I’ve been off the grid – Montana worse than Alaska!

Sorry for not keeping up to date. It appears that both Montana and Idaho are filled with deep holes that prevent you from communication using modern devices. Last Friday I rode out of Salt Lake with trusty Zuma (GPS) leading the way. Now Jaz in Alaska says Zuma/Zumo is from the Raven Trickster Clan, so I am going to adopt her saying from now on, because it is true. Wanting to take the scenic less traveled off-the beaten track method, Zuma assured me that I could ride from Eden, UT. to Logan UT. via Paradise. Well you can, but the road is dirt. Now I don’t have any issues with dirt, but I have issues with steep switchbacks that have hairpin turns where the corners are about 7 inches of deep sand. This coupled with the extra weight I am carrying (see the previous post that demonstrates the size of the government laptop in my saddle bags), and it was a NO F***ING WAY call! Now I hear you saying… “Wait, if she wants to ride to the tip of South America, and is scardy-cat of a little sand, she better throw in her towel now” gripe…. But the bottom line is that I didn’t want to dump my purdy white $$$$$$ BMW motorcycle just yet. I just watched her roll over on 10,000 miles… and that road (goat trail) had disaster written all over it for Helley. I named my motorcycle, her name is Helley… on account that she always wants to turn around and make a bee-line for Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, UT. (if you don’t know what I’m talking about and you live in Utah, give it up).

So after deciding that there was no way we were going to take that particular scenic route, we turned back to the country store in Eden, where the proprietor assured us that was the only way… So this meant backtracking to Ogden, which meant what was the shortest route back. We found (with the help of a couple of local teenagers, the North Ogden Canyon Road out of Liberty, which was paved.

Soon we crossed into Idaho, the land of farm equipment too wide for a highway lane (Wide-loads are always ahead in Idaho), and probably the single most interesting road sign I have yet seen. I was tempted to put white X marks over the eyes….
Idaho gets my vote for most interesting road signs...

We ended up in Lava Hot Springs, in a campground with no services because the town was filled with weekenders. Lava is an interesting town, the town hasn't changes much since the 70s (as most of this part of Idaho), and most of the town walks around in swimsuits and have towels draped around their necks. This is on account of the hot springs located right in downtown Main Street.

After Pizza, Beer, and Ice Cream (served with a square scoop), we sat in the hot tubs for about 30 minutes, and skanked a shower (since our pitiful campsite had no services) for our bucks. We slept well in the tent. Stay tuned - the next day finds us in the World Potato Capitol – Blackfoot, Idaho where we visit Spud Museum and dine on fresh potatoes.