Backroads to See the Rocks Tour 2009

[Smuggler]

So, I finally got some time to go on a ride, so ride I did. One of my old riding buddies from my days in the Army came available for some vacation too, so we agreed to meet in Las Vegas. He was flying in to DC from Bangkok on Monday, so I agreed to meet him Tuesday in Vegas. He also needed to be back in DC to start a new job on Monday. Time was tight, but there was fun to be had, so I planned as much as we could fit in. Our trip was more about the riding than the sights, but I figured we could stop by Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon if everything worked out right. I also planned riding through Yosemite and Death Valley on my way to meet him in Vegas. I also thought 7 days should be enough. I might have been slightly optimistic.

[Smuggler]

I used the Harley Davidson route planner to choose the roads we would ride. The points easily uploaded into my BMW Navigator GPS, so I didn’t bring any paper maps. I packed some water, motor oil, some tools and rain gear in my boxes and loaded up my GS-A . I also had a SPoT tracker on board so that my wife could try to follow my progress. Mid April is a great time to sample different types of weather if you are traveling in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah in the same week, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of the story.
Anyway, I set out from San Jose at first light, with the morning’s goal of lunch in Yoesmite.

[dave6253]

Bring it on! I love Zion!

[GB]

This should be a feast for the eyes!! Be sure to post a whole lot of pics

[Smuggler]

The ride out of San Jose was quick and uneventful. I made good time and only stopped when there was a dramatic difference between reality and GPS reality. During that stop I also got a call from the office with the first of many emergencies. Five minutes later I was back on the road heading for the hills. Traffic was very light, it was Monday morning, The biggest obstacle I found on my ascent was the huge quantity of insects determined to give their lives in order to block my view through my windscreen. I knew my vacation had truly begun once I saw the gate to Yosemite.


From there, the views only got better.

and better...



I knew I didn't have much time to look around, so I just looped once through the park and continued on my way to Lone Pine for the night.

[Smuggler]

The road out of Yosemite was as empty and beautiful as the road in. Once I hit the Central Valley, I had too much traffic and a lot of heat to deal with (100+). I crossed into the Mojave area just before dusk. The road was deserted and I rode hard for Lone Pine while the light and the warmth held on. The temperature dropped about 25 degrees in the hour past sundown and I was very glad to get to my hotel since there was very little illumination and my lights did little to help at the speeds I was going. In the morning I woke up to this view from my hotel parking lot.

[Smuggler]

I started my ride through Death Valley at about 9AM. The temperature was in the mid 70’s when I started and only the mid 90’s by the time I reached the lowest parts of the Valley. This was my first time in this area, but I know it won’t be my last. Next time I come it will be on my knobbies, not the street tread I was currently riding on.

Traffic was kinda light in the area...



I think I let my bike sit there for around 15 minutes without anyone passing by.

[Smuggler]

I had three thoughts going through my head while riding through Death Valley: 1. BIG!! , 2. I'm out here alone, I'd hate to crash... and 3. I could spend weeks here exploring.





While I was crossing the valley, I was also visited by two F/A-18 Hornets that were chasing each other from what seemed to be inside the Valley rim. It was a good show.

[bullfrog]

[Smuggler]

I made it through Death Valley and rode on into Las Vegas. I pulled into the Casino parking lot to find my friend Q standing there, awaiting my arrival. He had been on planes for 80% of the last two days and it showed. He had rented a R1200GS from Las Vegas BMW, and we parked the bikes in the Casino’s Garage and caught up on events prior to starting our trip together the next morning.

[Smuggler]

Our route to the Grand Canyon took us over Hoover Dam. They are building a new bridge bypass over Black Canyon, and the construction is pretty impressive. It is difficult to explain the size of this bridge, but it really hits you when you come around the bend in the road and this MASSIVE bridge support dominates your field of view. It seems so big that it caused me to be less impressed with the dam itself. The cars on the right side of the picture near the bridge supports give you an idea of the scale of this bridge.

[Smuggler]

Nearly all of our routes were chosen to avoid interstates and direct routes. We rode a good section of Route 66 to get us close to Grand Canyon. The roads were empty and smooth, and although the clouds were threatening, we escaped the rain the whole day.


The view the other direction:

[Smuggler]

As we turned north on our way to the South rim of the Grand Canyon the weather turned colder. Earlier in the day we had been dealing with low 90’s and now we were in the mid 60’s and falling. High clouds ruined our chances for good sunset pictures at Grand Canyon, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Ledge End Hairy]

Passed through the area the first weekend of April, looks like you had better weather than I, I'm jealous. Here was a photo of the bike in Williams. GREAT REPORT BTW!

[Smuggler]

While riding to the rim the next morning to see if the Sunrise was clearer than the sunset, I noticed a new icon on my bikes display. The temperature was around 35 degrees and a little snow flake was showing on my bike’s dashboard. I took this to mean that I had woken up too early and should go back to bed until the earth heated up more. I did get a few pictures in before returning indoors to warm up.



A little later in the morning from Grand View