14th September Heading Home to Tahoe

We were up early and left by 8 am (7am Pacific time).  It was going to be a long day's ride and we needed to get going.  We headed north towards the Great Basin NP and when we turned in towards the park Mark left us and headed for Reno and his investments.

The main attraction at the Park were the Lehman Caves, an underground wonderland of stalagmites and stalactites. We managed to tag onto a tour just after we arrived.  The caves were well laid out with good paths and lighting.  The special thing about these caves were the ":shield" formations which were discs of limestone that sometimes had overflows that made them look like seaweed.  The shields were formed very slowly by the seeping of water and evaporation in an ever spreading flat plate and were very unusual

Shield Formations in the Lehman Caves

We had lunch in the café and found out there was a big railway museum in Ely, which was the next town, but we really didn't have the time to stop there.  We rode across the plains and mountains of Utah and Nevada on Hwy 50 - "the loneliest highway in America" so you can imagine how deserted the landscape was.  But Alan and I thought this is where Australia has it over America, the Nullarbor Plain or the west Coast of WA is way more lonely than Hwy 50!  It was getting hotter and the sun was sinking in the West and shining in our eyes.  At one place Rafe stopped and pointed out a huge sand dune made by the wind between the mountains.  You could see the tiny dune buggies driving up and down the slopes.



Dune Buggies on a Desert Sand Dune

We had a few short sharp rain showers to keep us busy taking our rain gear on and off again.  We reached a town called Fallon and found more traffic lights on one stretch of road than we had seen on the whole trip.  We were definitely back in suburbia.  We rode up into the hills near Carson City to a town called Virginia City.  It had been an old mining town and had many well preserved old buildings and was used as a location for TV and movies.  Rafe wanted to take us to a saloon called quaintly The Bucket of Blood!   There was a rock-a-billy band playing and we had a welcome beer.

 

Alan and Rafe outside the Bucket of Blood in Virginia City

We left Virginia City on the final leg of our trip down into the valley and then up over Mt Rose to Lake Tahoe.  Rafe was like a Greek bus driver - he rode faster the closer he was to home!  We both took off up the mountain and gave the Harleys a good thrashing.  We stopped at the top of the pass to celebrate our ride and wait for Alan and I noticed that Rafe's bike was making some bad wheezing noises.  It turned out that Rafe's bike was damaged trying to stay ahead of me and he eventually decided to trade it in on a new one.  "Ol' Blue" had had its day!  We rode into the garage together after 562 miles from Beaver. 

Morag and Dianne were in the kitchen preparing some pasta for dinner and tucked in but soon were in bed after 2,700 miles in 9 days and some fantastic scenery with some great blokes.  All in all a memorable trip  - thanks Rafe!

 

Rafe and Dianne our Superb Hosts!



13th September 2013 - Where were all the Gang Going Leaving Telluride and heading home.

We all had breakfast together at Maggies and I was first in the restaurant and ended up with my name on the bill.  This meant I had to pay for everyone, which Steve pointed out with great glee.  I figured that Alan and I had a fair bit of credit on the meals expenses register, so I was happy to pay.  I decided to eat fruit and porridge as I was mildly constipated and later in the morning it did the trick, luckily before we checked out of the hotel.

Steve and Rafe make their goodbyes

Joe and Barry decided to leave the group here and head home.  Steve and Jake decided to split as well as well as Don and Sean.  Next we heard that Dan was heading off to do his own thing.  That left Rafe, Mark, Alan and I on the tour.  The plan had been to head to Mesa Verde but that was ditched and it seemed to be a case of head for home as fast as possible.  There were 3 days left on the itinerary that Rafe had drawn up, but a week on the road seemed to be enough for this group of guys.  They all had busy lives and businesses to run and maybe the weather was getting them down.  They had probably seen all the places before anyway.   Alan and I were up for doing the full tour as we had shelled out big bucks for our Harleys, but Rafe was also keen to get home.

We retraced our route over the mountains to Dolores in clear blue skies.  Other parts of Colorado had had severe flooding with rivers swollen and homes washed away.  We fuelled up and headed back towards Monticello and south to Blanding.  Rafe suggested lunch at Hanksville, but my heart sank when I saw the road sign 122 miles to Hanksville, so lunch would be late and we had had a very early breakfast.  However I soon forgot my stomach as we rode through the most spectacular canyon scenery of our whole trip, on the way to a crossing of the Colorado River.  There were Buttes, Mesas, cliffs and gorges galore all with varied coloured rocks.  Eventually we descended down to the mighty Colorado River and crossed the bowstring arch bridge emblazoned with the graffiti Hayduke Lives.  Rafe explained the significance of this but I forgot to write it down.

Colorado River Bridge

Rafe Alan and Colin on the Colorado Bridge



We spotted a bunch of rafts floating down the river and Rafe told us that Lake Powell just down stream from here usually flooded this valley, but the long drought had dropped the lake level so much the river was flowing.  The recent heavy rains meant that the river water was like liquid mud.

Bunch of rafters relaxing on the river of mud.

I stayed at the river to take some photos while Mark and the others went on to a look out.  I followed and thought a turn-off down to the river was the right place.  It was a steep track with a loose gravel surface and I soon realised that the Harley was going to be impossible to handle.  I just managed to get the bike turned around before it was too late.  I found the guys at the right spot and it gave us a magnificent view along the deep valley and sort of made up for missing the Grand Canyon and this day was probably the most enjoyable of the trip- scenery wise.

 

Rafe, Alan and Mark with the Colorado River spread out below them.

We did have lunch at a roadhouse in Hanksville as Rafe promised.  Over our meal Mark started to talk about his investments.  He had made so much in one investment 10 years ago he was able to retire.  He described it as "his aircraft carrier came in"!  He told us about his latest hot stock in a tech start-up.  He was checking his stock price during the trip and was about to sell.  Rafe suggested we stop to look at the Petroglyphs  just down the road to Torrey.  Petroglyphs are what we call rock art and these were much more recent than the ones that abound in Australia, but interesting none the less.

Petroglyphs at Torrey - look like space men!

Just as we got ready to leave we were hit by a heavy thunderstorm.  I suggested that we stop at the Best Western in Torrey and said I would sit in the hot tub with Rafe, but he decided with Mark to head on for Beaver in Utah.  Utah has north south mountain ridges and riding west  is difficult. we planned a route over the mountains that was most direct called Route 153.  After 10 miles we saw a sign that it was dirt for the next 50 miles and not suitable for traffic in wet weather.  Given the high chance of more rain we doubled back and took a longer Route 21 and arrived in Beaver pretty tired after another 500 mile day.    The motel was cheap and we used the nearby restaurant.  Rafe asked the waitress what her pay rate was and it was only $2.20/hr and she relied on tips to make a decent wage.  Different States have different minimum wages for example California was much higher than Utah.  You need to know this when working out how much to tip in each State.  Makes working at a restaurant a precarious existence.

Mark was going to leave us the next day and Rafe was keen to get home in one day even though it was over 500 miles again.  He seemed to have lost interest in the trip which wasn't surprising as all his friends had gone home.  Alan and I said we were happy to travel on our own and were interested in the Bonneville Salt Flats north of here, but Rafe said he could not leave us as he was our host and felt responsible for our welfare.  So we agreed with the promise of a nice ride around Tahoe the day after we got home.  We were going to stop at the Great Basin NP to have a look at the Lehman Caves. 





12th September 2013 - From the Love Muffin in Moab to Mountain Village at Telluride.

Alan and I were now in the groove with these cats and we got up early to have breakfast with them.  It was at one of Rafe's favourite places called The Love Muffin.  When I got my latte with the milk patterned in they shape of a vulva I knew it was for real!

Dick decided to split along with Billy and he celebrated with the most ridiculous sun glasses in the fashion of Elton John.  There was much back slapping and hugs all round but I was still not sure why they were leaving - maybe it was the weather.  When Steve found out Rafe had not booked anywhere to stay in Telluride, he took charge and after a few calls had us all booked into the New Sheridan, the most expensive place we had stayed on the whole trip.

Dan wished Billy a safe trip home to his girlfriend.

Dick and his Elton John Glasses

Rafe, Jake, Alan and I set off straight after breakfast to return to the Arches NP to go on a walk to see the "Delicate" arch.  We squeezed into the car park which was already full and walked the 1 1/2 miles to the arch across the bare rock ledges.  It was starting to warm up and my camelback came in useful.  The arch was very impressive; almost circular  with a grand view of the mountain through it.  The track to it was along the side of a ravine and was narrow with quite a precipice on the outside.  The Americans seemed to lose their fondness for passing on the left and changed to keep in the inside as we passed them!  We climbed up to a smaller arch after we left and got another good view of this natural wonder.

 Jake and Rafe at the Delicate Arch



Rafe and Alan with the view over the Canyons



The American Tourists walk on the Left!- especially when there a 50 ft drop on the RHS of the track.

We left Moab and headed south to Monticello where I insisted we stop to have a coffee and a snack.  Rafe would have gone on but I suspected that was the last food stop we would have until we got to Telluride.  The storm clouds were building in the South East and rain was imminent.  After we left Monticello we headed East across a wide flat plateau that reminded me of the country around Moree and I felt home-sick for the first time on the trip.  We were planning to stop at Dolores for lunch but Rafe wanted to press on to avoid the storm.  The rest of the gang had stopped in Dolores and were finishing their lunch when we rode through town.  Steve suddenly appeared and he took off with Jake.  Rafe, Alan and I waited while I called Morag back in Melbourne before she left to fly into LA.  She was typically very tired because she had tried to cram in lots of things before she left and had been up late. We headed off over the mountains just ahead of the storm and gave the Harleys a bit of stick (even Alan) to arrive dry in Telluride.

The Telluride Valley

The main street of Telluride looked like a Holywood movie set all ready for John Wayne to ride down and tie up his horse at the local saloon.  The dramatic backdrop of the peaks of the Colorado mountains emphasised the original period buildings.  There was a Blues festival in town and a free concert was happening later that afternoon, but it started to rain so that was off the agenda..

Rafe outside the Sheridan Hotel wishing he was 30 years younger

Alan and I were so hungry from Rafe's storm avoiding (and eating avoiding) tactics that we dumped our stuff in our room and headed out to find something to eat.  I visited the Post Office and had to wait the obligatory 20 minutes while the servers had long chats with the customers.  This is standard practice at US Post Offices - there has to be a 20 minute wait to be served!  We had a very nice sandwich and coffee at a trendy little coffee shop.  They even could make a half decent latte. 

After our late lunch we checked out the shops on Main St and they were all very "boutique" in fact the whole of Telluride screamed "money".  we found out later that was only the half of it.  We went back to hotel bar to catch up with others.  We were very impressed by the Nice Sort behind the bar especially the tight leather pants she was wearing.  It turned out the bar was run by an bloke from Bankstown in Sydney!





Courthouse in Telluride waiting for Judge Dread  (is that a Union Jack on the left!!)

 

We found it difficult to get into a restaurant but Steve worked his magic.  There were a lot of visitors in town for the Blues festival.  After we had finished there was a discussion about how we were sharing the restaurant bills.  We had been dividing the total by the number of us there, but some thought this was unfair.  We weren't sure if it was directed at Alan and I because we didn't stint ourselves with the meals including wine and desert and got good value from the bill sharing.  Some like Rafe would only eat a salad and pay $40 for it.  In the end we decided to work out what the cost of each person's meal was and base the sharing of costs on that plus the large obligatory tip.  A large rotund gentleman appeared and offered to take our cash to the till, but he seemed a bit suspect to me so I followed him just to make sure he didn't walk out the door - he didn't. 

Guess what  - its been raining and there's snow on those mountains

After the meal Rafe suggested we take a ride on the Gondola up to Mountain Village.  This was a huge condominium development on the mountain top above Telluride with its own golf courses and shops and restaurants that put on a free Gondola service to try and attract the punters from down in the valley.  The Gondola ride was in darkness and we could see the lights of Telluride spread out below us.  Mountain Village was unreal - with beautiful buildings, squares, shops all arranged over the natural slopes.  We saw some people sitting around a brazier and we went over for a chat.  Two were Urologists and two retired and obviously loaded.  Rafe told us these sort of Condo's were springing up all over the USA at the choicest spots for the super rich.  There were plenty of Lear Jets at the airport to ferry the millionaires into their exclusive environment!  Little did we know that Morag had gone with Dianne to a protest meeting about a similar development proposed at Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe.

Alan and I finished off the evening by having a coffee at the Hotel and checking out the Nice Sorts.  Two in particular were chatting in the bar.  The more pneumatic of the ladies was wearing the same hat that Alan wore - a sort of travelling trilby you may notice he wears in every bloody photograph.  Despite my encouragement that he had the perfect excuse for a pick-up line he declined the opportunity.  There were lots of Nice Sorts in Telluride - no doubt attracted by the money and we didn't cut the mustard in that regard.



11th September 2013 - Moab and the Arches National Park - oh and more rain!!

We got up early to have breakfast with the gang.  Rafe, Joe and Billy had one last soak in the hot tub and then we packed up and left.  The route we had planned via Hanksville was flooded by the overnight rain so we back tracked through Torrey and onto Route 72. 

Steve discusses the route with Don, Rafe and Billy - like I can't stand anymore rain!

Joe has to be the only person in the world that polishes his bike in the rain

Billy gets ready for the worst, but it was worse than that!

The rain had stopped for a while, but as we climbed up to another 10,000 ft pass it came back with a vengeance. Visibility was reduced to 100 yards and my goggles fogged up as did Alan's visor and the other guys too.  We were struggling down the other side of the pass when a couple of motorcycles came steaming past at a great rate of knots.  They were riding a KTM and a BMW GS and they obviously found it easier to handle the conditions than we did.

We got onto our first Interstate Hwy 70 and the sun came out, but the road was still wet and the spray from the trucks kept us on our toes.  The freeway wound through beautiful Canyon Country of Colorado and we turned off past the Arches NP into Moab.  We had lunch in a restaurant that had a fine spray of water misting down the walls - a common way to cool buildings in the hottest places.  The gang all arrived and we headed off to our accommodation at the Rustic Inn. 

Rafe, Billy, Alan and I rode back to the Arches NP to have a look around.  Rafe suggested a walk that started with a deep chasm and then across a wide sandy meadow to a rock arch.  Rafe reminded us that we should always stick to the paths because the soils were very ancient and very sensitive to foot traffic.  We saw a frog hopping through the sand but I don't think it caused as much damage as my size 12's.

Rock formations in Arches NP



Colin, Billy and Alan stand under an Arch



Rafe sent a photo of Billy to his new girlfriend the result of which was a demand for him to return forthwith, which he did the next day!  Alan and I were amazed as there was no way we'd cut a bike trip short just because our womenfolk asked us to come home.  Billy explained that he needed to keep this relationship strong ( as some previous ones had not).  We rode back to the motel and enjoyed the empty roads through the park - which had some weird shaped rocks that seemed to defy gravity.  There was also an amazing cloud formation that looked like an arch in the sky.

This called the Balancing Rock



A cloud arch

The gang were enjoying cocktails prepared by Joe and were all half pissed.  We had dinner at McStiffs and in conversation Barry explained US politics, which is a mystery to us Aussies.  He told us that there are a few "hot button" issues like abortion, gun control, socialised medicine and big government that will always produce a predictable voting pattern in certain States.  It ended up that the average voter would often decide his vote on these issues and then end up with a party that had policies that were definitely not in his own interests on things like jobs, control of banks etc..

Sean and Jake wanted to kick on - being young guys, so Alan, Don and I went off in search of a bar.  We found Jacki D's and we played pool and drank shots of whiskey for an hour.  Jake had studied film at college and knew Jean Luc Goddard the French auteur which impressed me if no-one else!  The "old folks" left Sean and Jake and headed home to bed.  I flicked on the TV back in our room and watched a doco about 9/11 - which is really 11th Sept.  It was an assembly of home videos taken from the street of the events leading up to, during and after the collapse of the WTC towers and was amazing and really portrayed the horror of what happened in a very visceral way. 



10th September 2013 - Hot Tub at Torrey and a lot of Rain

Both of our alarms went off at 6:30 so we woke in time to share breakfast with the rest of the gang.  The Grand Canyon was completely filled with mist and visibility was even worse than the day before.  We were scheduled to leave at 9 am Arizona time which was 10 am Utah time so it was a late start.  Our tactic of sticking close to Rafe proved well founded as he actually took off at 8:45 but we were ready, which was not the case for Steve and he complained loudly when he finally caught up with us!

The weather was still a little "iffy" as we headed north to Bryce Canyon.  We all agreed to have lunch at Ruby's at the entrance of Bryce Canyon NP, but to then head on to Torrey over Boulder mountain including a few high 10,000 ft passes.  This was along Route 12, a favourite with the American riders, however the rain was getting heavier and things looked ominous up on the high passes..

Ruby's is named after the original owners of Bryce Canyon.  By the time we got there it was teeming and the place was full of wet tourists including a fair few bikers.  The staff took it all in their stride and we soon found a table and had food on it.  We got back into our wets and headed off down Route 12.  The rain got steadily worse until we could hardly see where we were going at the top of the pass.  Then it suddenly brightened and the sun came out.  We all stopped in the sunshine at a lookout over what was known as Escalente and took off all our rain gear once more.

View over Escalente

Joe , Dan, Rafe, Al, Dick and Mark in a buoyant mood

 

Dick shows Sean the Hokey Pokey while Billy ties his hair

Rafe suggested that we take a short hike in an nearby park but this was another Holy Person incident for when we got there the hike was 3 miles not 1 mile and we hadn't enough time.

Alan, Rafe, Colin, Don and Sean miss out on the hike

So we set off for Torrey but after 10 miles the sky darkened and the rain came back and so did our rain gear.  We climbed up to Boulder Pass at 9,600 ft (the highest mountain in Australia; Mt Kosciusko is only 6,600 ft high).  The rain got heavier and heavier and most of us had to stop to clear misted goggles.  Rafe's were so bad he finished the ride without them.  When Alan and I stripped off in our room I found that despite the downpour I was dry inside my Dainese jacket; even some postcards in an inside pocket were unharmed much to my surprise.

We were staying at a large Best Western Motel that was obviously a favourite of Rafe's and we soon found out why.  Rafe, Joe and Dick made a beeline for the Hot Tub! In the pouring rain!  Alan and I decided to do a bit of washing in the motel laundry.  It wasn't the only time the guys used the Hot Tub, it was a very popular spot.

Joe, Rafe and Dick enjoy the Hot Tub in the rain, the highlight of the trip for them

We had dinner at the restaurant across the road and watched a fine sunset over the hills behind the motel.  I found out that Dan actually knew what a Honda RC30 was so he got the full works from me on the wonders of Honda's finest road bike ever and so he avoided me for the rest of the trip!  The weather prediction for the next day was dire and I got several flood warning texts on my phone during the night.

9th September 2013 - Grand Canyon North Rim (in the mist)

My alarm didn't go off as planned and we missed breakfast again.  No-one seemed inclined to knock on our door if we weren't around but I suppose it was in keeping with the free and easy bunch of guys we were with.  However, we decided to go to a little local café recommended by Rafe for our breakfast and had Belgian Waffles with blueberries and maple syrup which were delicious.  But the biggest treat was the fact that they had a Barista who could make a proper latte!  All over N America I have tried to get a decent latte and failed miserably: American seem to regard lattes as coffee flavoured milk not milk flavoured coffee.

I called the motel at Caliente and asked them to post my converter plug back to Lake Tahoe, which they did.  I wanted to pay the postage, but what they asked for was a good review on the Web!  For now I bought a charger adapter for my phone and used that.  I could use another US Cable to charge my camera battery.



Preparing our trusty steeds at Springdale

Some of the party took off for the Zion NP for a hike in the morning and were back a 11 am so we waited for them.   When Rafe got back we attached ourselves to his back wheel so we wouldn't get lost.  That was a tactic we used for the rest of the trip given that the others were inclined to disappear (at 70 or 80) at the drop of a hat!

We headed back to the park visitor centre but took off up a side valley behind and through a tunnel that was controlled as one way traffic only.  We heard the story later that Mark, Barry and a few others fell foul of an over zealous NP official ( a woman of course in her Smokey the Bear hat) and some how Mark had behaved in a way she considered harassment.  It took the peace making abilities of a Highway Patrolman to sort out the impasse.

As we got to the top of the plateau I felt a slight sting on my right arm and stopped to shake out a dead bee.  It wasn't uncomfortable at the time, but later it was to prove a big problem.  During our rides with Rafe he would often exclaim about the natural wonders of the USA to which Alan and I would reply that we had something similar in Australia.  This would make Rafe a little peeved and he was emphatic that we wouldn't be able to say that about the Grand Canyon!  We stopped at the look-out at Fredonia to marvel at the view of the broad plateau we had just crossed.  There were a few stalls selling Native Indian jewellery.  I was interested in buying and found a nice piece for Morag and struck up a conversation with the lady selling the stuff.    I happened to mention my difficulty sleeping and she recommended a juniper bead necklace which I bought and wore for the rest of the trip and my sleep patterns did improve.  While admiring the view we were approached by a couple of Nice Sorts and Rafe immediately took an interest in where they were traveling to and provided some advice.  Alan as usual tried his old and worn out pick up lines and was firmly rebuffed.



Alan gives directions while Rafe seems mesmerised by the Nice Sort



We had started the day in warm sunshine but as we headed south east the clouds rolled in and rain started and the last 40 miles into the Grand Canyon was in steady rain.  The North Rim resort was run by the NP and was in the truly grand style like Yosemite and Glacier NP.  Rafe had pre-booked 7 cabins for us all but they weren't available until 4 pm.  So we had lunch in the magnificent dining room of the main lodge with very high ceilings and huge picture windows overlooking the Grand Canyon.  The GC is truly amazing as it is very wide and very deep sort of like the super pit in Kalgoorlie on steroids.  You cant even see the bottom.  There was a bit of mist about because of the rain, but it cleared up during our lunch. We took a walk after lunch along a ridge line outside the lodge and the views were spectacular.  Billy went off on a hike and got half way down to the floor of the canyon but decided to come back before it got too late. Many use mules to trek down to the floor but we didn't have enough time for that.  Later it closed in again and we saw no more of the Grand Canyon up to when we left the next day which was a bit disappointing.

Looking towards the South Rim from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon



We finally got access to our rooms and dumped our gear and had a shower.  They were cute little log cabins but had obviously been built decades ago and were in need of a facelift.  My arm was now really starting to worry me (but not anyone else!).  I was having an allergic reaction to the bee sting and my arm had swollen up and the swelling was slowly spreading up and down my arm.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to ride the bike the next day.   I went to the first aid centre but they told me the medical team were all engaged in the aftermath of a car roll-over that had injured the occupants badly.  They advised that I apply cortisone cream and ice packs and that seemed to stop the swelling getting any worse.

Colin feels sorry for himself with a swollen arm from a bee sting





We had dinner in the main dining room and enjoyed some Californian wine with our meal.  Steve didn't think much of our choice or the meal, but I thought it was OK.  It rained all night and I could hear it hitting the roof of our cabin.  That and my throbbing arm kept me awake most of the night.  Not much like fun but the weather was going to get worse the next day!



8th September 2013 - Crisis Talks to go South or North but we decide to head for Canyon Country as Planned.

Alan and I slept soundly with the help of our ear plugs. When we stuck our heads out of the door it was so quiet we  thought everyone else was still in bed.  Mistake.  These guys liked to get up early and get going.  We met them coming back from the Brandin Iron after they had finished their breakfast.  The weather forecast was not good the way we were heading and some in the party wanted to abandon Rafe's carefully planned trip and head north to Yellowstone.  Rafe didn't like the Yellowstone option because it would involve 500 miles of Freeway, which he hated but others didn't want to ride in the rain.  There was also the small problem that Rafe had pre-paid for the accommodation on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and planned to meet Steve and his son Jake at the next town on the route.  We only heard it second hand, but apparently the discussion was heated over the eggs and hash browns and Rafe's powers of persuasion were put to the test.  The ride was nearly blown apart on the second day but in the end we stuck together.

Alan and I had a quick breakfast and rushed back to the Mid Way to pack up before the gang all shot off, as they were wont to do.  In the rush I left my US plug adaptor in the bedroom and it would be more than a week before it was returned to Lake Tahoe.  That meant my camera and phone were on life support and I had to rely on other peoples chargers.  Everyone put on their wet weather gear as we would definitely hit rain that day. I put on some goggles I had fortuitously brought with me and these kept the rain off my glasses.  We rode through steady rain 100 miles to Cedar City.  I kept fairly dry and so did Alan, but I think some of the others were not so lucky.  Fogging of the goggles they liked to wear was a constant risk.  Rafe pulled out these things called "lowers" which stretched over the crash bars in front of the engine and protected his feet.  The others also had them.  Al was the one with the most rudimentary rain gear and I think he would have been keenest to head north!

We stopped for fuel in Cedar City and Dan produced a rainfall radar app on his phone that showed that the rain bands were swinging away from our route so our spirits rose.  We set off for Zion NP along 40 miles of freeway, which was still very wet so we got soaked in the spray from trucks.  We turned off at Kolob Canyon, which was part of the Zion NP.  Rafe asked the rangers what fees we had to pay and thought we had to pay twice - once at Kolob and once at Zion.  This seemed a bit unreasonable, so Joe, who knows Rafe very well went back to check with the rangers.  He came back with a different story and blamed it on  Rafe being a "Holy Person" - meaning not clear on the whole story!  One fee would suffice.  So we all set off to ride through a sub canyon of the main park and it gave us a taste of what was in store in "canyon country".

Kolob Canyon

I discovered an odd thing about the Harleys.  I stopped to take this photograph, but when I opened the pannier my camera was not there!  Then I realised that I didn't recognise the contents of the pannier at all and that it was Alan's bike not mine.  I flagged Alan down and confirmed that our two ignition keys were interchangeable - so much for security.  We headed off in glorious sunshine towards Springdale  at the main entrance to Zion Canyon.  Al nearly dropped his bike on a metal grating but he managed to save it with his boot. Rafe, Barry, Alan and I had some lunch while the rest of the Gang searched for a bar that would have the "game" on TV.  It was the first NFL game of the season between San Francisco 49er's and the Green Bay Packers and they all supported the 49er's.  Alan's son-in-law Rob and daughter Samantha had managed to get tickets for the game and where there, which made all the others very jealous.  Rob has been a fan of the 49er's for years.

Alan and Colin in Zion Canyon

Rafe might have been interested in seeing the Game, but Alan and I weren't so he offered to take us into Zion Canyon, which had to done on a bus from the park entrance.  This was a fairly radical idea for the USA where the car is king, but traffic was getting so bad that it needed a solution  The bus driver ran a running commentary as we drove past the parks high lights.  The original occupants were the Paquita Indians but their culture was swept aside by the Mormons who took over the place and called everything with a religious slant like "the Patriarchs", The Angels Garden" etc..

The tour guide explained why the valley had such steep sides.  The basement rock is mudstone from an ancient seabed.  Later deposits formed a much harder sandstone.  The Virgin River (those pesky Mormons again) cut into the softer mudstone undermining the sandstone walls which fell in huge blocks leaving vertical canyon walls.  Higher up the valley the canyon is all in sandstone and much narrower, in fact it is only as wide as the river and Rafe had trekked down from the head waters in the river bed.  We got off the bus at the Temple of Sinawawa.  We walked up the valley floor until it was blocked by the river.  Rafe invited us to wade across and Alan declined but I agreed.  Rafe of course had the appropriate footwear and open sandal with a grippy sole.  I had my bare feet.  We struck out across the Virgin river about 100m wide at this point and 600mm deep.  There were a selection of walking poles leaning on the canyon wall and I availed myself of one but Rafe went "naked".  The river bed was made up of smooth rounded stones with deeper hollows between and I managed to make it across and back.  Alan watched my every step camera in hand to record me going A over T into the water, but I disappointed him.







Collapse of the Sandstone Walls due to Undermining

Rafe saunters across the Virgin River while Colin is more cautious

Made it!

Mule deer were common and very cute

We got back to the hotel at 7 pm and everyone had already been to dinner to celebrate the 49er's victory.  Steve had joined the group there with his friend Al and son Jake and we ate with them.  Steve ran a couple of restaurants in Nevada.  Al was not coming on the ride, but he had a great collection of motorcycles BMW's, Triumph's etc. and was good fun to talk to.  Steve was what we would call in N Ireland "downright" and I'm glad that he wasn't in on the planning breakfast back in Caliente otherwise we may not have made it to Zion Canyon.

Rafe and Steve



We had a late start the next day, but we put on the alarm in any case so as not to miss breakfast again.  We needn't have bothered because I was up most of the night "punishing the porcelain" due to a reaction to something - some suggested it was the water I had drunk in Rachel.