I've just returned from the HU Silverton meet in Silverton, CO, USA, (7-9 to 7-13) Grant ran a good show in Silverton. The town is set in Rocky Mountain paradise up at around 3200 mtrs. Attendees were offered even more good info on doing RTW travel, great guest travelers in person with slide shows, how-to classes from tire repair to photo technique..... and of course an ice cold Keg of Beer every evening.

S.America travel Wild Man Jim Stanley was there with his Dad, a great guy, very laid back cat. Jim's slide show was shown late, so late that most of the 140 members missed Jim's great and wild slide show. The presentation was a fun and funny show depicting his amazing trek all over and back again in S. America. If you get the chance see Jim's show .... or order a copy! Worth it! Find Jim here on HU.

Good Doctor and multi 20 year RTW travel veteran Greg Frazier was there and gave a nice show. Very down to earth, basic smart travel, low tech, great sense of humor without the pretentious heroics. Greg is working on a new SE Asia media project, (Book? DVD? Both?) and asks for feed back on how to bring riders and fans more of what they want in terms of learning more about travel in the region. The HU fans got a sneak preview of the piece. This rough cut version will end up with narration, a good edit and music to make the pics dance. Should be good, showing Greg's unique perspective on world travel.

Dave Peterson did his RTW show. I wish he'd had more time. Dave is a laid back guy, very unassuming, super smart. He did some amazing things on the trip but never went for the Hero roll. Kudos Dave!

Lots more I've missed, including my half assed slide show that wouldn't go. I'm still learning just how far apart Mac and PC are. My little Mac based presentation flopped because the pics were all out of order (PC incompatible) and music not in sync. All my fault, never trust a computer .... Mac or PC!! Next time I'll fine tune this and get it right....before the meet!

Some of the local Colorado boys offered to lead a little trek into the Rockies,
I think i was the only guy NOT from Colorado and not on a KLR!
KLR Guru Scott Melton from KLR.net and a handful of his buddies ran us through some very fun and challenging jeep roads. Scott, with his confident Southern drawl, said, "Ah, this is just a little dirt road ride, nothing too hard". Ha!

The route was near perfect for the slightly over weight KLR's and my DR. But this ride was no walk in the park and Scott took us near 14,000 ft. and into snow, mud and some super scary steep ups and down. At that altitude my bike would barely run! The Colorado guys were fine as there bikes were mostly jetted way lean. A loaded RTW bike would have trouble here. GS's and even big KTM's would be at risk with non expert pilots.

My other problem was I was running street tires, everyone else had knobbies. On the really steep off camber downhills, going down really loose slag, my bike would just lock up and slide (or CRASH!)Thanks to all the young guys who leant a hand keeping me from flying down the hill out of control! A few new scratches were added to my Caballo Azul! Several of the KLR guys broke levers (no bark buster!!) but leader Scott had a major stash of not only levers but lots of other stuff. The guy knows how to adventure travel! Right On Scott! Glad someone is the adult here!

Lots more to say but the pics say it best. Check it out. Comments and more pics welcome!


Miles of this stuff, all up and over 13,000 ft.


Lots of water crossings, some deep and slippery.


Steep and seriously off camber. Loose scree makes it tricky.


Bit of mud and snow up high.


Imogene pass ..... these young guys tried to kick my butt!


Some to the down hills were best done in Bull Dog mode. Can't imagine this
if my bike was fully loaded!


Ride leader Scott!


Another breathtaking view passing Imogene pass.


Lots of tunnels and Jeeps to dodge.


Don't go over here! Just a bit of a drop!

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!