Monday, August 31, 2009
Home!
7500 miles, from 199 below sea level to 11000 above, zero to 131 mph, and one bent rim.
The beer package didn't fare so well. The inner box was damp, and my clothes were moldy. Fortunately only one bottle broke, and it was one of the less expensive ones and one I had two of (Bear Republic's Racer 5).
When I get a chance I'll upload the rest of the photos to this blog .. just be patient .. there are 395 emails in my work inbox...
Saturday, August 29, 2009
In case you didn't know...
Is Colorado really a good motorcycle destination?
We started from Grand Junction and northeast to Meeker, then continued east through Steamboat Springs then north of Rocky Mountain National Park to Fort Collins. The scenery went from dry and arid to mountain pine and aspen forests until we got to Fort Collins and found a KOA.
While the scenery was nice, the roads never elevated to motorcycle-Level. Whereas other states (like Cali) retain a high statuary speed, Colorado marks the speeds down. The result is a slowdown.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Long day
At 10:30 pm we pulled into the Grand Junction (CO) KOA. It was a long and hot (93f) ride from Torrey but we spent about 40 miles on 24 going through the coral reef national park.
On the way to the KOA we both kept track of the most recent grocery store so we could go back and get beer. The winner was City Market. I went there, looked but didn't find anything. Now I know that Colorado is a big beer state, so I expect to find good beer. But I saw nothing so I asked 'do you have a beer and wine section, or if Colorado was still in the middle ages. Well, they had beer (singletrack) When I brought it back to the tents I noted it was 4.0% Oh well down the hatch And off to sleep!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Escalante National Park
We just finished riding hwy 12 through Escalante national park. That is a sweepy very scenic 124 miles. Especially the raised narrow section with 1000 foot dropoffs on both sides of the road and no guard rails....
Bryce canyon
We managed get out early this morning and rode to Bryce Canyon. We did the rim walk, but to be honest, Zion was more impressive.
We stopped at a rest area in Escalante and had a tuna sandwich. The topography remains dry yet mountainous.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Zion National Park
This morning we hurried to get hiking before the heat set in, so it was oatmeal instead of pancakes. Our chosen hike was to Angel's Rest, a strenuous 5 mile hike (round trip) up 1400 feet, including 1.2 miles along a narrow ridge.
The views were spectacular! Btw i have uploaded some photos from my phone to photobucket - the link should on the right, labeled 'norskies photos' in the 'links' section.
After that hike we had some ice cream and regained our breathes, and decided to hike the Narrows. This is up the river, then we waded in the river, for several miles. The cliffs were tall and narrow, but it was a unique hike.
Dinner was a couple cans of soups and bread and beer.
Stuff
Today we rode and stuff. From Grand Canyon to Zion National Park, past 'Nice Indian' jewelry stands, through deserts, over gorges, across plateaus and skirted cliffs. The scenery in this part of the country is awe-inspiring. It lacks the relaxing green we're used to, but in return the mountains are bare and we can see every butte, crest, cliff and crevice. Nothing is hidden.
For those of you mapping our route, we left the Grand Canyon by the east entrance on 64, then north on 89 then west on 89A. 89A is the winner here.
We briefly considered visiting the north rim of the canyon, but opted to skip it since we just spent a day on the south brim. So we went to Zion NP instead.
It was hot, and this morning I threw away the cooling vest because it was starting to smell like post-Katrina New Orleans. But I managed the 93f ok, as it was a dry heat.
Riding into the park was a visual treat. The rock formations were right next to the road, as were the bighorn sheep. But it was slow going, and the pavement was worse than some I've been on in Minnesota.
Once in the park we found a campsite, but before we paid we discovered it was overrun with ants. We got another site, paid, and discovered it was overrun with ants. We sat with our feet on the benches to avoid being bit.
Beer was found in a local grocery store. We selected bottles from two Utah breweries (squatters and Zion canyon) and they were all 4% abv. Wasatch brewing makes a Polygamy Porter with the slogan: you can't have just one. Duh, at that low abv you need two! Best beer today was the virgin stout, by zion canyon brewing co. Iirc.
Can you spot the mountain goat (sorry .. camera only has 3x zoom)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Grand Canyon ... What a grand canyom!
Today there was no riding. Just a bit of hiking, down to cedar ridge, followed by watching dusk fall over the canyon.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Blog Update
Don't have a very good internet connection here at the Grand Canyon, so can't upload more ...
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Arizona
I woke up at 1am, sweaty and on the ground.
There is a tropical thing going on in the Pacific ocean pulling moisture up from the gulf. That was one reason I was miserable. The other reason is because the air mattress I had purchased in Washington had sprung a leak. I couldn't do anything about the moisture, but since the mattress went flat in six hours, i figured if i fill it i should be good until the morning. I got out of the tent wearing just my underwear (when in Rome...) moved the bike to the tent, plugged in the air pump and filled the mattress - and woke up Chuck.
5am and I was on the ground again! Argh! 6am I was making oatmeal.
By eight we were on the road, taking 93 to a Walmart in Kingman, AZ.
But first we crossed the Hoover Dam. Jennifer have previously visited and gone a tour of the generators, so we skipped that this time. 93 is not a challenging road, but it is scenic, with great views of mesas and mountains.
Walmart took the mattress in exchange. Good for another ten days of camping!
From Kingman we followed US 66 to Seligman, I40 to Williams, and 64 to the Grand Canyon. We'll be here two days to hike and recharge and do laundry.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Lake Mead
The rest of our ride today was uneventful. We climbed out of Death Valley and the temps cooled off. The mountains were impressive, too bad they were shrouded in clouds of a storm passing through.
Pahrump was a dump. Vegas had lots of aggressive drivers.
Tonight we're camped by Lake Mead, at a cheap ($10) site where the ground is too hard to take stakes.
Southern Sierras
This morning we retraced our tracks north along the Kern river, then went east over the 9200 ft Sherman pass. This is a road through the sequoia national forest, and the quality of the pavement varies greatly. The views are outstanding as it winds back down to the eastern desert hwy 395.
According to the weather reports, it was supposed to be overcast, maybe rain, and 85f in death valley. Instead, it is just overcast and 106f. Better than 120 i guess.
Loud pipes lose rights
The fruit farms are next to dirt farms. At least that's what they look like. I suppose this whole area used to be desert until they irrigated and brought in water. Between irrigating a desert, providing water for Los Angeles, and keeping the rivers high enough to support the offshore fishing industry, no wonder there is a water crisis here.
There is also a lot of abject poverty here. Entire towns which appear to be nothing more than labor camps. We rode over a hundred miles through fields of grape vines and fruit trees and occasional towns.
Eventually we made it to the mountains and it was about 5pm. Time to find a place to camp, and after a couple days without showering and then todays 105f, i required a shower. We rode up into the sequoia national forest and the temps dropped to 75f. There cows on the road. The views nice, the road super twisty. Then we followed the Kern river to Kernville. That was a very nice road, but as we got closer to civilization and gas we passed many national forest campgrounds, without showers. Finally, in Kernville, we found two private campgrounds but neither allowed motorcycles. Honestly i can't blame the campgrounds, but it would be nice if they only banned the loud bikes. Stupid Harley culture.
Our options appeared to ride into the dark, camp without a shower, or find a hotel. So we tried the hotels. The first was a $190/night. Second was $80/night and no AC (but they had a swamp cooler). There was a brewpub next door and they had motorcycle only parking so we took it. Their card reader didn't work so we paid $70 cash. Figured then they didn't have to pay mastercard 3% or report it (i.e. Taxes). The room was comfortable.
As for the brewpub... They had a great selection. We were impressed with the IPA (heavy on columbus and simcoe), stout (dry and roasty) and particularly the belgian amber aged in oak pinot noir barrels. And i slept great!
The Hearst Castle
Jennifer managed to set me up with a reservation for a tour of the hearst castle in San Simeon so that's what I did.
Chuck felt the cost was a little high and hung around the visitor center instead. He found a like-minded soul in Emanuelle who was traveling with Letitia (who took the tour). Both were from Paris and at the end of their USA trip. After San Simeon we decided we didn't want to go Los Angeles due to traffic concerns, so we went east on 46, 41 and other roads. Somewhere in Las Robles we had overpriced bbq (bubbas big bad bbq?) The temps were getting up to about 100f so i was in full heat hear: wicking undies, compression shorts and shirt.
As we crossed the fruit farms the temperature continued to rise, until it 104f.
