washouts, but the second part had it's own challenges with all the loose rock & gravel.
This was a very scenic road.. it curved around the hills & went up & down a lot. And with the distant mountains & the lake views, it was a fun & pretty ride.
This is the last video clip of the ride. There is still plenty of great scenery, & we pass the only vehicle we saw on this road, other than the road crew.
At long last we came to Parker Dam. We crossed it & went into Parker for gas.
After Parker, we had planned to ride dirt over to Bagdad, then back the way we came along the Camp Wood road. But the more everyone thought about it, the less enthused we were about riding another 200+ miles through mud, water crossings, ice & snow. So after a brief discussion, we opted for pavement home.. still about 250 miles.. no simple ride. But we got into Prescott about 6pm, & Kim & i got to sedona by 7.. pretty dark & cool.
All together we rode nearly 700 miles, about half & half dirt & pavement. It was probably too long of an offroad ride to go from jerome to Laughlin in one day. It would probably have been better to split it up & stay in Bagdad or even Parker. But it was fun & an adventure.. although i haven't heard from Kim or Tom since. You should probably hear their side before planning a ride like this. I'll let you know if any of us are still friends...
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