Sunday, October 19, 2008

EPIC Utah MOTO 2008 Day 4

Saturday morning came bright and early, all thanks to neighbors chickens next door. As usual, I first took a peek outside to check the condition of the weather. The skies were gray and even darker to the west. I think the storm was finally breaking it's way into Utah's Dixie. It was quite cold and windy outside but no signs of rain or snow, yet.

We once again performed the morning ritual of loading our gear, turning on all the spy gadgets and checking the vitals of the bikes. One of my motorcycle boots had lost a rivet right near the toe and seemed to leak a bit whenever we would cross through streams and puddles. With Van's recommendation, I took a small plastic garbage sack and some electrical tape and wrapped it tight, after all with those gray skies, the possibility of riding our bikes through a hurricane were quite high today.

We jumped on our bikes and rode up to Springdale for a full breakfast at the Pioneer. The servings there are huge and we should have ordered 1 entree and an extra plate. After 3 good days of riding, the fatigue was definitely starting to set in. If only the weather were more cooperative, I'm sure we would have had plenty of energy to make it home.

Example

"Tying up the horses at the Pioneer. The first gray skies of the trip."


After breakfast, we started back over the Grafton road towards Little Creek, Utah and Hwy 59. We stopped at the Chevron and topped off our tanks and then started south on a dirt road we found in the Utah atlas. Within 2 or 3 miles, the road abruptly ended and there was a brand new golf course right where the road used be. "Wow", I thought, we are still a good 35 to 40 miles from St. George as the crow flies and even this remote part of Utah has fallen victim to the "california-ization" of Utah's Dixie. Before you know it, the polygamists are going to sell Colorado City to the people of St. George so they can build some more golf courses and mexican style condos. Who knows, maybe even In-N-Out burger has already purchased a corner. Keep in mind, we were only about 5 - 7 miles as the crow flies from Colorado City.

We eventually found our way around the golf course and within minutes were back on course. All of the sudden, big flakes of snow started to fall. The wind was blowing and the skies looked angry. We kept on cruising and didn't let mother nature get in the way of our final day of riding.

I was riding ahead of Van and stopped for a brief moment. As he pulled up, he asked me if I was aware that my rear fuel tank was falling off and being dragged down the road. I guess I didn't use enough "loctite" when I installed it and all the pounding and rattling of the ride must have finally loosened it up. We pulled off, had a good laugh and got to work re-installing my rear fuel tank. A very minor repair compared to Van's flat tire on day 2.

Example

"Josh replacing his rear fuel tank somewhere in middle of no-where Arizona"


We honestly had no idea where we were at this point. The GPS was showing nothing on the screen except the direction we were headed. I think next time, I will load every neighboring state into my GPS just in case we somehow end up there. We were able to see how far we were from major cities as the crow flies, but that is about it. The dirt road was very well traveled and we figured it had to connect into St. George somehow considering it (St. George) was the closest major city. We could also see that we were very close to the rim of the Grand Canyon, probably a good 20 miles or so but didn't think we should try to go that far south without having the topography loaded into the GPS. We finally came to a junction that gave us some idea of where and how far St. George was from our current location.

Example

"A good thing to find when you have no idea where you are in the middle of the Arizona desert"


The weather was quite moody as we flew down this well traveled gravel road. It would occasionally start to rain but then suddenly stop as we passed through various cells of moisture. It was cold but not cold enough to require riding in our "extreme foul weather" gear. We would occasionally hit several miles of beautiful sunshine.

We eventually arrived at the edge of the Hurricane Mesa where the road suddenly dropped in elevation down to a lower valley. It was obvious that there weren't very many ways down off this huge plateau and i'm sure this portion of the road took some serious effort to build.

Example

"Only way down off this huge plateau"


Example

"Bottom of the plateau. I think this "Primitive Road" sign is trying to tell us that Disneyland is not around the corner"


We arrived at a place in the road where there were signs of a faint trail running east to west across the road towards St. George. After reading the sign, we learned that this was the old "Temple Trail" the mormons used to haul timbers from the Mount Trumbull wilderness area in Arizona to the site of the St. George temple. I was immediately reminded of an old door and bench that Grandma and Grandpa Simmons had somehow salvaged from the St. George temple while they were restoring the Rockville house. I sat and wondered if it came across this old trail to the temple and eventually ended up in Rockville. Looking at this trail and valley, it definitely gave you respect for just how tough those early settlers were compared to most people today.

Example

"Van posing for a snapshot at the crossing of the "Temple Trail, Arizona"


According to the tracks we were creating on the GPS, it was obvious that this was about as far south as our journey would take us. You could tell we were starting to head in a north west direction towards St. George. It was kind of a strange feeling knowing that within a good hour or 2, we would be fighting traffic and eventually parking the bikes. After spending so many miles and hours on primitive roads and trails, this is a hard thing to adjust to. Even Van pointed out later in the day that he could tell I was quite edgy riding my motorcycle through St. George traffic. I guess this is quite indicative of my personality, one who likes to choose the road less traveled :-).

We arrived at the final "high point" before slowly descending into St. George coming from a south-easterly direction. You could see St. George in the valley below. The views from up there were incredible as it gave you a sense of just how strange the geography of this part of the state really is.

Example

"Van for a final pic high above the valley of Utah's Dixie"


Example

"Josh with the St. George valley and Snow Canyon in the background"


After riding a few more miles, the road suddenly turned into Pavement and it was obvious that our trip was coming to a close. We had decided earlier in the day that it would be fun to pull our filthy bikes into In-N-Out burger in St. George for lunch and take a final photo. This was a truly classic moment as we pulled up and parked our bikes just outside. Everyone in the the restaurant were looking at us through the window like we just arrived from some other planet. It guess in a way we sort of did. After all, we had just taken the 100 mile scenic route from Rockville to St. George.

Example

"The end of the road. Notice the people starring at us from inside"



Example

"Van preparing himself to devour America's finest burger"


Just as we sat down to eat our burgers, it started to rain quite hard outside. We both looked at each other and started to laugh considering we just too the 700 miles scenic route from Park City to St. George and had 4 decent days of riding. The rain turned to snow and we sat and watch our bikes get soaked. We weren't all that concerned considering we each sprayed atleast 1 bottle of scotch guard on our seats and all of our riding gear prior to leaving northern Utah.

We climbed on the bikes and road them for 1 last time to pickup our rental car at the St. George airport. From here we would take the bikes to my friends garage in St. George where we would store them until I could find time to come back down and pick them up with my trailer. We would then get a final hotel in St. George and drive home in 1 piece the following day, a plan the loved ones back north were very happy with.


Example

"The St. George storage facility. The bikes look very sad.. :-("


As we were driving home the next day, we stopped in Fillmore to get some gas and snacks. The weather was quite foul and the day was definitely cold. We noticed a very nice BMW GS1100 parked out front the Maverik. Inside was a man all suited up in his riding gear drinking coffee and warming up. I would guess he was in his mid 60's. Van proceeded to strike up conversation with him. He told Van that he was on his way back from Arizona to Bountiful, Utah riding solo. Van told him of our journey and he immediately scolded us for renting a car and not riding our bikes home. I thought to myself, don't worry, someday when I have no timetable and a nice heated coat, pants and gloves, I will most likely be doing the same thing. I found it rather inspiring to see this guy in the age he was. It made me realize that I still have plenty of time to pursue my dreams and embark on many more adventures. After all, I sure hope I'm as tough and adventurous as he is at his age :-).

jww

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Epic.
I wish I could have gone with you.
Mahana could have done it all... except the log jams, I would have needed a crane.
You're an inspiration to couch potatoes everywhere.
GG

SSWS said...

what a great read. I'm inspired that you continue to break the mold and explore Utah's beauty by bike. G and G would be happy knowing that you still love the outdoors. I think they saw this in you at an early age. I'm just glad that tree didn't hit you! I LOVE this blog. Thanks for sharing. I bet the kids had fun watching your adventure on your gadget...GREAT!

S.Z. said...

Josh, I'm used to being awed by my little brother's (Van)adventures, but I'm very impressed by the add'l effort you put into documenting the trip. Risk, beauty, nature by osmosis for the rest of us. Van's good fortune to have found a buddy who's up to anything he can dream up. We all rest easier when he's not alone out there. Ya'll make a good team. Selonna Z.

Anonymous said...

Well done! I too wish I could have joined you on the adventure. As usual when travelling with you, I would have been the hillbilly with no gadgets, broken down gear and a bag of beef jerky. Thanks for sharing!

Marie aka Grams said...

Josh, Thank you for posting this fun adventure. Your sense of humor shines through, and your zest for living is contagious.
Just be sure you stay alive, healthy and sane, OR that you buy a massive insurance policy with Allison as the beneficiary. :)
Love you.

Terry Bytheway said...

Josh, you aren't a bad little writer. A man of many talents. That was quite an adventure. I like the LOTOJA sticker on the bike. If you ever want to attempt that on a mountain bike or do an epic ride on a road bike let me know. I'm not much for the motorized two wheeled adventure. Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you.

Unknown said...

... Josh, I just thoroughly enjoyed the last two hours reading about your adventure and drooling over a map of Utah. What a colossal escapade.
"I guess this is quite indicative of (your) personality, one who likes to choose the road less traveled :-)."
Maybe the secret of a happy life is always having some grand deed to plan and look forward too.
That was an inspiring feat.