Fall Dualsporting

I have a few posts left from this summer's road trip, but I wanted to put up something a bit timely.

Jerry and I've been out riding now that the KLR has been fixed (more on that when I finish the summer road trip story).

There is always something special about being out when the leaves are changing colour, it's cold in the morning and there is no longer any dust to worry about, though there's plenty of moisture.


We've been incredibly lucky and the last two Saturdays have been dry and warm... well, ok, not freezing cold ;)

Last weekend we went exploring in the Mamquam valley around Squamish. Since it was the first off-roading since I've had the KLR apart, I was a bit nervous when we got further in the back. But it was gorgeous.




Jerry's version of this photo ;)


Yup, we both wear dorky hi-viz gear.

We only stopped for photos on the way out. The sun was low even at mid-day and on the way in I was generally way to busy trying to see and wasn't thinking about the scenery.


We didn't go straight out, instead heading up to the "Lava Flow" are to do a bit more technical riding. On the way there we stopped to take a good look into the valley we'd just come out of:


The ride down was different than I remembered it because there are new powerlines and a bunch of single track has been removed. It's been a few years but I came through there with Bill on his 620 KTM years ago. Though the looks we got were the same. Something like "WTF are you doing in here with _that_ bike?"

Jerry and stopped at one point to talk to some guys on full on dirtbikes to make sure I was heading the right way and it's hard to describe how incredulous they looked. ;)


This weekend we headed East instead and rode in on the West side of Stave Lake in Mission.

Michelle and I had done some very minor exploring in there this summer. But again, the conditions were completely different. Gone was the dust and the pebbles, instead all we had was hard packed, moist and grippy dirt.

I told Jerry I'd take it easy and got a "Uh huh..." in response.

Three words: Dirt-Super-Highway. What a blast! We passed trucks, bikes and quads. :D

Eventually it got tighter and towards the end got a bit technical, mostly because of the loose and large rocks. Again, gorgeous spots along the way.






Untouched valley



Fresh snow on the peaks


Low clouds? High fog?



Good times


Stave Lake from the North end


After this we once again set a good solid pace out. Tons of traffic was heading in as we were coming out and Jerry said he'd never seen it this busy. I guess a lot of folks were trying to take advantage of the excellent fall weather, just like us.

We did a bit of exploring on the way out, including in some spots that perhaps we were not intended to go (is that what the gates mean?).

After helping me get past the concrete blocks and gate extension, Jerry's bike got very tired and needed a nap. ;)


My camera decided it had suffered enough in the cool conditions and the battery gave up. Great day of riding. :)

Fall days are some of the most fun on a dual sport. I'm not sure why, perhaps the fact that the season is almost done and you know there are not many days like this left.