Home from a week’s ride with my buddy Dave and his FXR.
Headed east from the Phoenix area to El Morro NM and Malpais NM in New Mexico . El Morro is a prominent cliff at a water source and explorers over the years carved their names and dates; the park preserves these. Found an inscription with my son-in-law’s name, and dated 1774. Malpais preserves a volcanic area.
From there on I-40 through Albuquerque to the Turquoise Trail and Madrid. The movie Wild Hogs was partially filmed there and the road, on the east side of the Sandia Mountains, was scenic. On to Santa Fe, the Sanctuary at Chimayo, and Taos. Planned to ride up the mountain to Angel Fire but a storm had moved in and obscured the peaks from below. Rode north to the Great Sand Dunes NP, dodging the rain, and over Poncha Pass. The best motel on the trip was there in Salida, the Silver Ridge Lodge, and the best meal was at the Country Bounty. Will keep them in mind for future trips.
With storms to the north we elected to ride west over Monarch Pass on I-50. Independence Pass to Aspen, our first choice, was still closed due to snow. At 11,319’ there was snow along side the road but was otherwise dry. From just beyond Gunnison we caught Hwy 92 north to the Crawford, Hotchkiss and Paonia area. Well worth the ride as the road follows the Gunnison River above its gorge and is very scenic all the way .
The next day we took Hwy 141 from near Grand Junction, CO, to Moab, UT. We were expecting high desert country but the road follows a canyon then merges with the canyon of the Dolores River. Absolutely beautiful, and now a favorite. Only issue was the 189 miles between gas stations.
At Moab we rode through Arches NP and did some hiking. The next day was up and around through Hanksville to Capitol Reef NP, Torrey, and then Boulder Mountain. Talked with some other riders who were apprehensive in tackling the mountain, but its just a beautiful ride with lots of aspen and open meadows. On the west side was the Escalante area, recently preserved as a national monument, and spectacularly rugged.
Stopped in Escalante, UT, for a local brew, Polygamy Porter, slogan “Why have just one?” As we’d been to Bryce Canyon and Zion recently we skipped them and caught a motel in Kanab.
Next day we rode south into Arizona and up to Jacob Lake, the entry point to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The road to the rim was still closed due to snow, however, so we headed south towards home. At Lee’s ferry on the Colorado River some float trips through the Grand Canyon were just starting off.
Later, at the Cameron trading post a large group of riders, mostly on wings from what I could see, started to turn in front of us. Didn’t like the idea of threading my way through the pack but they did finally stop. The lead couple bikes were at an angle in front of us so had they started the rest presumably would have followed.
Stopped in Payson for pecan pie and coffee, favorite waitress forgot the pie and had to be reminded, and shorted me a buck change (which she corrected). A newspaper article at the place said the owner of Jakes Corner, a bar, grill, gas station, and not much else, had been killed over the weekend. Was returning from a poker run when he ran off the road.
Home safe, 1993 miles at 48.1 mpg and $0.080 cents per mile. No issues with either bike or their riders.
Headed east from the Phoenix area to El Morro NM and Malpais NM in New Mexico . El Morro is a prominent cliff at a water source and explorers over the years carved their names and dates; the park preserves these. Found an inscription with my son-in-law’s name, and dated 1774. Malpais preserves a volcanic area.
From there on I-40 through Albuquerque to the Turquoise Trail and Madrid. The movie Wild Hogs was partially filmed there and the road, on the east side of the Sandia Mountains, was scenic. On to Santa Fe, the Sanctuary at Chimayo, and Taos. Planned to ride up the mountain to Angel Fire but a storm had moved in and obscured the peaks from below. Rode north to the Great Sand Dunes NP, dodging the rain, and over Poncha Pass. The best motel on the trip was there in Salida, the Silver Ridge Lodge, and the best meal was at the Country Bounty. Will keep them in mind for future trips.
With storms to the north we elected to ride west over Monarch Pass on I-50. Independence Pass to Aspen, our first choice, was still closed due to snow. At 11,319’ there was snow along side the road but was otherwise dry. From just beyond Gunnison we caught Hwy 92 north to the Crawford, Hotchkiss and Paonia area. Well worth the ride as the road follows the Gunnison River above its gorge and is very scenic all the way .
The next day we took Hwy 141 from near Grand Junction, CO, to Moab, UT. We were expecting high desert country but the road follows a canyon then merges with the canyon of the Dolores River. Absolutely beautiful, and now a favorite. Only issue was the 189 miles between gas stations.
At Moab we rode through Arches NP and did some hiking. The next day was up and around through Hanksville to Capitol Reef NP, Torrey, and then Boulder Mountain. Talked with some other riders who were apprehensive in tackling the mountain, but its just a beautiful ride with lots of aspen and open meadows. On the west side was the Escalante area, recently preserved as a national monument, and spectacularly rugged.
Stopped in Escalante, UT, for a local brew, Polygamy Porter, slogan “Why have just one?” As we’d been to Bryce Canyon and Zion recently we skipped them and caught a motel in Kanab.
Next day we rode south into Arizona and up to Jacob Lake, the entry point to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The road to the rim was still closed due to snow, however, so we headed south towards home. At Lee’s ferry on the Colorado River some float trips through the Grand Canyon were just starting off.
Later, at the Cameron trading post a large group of riders, mostly on wings from what I could see, started to turn in front of us. Didn’t like the idea of threading my way through the pack but they did finally stop. The lead couple bikes were at an angle in front of us so had they started the rest presumably would have followed.
Stopped in Payson for pecan pie and coffee, favorite waitress forgot the pie and had to be reminded, and shorted me a buck change (which she corrected). A newspaper article at the place said the owner of Jakes Corner, a bar, grill, gas station, and not much else, had been killed over the weekend. Was returning from a poker run when he ran off the road.
Home safe, 1993 miles at 48.1 mpg and $0.080 cents per mile. No issues with either bike or their riders.
