tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70345206687451906582024-03-19T02:45:45.920-06:00Backcountry Byways LLC<strong>Providing wildland-travel solutions since 1993.<br>We do the work. You live the dream.</strong><br>Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-39947494301846044092024-01-25T15:19:00.001-07:002024-01-26T14:29:14.701-07:00Wilco Off-Road's Hitchgate Solo solves spare-tire issue, but can pose hurdlesThere is no law of physics, nature or probability that assures only one flat tire will occur when traveling wildland roads.
Wilco's Hitchgate Solo mounted on our 4Runner.
That's why we carry two all-terrain spare tires, and recommend that our clients do so as well.
However, the problem of where to carry a large, 70-lb. (32 kg.) or heavier second spare wheel is difficult to resolve.To get theTony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-19639346650141267322023-12-26T14:17:00.001-07:002023-12-30T09:32:09.252-07:00Don't let weather, wildfires and work derail your wildland travels. Just ask for 'Plan B'!As potential consolation for the risks posed by wildland travel's three dreaded "Ws" -- weather, wildfires and work -- we'll be offering 2024's clients exclusive free use of our GPS-guided "Plan B" data file with routing through the most beautiful part of Idaho, in the American West's northern Rocky Mountains.Travel-season storms can make many of the West's dirt roads impassable. Wildfires Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.comIdaho, USA44.0682019 -114.742040815.757968063821153 -149.89829079999998 72.378435736178844 -79.5857908tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-27529416982914732092023-10-06T18:30:00.000-06:002023-10-23T12:03:35.620-06:00Heart of the West Adventure Route: USA's convenient multistate wildland journey
Heart of the West Adventure Route -- the plug-and-play solution to the risks of planning an overland trip -- will continue in 2024 to provide wildland travelers a GPS-guided network of interconnected loops and routes that remains unparalleled in North America.
This premium service delivers convenient and customizable routing for travelers in SUVs, or on dual-sport and adventure Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-87279976288695205922023-10-05T10:24:00.000-06:002023-10-23T12:07:59.785-06:00Start planning now for the 2024 season!The first step in planning your wildland journey is simple: Just send us a note saying that you, too, would like to take advantage of our plug-and-play, GPS-guided wildland routes. That initial contact will be followed at a convenient time by a telephone visit to go over your vision, and how we can help you achieve it. You will find our personalized, traveler-direct process to be time Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-10479417071579900212022-11-11T09:04:00.006-07:002023-10-04T09:54:42.989-06:00Day-use reservations, park pass required at Grand Canyon north rim's Tuweep areaGRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Arizona -- Beginning July 21, 2022, day-use reservations are required in a pilot program that the National Park Service has implemented to manage increasing visitation at the remote Tuweep Visitor Area, on the Grand Canyon's north rim.Only six private-vehicle ticket reservations will be available daily to reserve up to 120 days prior to a visit. Reservations for the Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-79265189415757307882022-10-19T11:15:00.001-06:002023-07-13T15:49:02.941-06:00Cyanide leach mining: What is it? Why so dangerous? And why you pay the bill.BISHOP, California -- To spread awareness of the threat that taxpayer-subsidized, cyanide-based gold mining poses to public lands and waters in the American West, the Owens Valley-based Friends of the Inyo provides an instructive presentation on YouTube that explains cyanide leach mining.The presenter of "The Dirty Truth About Modern Cyanide Gold Mining," Bonnie Gestring, is Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-40335758988280820422021-10-02T13:26:00.004-06:002023-10-23T11:58:40.248-06:00Sierra to the Sea Adventure Route: Motoring through the wildlands of Northern California
Note: The condition of Sierra to the Sea/Sea to Sierra Adventure Route (S2S) in Northern California could be uncertain in some places due to erosion and wildfire impacts. Travelers might need to improvise go-arounds.Sierra to the Sea/Sea to Sierra Adventure Route (S2S) is our 825-mile, eight-day, GPS-guided backcountry motor route from the Sierra Nevada to the largest coastal wildland in Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-18291147957788598162019-02-20T13:21:00.006-07:002019-04-08T18:51:34.069-06:00Rare GPS-equipped cameras, data loggers can precisely I.D. wildland photo locations
In the days when we shot photographic film for our wildland-travel guidebooks and magazine features, it could be difficult months or years later to match an image with a dirt road or other feature we needed to depict.
GPS-equipped cameras and accessories
That’s because photographs of deserts, mountains, plains, forests and such often lack features that make exact location unclear.
So, Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-20499714616364016122019-01-30T12:19:00.000-07:002019-02-26T11:01:08.177-07:00Tow strap, folding hand saw can keep forest deadfall from ending your wildland journeyNow and then we encounter forest roads blocked by deadfall ... trees felled by fire, age, drought, insects or wind. Often they can be cut away with the folding hand saw we keep in our moto and SUV tool kits.
Tow strap being used to move deadfall
Sometimes, however, they need to be pulled off the road using a tow or recovery strap.
We've never used our 30-foot-long recovery strap for its Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-78632515887623226892019-01-29T15:46:00.000-07:002019-02-25T11:02:15.667-07:00There is a nail waiting for a tire along every wildland road, so be ready for the inevitable"Flat tire!" adventure-motorcycling videographer Sterling Noren called out from his BMW F800 as we rode from our campsite along the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route. He was there to film the Touratech USA- and Butler Motorcycle Maps-sponsored inaugural ride of the border-to-border route. I was there to write about it for RoadRUNNER, the motorcycle-travel magazine.
COBDR campsite where Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-46099206997269122252019-01-28T13:45:00.000-07:002019-02-26T10:58:56.096-07:00Southeastern Idaho site memorializes worst massacre of Native Americans in West
Interpretive site overlooking area of massacre
At 6 a.m. on January 29, 1863 -- the coldest time of year in southeastern Idaho's Cache Valley, perhaps as cold as -20 °F that morning of deep snow -- the U.S. Army attacked a Shoshone Indian encampment on the Bear River in what was then southeastern Washington Territory, a few miles north of today's city of Preston.
As the warriors exhaustedTony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-2984895355590435902019-01-03T13:08:00.000-07:002019-02-26T10:54:27.673-07:00More than 80 years later, a byways journey reveals remnants of '30s 'Dust Bowl' countryAfter decades spent documenting wildland roads of the American West, we opted in 2018 to focus on historical backroad travel through what once was the Dust Bowl.
Dust Bowl region of southeastern Colorado
For several days, we traveled in our 4Runner along the often unpaved and remote county roads in the Great Plains where the states of Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma meet.
Early in the 20th Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-83297489122622129062018-12-18T12:52:00.000-07:002018-12-25T10:56:45.833-07:00Backcountry Byways LLC's web address changes to 'www.backcountrybyways.com'Backcountry Byways LLC's web address has been changed to www.backcountrybyways.com.
The change enables us to better reflect the range of premium, personalized services we've provided to wildland and overland travelers since 1993. The URL previously directed web visitors to our ground-breaking Backcountry Byways guidebook series.
Backcountry Byways LLC will remain the preferred provider of Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-52586533231067705602018-02-22T10:43:00.000-07:002018-12-22T17:17:16.715-07:00Utah's Comb Ridge, Bears Ears shelter America's ancestral-Puebloan heritageIt is a privilege to experience the homeland of America's ancestral Puebloan people, whose centuries-old cliff-dwelling culture mysteriously vanished centuries ago, yet reaches out to us today at places like Utah's Comb Ridge.
Utah Hwy. 95 ascends the west face of Comb Ridge.
The dramatic sandstone uplift barely survived the Republican Trump administration's downsizing of Bears Ears Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-33732648990682500812017-12-11T11:48:00.000-07:002018-12-22T17:33:52.530-07:00For SUV adventures, your smart phone or tablet can replace a dedicated GPS unit
For easy backcountry navigation using our plug-and-play GPS data, many of our wildland-travel clients are switching from dedicated GPS units to smartphones and tablets, both Android and iOS.
Detailed GPX tracks make backcountry navigation easy.
These devices are equipped with GPS sensors, which is why Google Maps can provide directions and routing. This does not require an internet Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-20448309986294592492017-12-10T13:34:00.000-07:002019-02-05T10:12:08.363-07:00Smartphones can work for adventure motorcycling, but know the pitfallsMany adventure motorcylists who come to us for routing services see no point to loading our detailed, GPS-based navigational tracks onto expensive and bulky dedicated GPS units.
Instead, they want to use the device they already have and use all day long: their phones, both iPhones and Android phones.
Garmin Montana (left), Samsung S5, iPhone 5
While our GPS data files work well on Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-88546765660835551382017-04-20T15:01:00.000-06:002018-12-22T17:26:50.895-07:00'Asphalt & Dirt: Life on Two Wheels'
We've just received a copy of the new book Asphalt & Dirt: Life on Two Wheels, by Aaron Heinrich.
The book is packed with engaging profiles of individuals who've been engaged in advancing various genres of motorcycling ... including yours truly, of Backcountry Byways LLC.
The 365-page paperback ($22.95) is published by Florida's Road Dog Publications (roaddogpub.com).
Kindle versions Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-26932977549934342272012-05-09T14:44:00.001-06:002018-12-22T17:52:37.808-07:00Utah's anti-Moab: Green River, and the nearby San Rafael Swell and Book Cliffs
Green River, Utah -- We once did what most travelers wouldn't do when spring arrives in canyon country: spend a week based at this forlorn hamlet, which barely clings to life in the shadow of Moab, the outdoor-recreation mecca just 50 miles away.
Book Cliffs, near Green River, Utah
There are reasons to bypass this quasi-ghost town. Although there are some remodeled and contemporary Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-35793197372609608532012-05-04T19:25:00.000-06:002018-12-22T17:56:53.151-07:00Utah's Escalante country seems overlooked by Moab-bound masses -- and we're glad!Note: To learn more about adventure driving in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, as well as Capitol Reef National Park, pick up a copy of our guidebook, Utah Byways. This post includes videos and a Google map.
Escalante, Utah -- We may not be done with touristy Moab, but more and more we are drawn to Utah's remote, often overlooked (and underappreciated) portals to canyon country -- Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-74540644003350811242012-03-10T23:11:00.000-07:002014-07-27T20:53:15.875-06:00'Backcountry Discovery Route' maps for Washington, Utah rich in planning info
Utah BDR
Wash. BDR
Two innovative motorcycle-travel maps that depict "Backcountry Discovery Routes" in Washington State and Utah span the divide between print and digital publishing, providing trip planners with essential cartographic data and access to video.
And they're available now, in time to plan this season's backcountry ride or drive.
Butler Motorcycle Maps' Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-16778148038104683072011-11-14T11:09:00.000-07:002012-11-25T12:18:30.663-07:00Butler Maps, Touratech-USA chronicle new 'Utah Backcountry Discovery Route'
Just as I put my ADV motorcycle away for the winter, I learned that a north-south backcountry travel route through the wildlands of Utah is now chronicled in a new map and teaser video.
The recently developed, 871-mile Utah Backcountry Discovery Route (UTBDR) is the third trans-state adventure-motoring route in an anticipated network of linked routes through each Western state.
Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-58285835759783349732011-09-30T20:00:00.000-06:002011-10-31T09:49:18.909-06:00Continental Divide Route travelers see global-warming impacts along the wayTravelers who pass through the northern Rockies on the backroads that comprise the Great Divide Route (a.k.a., Continental Divide Route) can see an ominous effect of global warming: expanses of dead and dying trees, primarily conifers and aspens.
Entire forest ecosystems along Union Pass Road, for example, are being reduced to ghostly tracts of beetle-killed, tinder-dry trees that stand Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-23940457407730476822011-09-30T13:34:00.000-06:002011-10-01T11:21:34.601-06:00Study: Global warming impacting prime adventure country of Greater YellowstoneThe negative impacts of global warming are being seen in the vast wildland known as Greater Yellowstone, world-class adventuring country that includes parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. A new study has taken a look at what's happening, and what is likely to happen as our children and grandchildren inherit our legacy.
Read about global warming's impact on Greater Yellowstone here.
Montana's Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-63917135420642041512011-08-26T11:36:00.004-06:002011-12-01T10:09:31.891-07:00Yellowstone's historic dirt roads provide glimpse of travel in park's early daysWith summer finally arrived in the northern Rockies, I packed up my Kawasaki KLR650 dual-sport motorcycle for four mid-August days of exploring and camping in southwestern Montana. But to get there, I opted to ride through Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, and visit the only dirt roads remaining in the park that are open to the public.
Toyota T-100 on Blacktail Plateau RdTony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7034520668745190658.post-51840135615725270092011-08-18T09:39:00.000-06:002013-01-10T07:45:42.373-07:00Digging through primordial past just one reason to explore Utah's House Range
The following tour description is a sample from my guidebook Utah Byways, which I researched in a stock Toyota Land Cruiser and 4Runner. The 65-route guide details backcountry tours suitable to adventure motorcyclists, four-wheelers and SUV-borne travelers. For information about the book, contact Wilderness Press @ 1-800-443-7227. ISBN 978-0-89997-424-4
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Tony Huegel, founder & principalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12536149247605476440noreply@blogger.com0