Tutt Goes to Freedom, WY

[CowboyTutt]

Hey fellas,

I just got back a few weeks ago from a 10 day motorcycle camping trip to Wyoming. It was an outstanding trip. The first day I drove Hwy 50 around the east side of Lake Tahoe and camped at a little state park in Nevada. It rained on me as I approached the lake from the west side, and again as soon as I arrived at the park. I just put the bike on the side stand, pulled out my rain hat and a beer from the little soft cooler I was carrying and just sat for a while until the thundershower played itself out. Too bad as the bike left home in immaculate condition. I was hoping it would stay clean just a bit longer!

The next morning I continued out across Hwy 50 through most of Nevada. As most of you know, this is considered the “loneliest hwy in America”. It can be very scenic however, particularly when there are clouds threatening rain that add to the beauty of the sky. The contrast of gray clouds, blue sky, olive green mountains still with some snow on them are really “eye candy” and give you a lot to look at. The mining towns of Austin and Eureka have a real authentic old town feel to them and you can't help but wonder if you have been transported back in time. There are also many mountain passes with tight turns between those long straight-a-ways through the desert to wake you up and entertain you on a motorcycle.

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I drove 360 miles that day, stopped in Ely for a sandwich, and moved on to Great Basin National Park. I'd always wanted to see this park, but its location always made it difficult for me to do so. A client of mine had told me years ago that there “wasn't much to see there”. Therefore I was literally shocked at what I found: a high mountain forest with Aspen and Bristle cone Pine. The Aspen has always been one of my favorite trees on account of how the leaves flicker like tiny mirrors in the breeze and slightly change their lime green tint as they do. During the fall season the leaves turn bright yellow and contrast sharply with the remaining green of the forests.

Two of the campgrounds have roaring creeks running through them and right next to many of the campsites. By time I had gotten settled some and drove into the town of Baker for firewood, a thundershower was moving through the park and I took the time to string a tarp over my table. I was using a very small one man tent this trip, scarcely larger than a bivy tent, but had bought a large tarp and lots of para-chord to create my living space. I met another motorcycle traveler in town on an eighties Honda Goldwing and we ended up sharing stories and motorcycle camping tricks. The following day I bought over the coffee and he provided the breakfast burritos for a good morning meal before I began packing for my days journey to Antelope State Park in Utah where I would be meeting up with my best friend Tym for the rest of the trip. I took the 12 mile scenic drive up to Wheeler Peak and enjoyed the grand view of the peak above and the desert valley floor far below. I have seen many campgrounds over the years, but Great Basin has one of the “all time best” campgrounds I have ever seen anywhere. I look forward to making another trip there and staying longer than just overnight and as a place to put my head down on the way to another destination.

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I left Great Basin rather late in the morning, so after gassing up in Baker I slumped in my seat, tucked under my tall windscreen, and hauled butt at 90 mph across the rest of the Nevada desert. I was looking forward to putting that particular scenery behind me. The “cruise drive” of my 6 speed Harley was perfect for higher speed touring. After a brief gas stop in Delta, Utah I took Hwy 6 north to where it joined the 15. This turned out to be an outstanding road with some awesome views and I highly recommend it if you find yourself with the opportunity.

I arrived at Antelope State Park about 4 in the afternoon. The first mile of the land bridge was swarming with a form of insect or mosquito. Actually the word “swarming” doesn't even begin to describe it. It was a plague of Biblical proportions! The front of my bike and my lower legs were covered in solid yellow corpses after just one mile. I had more dead insects on me and the bike in that first mile then the entire trip so far. Thankfully it was only for one mile and not the entire 7 miles to the island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. Tym had already arrived from Arizona a few hours before and had a campsite for us. We drove around the island and were wondering where the advertised buffalo herds were before we saw one or two and pulled over on our bikes to look at them. We continued down the ranch road before pulling up short as an entire herd of them were spread out on both sides of the road and across it. We again got off our bikes as not to be confused as another strange herd animal by the huge, myopic beasts (they have been known to charge motorcycles!) and just stood and watched as they lazily grazed their way toward and around us on both sides. When they became uncomfortably close we returned to the bikes and rolled them away some before starting them up and making a hasty exit. On the drive back to camp I enjoyed the way the clouds in the sky were reflected in the perfectly still mirror surface of the lake.

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The next day we left for Freedom, Wyoming through some lovely rural parts of Idaho and Wyoming National Forest. Freedom Arms does not give tours to the general public but thanks to friends I have who know the Baker family well, I was able to attain one if Bob Baker was around. Trouble was, he was supposed to be out that day but his schedule changes rapidly and he might be there after all. We were told to check in while we were in town. As we were pulling off our riding gear a familiar looking older gentleman in coveralls pulled up in his pick-up truck and got out. I was standing there looking at him, and said “Are you Wayne?” “I'm a Wayne” he said. “Mr. Baker?” I queried? “What's left of him!” he replied. I quickly walked up to him and shook his hand and said he would not remember me but I had met him at the SHOTSHOW in 2008. As it turned out, Bob Baker was also there that day. I told Mr. Baker Sr. about our mutual friend and wondered if we could get a tour and he quickly invited us to come inside. In the end, it was none other than Wayne Baker, the “Father” of Freedom Arms himself, who gave us a 25 minute tour of the factory.

Wayne showed us how the parts of a Freedom Arms revolver, such as the cylinder and receiver, travel together in a basket and are machined to fit each other perfectly along the way. During their “start up” days Freedom Arms began by out-sourcing various pins and screws but did not like the quality of what they were getting so Wayne said they decided to machine their own instead. The bolts are custom fit and the cylinder notches cut so there is no play and to allow for the tightest possible cylinder lock-up. The cylinder chambers are line-bored, the barrels cut-rifled or rifled by E.C.M. (Electro Chemical Machining) depending on caliber and each gun is literally hand sanded and polished to its finished state. The grips are made in-house, also hand sanded, and are such a perfect wood-to-metal fit it is quite literally impossible to feel the juncture with your fingers. Wayne explained that there is no such thing as a “replacement part” for a Freedom Arms revolver. You return the revolver and everything is again hand fitted to your gun. Tym and I found the employees very friendly and sociable during our tour. I was admiring a photo on the wall of Freedom Arm's new single shot pistol when a machinist by the name of Mark suddenly disappeared and reappeared with the prototype pistol itself and handed it to me with a smile. These guys are first class! If you are unfamiliar with the pistol, you can read about it here: http://www.gunblast.com/FA-2008.htm Our tour of Freedom Arms was definately one of the high points of my trip.

While camping in the area, we met my friend Steve Jr. from Alaska and his parents for breakfast. Steve and I met years ago on the 454 Casull forum and have corresponded and talked by phone, but we had never actually met before. Steve was in Wyoming visiting his parents and we timed our trips so we could finally meet. Steve has a remarkable collection of firearms, some of them prototypes, that were built by Dick Casull or our own forum member, “Buck Elliot” as well as limited or rare guns built by Freedom Arms. Steve is the owner of the prototype levergun built by “Buck” that is similar to an 1886 Winchester in exterior appearance but with some very “Marlin-like” features and chambered in 454 Casull. I was able to shoot this rifle in April at the Friends of Billy Dixon Journalist Invitational in Hotchkiss, CO. Unfortunatley, the design and development of the prototype was never really completed and the rifle would not cycle and chamber correctly, thus it could only be fired in single shot mode. It was a beautiful rifle though, had a great trigger and was very accurate. Back to the main story.

From there Tym and I proceeded up through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park on the way to Cody, Wyoming. We would be returning to Yellowstone later in the trip to camp and explore, but the drive through was still awesome. Here is a pic of Tym and I and our bikes in Grand Teton.

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We stopped in Cody at a forest service office to check weather before heading up the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway which is a great ride in and of itself, and found a very good campground in the Beartooth Mountains that had a roaring waterfall just across the street.

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The next day we went back to Cody to the Buffalo Bill Cody Center and spent most of the day in the Cody Firearms Museum. This center is a “must see” facility for any firearms enthusiast and really demands more than one day to see it all. There are fantastic exhibits that include all sorts of original prototypes that were built by John Browning, Winchester and Colt but were never put into production for various reasons. I wish we had another day to explore the Bill Cody History Museum as his life was truly fascinating and the original items in the collection is remarkable; sadly we only had a couple of hours to explore it before riding back to our campground and trying to outrun a rain storm along the way (with only limited success). I suppose that it saves me something to see on my next visit.

The next day we rode over the famous Beartooth Pass into Montana. This highway has to be one of the most popular motorcycle roads in America. The road ascends along alpine lakes that were just thawing out before reaching the summit with a spectacular view. The descent into Montana is probably my favorite part of the highway as it rapidly descends via tight 20 mph switchback turns on smooth pavement and gave me a chance to enjoy the sportier aspects of riding on my Harley with its Ohlins rear suspension and modified front forks. The modified geometry and additional ground clearance provided by the longer shocks has really turned this big Harley into a very sporty ride and I enjoy it immensely.

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To be continued in a few minutes.

[Blaine]

I'm planning a a 6000 mile scoot jaunt this year, too.....I want to hit that corner of Nevada, so thanks for the suggestions...So, , those Harleys actually ran ten days in a row? BTW, beautiful pics and wonderful writeup...Thanks for sharing, Sir

[milton]

Beautiful photos !!!!You must have had a great time !!!

[CowboyTutt]

The next day we drove through Cook City, Montana on the way back to Yellowstone National Park. We stayed for a couple of nights in Yellowstone but only had one good day to explore the park largely because of rainy weather. “Storm Dancing” as I call it, had became a common theme on our trip because we were frequently trying to outrun or outmaneuver storms. Most of the time we were lucky enough to do so, but sometimes we would get caught in the periphery of a big storm, and a few times we just got drenched for a couple of hours. It snowed on us while crossing the pass over Mt. Washburn in Yellowstone and the dry precipitation would float on air currents and make snake-like “S” shapes on the pavement. We did see Old Faithful and some of the various geothermal hot pools as well as Yellowstone Canyon and the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls. Yellowstone is one of, if not the very best, of our National Parks and you owe it to yourself to visit it.

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We left Yellowstone and returned to Freedom, Wyoming to pay a visit to none other than Dick Casull, legendary firearms and cartridge inventor. Dick and I had been corresponding by phone and he actually invited Tym, Steve and I to stop by and visit him and his wife Jeri. We originally had planned to see Dick on our first pass through Freedom but certain last minute and unavoidable events in Dick's personal life forced us to reschedule for a possible visit on the way back. Unfortunately, my friend Steve could no longer attend at this time which I was really saddened by as we had been planning this event for a long time. At this, the tail-end of our vacation, Tym and I also had to reach Utah so we could part company and begin our separate trips home to our residences in Arizona and California; thus we did not have much time to visit either. However, as Dick and Jeri were so friendly and as he began showing us his prototype firearms, firearm conversions and his work shop, we could not pull ourselves away and ended up staying for about 2 hours. Dick actually let us fire some of his prototypes and conversions on his property. While it had been an extraordinary trip so far, Tym and I were in agreement that this visit was truly the “high water mark” of our motorcycle vacation and I will be writing about in detail in the near future. Here is a pic of Dick and I and some of the leverguns he has converted to 454 Casull. If I look pretty scruffy, well you would too if you hadn't had a shower in 3 days!

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After leaving Dick's house, we high-tailed it to Utah and the High Uinta Mountains for one last night of camping and arriving at a campground just before nightfall. We grilled up some New York steaks on the campfire and reminisced about our trip. The next morning we loaded up our gear one last time and Tym headed east on Hwy 80 while I headed west. Tym ended up driving all 700 miles to his home in Arizona while I pushed myself to drive all 852 miles to my home in California crossing through all of Utah and Nevada. I had only done such a stunt one time before on a motorcycle and that was many years ago, but I guess I wanted to see if these battered wings could still kick-up dust. The ride home turned out to be more of an adventure that I would have liked due to road construction and highway closures and detours. I must have passed 15 eighteen-wheelers who had been redirected onto twisty Hwy 20 before I turned off to Marysville and the trucks continued back onto Highway 80. I arrived home around 1 am sore and exhausted, but it had been an awesome vacation.

Next time, however, I think I will take two days to get home.....

-Tutt

[CowboyTutt]

Blaine, I hope you get to go to B.B.N.P. on your way through Nevada on you VTX (right?).

And yes, the new Harleys are really thoughtfully designed, well built, and really fun to ride.

If your anywhere in CA sometime on that 6K trip, let me know. Would love to buy you a beer at a local watering hole.

-Tutt

[Borregos]

What a great post, awesome pictures as well, thanks

[JReed]

Hey looks like it was a great trip. My wife and kids are out that way on vacation right now spent last week in Yellowstone went to Rushmore and are back in Colorado today. When I get back to the west coast we are going to have to meet up for a ride.

Beautiful write up and pictures as always.

[gamekeeper]

Awesome, I'm green with envy.

[Hobie]

Cool!

[kimwcook]

Excellent! Sounds like a lot of fun.

[salvo]

Nice ride! Did you have the opportunity to take the tour of Lehman's cave wile you were at the Great Basin? Those Bristle Cone Pines are some ancient trees, nice hiking trails up there.

[CowboyTutt]

Scott, I did not have the time on this trip. I hope to return and spend a few days at G.B.N.P. and do the cave tour.

-Tutt

[rjohns94]

most excellent post. Looks like a wonderful trip. I so hope to get out next summer on my ride. I'm thinking I would like to take several weeks and do just what you did. wonderful post.

[GonnePhishin]

Amazing pictures & great trip

[Old Savage]

Very good as always. My son bought an unfired Model 83 today.

[Birdman]

Great post!!!!!!!!! I've traveled through alot of the west and there ain't nuthing prettier. The freedom you feel on a bike can not be matched.

[Griff]

Very good Tutt! Sounds and looks like a wonderful time... Great write up! I was thru WY a few weeks ago... wish I could remember exactly when... but I've slept since then!

[Tycer]

Very nice! Very!

[C. Cash]

Thank you Tutt! Spectacular as usual. Good to see your post as I was just thinking about where you got off too. Obviously you're having some good fun.

[CowboyTutt]

Cash, its nice to be back. The fact is, it takes so much work to write these things, upload the pictures somewhere, and post them that I haven't had much energy for it lately as I have to write reports as a major part of my school job. I kept telling myself that if I wrote something, it should be one of the "professional" articles that I'm working on. Fortunately the school year finished and summer arrived. But I have been taking so many trips that I have hardly even been home (I'm still not as I wrote this post!)

The next one will be on the Friends of Billy Dixon Ultra Long Range Facility and written and edited by my friend Mic McPherson which is a huge honor for me as Mic is a true genius and much better writer then I am.

I'm also working on an article on my custom replica Colt Lightning by AWA/Steve Young, my McPherson Puma in 454, and my visit with Dick Casull. Egads, now that I think about, I still have an overwhelming amount of writing to do.....

-Tutt

[Nobody]

[JReed]

Hey Andy keep writing we will keep reading buddy.

[deerwhacker444]

Blaine's got him a GoldWing now instead of the VTX. Man am I jealous..

Great pics Tutt...!

[Buck Elliott]

Ya shoulda' called...

[dr walker]

Andy, Nice write up and great photos as always. What a great trip on bikes.

[jazman]

Tutt, well done as usual, always a pleasure to read the stories and see the pics.

[KirkD]

Great report and very nice photos.