Day 1
April 23, 2012: Home to McHood Park, AZ
From home we rode to Apache Junction and the Apache Trail Route: 50 miles of twisty pavement and gravel along the northern edges of the Superstition Mountain Wilderness area, past Canyon Lake and through the Ghost Town of Tortilla Flats.
Canyon Lake.
Hedghog in bloom and little forget-me-nots. Nice and sharp but I failed to preen the subject due to the difficulty of just reaching it on the step hillside.
The Roosevelt Lake Bridge. (photo by j)
Lunch stop at Tonto Basin. Good food!
Free camping at McHood Park, five miles south of Winslow. (j)
(j)
Beavertail Spines
Very windy, hence the low pitch, with one end of the tarp tied to my bike.
Day 2
April 24, 2012: McHood Park To Kane Gulch
Scenic overlook in the Little Painted Desert County Park, 13 miles north of Winslow.
We always seem to find something interesting to photograph at the rest stops.
Desert Evening Primrose
(j)
(j)
(j)
Monument Valley
A group of rafters on the San Juan River, near the town of Mexican Hat.
On the Moqui Dugway.
The Moqui Dugway.
On a short hike.
(j)
At day's end we pulled off the road and made camp.
Day's mileage: 301 mi
Day 3
April 25, 2012: Kane Gulch To Torrey UT
An unexpected roadside find.
Lupine and cliff dwellings.
2
Beauty is where you find it. Jenny is always finding things like this. (j)
At Hall's Crossing, we are about to board the ferry that crosses Lake Powell. (j)
On the ferry, talking with two guys from Oregon. (j)
Just starting up the switchbacks on the Burr Trail.
Looking down at the Burr Trail switchbacks.
Flox in Red Canyon.
The Burr Trail comes out of this beautiful box canyon en route to Boulder, Utah. It passes through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Capitol Reef National Park, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument lands.
North of Boulder, Highway 12 climbs to nearly 10,000 feet.
Day's mileage: 178 mi
Day 4
April 26, 2012: Torrey To Moab
More beautiful scenery in Capitol Reef National Park. (j)
(j)
Petroglyphs in Capitol Reef National Park
An official ORV area in the desert. (j)
This interesting convenience store had been blasted out of solid rock.
Bird in a ventilation pipe.
We had this abandoned highway all to ourselves.
On the way to Green River.
That's not rain ahead but the fierce winds of a large and powerful cloud dump. (j)
Lunch stop in Green River.
Day 5
April 27, 2012: Arches NP and White Rim Trail
Landscape Arch in the Arches National Park; Photo by Jenny. I missed seeing this because I was spending the day riding the White Rim Road in nearby Canyonlands National Park. We both agreed that the White Rim would be too much of a challenge for her and her bike. (j)
Navajo arch. (j)
A fellow tourist took this photo of Jenny and Double Arch. (j)
(j)
(j)
(j)
Jenny's bike in Arches National Park. (j)
Meanwhile, my bike on the way to Canyonlands National Park. This is not the White Rim Road, but Potash Road leading to the mine site.
My GPS track along White Rim Road with a Potash start. Moab out and back was 140 miles.
Musselman Arch
The White Rim Road often led along the brink of a deep canyon, requiring careful driving.
Murphy Hogback.
This bike had been dropped before by previous owners, but this was the first time for me. I was going down Hardscrabble when the front tire slipped out from under me (due mainly to the lack of knobby tires). Here I have the bike unloaded and am hoping for someone to come along to help me pick it back up. It is massively heavy! No damage done except for a side mirror snapped off, but this was easily repaired. In another few minutes three guys in a Jeep came along and helped me get rolling again.
Day 6
April 28, 2012: Moab To Show Low
Back together for the ride home. This is Wilson Arch, South of Moab on US 191.
Day 7
April 29, 2012: Show Low To Home
Day's mileage:175 mi