Arizona Trip 2022 Ride-Report, October 14th-23rd

SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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1,735
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Colorado
As you ride along Hwy-128 you blissfully wind your way through some magnificent landscapes, as you follow the Colorado River towards the town of Moab.

I was happy to be riding this early in the morning, as there was barely any traffic to speak of.


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Fisher Towers.
A popular Hiking/Climbing destination.
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You pass by a number of Campgrounds next to the River on your way to Moab.
I've never camped on the River here, but they are in the back of my mind in case I ever need to have another backup-plan for Camping near Moab.
They are all "FCFS" so finding sites while riding through on a weekend may be tricky.
 

SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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Location
Colorado
I did not stop in Moab, as I had plenty of fuel still and had plenty of miles left to cover.
I pointed to bike south and continued on US Hwy-191

"Church Rock" with the LaSal Mountains in the background.
(I think it looks more like a TeaPot, but it's named Church)
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I stopped in Blanding and grabbed a quick lunch at Subway before continuing on my way.

I ended up stopping for Fuel in Bluff.

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This formation gives the little town of Mexican Hat its name.
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It resembles an upside-down Sombrero.
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Crossing the San Juan River at Mexican Hat.
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The classic "Monument Valley" Images.
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SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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Location
Colorado
I continued south on Hwy-163 to Kayenta Arizona

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West on Hwy-160 and then north on Hwy-98 towards Page.

Once I got to Page, it was here that I attempted to ascertain the location of Cap'n Ron.
I had been in contact with him throughout the day, but the past couple hours I was travelling through an area with very limited cell-signal.
We both use an app called "Glympse", and as long as we are both sharing our location in the app, we both can see each other's location, speed, and direction of travel.

This is a screenshot from the night before.
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I stopped at a pull-off and checked. The app showed he was at the Truckstop just up Hwy-89 near the Utah border.
I stopped to get Fuel at Page and checked again to see if he had moved. The app showed he was now at the little town of Big-Water.
I knew that where we were going there would be little to no cell-signal, and our original plan was to just meet-up at Alstrom Point.
I saw he was ahead of me, and since he had moved on from the Truckstop, I assumed he would beat me out there.

I rode over the Bridge at Glen Canyon Dam, and continued on into Utah to Big-Water, where I would make the turn off pavement for the 25-mile ride out to Alstrom Point.
It is pretty remote, and the road out into that area is parched and dusty. I passed a few groups of SxS drivers on my way.
There are a few water-crossings that you have to negotiate, but only one of them had any water in it.
I kept looking for Ron's tire-tracks in the dust as I rode, but was not seeing them. He is using the same Dunlop Trailmax tires as me so I knew the tread-pattern.

The road was easy so I kept going and figured I would just meet him out there.

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From here the road gets slightly more difficult.
It turns into "two-track" with some sections with deeper sand.

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The last mile or so becomes even more difficult with some rock-ledges that you have to climb.
I walked it first to pick a line, then carefully navigated my heavy beast out onto the "Point"
Once I arrived to the end of the point, as far as you can go, I found only two other people out there. A couple who were camping in a rooftop tent out of their pickup-truck.

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I enjoyed the view for a moment, and checked to see if I had any cell-signal. Amazingly I had a couple bars of service, and I could see that Ron was a couple miles behind me.
Once he arrived we set-up our tents on the rocks, and had some dinner.
We watched a float-plane fly into the Canyon below us, and land on the water. Then watched as it took off again and flew away.


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In case anyone is wondering.........On this day that we were there, the Lake level was 169-feet below "Full Pool". This is what that looks like.
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We sat and enjoyed the Sunset, and enjoyed some drinks long after dark.
While we sat, enjoying the peaceful solitude we were treated to a Fireworks display in the direction of the town of Page off in the distance.
We also could see far-far off in the distance, a line of Thunderstorms to the south.
Looking at weather-radar on my phone it showed to be near Flagstaff, and not moving in our direction.
We relaxed about the possible weather, but it did put on quite a show.

I attempted to take a picture of the Moon and stars, cause the sky was absolutely amazing out there. My iphone doesn't really do that good in low-light.
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I slept pretty darn good. I was tired from the miles I covered on this day.

Map of the Day's ride.

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Stay Tuned!
 
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Sierra1

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Nov 7, 2016
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Location
Joshua TX
When we went out there a few years back, we stayed in Big Water. And then took a trail out probably real close to the one you took. Ended up in Warm Creek, which at the time led to the lake. Of course, we were in the Jeep. When we went, Lone Rock was still surrounded by water. I saw recently that it's now high and dry. :(IMG_0019.JPG
 
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