Memorial Day ride to Colorado

[CDONA]

Monsoon clouds are more dramatic, than just piercing blue sky.
More sign from greenery, glad to see it really rained this winter.

 

[budman]

Beautiful scenery

Arizona and Utah look really cool and I want a Navajo taco!!!

Enjoying the story telling too. Cigar and a beer to go. Living.!

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Thanks, I do love being on the road, though there were some stretches where I was wondering why I didn't allow more time for better (but longer) roads / routes.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Why not go to Death Valley too?

With the Grand Canyon's north rim being closed I figured a stay at Panamint Springs could be nice. Only problem, I didn't have any camping gear and I've already done the tents there with nothing but an emergency mylar blanket. It's not ideal.

The next morning, while enjoying the view, and every bit of coffee from my room (it was a very pleasant morning) I finalized the plan. Turns out there was a cabin available. It was a bit spendy but I decided why not and booked it, so the route was settled.

The route and the scenery that made me feel all warm and fuzzy about another long day, while wondering if I should just book another night and do nothing...

 

[N4teTheGreat]

First things first, I back tracked to check out Navajo Bridge before heading west. It was a neat to see in the morning and a guy who was there with his family chatted me up about the ride for bit before his wife got bored of motorcycle talk and got their day on track.

There are two spans, one being newer and capable of handling the heavy loads of modern shipping, but, visually I couldn't tell the difference. The older span is now a pedestrian bridge so you can walk out for the views.

The Colorado River

There were a few Condors hanging out on the new span as well. I got a poorly zoomed in phone photo of one of them.

I grabbed gas and headed West, stopping in Jacob Lake for a quick picture, the entry to the North Rim is just down the road,

The road up to this point gained quite a bit of altitude and the views were good. I finally stopped at an overlook and I was glad I did as I was looking towards Utah and the enture Grand Staircase was in view.

Things flattened out and a bit of a headwind made the miles seem to drag. I stopped in Fredonia to get gas as I figured it would be hard to come by but gave up after two separate stations only had regular. As I continued west I was pleased to see a sign for gas on Kaibab Reservation which had the added benefit of not being taxed and was just about at my range limit. Just past the gas station was Pipe Spring National Monument so I popped in for a look.

Reconstruction of the old settlement

Windsor Castle

Living quarters for those who ran the farm, and also the location of the first telegraph in Arizona.

The place was settled by the Mormons who kinda took over and block access to the spring so it could be used for farming and raising livestock for the church.

Storhouse

The spring is still running and now drains from the castle and feeds a pond. I found it ironic that the water cannot be used because of toxic algae that grow in the pond.

The spring

After this stop, I gassed up and pressed on, dipping into Utah for a bit before entering Nevada.

This stretch blew me away as it quickly changed from country into suburbs of St George. I couldn't help but think that all these new homes didn't really seem to make sense in a part of the country that is likely to suffer from drought with increasing frequency in the coming years. St George itself is pretty big, and pretty warm. I was pretty jealous though as they have a huge OHV area right outside of town.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

The route took me to I-15 which is a reasonably scenic highway, but with strong headwinds that day, it was not very pleasant. It was also getting quite warm. I believe I saw 102 when I stopped for gas. I pressed on a Mexican restaurant caught my eye. I turned around and stopped for lunch. It was great

On my way to get post lunch gas I saw this monument to veterans outside the local VFW and had to stop for a photo.

I decided to ride through the Valley of Fire instead of going around by Lake Mead, it's a relatively short road, but scenic and fun if you don't get stuck behind slow vehicles. It lived up to it's name as it was about 105 when I got there.

I turned on my GoPro to capture some footage since I wasn't planning to stop and off I went. Despite the wind, it was a fun little stretch before spitting me out to slog through Las Vegas during rush hour.

Nevada knows how to have a good time

After finally making it through Vegas and past Pahrump, I stopped to take this picture, and also wonder if I should turn around for gas. I didn't

When I later stopped at Death Valley Junction I noted that the next gas was either all the way in the park, or a 10 mile detour. I took the detour which took me to a big casino, in an otherwise tiny desert town. The casino also had a petting zoo, so there was that. I got gas and got out of there, deciding not to try to find water inside.

Death Valley Junction

The wind was just getting stronger at this point. It was not helping my gas mleage. It was a tasty 109 when I got to Death Valley and the gas station at Furnace Creek was closed.

I was pretty sure I could make it to Panamint Springs, but the wind was howling, clouds of sand in the air, sand drifting across the road, helmet snapping around.

Stovepipe Wells had a nice civilized setup so I stopped for gas and water, drank quite a bit of it, and got a photo with these two bikes.

The climb up to Panamint had temps dropping to the point I was worried it was going to be cold and the headwind really prevent me from enjoying that stretch, it was a more of a wresting match, but I made it before sunset.

After getting checked in, I grabbed a meal and a few beers while the sun set, then grabbed another beer to enjoy outside my room while watching the evening.

Not pictured, the cockroach wandering about, turns out there is a downside to being so close the restaurant...

I did managed to catch some stars

I didn't stay up much later, I was pretty exhausted from the day.

 

[budman]

Wow... talk about weather extremes on your journey.

Great stuff...!! The night shot of your bike in front of the Grill is most awesome.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Good time of year to hit some weather I suppose! I was mad at the bike for acting up, but I did still enjoy staring at it while having a beer to close out the night.

I got up around 7:30 with the goal of making it from Death Valley home to SF at a reasonable hour. I'd plotted the route the night before and I was pretty happy with it.

Unfortunately, had I looked closer I'd have noticed I didn't route myself to Jesus Maria Rd. Missed opportunity there.

I packed up while sipping coffee I'd purchased from the general store. It was a nice morning so I also spent some time just sitting in front of my room taking in the morning, which gave me time to notice that while the rear tire was showing signs of abuse, the front was barely showing wear, guess I'll be getting two rears out of this front tire...

Front

Rear

I fueled up and grabbed a pic by the old plan at the gas station and headed off down the road.

I stopped at the Father Crowley overlook, no low flying jets to be seen however.

After this stop I picked up the pace and made the most of the twisty section of 190 and exited the park. I was enjoying the road the scenery so much that I disregarded Google Maps attempts to re-route me. For some reason it wanted me to take dirt roads, and having done the CABDR I didn't really like the idea of taking the Ducati on similar terrain.

Oh, so it IS still closed....

At this point I could either head south one 190 to Olancha or take the suggested dirt road to make my way north towards Lone Pine. As I was going to need to back track anyway I looped around on the Dolomite loop and then picked up a few miles of dirt to bypass the closure.

Oweyo Lone Pine road wasn't too bad, there were some loose parts that had been filled in with somewhat sharp looking aggregate I did my best to moderate my pace and pick through those parts. It wasn't too long before I was back on tarmac.

The little creek that shows up on the map adjacent to Lone Pine Narrow Gauge Rd was completely over it's banks and encroaching on the roadway in places, so I guess that is why 136 was remaining closed.

Once I hit 395 it was time to make time and off I went. The weather was good and I was keeping a pretty solid pace, but I was happy to stop to accommodate the bikes small tank every 100 miles or so to give my back side a break.

As I was climbing up 395 headed towards Mamoth limp mode kicked in, so I decided the Vista Point rest stop was a good spot for a quick photo while I shut the bike off and let it think about it's poor behavior. The Sierras are always scenic along 395 and were even more striking with the amount of snow that remained from this past winter.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Another quick stop at the Mono Lake Vista Point, views abounded along 395.

By the time I got to Bridgeport I was ready to eat and noticed that the BBQ / Brewery spot I saw last time I was up there was open. I dropped in and was not disappointed. The food was great and the chef was a fellow rider and chatted with me for a bit about the ride and motorcycle touring in general. I ate slowly and enjoyed the meal, the temperature was perfect, comfortably warm.

With a full stomach I hit the road to make my way towards 89 and Monitor Pass. I was very excited to see it during the day, at temps higher than 40.

It was great, and I ran into very little traffic, hence, not too many pictures.

I split off to 88 and continued to enjoy light traffic and great weather. Plenty of snow everywhere alongside the road and some wet spots / debri, but I was still able to enjoy an enjoyable pace with margin for the unexpected.

I had to stop near the top of Carson pass to capture the raging Carson River. The photos don't really do it justice, but it was impressive.

From 88 I picked up 26 and headed to Railroad Flat. I was treated to light traffic again thanks to the weekday and enjoyed the road so much I had not clue I missed more fun on Jesus Maria Rd. Still, this is my kind of road, narrow, windy, patchy pavement. It was a great final fun stretch before I settled into the slog across the valley and home to SF.

No more pictures after that, just forging ahead 100 miles or so at a time. I managed to get into SF at a reasonable, non dark hour and that was that. When it was all said and done I'd put down just a hair over 3500 miles across 8 days of riding. Good times.

 

[budman]

How the hell do you do so many miles and get so many pics. Magic man!

FYI: You said you were disappointed by the BBQ and then said it was good. I reread that twice to make sure I was not blinded by awesome food.

One hell of a ride report N4te!!!

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Good catch on the BBQ, it WAS good, my typing on the other hand...

I think I was probably on the bike 10 or more hours most days of this trip so that allows for time for a quick photo here and there.