Never In My Wildest Dreams - Utah on My Harley
The scenery was
beyond describable. As I experienced that 1254 mile trip, I never in my wildest
dreams thought that I would ever ride with anyone else on a motorcycle and I certainly could
not have been convinced that one day I would ride my own Harley Davidson motorcycle
on a solo trip along this same route.
John was very safety
conscious and he wanted to make sure people saw us.
Sept. 29. 2018 - I
woke up at 3:45am in my hotel room here in Kanab after a long but mostly
enjoyable ride on Stella ( my bike's name) from my home in Scottsdale, Az to
here. 430 miles. I did have about 50 miles of strong wind, crosswinds and gusts
which is no fun and beats up a motorcyclist. When I arrived here last night about 5pm ( lost an
hour due to the time change) I was excited and exhausted and my back was
screaming at me with painful muscle spasms. I had planned to spend a leisurely
evening writing my blog, editing video of the day, talking to a friend or two
on the phone. Instead I forced myself to ride into town for a real dinner
instead of fast food. After some time with the heating pad and tens unit on my
sore back and fighting to stay awake, I
finally gave in and turned out the lights and called it a night at 7:45pm,
(6:45pm Az. Time)
Today I will be
taking the very scenic drive up and over the mountain to Bryce Canyon. I've been there 3 times previously. (First
time was with John) I've been checking
the weather forecast, by the day and by the hour for each of my destinations
along this trip. There is some rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for the
rest of this week. Hopefully, I will miss the worst of it or it will fizzle
out. No rain in the forecast for Bryce Canyon area today. There is a chance of
thunderstorms tomorrow but in the evening and I will be at my next destination
by then: Torrey, Utah. There is a chance of rain in that area for Tuesday. I'm
going to spend 2 nights there as my plan/hope is to visit and hike Capital Reef
National Park. So praying the weather will cooperate enough for that.
I hope to be able to
take this hike today in Bryce Canyon as pictured here in 2006.
Stay tuned for more...................
Day 2- Sunday Sept. 30, 2018
I crashed super early last night. Tried to stay up but could only last until 8:00. Woke up off and on and finally got up for real about 7:00. I got out on the road a bit later than planned but no worries. Vacation is not about schedules. It took me longer to re-pack everything onto the bike. With not an inch to spare, I have to be precise and think ahead to what I will need easy access to.
The ride to Bryce was nice and scenic and cool. It's such a nice ride though meadows, small town America, farmland, amazing landscape scenery and some mountain winding roads.
Got to Bryce Canyon National park about 12:30 so I stopped and had some lunch at Ruby's Inn. I always eat there. Usually get the buffet but I didn't have that much of an appetite.
First I rode Stella straight up the 18 mile scenic twisty road to the end at Rainbow Point. Got some great GoPro video to edit later.
On the way back down, I hit most of the observation points. This is my 3rd time here so I skipped a couple.
I did go to Bryce Point and Paria View, which for some reason I had missed on previous visits. I wish I had known about Bryce point as there was a good hiking trail from there.
Here is a link to a 3:39 min video of a short ride and then view of the Natural Bridge.
I had originally planned to hike the Navajo Loop trail on this trip, but I would have had to totally unpack the bike, get my hiking gear out, go change in an outhouse and then do the reverse when done. And it was getting late in the day. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the beautiful scenery. Of course, Stella drew attention and I had some conversations with admirers at most of the stops. Most people are intrigued that I am a woman traveling alone on a motorcycle, a "big bike" at that. Got some of the usual comments : "That's a lot of iron to handle. But you did well. " ( backing into a small spot) . "Do you always ride that one? It's so big " . And I think to myself, "You should see my girlfriend Kym whip around a full dressed Harley on a skills competition course!! And my many other girlfriends who ride even heavier bikes." Sometimes, I'm tempted to say something like : "That's a big car/truck! It must be so heavy. How do you manage to drive that?"
Close call with deer:
Stopped for the night at a KOA cabin in Cannonville. Rode back 5 miles into Tropic for a steak dinner. Had to put my rain gear on for the short ride back to the cabin. As I ride through this type of landscape, I always pray for God to protect me from any wildlife that may jump out, especially deer and elk. Well, sure enough, on this ride back, suddenly 4 deer came leaping across the road right in front of me. I was going much slower than than the 60mph limit and scanning the sides of the road for this very reason and thus I was able to brake hard and missed them. 2 seconds later and it would have been a very different story. I truly feel the Lord's presence and protection especially on these trips.
Monday Oct 1, 2018
Today is the day I have been most looking forward to and most anxious about for this trip. I'll be riding Highway Utah 12 through some twistie roads, over "The Hog's Back" and over a mountain pass to Torrey, Utah, where I will spend 2 nights. I've watched several YouTube videos of this ride. I am nervous about the Hog's Back section. I've ridden similar challenging roads before but not quite like this with steep drop offs on BOTH sides and no guardrails. Taking extra prayers and focus and gotta remember to "look through the curves" and focus on the yellow line, not on the sides of me.
My original plan was to use the couple days in Torrey to ride, hike and explore Capital Reef National Park. However , there are heavy rains and flood warnings in effect for all day tomorrow. So I may end up just hanging out in the hotel room or heading off to Moab a day early. We shall see.
Later in the day : Torrey, Utah.
It's evening and I'm comfy cozy and tired at a motel overlooking a beautiful 360 view of the mountains and rock formations.
I feel exhilarated to have accomplished the ride I've been anxious and excited about for so long. I tossed and turned most of the night in anticipation. I was up and packed by sunrise and headed out. I first took a side tour to Kodachrome Basin State Park. A short, scenic ride. I encountered quite a few cows along the way and spent a few minutes "arguing" with a few cattle for road passage rights. I have seen too many YouTube videos of animals being spooked and charging motorcycles, so although these cows seemed peaceful, there were several calves with their mom's so I didn't want to make them angry. It was kind of cool actually. Video will be forthcoming.
After that side trip, it was off for my main ride. I was a bit worried about the rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, but it turned out to be much ado about nothing. Lots of dark clouds but no rain on me.
The ride was amazing and through such gorgeous landscape with a variety of scenes and roadway. Lots of mountain twisties - 20-30mph curves.
The Hog's Back - The part I feared turned out ok. This section is a 2 lane road across a high ridge, with 1500 foot steep drop offs on both sides with no guard rails and 20mph curves thrown in for extra adventure and heart thumping. I , through the grace of God, managed to stay calm and focused. Eyes on the road and through the curves. This was not the time to look at the views. Later as I watched the GoPro video, I actually felt more scared and heart racing watching it ( able to see the drop offs and ledges through the camera) even though I knew the outcome.
The Hog's Back Video:
https://youtu.be/qqUn6UJ0woA
After that, piece of cake. More mountain curves and twisties and up to an elevation summit of 9600 feet. Saw lots of fall foliage and colorful landscapes.
I arrived in Torrey to the Rim Rock Inn motel.
This motel is all about the views. No frills. No closet or place to hang clothes, no fridge, no travel size toiletries. A large room though and at least they have WiFi and a restaurant. The view is what this place is all about.
After unpacking, I laid down a bit to rest and then when it started to rain and the sky looked really ominous, I decided I better get up, put on my rain gear and get on Stella and go into town to get water and snacks and stuff before the weather got bad. So I geared up. Rode the 2 miles into town and stocked up on snacks and water ( no fridge in room) and by the time I got back to the motel, the rain had stopped.
Showered and then walked to the end of the motel to the restaurant. Not cheap, but again, it's all about location and not too many choices here. I walked in and got seated. ( Restaurant hostesses always seem shocked when I say "no, just me." I was seated at a quiet table with a view. 2 minutes later an entire tour bus unloaded and the place filled up and was no longer quiet. So glad I got there first.
Tomorrow I hope I don't get completely rained out and stuck inside. But if I do, I've got my laptop, my Kindle and my TV apps on my laptop.
Next up: Gravel parking lots - UGH!!!
If you don't ride a motorcycle, let me tell you, riding and maneuvering on gravel on a street bike is hard, touchy and a risk of dropping the bike. Slow riding is the worst. If you are just riding and going straight, it's ok, but not good. Trying to park, go slow or turn is very touchy. You can't use the front brake or you will topple over. You have to stop extremely slowly and gradually. And when you put the kickstand down, you have to make sure the ground is solid enough to hold.
So, the KOA campground was all thick loose gravel. Ugh!! And 7 turns to get through the place.
Parking in front of my cabin was not a good option as the gravel was very thick and loose and at an incline such that I would not have been able to back the bike out. Backing in was not an option. So I pulled up and parked just on the corner (with the hosts permission) of grass of the site next to me. After I got situated, I put the kickstand plate down to help support. I was a bit afraid that if it rained overnight, the ground would get muddy and soft and the bike would fall over.
Then, the kids kept playing and throwing a nerf football close to the bike. I wanted to yell " Stay away from my bike!" But, to be fair, I was sort of in their space ( not really, but close)
I made it in and out 2 times without dropping Stella, but had some close calls.
Then, when I got to the next motel, guess what? : The parking lot was gravel and mostly on a slight incline! UGH!!! Again, super careful and slow. I hate gravel!!!
Wed.10/3/2018
Yesterday I spent most of the day in the motel room because of the rain and other than Capital Reef park, there really wasn't anything else to do there. I did ride the 10 miles to Capital Reef late yesterday when the rain took a break . I started to do the scenic 20 mile drive, but turned around because I suspected there could be flooded sections. I asked the Ranger at the visitor center and she said yes, there were many flooded spots and lots of mud. So I rode back into town and ate at a local restaurant, then back to the room.
I was bummed about getting stuck at the motel and not being able to hike at the park. But today, I see God's provision at work. I guess I needed that full day of rest. I didn't realize how worn out I was. So today, I woke up to beautiful mostly clear skies and nice temps and I felt physically and mentally re-energized.
So I did the scenic ride and then stopped at the orchard area of the Fruita settlement to sit and read in my Bible and enjoy the beauty and quiet. Then a group of young people ( guessing college age) in a rented RV showed up. They got out and set up a picnic complete with their loud music. At first I was annoyed that they ruined my peace and quiet. But then I decided to be glad for them that they were out seeing this beautiful country and having fun. So I prayed for their safety and a fun adventure. That felt much better than being annoyed.
The ride to Moab was very scenic and weather was good. As I rode along, there were many spaces where I saw no other vehicles and felt alone and free in a vast beauty of colorful desert and majestic rock and sand dune formations. It was so good for the soul.
As I neared the turnoff to interstate 70, I saw the blackest skies and obvious very heavy rains off in the distance . I knew that I would be turning and going away from that, so I kept my fingers crossed that I would not actually be impacted by it. It looked quite ominous, yet mesmerizing, and yes, dangerous for a motorcycle. I stopped off I-70 for gas, lunch and a break. Let me tell you, this is the second time I have ridden a section of Utah I-70 and I hate it. It is desolate, boring and very windy. And no services for miles and miles at a time. The speed limit is 80mph, which I could not even do because of the wind. Just as I came out from my break , that ugly storm was hitting that area. I was just on the front edge and the rain and wind was building, and the sky was soooo black. Even as I sat on Stella to start her up, I felt like the wind was going to knock me over right there in the parking lot. I hurried up and got on the road and literally outran it to the interstate, where it took me in the direction away from the storm. Again, I felt God's provision as He got me out of there literally as the storm chased my butt to the turnoff. Had I spent another 3 minutes inside I would have probably not been able to even ride away.
So, here I am in a pretty decent motel in downtown Moab. Tomorrow my plan is to go to Arches National park and hopefully stop and get a hike in. I have to plan carefully how I am going to ride over in motorcycle gear and then change into hiking gear.
The forecast calls for rain overnight and into the morning but then it should be ok before noon. Fingers crossed.
For all the nasty weather predictions, I am hitting my stops with great timing and other than a day inside, it has been good. I am truly blessed on this trip.
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