6,666 mile C6 Mountain Tour - Long Island to Wyoming, Montana, Alberta... with PICS! by Vet

3 minute(s) of a 20 minute read

Hey, your splashguards REALLY came in handy on this trip! Had to put a lot of miles on gravel roads, plus most of the mountain roads were covered with stones. Those splashguards really played a big part in saving the paint behind the wheel wells. I am happy to report zero damage to paint after 6,666 high-speed miles!

Thanks again!

9-26-2006

Thanks again to all for the kind words / compliments on the photos. Glad I was able to take such photos and share them here. But please do me a favor... try to get out to these areas to experience this stuff in person. Photos and even video do absolutely NO justice whatsoever. If you think these pics are cool, just wait until you are actually driving through it. It's absolutely mind blowing... extremely intense.

As for NAV... no, I do not have the NAV option. Never had one in fact. I cut my teeth on motorcycles, doing cross country trips before the days of NAV systems. I've become so accustomed to planning trips with maps and compass that it is pretty much the only way I feel comfortable doing it. I actually made a custom bracket that bolts behind the passenger seat to hold my big North American atlas.

Yes, a few times a NAV would have been helpful... like when you're looking for an eatery in the middle of nowhere, etc. But over 6,666 miles / three weeks, I may have wished I had a NAV like three times... not sure if this is enough to justify the expense. But, YMMV.

I plan my entire trip before I leave the house and write it all out. Then each night at the hotel I'll review everything and fine tune the plan based on how the schedule is going, weather conditions, etc, etc.

Funny, I was going to get a NAV, then a friend who just picked up a new NAV system took me for a ride in his car to give me a demonstration. His NAV was cutting out and acting erratic, he was cursing at it, we took a ten mile ride and the thing proved to be useless... my friend was embarassed... it wasn't a good first impression for me. I'm sure NAVs are really good in general, but... I'm hooked on the old fashion way anyhow.

Bottom line, I've been cross country quite a few times, often taking desolate scenic backroads, etc, and never had any problems. The trusty old atlas always took good care of me. A NAV would be nice... maybe next time ... but certainly not necessary in my opinion, at least if you are good with maps.