Zion and Bryce, the Desert Again, and Yosemite

We took a day and rode from Mesquite to ride Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. They are both wonderlands. Pictures to come soon.

We rode our bikes up I-15 and took UT Rt. 9 to Zion Park. We hadn't ridden switchbacks like those in Zion since we took a riding course in the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA. You do get up close and personal with the road that takes you to the mile long tunnel through the mountain. There are a couple of "windows" cut into the tunnel wall that offer spectacular views of the nearby mountain side. Coming down the mountain was much easier, but still required 15-20 mph speeds to make some of the curves.

We rode on to rt. 89 north to rt. 12 west to rt. 63 and into Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce roads are simple and straight away in comparison to Zion, with many pull-offs to see the wonders of the canyon. The rock formations like Natural Bridge are massive, but you feel you can almost reach out and touch them (200 yards away :). At about mile marker 8, there a "U" curve that was a little too tricky for a band of riders. As far as we could tell from the ambulance and flatbed, there were 2-3 bikes involved in a crash. Coming back through that same curve, I was going 24 mph and had to scrub-off some speed in order to avoid laying the bike over to much to make the curve. The curve should be marked 20 mph or less for safety sake.

We rode back the same route through Zion. We missed out reservation for dinner at the lodge and instead, took the advice of a couple of riders familiar with the area and had dinner in Springdale. We then rode back to Mesquite around 7:30 PM. the desert heat was still there, but not as hot as when we arrived the day before at 3:30 PM. Even thought it was after late, the air was still warm and Lil Doc and I were washed out and a bit dehydrated by the time we got back to our room. Still getting used to riding the deserts that continually demand your respect.

The next day, we rented a car and drove into Las Vegas. It was the first time there for Lil Doc and the second time for me (over 40 years ago). Needless to say, we were mesmerised with all the eye candy and the shear confidence of the place. We go there at noon and when we left around 11:0 PM, there were thousands of people walking the streets.

We took the next day to rest and the following day at 6:00 AM we were on the road to California. We took NV Rt. 95 north through the the desert to Tonopah, NV. The rise in altitude was a life saver. Just as the day began to really heat up in the high 90's an above, we rose almost 4,000 feet loosing 3-5 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet. We passed through Goldfield, NV, that was a blast form the past. It should have been a ghost town, but looked like it would be quite a place on a Saturday night. We left Tonopah ahead of schedule so we rode on to Benton, Ca. We stopped at a local (and only) cafe in town. It was a treasure. It's run by the local Uteute indian tribe and everyone was wonderful, including the kids. Lil Doc had a great chile cup and I had a slice of cherry pie and coffee. The cafe was right out of the 1950's. The counter ladies were straight forward with the adults and differentail and kind to the kids. Stop there next time you're through for a top-off and a look at small town life as it should be.

We made it to Lee Vining after riding through a short rain. The water brought out the scents that the high desert heat traps. It was a mixture of sand and creosote bush. Everything turned a dark brown. In Lee Vining we stayed the night and the next morning crossed over Tioga Pass in Yosemite. The gods were still favoring us with extraordinary weather. The sky had a few stray clouds and the temperature only dropped a bit at 9,000 plus feet altitude. We rode back down the mountains and into the heat of the valley. Signs everywhere for cheeries and strawberries but we had no time to stop wanting to make Palo Alto before 6:00 PM, which we did. The wind was pretty strong around Lawrence-Livermore, but calmed down a bit after a while. We did hit the cool air of the peninsula that had us pulling over for shirts and jackets at the Dmbarton Bridge. In a few days, we'll be heading for Alaska and very cool weather.