America's South West in 4 weeks
- Thread starter Jockser
- Start date
ChubbyThumper
Registered user
Spectacular place, thanks Jochen. You get home ok?
R2D2
Registered user
good lad 
safe home, weather here is wonderful 
safe home, weather here is wonderful 
Just in the door. But I doubt I'm gonna be posting anything this evening - I'm knackered
good lad
Yeah, 4 weeks with hardly a cloud in the sky & I come home to this.
It's not what I ordered
small kip and moar pics please
sven
Registered user
We were in Ouray for the past couple of nights. Great little town and had a fantastic drive up the Imogene Pass in a Polaris RZR
We're now in Moab for two nights and were at Dead Horse Point this afternoon - absolutely stunning
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We're now in Moab for two nights and were at Dead Horse Point this afternoon - absolutely stunning
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Would love to have done something like that, Silverton was full of jeep & ATV hire.
Bit 'touristy', isn't it ? I got the feeling it existed purely to extract the most money possible out of folks doing the parks.sven said:
Keep the pics coming
Day 16 - Blanding, UT to Hanksville, UT
After a night in Blanding, a dry Mormon town
, we had the first 'appointment' of the trip. I'd suggested we take the ferry across Lake Powell rather than do Hwy 95 even though that came highly recommended. As the ferry only runs every 2 hours we set ourselves up for the 1pm crossing. In order to save time in the morning we just had a cuppa & a bun at the gas station next door to the hotel.
Our first stop of the day was Natural Bridges NP. Here the river has cut through the rock at the bottom of the canyon leaving 'bridges' of rock overhead. It's a small (by American standards) compact park but it still took a bit of time to get around & it was only as we were leaving that I realised it was an hour later than I'd thought
The road in :
Some of the bridges :
A bit of walking required :
Shortly after the park we left Hwy95 again, just as it was starting to get interesting, and rode down 276 to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which surrounds Lake Powell. The first part was pretty straight & we kept up a good pace but closer to the lake it got nice & twisty with a few uphills where Liam & I started to lose the V-Stars a bit. We pulled up at the ramp just after the ferry had pulled out. There ain't much in Halls Crossing other than a boat ramp, campsite & gas station. During the summer there's a burger bar but we were about a week early. We hung around the gas station for 2 hours having a lunch of ice cream, cold drink & cereal bars - it's not the best stocked place in the world.
When I'd looked at the maps I figured Lake Powell, an 185 mile long man-made lake created by damming the Colorado at Page, would be scenic & interesting. I envisaged an Alpine-type lake with deer among the trees that run down to the shore & maybe an eagle flying over head. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's a completely barren area with not a tree for a hundred miles. It has it's own beauty and is very popular with the houseboat & powerboat fraternity. They're welcome to it as it holds no appeal to the motorcyclist. With hindsight we should have stayed on 95 & enjoyed more twisty bits. But you live & learn..
I got chatting to a guy from Atlanta who was part of a bigger group of riders travelling the area. Some, as our friend, had flown in & hired Harleys while others had theirs trailered out. Liam found a New York photography professor & wife who were showing their teenage son around the area where Mom was from and bagged himself an open invite to New York The ferry crossing takes about 30 minutes & cost us $15 per bike
Our transport :
Some of the houseboats :
The lake itself :
The road back out of the park to rejoin 95 & on to Hanksville:
Having missed the 1pm ferry we were a bit late getting to Hanksville & our Atlanta friends had filled the first (best / newest looking hotel) and we were relegated to the Hanksville Inn, no more basic than most of the places we'd stayed but the smell from the septic tank was rank. The owners also owned the only restaurant in town so we walked across the road to dine there. To give you some idea of the culinary standard in Hanksville I'll tell you that our waitress recommended the 'awesome' mashed potatoes and then to justify her recommendation she proudly announced "they're instant". Sweet jaysus.......
After a night in Blanding, a dry Mormon town
, we had the first 'appointment' of the trip. I'd suggested we take the ferry across Lake Powell rather than do Hwy 95 even though that came highly recommended. As the ferry only runs every 2 hours we set ourselves up for the 1pm crossing. In order to save time in the morning we just had a cuppa & a bun at the gas station next door to the hotel.Our first stop of the day was Natural Bridges NP. Here the river has cut through the rock at the bottom of the canyon leaving 'bridges' of rock overhead. It's a small (by American standards) compact park but it still took a bit of time to get around & it was only as we were leaving that I realised it was an hour later than I'd thought
The road in :
Some of the bridges :
A bit of walking required :
Shortly after the park we left Hwy95 again, just as it was starting to get interesting, and rode down 276 to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which surrounds Lake Powell. The first part was pretty straight & we kept up a good pace but closer to the lake it got nice & twisty with a few uphills where Liam & I started to lose the V-Stars a bit. We pulled up at the ramp just after the ferry had pulled out. There ain't much in Halls Crossing other than a boat ramp, campsite & gas station. During the summer there's a burger bar but we were about a week early. We hung around the gas station for 2 hours having a lunch of ice cream, cold drink & cereal bars - it's not the best stocked place in the world.
When I'd looked at the maps I figured Lake Powell, an 185 mile long man-made lake created by damming the Colorado at Page, would be scenic & interesting. I envisaged an Alpine-type lake with deer among the trees that run down to the shore & maybe an eagle flying over head. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's a completely barren area with not a tree for a hundred miles. It has it's own beauty and is very popular with the houseboat & powerboat fraternity. They're welcome to it as it holds no appeal to the motorcyclist. With hindsight we should have stayed on 95 & enjoyed more twisty bits. But you live & learn..
I got chatting to a guy from Atlanta who was part of a bigger group of riders travelling the area. Some, as our friend, had flown in & hired Harleys while others had theirs trailered out. Liam found a New York photography professor & wife who were showing their teenage son around the area where Mom was from and bagged himself an open invite to New York
The ferry crossing takes about 30 minutes & cost us $15 per bike Our transport :
Some of the houseboats :
The lake itself :
The road back out of the park to rejoin 95 & on to Hanksville:
Having missed the 1pm ferry we were a bit late getting to Hanksville & our Atlanta friends had filled the first (best / newest looking hotel) and we were relegated to the Hanksville Inn, no more basic than most of the places we'd stayed but the smell from the septic tank was rank. The owners also owned the only restaurant in town so we walked across the road to dine there. To give you some idea of the culinary standard in Hanksville I'll tell you that our waitress recommended the 'awesome' mashed potatoes and then to justify her recommendation she proudly announced "they're instant". Sweet jaysus.......
(RIP) petcul
Registered user
in the land of the Idaho potato
sven
Registered user
I was looking for the gravel hair-pinned road yesterday at Dead Horse Point, but didn't spot it. However, we also went to the Natural Bridges NP after Monument Valley, which meant we rode up the Moki Dugway. This is also shown as Tarmac by Tomtom, but is graded gravel. It was pretty easy to ride upwards, but maybe not downwards.
Who needs a GS?
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Who needs a GS?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
eclectic
Registered user
Sorry you missed it and I am even sorrier that we were not on Gs's to ride it. The Shafer trail is a few miles back from the "Islands in the Sky" area of Canyonlands on the way back to "Dead Horse Point". Seems like a two day off road ride through the canyon and alongside the Colorado river and it is natural habitat for a GS. We watched enviously knowing that a two-up Goldwing (aka armchair) would not be the vehicle of choice but boy were we tempted!! If anyone is ever in that area on a GS just do it!
The hairpin part is actually inside Canyonlands. The trail descends from the main road through the park to the valley floor & runs under Dead Horse Point. If you were stood at the viewpoint in Dead Horse you'd have seen the track coming from the right, passing almost under your feet & disappearing round to your left.
I'm not good on PhotoShop so can't do you a little red or yellow circle but if you look just to the right of where it says "Island in the Sky Visitor Centre" you'll see "Schafer Trail Road" heading towards Dead Horse Point :
I missed itsven said:
After the disaster in San Juan Inn I forgot to route to it the next day. Although we passed within 25 miles of it between Blanding & Natural Bridges we didn't have time for the extra milage. Next time....
EDIT: Dang, that eclectic fella is a fast typer !!
Apologies for the delay in updating this but I've been busy in work and, as both my sister & my folks were heading away, I had a bit of visiting to do in the evenings
And then I had to go out today to make sure I could still ride on the proper side of the road (as opposed to the right side) 
I'll have the next instalment for you shortly
And then I had to go out today to make sure I could still ride on the proper side of the road (as opposed to the right side
) I'll have the next instalment for you shortly
is there a pic of the wing as you gave it back to them?
no fear you washed it
no fear you washed it
is there a pic of the wing as you gave it back to them?
no fear you washed it
Jaysus, I don't wash me own bike. Why the fcuk would I wanna wash someone elses
.............................
Day 17 - Hanksville, UT to Escalante, UT
There was nobody hanging around in Hanksville this morning, everyone was keen to get packed & away. Breakfast was a cereal bar in the gas station & a cup of instant coffee for those who have a liking for coffee. I'm a tea man myself so just had a yogurt drink with my bar
It was only a short, but fairly interesting, run to our first stop of the day, Capitol Reef NP.
The road to Capitol Reef :
But before we got there we came across another petroglyph site :
And then into the National Park :
There's an old homestead too which is now a museum & coffee shop. All the bread, cakes & preserves on sale are made locally. The apple pie was delicious & they had tea
Just down the road was a viewpoint where you got a good view of the surrounding area :
Ruby enjoyed the view too
And then it was back on the road :
Just before Torrey we turned off Hwy 24 onto Hwy 12, another bikers road. Unfortunately the first part is badly affected by 'tar snakes' (overbanding) which Ruby absolutely hated
But even so it was a cracking road which just got better & better
I've no pics as I was too busy havin' fun....
We stopped for fuel in Escalante & decided we'd take Sgt Bilko's advice and try to find somewhere to stay early rather than later. We got rooms at the fairly modern Prospector Motel & had a yummy pizza dinner in a cafe down the road before retiring.
There was nobody hanging around in Hanksville this morning, everyone was keen to get packed & away. Breakfast was a cereal bar in the gas station & a cup of instant coffee for those who have a liking for coffee. I'm a tea man myself so just had a yogurt drink with my bar
It was only a short, but fairly interesting, run to our first stop of the day, Capitol Reef NP.
The road to Capitol Reef :
But before we got there we came across another petroglyph site :
And then into the National Park :
There's an old homestead too which is now a museum & coffee shop. All the bread, cakes & preserves on sale are made locally. The apple pie was delicious & they had tea
Just down the road was a viewpoint where you got a good view of the surrounding area :
Ruby enjoyed the view too
And then it was back on the road :
Just before Torrey we turned off Hwy 24 onto Hwy 12, another bikers road. Unfortunately the first part is badly affected by 'tar snakes' (overbanding) which Ruby absolutely hated
But even so it was a cracking road which just got better & better
I've no pics as I was too busy havin' fun....
We stopped for fuel in Escalante & decided we'd take Sgt Bilko's advice
and try to find somewhere to stay early rather than later. We got rooms at the fairly modern Prospector Motel & had a yummy pizza dinner in a cafe down the road before retiring.
(RIP) petcul
Registered user
Don't you ever sleep?
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