Wilsons Sandbox

On Thursday morning after waking up in Atlanta ID and taking a last long look at the most fabulous hot spring with view I could ever hope to see again, I packed my gear along with everyone else and we headed off in small groups to take one route or the other to the Stanley Stomp, a BMW Club of Idaho Rally, in Bonanza ID, about 8 miles north of the Sunbeam Hot Spring and about 22 miles northeast of Stanley ID, in the Sawtooth Mountains. After crossing Highway 21 and taking a long 65 mile ride up Bear Valley Road, we found ourselves again on Highway 21, about 20 miles west of Stanley. We took a break and ate some raisins, my riding partners were hungry and my expert navigational skills had not located them any restaurant food (someone has to take the responsibility, or everyone will be lost with no one to blame). Plus, I am able to travel all day long on an empty stomach, an attribute if you ask me. It makes the miles roll up, and the beer and food tastes much better after a long day's wait. Instant gratification is not always the way to go. Rolling into Stanley, Eric immediately headed for the mexican food cart on 21. I went to the store, got some Black Butte Porter, and some Gorp, and some Granola bars, and a grapefuit. I knew from experience that to offset the all-meat diet at the Stomp you need to have some fruit and vegies. We gassed up after watching the first cute girls and such that we'd seen for days and headed up to Bonanza to set up camp and drink some beer. I know also that the Idaho Airheads would have numerous kegs of microbrew free for the quaffing if you were an Airhead (I am). We arrived and were greeted, meeting new folks and running into old friends. A quiet evening ensued, a few beers and an early night's turn-in. Everyone was tired, at least the people who'd been on the Nez Perce Ride. Next morning I awoke, made java, got dressed, and headed into Stanley to do my laundry. I don't bring lots of clothing, and all of it was quite filthy. While putting the clothes into the washer, I noticed a plume of smoke billowing up about twenty miles away. I didn't think anything of it. While putting the clothes into the dryer about 30 mionutes later, I made note of the fact that the smoke cloud had grown in size by a factor of 5 or 6. That's when I started calculating about where it might be located.....and it seemed to be right about where my tent was pitched. I packed up the wash and sped back to Bonanza.....when I got almost to Sunbeam Hot Spring, I could see that the fire was about five miles southwest of our location....but the road had already been blocked off by cops and fire personnel.....I waited around and after a half hour or so a sheriff came out and hollered at all the Beemerphiles waiting to get to the Stomp (it was now Friday and all the street bike riders were there for their big rally) that they should "Go in there and get your stuff and then get out!", really scaring everyone and the rally's attendance really suffered for it. After he said that I raced up the eight mile dirt road leading to the site and passed every one of the street people on their K-bikes and such....they thought I was crazy, I guess, but the road was absolutely hard-packed like pavement and you could take corners at 80. When I got to my site, there was no smoke in the air, and it remained that way all weekend......but the cop-types scared all the people away from the rally. So what did we do? Well, when I was at the rally site, I drank all the Airhead beer (Sierra Nevada, Black Butte Porter, and Full Sail) that the chickens didn't get to drink, and also I ate their food. We had steaks, huge Idaho taters, brats (good ones!), and nice barbecued burgers. When I wasn't there, I took the dirt road to Challis....very nice twisties along a river, up a mountain summit with a steep two mile bumpy climb at the top, then down some outstanding scenic dirt into Challis's main street, where I had a beer at the Custer Saloon and then headed back. It was 34 miles each way, and the way back, I knew the road, and could really haul some butt! I made it back in about 50 minutes. That day Brad, Eric, and Chris took the Pinyon Peak/ Loon Creek Road loop.....I had taken it last year, and told them about it. They really dug it, and it turned out to be a challenge to some riders. Again, lots of ruts and big boulders near the summit which is about 9800 feet with a view of many of the peaks of the Sawtooths, the Bitteroots, the Pioneer Mtns, and more that I don't know the names of. On Saturday, I took it easy, taking a five mile walk along through Custer, a historic mining town, and photographed some ancient mining equipment. I needed a good long walk to work out some kinks. I came back and made my way to Stanley, going through the fire barracade with an escort. Upon my return the fire had jumped the road again and the cop-types said they weren't letting anyone in anyhow, for however long it might be. It turned out to be only about an hour, and I was back to the site. That night we had huge steaks, enormous potatoes, and corn, real poppin fresh corn with lots of butter and salt. Yum. I could eat those vegetables when I got back to CA. Sunday morning was a whole new story. That night late some sheriffs had come into the Stomp site, and let us know that the fire had new cousin breaking out nearby at Lightning Creek, about five miles away, and that our site had to be vacated completely by 11 the next morning so that the firefighters could use it for a base camp. So the next morning I was up at six and packed up and on the road at seven. Headed for California, I will make a brief report on the three day ride home soon. Backroad Bill

As one who uses a Roadcrafter when sport touring I agree that the cordura was pretty stiff and took some time to break in. Now with 67K mi on the '98 Concours it surely is not stiff but couldn't say at what point of mileage it became more comfortable. I have never regretted the choice although I ended up getting a HJC Cirotec jacket for the KLR as the Roadcrafter was not good for d/s use. Dan Paulsen Graham WA