Three Texans, Four Strokes, Five States

I’ve really gone and done it this time. Idaho is not an easy feat to pull off from Central Texas.

I had mulled over various scenarios—shipping, flying, staging, renting, begging, borrowing. I even tried to talk myself out of it and pick a different trip that was easier to pull off. But nope—I’ve been wanting to see this part of the country for a while now.

You never know about life, so I decided I’m doing it, by darn.

Yet, there were more decisions than just settling on going. Should I choose a big bike or a little bike? What route should I pick? Ought I ride the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route, Tour of Idaho, Guts Resolve Intelligence Toughness (GRIT) route, or just wing it?

After muy mucho consideration, I decided to truck my motorcycle from Texas to Colorado and make a loop out of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and—oh yeah—Idaho. I stitched together a route, sprinkling in all kinds of stuff I gleaned from here and there or flat out made up to complete an off-the-beaten-path loop. The weapon of choice for the ride, due to the obscurity of some of the trail selection and the unknown, was a 500cc engine.

Three shady characters were in this play. I was the ram rod known as Stevo, riding a 2014 KTM XCW 500. Stephen Smith, nicknamed Grape Ape, was our drone/camera guru riding a 2021 KTM 500 EXC. Last but not least, Gary Turner, or Garbear, was our mechanical wiz astride a 2006 KTM 525 EXC.

The Journey Begins

The second week of August in 2022, we ditched the truck/trailer in Empire, CO, at a friend’s cabin. The next morning, we got a fresh start, eating some slab for a bit to get up north in the Winter Park area. Then, finally, we headed out west on dirt.

Yippie-ki-yay.

It was typical mountain gravel travel—passes, creek crossings, and some mud bogs here and there. I remember thinking that mountains are cool and all, but bring on the desert.

Motorcycles & Gear

2014 KTM XCW 500
2021 KTM 500 EXC
2006 KTM 525 EXC

Helmet: Bell MX9 Adventure
Jacket: Base layers, no jacket
Pants: Fly Patrol
Boots: Forma ADV
Gloves: Fox Dirt Paw
Luggage: Wolfman 10L Rollies (x 3)
Comms System: Sena 10S

I like the pace and terrain of the desert. It jives with my soul, devoid of humanity and dry. Wait, that doesn’t sound right.

Moving on, we were really getting out there, surely but quickly. We had a little trouble around the Maybell area in Colorado with a leaky fork seal on two of the three bikes. The old “cut-up plastic water bottle hook” trick cleaned it out and we were whole again.

I felt like it was here that we started to get in the groove and vibe of the trip as we got zinging through the desert. Our destination for the night was Echo Park on the Colorado-Utah border.

I stumbled onto a picture of this place in my planning stages and was drawn to it. The views of the Yampa River Canyon along the way were spectacular and our camp spot perfect with sheer walls. Not too shabby.

Hello Idaho!

The next day, we were mostly trying to get across Utah and Wyoming, but it’s not like the riding was for naught. What was special for most of this trip was the back-and-forth transitioning between riding in the mountains and the desert, all in the same day.

We had planned to camp again on some remote BLM land in Wyoming, but rainstorms pushed us into Diamondville, WY, for the night at a hotel. It was a good reset, as we had some bike repairs that needed to be made. A leaky countershaft seal, blown running light fuse, missing handguard bolt, and a GPS that had lost its marbles.

You know, typical adventure woes.