Solo Road Trips

[tgtaylor]

Forgot to add: For large format my series 0 Gitzo and Harrison pup tent fits nicely in the bag on top of the rear carrier and the Toyo 45cf with normal attached fits in one of the rear panniers along with the compact 90mm f8 Nikkor and the 300mm Nikkor-M and a couple of holders.

[Jac@stafford.net]

I also have a '81 R100 but a naked one, under the Hannigan.

For purely emotional and non-logical reasons, I chose the '75 honda cb750 for my trip.

One way to travel solo on a bike is to have one seat.
This is the last Harley I built from the ground-up
in the time before blister-packed custom parts.

My 1946-56-66 FLH.

[FrankS]

One way to travel solo on a bike is to have one seat.
This is the last Harley I built from the ground-up
in the time before blister-packed custom parts.
My 1946-56-66 FLH.

Very cool.

The other way to travel solo is to have a wife who won't get on your bike.
That's just fine with me. I feel sorry for the guy with the wife on the back, talking to him through helmet headsets.
For me, motorcycling is a solitary activity and that's the way I like it.

[Tin Can]

One way to travel solo on a bike is to have one seat.
This is the last Harley I built from the ground-up
in the time before blister-packed custom parts.

My 1946-56-66 FLH.

Nice bike Jac! What kind of Harley has brakes and mufflers? Rhetorical question! This days I am perfectly happy with '97 EVO Sporty with an OEM 2 into one quiet pipe, mag wheels with tubeless tires and '82 Buckhorns. Here's my first restoration with Bonnie, she was alright also. 1967 Matchless G15 I painted Imron white with custom seat. All stock with rear sets and reverse RS shifter. I wailed on most Harleys with this very quick bike. I traded a Kawasaki H1 for it. The year is 1972. As long as we get 4 pics. My favorite Bus, my '73 /5 in 1978 and my recently sold '67 BSA.

[Sirius Glass]

Jim, Thanks for the senior Pass info. Never knew of it. Every bit helps.

See Senior Passes and Access Passes
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm

Definitely worth the costs.

[Tin Can]

See Senior Passes and Access Passes
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm

Definitely worth the costs.

Thanks! I am on it.

[HMG]

My last solo trip was pretty tame. Flew into Las Vegas with an expiring SW flight voucher, rented a car, and drove to DV for a long weekend. Camped from the car; 2 nights in DV (Emigrant campgound I think) and 1 on BLM land near Tecopa. The "mud baths" near Tecopa substituted for a shower (if you enter where the spring bubbles up, it's not really that muddy).

Solo backpacking is good practice; you learn to keep things light and compact. I keep a "grasshopper" style stove around for car camping or traveling by air; it uses standard propane canisters which are cheap and can found anywhere.

[Leszek Vogt]

Yes, I can vouch for the nps pass. On my last trip to SW (last Fall) there were several BLM campgrounds....and the one by Kanab, UT broke all the records and it was priced $5.00/night, and I paid 1/2 of that because of the pass. What's really funny, that I had to get a shower in RV park in town and it ended up costing twice as much as my camping.

Les

[stradibarrius]

This is one of the best threads I have read in awhile. Maybe because I have thinking about doing this myself. I have traveled, for business, alone for years and being able to sit as long as I choose and move when I'm ready is the idea. My wife and I have traveled all over the world but she has no patience to sit and wait for the sun to set or rise, the crowd to leave or what ever. Since I started shooting LF a few years ago I have wanted to load the truck up and go.

[Jmarmck]

That is the reason I took that trip, to do what I wanted when I wanted......within reason. Motel reservations did get in the way a couple times. But that is fairly easily solved in the winter except for Christmas time. BTW EVERYTHING in Mexican Hat is closed during Christmas......not that there is much there to open. But keep in mind that many of the hotels in that region close for winter.

Things I found I needed that I did not take, accidently,
Camera and light meter batteries-one battery I could not find, even in Las Vegas
More film (color)
Changing tent
A better way to prevent dust-I put a bed cover on my truck but still got so much dust inside that I would not consider storing any photo gear in there.
A younger body to carry the gear.
I bought a second cooler on the road.
I also bought better road atlases.

Things I could (should) have left at home-These were things I just had to move every time I arrived/left a motel.
All that 135mm gear (In three weeks I did not even open the case)
All those CDs I never listened to
Less clothing
That guitar

As I said earlier. I had a rolling bed cover installed on my truck. It keep everything dry but dust was a problem. It did cause a problem with my cooler. The cooler was too tall to fit in under the cover. I have this insane looking bungee web contraption that is great for keeping containers secure in the truck bed. It latches at all four bed corners and stretches over whatever containers are in the bed. Highly recommended. I also use those large Tupperware containers for clothing/utensils/dry goods/photog chemicals. All the camera gear was in the cab. I had the back seats removed.