Day 4: Eastbound & Down

Today was the final leg of our eastbound journey and it got off to a rocky start. To the people that were in room 21 last night with the TV cranked up and conversing loudly at 4am: may the fleas of a thousand camels infest the fur of your nether regions. In my failed attempts to fall back asleep, I also realized that I forgot the parking pass I printed out for Denver. This caused a detour to print out the pass at the local FedEx office.

Once we got underway, all of that previous nonsense was forgotten. Interstate 70 follows the landscape that the Colorado River has carved over millions of years. I find it amusing that this was the first time seeing it in Colorado rather than on the CA/AZ border or in the Grand Canyon. I wish that it was as green back home as it is here.

The further east we went, the more often we saw peaks with snow on them. Passing through Vail, we started to climb in earnest and stopped at the top of the pass at over 10 thousand feet. I felt winded just pushing my motorcycle into its parking space; my hat's off to the people I saw bicycling up the pass. Vail pass was just the warmup though; the continental divide awaited.

A while back, I saw a truck towing comparison that the testers referred to as the "Ike Gauntlet" since it went from the bottom of the grade to the Eisenhower tunnel at the top. Having ridden up it myself now, I can agree that it's one hell of a stress test. 11,158 feet at the west end of the tunnel caused my bike and I to both feel short of breath. Descending on the other side soon brought relief and the cool, refreshing air grew much warmer.

Approaching Denver, we could see the great plains further east, stretching on with all of the excitement of a tortoise on ambien. I can't imagine how monotonous diving out there must be, especially after going through Utah & Colorado. I'm looking forward to our return trip in a few days.

Day 3: Cannonville to Grand Junction

After a restless night's sleep in Cannonville, we woke before 7am, got some coffee from the minimal breakfast offerings at our motel and hit the road.

Highway 12 was a spectacular ride. Smooth pavement, almost nonexistent traffic, and incredible vistas. Kitty and I marveled at how beautiful the scenery was. I hope that the GoPro footage comes out OK when we get home since I can't preview or edit it here. There were a few spots where you're riding along right on the crest of the mountain and it drops off to either side. The scenery reminded me of Tioga pass somewhat, but without the confinement of the Sierra Nevada - the expanse of the terrain was huge here.

After that amazing ride, we rolled into the remote town of Boulder (Utah) and checked out Hell's Backbone Grill for breakfast. Holy hell, they make some fantastic food. Everything on both of our plates was delicious and was absolutely the best meal of the trip (thus far). I had the hungry haymaker and Kitty enjoyed the super spicy chile migas. Highly recommend dining here if you are in the area.

After our delicious meal, we continued north and climbed into the mountains. I was quite surprised that the trees weren't the usual conifers, but appeared to be birch. Kitty corrected me that they were aspen, which I had never seen before. I feel like I keep repeating myself here, but the scenery was fantastic. Much to our delight, the road wound through the forest like a roller-coaster. Ever since departing from our breakfast stop, we had noticed some dark clouds on the horizon. While descending the mountain and its aspen forest, those clouds made good on their threat. Kitty and I pulled over to close all of the vents on our jackets and helmets just in time before the rain hit. It felt like a microburst, though not as violent as the one that hit Santa Barbara a while back. The rain fell hard and we were buffeted by strong blasts of wind but our jackets kept us dry.

We got a brief reprieve from the rain as we started to head east on 24 into Capitol Reef National Park. Utah's famous red sandstone was on full display here, making us feel like we'd been transported to Mars. Stopping briefly for some photos, the rain caught up with us again and we headed out. I'm pretty sure it doesn't rain on Mars, but that's what was happening here. When it finally stopped, the Martian landscape was becoming lunar landscape with red becoming gray. This lasted until we reached Hanksville for our fuel stop.

The heat had come back at this point with my dash reading 85F; at least our jacket shells were drying off. Hanksville to I-70 was what I expected much of Utah to look like: a slightly better version of Nevada. Zion, Bryce, Grand Staircase and Capitol Reef had recalibrated my expectations.

Once on I-70, I dropped the hammer to try to get us to grand junction quickly. Surrounded by grasslands, we could see the Rockies beckoning us in the distance. After what seemed like several hours, we finally crossed into Colorado, hit the 1,000 mile mark for our trip and arrived in Grand Junction. Now to rest and refuel before our ride to Denver tomorrow.

Day 2: Vegas to Cannonville

I didn't post anything yesterday since just about everyone I know has driven from LA to Vegas at least once and knows there is nothing to see. Well, other than the miserable Memorial day traffic that was fortunately going the other way.

Kitty & I woke up before 6 and got a simple breakfast at the Starbucks downstairs. Afterward, we loaded up and hit the road heading north on I-15. I had never been further than downtown Vegas before, so everything was new today. The landscape stayed bleak until we got to mesquite and the virgin river brought some welcome green to the scenery just before entering Arizona. That's when things began to get interesting.

A bit further ahead, we entered the Virgin River gorge which was quite dramatic compared to the blasted landscape prior. It was nice to go around some bends for a change. Exiting the gorge landed us in St George where we took a break and fueled up the bike.

Utah has not disappointed thus far. The scenery leading toward Zion (and later Bryce) reminded me of Sedona with all of the red sandstone. Truly spectacular rock formations there. Kitty took most of the photos, so I'll post some links to them later. With the heat rising and no good place to stash our gear, we decided to forego any hiking and move onward to Bryce.

We merged onto US 89 at Mt Carmel junction and headed north. What a beautiful road! The Virgin and Sevier rivers both run parallel to 89 and are such a lovely sight after so many years in drought stricken [southern] California. Trees and meadows flanked us with incredible mesas distant on the horizon and there was little traffic since it was Tuesday.

Finally, we made it to highway 12 and entered Red Canyon. I felt like a kid at Disneyland starting at big thunder mtn, only this time it was much bigger. Again, we didn't have time to explore in depth, so we took photos and rode onward. As the elevation increased, the temperature mercifully dropped and we found a spot to stop for lunch. Since we were so close to our lodging, we checked in and dropped off some of the luggage before going back to check out Bryce.

9115 feet above sea level. I didn't realize how high up we were until we arrived at rainbow point and read the elevation sign. The view eastward from there was breathtaking, with the sun dropping low and lighting up the mesas. The pine forest was cool and the air was so clear, it was a welcome change from yesterday. Time to rest up for tomorrow's journey to Grand Junction.

On the eve of a new adventure

I think we are just about ready.

Tomorrow morning, Kitty and I begin our 3000+ mile journey to Colorado and back via motorcycle. Panniers are packed, reservations are made, and new places will be explored.

I'm looking forward to the journey and hope that I'll have the energy to update the blog at the end of each day. Photos will likely be posted on Instagram.

Cheers!