Day 16 – AZ to Mesa Verde, CO

The most direct route from Moab, AZ to Mesa Verde, CO is a little over 100 miles. Our route today with the same origination and destination points was 330 miles. Leave it to Rob to pick the most indirect but scenic (and remote) route.

The route that Rob designed was to travel north along the scenic UT hwy 128 up to I-70. On our way along Hwy 128, the XMWeather on the Wing notified us of some rain in the area. Sure enough as we exited the steep canyon walls of Hwy 128 we could see the storm in the distance.

With a little luck we managed to get to I-70 before the rain and stayed dry. Rain would threaten us throughout the day but our luck held and we saw only a few drops occasionally.

We entered Colorado while on I-70.

There happens to be a Harley Davidson shop in Grand Junction, CO, so while we were in the area, we thought we would stop in and check it out.

As we left Grand Junction, Michele caught Tom in this great picture next to the Keebler Elf.

Once out of Grand Junction we picked up scenic CO Hwy 141. Hwy 141 follows the Delores River for quite a way and offers a stunning ride through tall shear canyons.

From Grand Junction, CO (where we picked up Hwy 141) to Naturita, CO is about 110 miles and there are no towns with any services (food/fuel) to speak of. It was extremely remote but incredibly scenic. There were pretty farms at the base of the mountains. By the time we got to Naturita, which is a tiny town (no stoplights) we decided to take advantage of the local town’s fuel station and café, Blondie’s. We were thankful there was finally place to eat.

With the bikes topped off with fuel and after a nice lunch we set off on the remaining 150 miles of the day. Little did we know that the next 120 miles would present us with more gusty winds. Winds that nostalgically reminded Tom and Rob of their ride across Texas (about 35 mph gusts) and winds that made Michele say across the intercom “This sucks! We’re going to die!” She was not taking any pictures during this portion of the trip, deciding instead to hold on to the bike with both hands worried that she would be blown away.

As we entered Cortez, CO the winds subsided a bit and we stopped to top off our fuel tanks just before entering Mesa Verde NP.

We arrived in Mesa Verde NP before 4:00pm and began to make the steep and twisted climb up onto the high plateau.

We checked into our room and unloaded the bikes. We then headed down to the Visitor’s Center and signed up for two Ranger guided tours at Cliff Palace and Balcony House for the next day.

We had an early dinner at the Far View Lodge and then sat upstairs in the lounge for a bit trying to use the only WiFi service available in the park. Unfortunately, the available service was very limited and not sufficient to load pictures or videos.

Tomorrow we’ll take our guided tours and investigate a few other sites on our own. We’re really looking forward to it.

Day 15 – Canyonlands National Park, UT

Today was expected to be 75-85 degrees, so we packed our neck cool wraps and were on the road at 8am. Canyonlands is about 30 miles from Moab, and the majority of the route was very scenic. More red rock formations greeted us as we turned onto Highway 313. It wasn’t long before we moved up into elevation onto a high plateau that was very flat and grassy, unlike the red sandy desert just a few miles away.

We stopped at the Visitor’s Center to figure out our plan and discovered that the park is separated into several parts with the Green and Colorado Rivers flanking each side and merged at the southern portion of the park. After realizing we’d have to add 200 miles to our day to see the southern portion, we opted for the “Island in the Sky” section.

The first stop was a half-mile or so rocky trail to Mesa Arch. We were in awe! This park does not boast the number of arches like Arches NP, but this one arch rivaled any that we saw yesterday. The view through the arch down into the canyon and beyond was overwhelming. There were only a dozen other people out this early so we got plenty of photo opportunities.

Next we headed up to Upheaval Dome. There are two theories about the formation of this big crater. First is a meteorite struck it, except millions of years of erosion eroded away any chance of confirming, and second that it was a salt flat with seismic activity. Either way, it was very cool to see. Notice Tom standing on the precipice!

We decided to take the trail over to the second lookout point, not realizing it was clear on the other side of the crater! The trail marker said only a half-mile walk from this point (after we already walked a half mile up steep rocks). They lied! It was much longer. Either way, Michele officially categorized it as rock climbing since it was no ordinary path in the woods!

The little lizards were everywhere, and Rob caught a glimpse of one bold guy who didn’t seem bothered by his short tail.

When we got back to our bikes (eventually!) Tom and Rob put on the cool wraps, which had been frozen in the hotel freezer. Their necks went numb and they probably got brain freeze, but they weren’t hot anymore.

Since it was well past lunchtime, our last stop would be Grand View Point Overlook. From here we could see the white rim trail and edge of the canyon. We learned that the park is separated into three climates. The high plateau where we stood gets moderate rain and is grassy, the middle section called White Rim is more desert like, and the lower portion is the river canyon. Because of the steep cliff walls, animals don’t really travel between the three climates.

We also encountered a non-native animal named Harley at this overlook. He is a seizure service dog for his owner and was very friendly (surprising for a Chihuahua).

After leaving the park, we got a late lunch next door. Tom and Rob enjoyed the fruit smoothies. We did a batch of laundry and called it a day.

A pretty rainbow was right outside our hotel window greeting us good night.

Tomorrow we continue our march east and make our last National Park stop at Mesa Verde, CO. With elevations over 10,000 feet, we’re hoping for clear and dry roads. Mesa Verde doesn’t have much in the way of internet service so it may be a few days before we can post on our Mesa Verde visit.

Day 14 – Arches National Park

Our lesson of the day began early this morning, confirming that anywhere there is free food a horde of elderly people will trample you to get to it. The hotel’s free breakfast area was mayhem, and Tom had to fight to get the last few drops of waffle mix for himself. Despite the tour group invasion at breakfast we left around 8:30am for a day in Arches National Park.

The red rock formations were striking from the beginning and in this park the scenic drive takes you up hills with views across scenic panoramas. We stopped first at one of the main viewing areas called Devil’s Garden.

A hiking trail past shear formations led deeper into the park to view some of the famous arches. We were surprised to learn that the park has 2,500 arches. They have to be only 3 feet across to be categorized as an arch. Along the path were really gnarled old trees and pretty flowers.

Landscape arch is one of the more photographed of the arches with its wide, thin structure. Other paths led us into more arches with stunning views like this one with Tom.

Along the way we saw a few little gray lizards that move like lightning and one especially curious little squirrel who posed on a rock just for us. Michele also saw a scrub jay which was a very bright azure blue, but he was too quick to photo.

The park allegedly has a small herd of bighorn sheep. Despite the statues and signs alerting to their road crossings, they were left unseen. The park brochure said it was an exercise in patience usually ending in disappointment, so we kept on moving.

We slowly made our way out of the park, stopping at several more overlooks and arch locations. Panorama Point gave us views of Fiery Furnace.

In the “Windows” area of the park there were several arches in one location.

There are also “petrified dunes” which is a fancy name for brown rocky humps.

We got out of the park and were eating lunch around 2pm at a nearby Mexican restaurant. At 3:30, Rob led us on a scenic ride along Utah Scenic Byway Route 128.

This part of the day was a great highlight and we had the road mostly to ourselves. The road followed the Colorado River and gave us more spectacular views of the red rocks. We were really surprised by the rock debris along the sandstone cliffs and some of the rocks looked like they were just teetering on the edge.

Ride along with us in this pretty video.

We had the bikes parked and covered for the night around 6pm. We headed over to dinner awhile later at Zak’s, which has wood fired pizza and a large menu.

Tomorrow we will visit Canyonlands National Park.

Day 13 - Zion to Moab

We’ve spent our last night in Zion NP for this trip. We ate breakfast and were ready to leave by 8am. The rain that had begun yesterday afternoon had stopped but the humidity was very high and there were many low hanging clouds making for great scenery.

Zion marks the west-most destination in our travels. From now on, we’ll steadily make our way eastward back to Virginia.

Today’s route took us out of Zion NP via the Zion-Mt. Carmel highway heading east towards Hwy 9. We  would follow Hwy 9 east to scenic Utah Hwy 12. We would follow Hwy 12 for its entire length to Hwy 24 which we would take eastward to I-70. I-70 east would take us to US191 which would take use straight into Moab.

As we left Zion, we ascended from the canyon floor and into the low clouds. It was foggy for an hour or so.

We soon reached Hwy 12 and for the next 280 miles we were treated with fantastic vistas, twisty roads, interesting rock formations and other visually amazing sights. Today’s entire route was non-stop beautiful scenery; easily the most scenic ride I’ve ever taken…all 350 miles of it.

Hwy 12 took us down into Bryce Canyon and then into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Grand Escalante area is huge, with soaring rock formations.

Hwy 12 guided us up and over Boulder Top reaching a maximum elevation of 9,600 feet. There were signs of freshly fallen snow at the top of the mountain with even a little slush still on the road way in locations. We were surprised by how many climates we seemed to go through today.

Temperatures fell to their lowest of the day (37F) at the top of the mountain. The views were incredible, with the tall birch trees still in their winter dormancy. We remained quite comfortable with our heated gear.

At the intersection of Hwy 12 and Hwy 24, we stopped for lunch and topped off our fuel tanks. At this point, we only had 150 miles left on the day and wouldn’t need any more fuel stops.

Hwy 24 was just spectacular as Hwy 12 passing through the Capital Reef National Park and following the Fremont River. The mountains turned orange and red again.

As we passed through Hanksville, UT, Hwy 24 straightened out and the land opened up to long, distant vistas. We could see a storm brewing off in the far distance. The XMWeather display indicated that the storm we were seeing was between us and Moab.

When we reached I-70, we were approximately 3 miles from the rain. We decided to go ahead and put on our rain gear before entering I-70. Behind us was beautiful fluffy clouds and sunny, blue skies. Ahead was dark gray. We had a laugh putting on rain gear in the median.

Not long after merging onto I-70 east, we encountered some light rain. When we exited onto US191, the rain picked up and we were glad to be in our rain gear.

As we entered Moab the rain stopped. We pulled into the hotel at 3:30pm (local time) and unloaded the bikes. We set out for dinner at a local establishment, Moab Brewery and had a great dinner.

Tomorrow, we’ll visit the Arches National Park and take a scenic ride along Utah Hwy 128.

Day 12 – Angel’s Landing, Zion NP

Today we spent our second day in Zion Park and off the bikes. The weather was cool but dry which was a great improvement over yesterday’s continuous rain.

We had a nice breakfast…well, Michele and Tom had a nice breakfast, Rob just had a glass of orange juice after enjoying a full rack of ribs at dinner the night before. After breakfast, we hopped onto the shuttle and rode to the next stop up the canyon at the Grotto. From there we started our walk up to the Angel’s Landing. The trail is 2.7 miles one way and ascends 1,400 feet.

When we got off the bus, we saw a large, agitated wild turkey running and making “gobble, gobble” sounds. He was quite worked up for some reason.

The beginning of the trail had warning signs of the potential danger.

The trail started easily enough along the river, which was moving quickly from all the rain. Around where it began to get steep, Michele opted to sit on a rock at a nice overlook instead of having her heart explode from the exertion of the climb. Tom and Rob walked up to Scout’s Landing which is about 1,000 feet up and 2.2 miles from the canyon floor.

Along the way, they walked up Walter’s Wiggle. This is a very steeply graded (~30 degree grade) path that turns back on itself 19 times. It was quite challenging and both Rob and Tom were breathing pretty hard when they reached the top at Scout’s Landing.

Scout’s Landing is a popular rest point along the trail. The local chipmunks have figured out that backpacks hold food. As soon as folks put their bags down, the chipmunks would run over to the bags and try and get into them. They were quite entertaining.

The remaining 0.5 miles and 400 feet of the trail from Scout’s Landing to Angel’s Landing is a life-threatening exercise in treacherous rock climbing that neither Tom nor Rob were interested in att
empting. Some parts have a chain to hold onto while others you just need to find a good hand and foot hold in the rock wall.

Instead, they continued up the West Rim trail another 100 feet or so and enjoyed the vistas of the Zion Canyon. Rob saw a rare California Condor soaring high above.

The vistas from the top of their walk were quite amazing.

After spending about 20 or so minutes at the top, Tom and Rob descended the 2.2 miles and 1,100 feet back to the bottom of the trail and found Michele. By the time they got to the bottom, rain had started to fall. The time was 1:30pm and we were all ready for some lunch.

During lunch the rain picked up. After buying a few additional souvenirs (t-shirts boasting the walk to the top of the mountain) we retired back to our rooms. We had done quite a bit of physical exertion today, and with the rain we decided to call it a day.

Tomorrow, we leave this beautiful park and head for Moab. We plan on taking scenic Utah Hwy 12 through the mountains. We’ve heard that it is a very pretty ride and are looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful state.