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.