Blame It On Facebook

[jguerin77]

http://www.nps.gov/cebr/index.htm


http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/redcanyon.htm "


This is great!! I am learning all KINDS of cool information from your report!

[guitarhack]

Originally Posted by jguerin77

http://www.nps.gov/cebr/index.htm


http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/redcanyon.htm "


This is great!! I am learning all KINDS of cool information from your report!

Jill

Glad you found something useful. ...but don't give me too much credit. I am just passing along information that I became interested in after reading other's ride reports.

If you haven't already, read this one:

http://http://www.advrider.com/forum...d.php?t=310834


The RR above, and another one that is sadly no longer available, were my inspiration.

Enjoy.

[jguerin77]

Originally Posted by guitarhack

Jill

Glad you found something useful. ...but don't give me too much credit. I am just passing along information that I became interested in after reading other's ride reports.

If you haven't already, read this one:

http://http://www.advrider.com/forum...d.php?t=310834


The RR above, and another one that is sadly no longer available, were my inspiration.

Enjoy.

Well, I'll say I got my information from you. I am truly enjoying reading your ride report. Some of what you have ridden I just did a week ago, and the parts out West I did last summer. Your pictures of Mesa Verde are much better than any of mine. I had been waiting since 8th grade to get to Mesa Verde, and it did not disappoint.

Keep up the good work and continue to enjoy your family and life!

Jill

[klaviator]

Awesome report Both your pics and your words are great. It really makes me look forward to the time I have the time to get back out west on a trip.

I will make sure to hike up Angels Landing when I make it out there.

Thanks for putting all the effort to write and post this.

[guitarhack]

Originally Posted by klaviator

Awesome report Both your pics and your words are great. It really makes me look forward to the time I have the time to get back out west on a trip.

I will make sure to hike up Angels Landing when I make it out there.

Thanks for putting all the effort to write and post this.

Thanks for the feedback.

I know what you mean - trips out west take time! Just getting out there and back will eat up a better part of a week... but it's worth it.

[guitarhack]

Prior to getting to the actual entrance gate, there is a huge off-site parking lot and Visitors Center. I scored a parking spot right outside the door (for Wee safety), and we all piled into the Support Vehicle. After a short drive we got to the gate...


Got a map and stopped at the new-looking Visitor's Center. By the way, It seemed MANY of the Visitor's Centers are new. I hope they are being paid for by entrance fees... and not some sort of stimulus spending we can't afford. (OK my slight brush with politics is now over).





Prior to actually going on this trip, I had no idea what this park would be like. I assumed it would be directly on the main highway, and offer an overlook or two. There is more to it...

http://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm



We heeded advice we had read somewhere, and started at the overlook that was farthest from the Visitor's Center (at the bottom of the above map) and worked our way back. That way, most of the overlooks were on the right side of the road - making it easier to get in and out of the parking areas.

Some random sights:




"Natural Bridge"



Another bridge we spotted




We took WAY too many pictures to share here. Again, the day had a LOT of pic opportunities

Anyway, after working our way back towards the Visitors Center, we got to the area that you will most likely see in travel photos: the main amphitheater:

I wish I would have planned ahead and taken shots to stitch together as a panorama.

"The Grottos"



The main body of the canyon














After spending several hours at Bryce, we had to hit the road










After passing this guy...


...who for some reason didn't look pleased that I was passing him...




I followed his buddy for quite a few miles. Assuming they were indeed together, I am not sure if he was paying very good attention. As he sped up and we left his crabby-looking buddy in our dust. I think he might have thought I was his buddy in his mirror.

Then we entered The Grand Staircase of the Escalante


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_S...ional_Monument

This area is HUGE, and so are the sights





















The sights just went on and on and...









The pics I have posted here are a very small portion of the ones that I took. Normally, it isn't too hard to weed out the iffy pics. Granted, I was using a crappy camera, and I am not a skilled photographer, but the subject matter was so good...



Even a dolt like me had little trouble getting some reasonably good shots in.

Up next: Capitol Reef



...and the day still has a LONG way to go.

[Mark_O]

WOW! Nice report Brad. So much better seeing the pics here with your narrative. Next time post the pics on facebook after you do the ride report.

[guitarhack]

After passing the sign...



http://www.nps.gov/care/index.htm


...coming from the west, you have several miles of scenic driving before you get to the turn-off to the Visitor's Center.













Approaching "Chimney Rock"



A better view




Near the entrance to the Visitor's Center is "The Castle" . I thought it looked more like a pipe organ pipes.




After a quick stop at the Visitor's Center we drove the "Scenic Drive". These shots are in no particular order:













A HUGE old tree in Fruita





Apparently, during heavy rains, the road must have temporary streams crossing it


















The shadows were starting to grow longer, and we still had many miles to go to get to Moab, so we had to leave Capitol Reef after only about an hour. But there were still a LOT of sights ahead of us before it got dark.

Thanks for tagging along.

[guitarhack]

Originally Posted by Mark_O

WOW! Nice report Brad. So much better seeing the pics here with your narrative. Next time post the pics on facebook after you do the ride report.

HA. Thanks Mark

I posted the pics on Facebook so family could tell where we were. My parents especially liked it. I also posted "mobile uploads" as a primitive alternatvie to a SPOT. The state line pics let folks I was staying with have a better idea when to expect me and keep track of where I was.

[fredster]

Originally Posted by guitarhack

Tuesday, June 5th
Total Mileage: ~200








There are stalls surrounding the monument where the locals were selling souvenirs


The youngest member of the Support Team - in 4 states at once.


The side-trip to the monument served it's purpose (to kill a little time), but having been there once I wouldn't plan a vacation around it.

I have a pic of my daughter like that from about 8 years ago. Actually nice to see they constructed some rather handsome looking stalls. When we were there it was more like shacks made out of junk that were randomly located around the place. I also noticed all of the bottles, cans and trash for miles along the road leading to the monument. Since then I have told people not to bother going there as I found it really depressing (and there are so many other awesome places to see in the southwest) so good to see they have made improvements.

On a more positive note, great ride report! I was born and raised in Michigan but lived in Utah for 9 years before moving back to Michigan 2 years ago. Your pictures make me miss the West but bring back some great memories. Thanks for sharing.

[Cuttle]

nice "day trip" - keep it coming!


did your "support crew" get any pics of you by any change?

[guitarhack]

Originally Posted by Cuttle

nice "day trip" - keep it coming!


did your "support crew" get any pics of you by any change?

Hey Silke

I took most of the pictures, so I'm not in many of them. Here's one:



Here's another:

[guitarhack]

As we exited Capitol Reef, we hung a right and headed east, and passed the "Old Fruita Schoolhouse"






Soon after, I noticed a parking area that looked to be park-related, and made the second spur of the moment stop for the day (the 1st being way back at Cedar Breaks). After parking we walked over to this sign:



...then we played Where's Waldo for a few moments - staring at a rock cliff-face. Then Christina spotted the drawings..




We felt lucky to have stopped.

Unfortunately, the sun continued on its path - so we had to too. And the sights just kept surprising us.



I think these shots are when we neared "Capitol Dome"










'sup dude?



Some more random on the fly (upside down and left handed) shots. Trying to get to Moab before sunset...
















Anybody know the story of this little building?

...Look at that rock behind it!





The composition of the rock started to change...






As I mentioned earlier (and for good reason), I stopped pushing the limits of my fuel range - as running out of gas isn't fun. At this point in the day, I was starting to run a little low, and was glad when I came across this weird gas station

I wanted to go inside, but the Support Crew was getting a little miffed at the length of the day. Did I miss anything?



A few more pics:






I will spare you the other 250 pictures I took that day, but we got to Moab right at sunset, checked into the hotel, and enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies they had out in the lobby .

It really was an awesome day. They bike was running like a top, the roads were a blast, and the scenery could not have been better.

Tomorrow: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

[guitarhack]

Originally Posted by fredster

I have a pic of my daughter like that from about 8 years ago. Actually nice to see they constructed some rather handsome looking stalls. When we were there it was more like shacks made out of junk that were randomly located around the place. I also noticed all of the bottles, cans and trash for miles along the road leading to the monument. Since then I have told people not to bother going there as I found it really depressing (and there are so many other awesome places to see in the southwest) so good to see they have made improvements.

On a more positive note, great ride report! I was born and raised in Michigan but lived in Utah for 9 years before moving back to Michigan 2 years ago. Your pictures make me miss the West but bring back some great memories. Thanks for sharing.

Come to think of it, the facility did look new. At the time, there was a VERY strong wind blasting us with sand. So the surrounding stalls worked as a nice wind-break.

Regarding the shoulders of the road: there really wasn't that much "trash" (in terms of paper, wrappers, etc), mostly just bottles - that looked to be glass. There seemed to be WAY more bottles than there should be, considering what the population numbers appeared to be. The bottles must have been collecting for decades.

[Cuttle]

Originally Posted by guitarhack

Hey Silke

I took most of the pictures, so I'm not in many of them. Here's one:

...

to bad you are not my type