I also made a spread-sheet itinerary showing each day’s destination, mileage, gas stops, and lodging. I separated these into groups by state and planned to carry each day’s maps in my tank-bag map viewer. I then transposed the GPS route onto the paper maps. In order to get a map scale detailed enough (but not too, as in US Forest Service maps) I purchased gazetteer map books for each state and Xeroxed the map pages I needed. As good as Garmin’s maps are, they will occasionally show a road where there is only a goat trail. Being use to paper maps I wanted a set as a backup for the GPS and they came in very handy on several occasions. I used Big Dog’s “tracks” for the trail and created “follow-the-road routes” for the entire trail. I purchased a Garmin 60 CSX GPS and Garmin City Navigator 2012 map software and began a several month learning process of GPS route construction and navigation. Mark was a great help in deciding which GPS I needed, in learning to use it, and in planning the trip. When I mentioned my TomTom he informed me that dual-sport riders referred to it as a “soccer mom” GPS. I contacted Big Dog (Mark Sampson) who is the granddaddy of motorcycling the CDT. I was a total novice in terms of a GPS and thought that my TomTom street model would suffice. It was obvious that good maps and a GPS were essential as well as going to school on others who had already made the trip. Early in 2012 I started talking it up with Greg and we began to consider the logistics of such an adventure. Having made several much shorter dual-sport motorcycle trips, I read a great deal about the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) on the internet and in magazines. Greg refers to it as “the trip of a lifetime” but I hope there are many more to come. These dirt roads are comprised of county and forest service roads and anything from high-speed gravel to 10 mph, rugged, two-track jeep roads covered in loose rock or deep sand. The trail was originally established for off-road bicycles and consists of approximately 80% dirt roads. The ride took 14 days and the mileage on my GPS at Antelope Wells read 2,826 miles. We rode our Kawasaki 650 KLR dual-sport motorcycles … dual-sport referring to the bikes ride-ability on both paved and dirt roads. This is the narrative of my trip with my good friend Gregory Boy Camp as we traveled the Continental Divide Trail from Roosville, Montana to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.
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