Spring ride through the Southwest US

[macgart]

Since I've been out of work for the past several months, I thought I'd go for a ride to escape the cold Colorado weather.  I had my bike prepped after doing an extensive service and some mods over the winter so all I needed was clear roads to get out of the mountains.  

An opportunity presented itself in mid-March, so I pounced.  Load the bike and haul ass south.  Moab was the first stop.  I've been there many, many times so I just spent the night and continued south.  It was not very warm in Moab in March anyway.  

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I made the Moki Dugway my first destination for sight-seeing.  The Dugway is a road cut into the side of a cliff to allow access from the mesa to the valley below.  I believe it was first used for mining access.  Anyway, it is a short but fun ride with great views.

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The next stop was at Goosenecks State Park.  The goosenecks refer to a series of 180 degree turns that the river takes.  There is a really nice viewpoint overlooking the river.  I had been told that there was nice camping here as well.  Not!  Just a restroom and some barren ground with a couple of picnic tables.  

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I ended up spending the night in Prescott, AZ to meet some friends for dinner.  I followed Oak Creek Canyon south from Flagstaff through Sedona but bypassed Jerome this time.  Nice riding still.

I passed by Mexican Hat along the way.

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And Monument Valley

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My next top was to meet some friends in Quartzite, AZ and head up to Lake Mead just south of Las Vegas.  Let me just take a moment to recommend the ride from Prescott to Congress.  The canyon is a real hoot and the traffic is not too bad.  Quartzite is a winter RV haven in the desert, so there are literally thousands of RV there during the winter months.  They also have a huge gem and stone meet that draws even more people.  If you're into rocks, geodes, etc, it's the place to be.

Lake Mead, near Government Wash
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A ride across Hoover Dam.  The new bridge spanning the gorge is coming along nicely.  

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Hoover Dam
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A little ride in the Arizona desert.  Just gorgeous!  
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My buddy Mark on his KTM 950A
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We took a trip up to St. George, UT to pick up another buddy on his KTM 990A.  So we took the back way along the Old Hwy 91.
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It was a cool but nice ride up and back.  

We all did a few rides around Lake Mead then headed out to Vegas baby!

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As you know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, so not many pics!

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More to come

[macgart]

Due to some family issues, I had to detour to Phoenix, AZ for a bit.  So I was limited to weekend adventuring for a while.  I stumbled upon the Apache Trail loop that goes past (duh) Apache Lake and Roosevelt Reservoir.  
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The desert was really green and blooming from all the winter rain.
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Tigger hiding in the verge
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Trail continues through the valley
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You can see the road following the contours of the mountainside
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Beautiful big bike roads
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Roosevelt Res. Dam
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I detoured off the Apache Trail and headed north along AZ 288 towards the town of Young, AZ.  
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After a bit of nice twisties, the road turns to dirt
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Near the summit of one of the passes, I spotted a rough looking road heading to the summit of McFadden Peak.  There is a fire look-out tower at the top.  Better check it out.
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View from the summit
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Once I got to Young, I saw another side road that led off into the forest.  Well, what's a guy to do?  Follow it!
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Tiggers don't like sand!
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Unfortunately, my gps does not show locked gates!  Dooh!
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Detour time again.  My initial plan was to ride the Rim Trail above Payson, AZ, but being an AZ noob, I didn't realize the altitude and just how cold and wet it would be up there.  I hit pavement again near the town of Christoper at the intersection of AZ 260.  It was way past lunch, so I ended up riding about 20 miles west into Payson for lunch and map time.

It was way too early to camp, so I got the bright idea to head towards Alpine so I could ride the Devil's Highway (AZ 191).  Stymied again.  All the camping I found along the way was still snowed in!  I had to hotel it in Show Low.  It was damned cold up at 8,000+ feet.

I figured I could take secondary roads to pick up the 191.  Wrong again!  The roads rose to over 9,000' and back into snow.  COLD!!!
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And of course, I'd left my heated gear at base camp.
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Of course
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So it was the 260 to Edgar and south on 191.  Also very high and cold.  The 191 is a great ride, something like 400 turns in a span of 50 miles.  A good portion of it is posed at 15-25 mph.  Virtually no guard rails and some big penalty points for screwing up.  So, sorry no pics of that section of road.  

Here's a link that describes it much better than I can

http://excessivelocity.blogspot.com/2009/05/arizona-191-old-666-devils-highway.html

Once down in the valley I hit the town of Safford.  Very warm down here and a nice view of the Pedregosa Mountains.
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More to come...

[macgart]

I next headed up through Cave Creek (just north of Phoenix) and through Bloody Basin.  This is an excellent big bike ride.  Great scenery and low difficulty level.  Apparently, Bloody Basin gets it's name from the red rock formations and not from big bike riders crashing all over the place.
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The road out of Cave Creek is interspersed dirt and pavement for several miles.  There are numerous campgrounds along the way as well.  Then it opens up to Arizona backcountry.  
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Bloody Basin is part of the Great Western Trail and is more challenging than the Cave Creek portion.  The only people I encountered were some 4x4 guys.
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The road climbs over a couple of ridges with lots of tight switchbacks and washboard.  Great fun on a big bike!  There are several miles of this fun stuff.  Sorry, I didn't stop much for photos.  Obviously, I often ride alone.
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I also like to take pictures of my bike.

My next destination was Tucson.  There were several things that attracted me to Tucson, the top being the Titan Missile Museum.  I like gadgets and old military stuff.  The museum and tour were well worth the trip.  

Some of you may know a lot more that I about this type of equipment.  If so please offer comments.  I just took a tour, so I am no expert, hell, I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn Express.

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1950's tech control room
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Don't push that button!

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The place was supported by shock absorbers in case of attack
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Huge steel and concrete blast door
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Missile hatch cover
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Da Bomb
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Motion sensor security devices
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Rocket Engine
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Comm Antenna
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Then it was off to the Pima Air & Space Museum.  If you're an airplane buff, check it out.
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F-4 Corsair; proving that given enough power, even a brick can fly
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We can't forget the whirlybirds
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SR-71 Blackbird
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There's tons to see there.

From there it was off to Gates Pass for camping
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It is a short but fun pass.  Camping was cheap and the site was nice.

View from camp
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Sunset shots
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More to come...

[macgart]

The next leg was a trip to California for Mother's Day weekend.  Not a lot of pics to share from that trip, unless someone wants pics of L.A. bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Let me just say, lane splitting with panniers is pretty freaky at first.  It was just a quick thousand mile out and back trip.  

One mildly exciting thing happened though.  I was cruising along with the flow of traffic on the 605 freeway at about 90 mph (really, that's the way they roll in CA) in moderately heavy traffic.  I could smell burning rubber, so I instinctively thought someone had blown a tire.  As I was looking around for the source, a big hunk of semi tire skips off the car in front of me and slams into my left arm and mirror.  Fortunately, I was wearing an armored jacket and heavy gloves.  That hurt!  

I usually hate to drive in L.A. traffic, but on the Tiger, it was a breeze.

Here's a few pics from the weekend

I'm the galoot on the left
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My good friend Don.  They say all the best nuts come from California
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some pics of L.A.
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My family at a Dodger game
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My boy hard at work
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The food at Ginger Grass
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The family
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Next it was off to the Grand Canyon to visit some friends who are working for the summer there.

I left Phoenix and headed out to Payson then up past Lake Mary and Mormon Lake to get to Flagstaff.  This was a really nice ride, the pavement is great and the views spectacular.  Sorry, no pics, I was in a rush to meet my friends in Flagstaff.

Grand Canyon
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A ranger hut on the Bright Angel Trail
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Grand Canyon Village
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View from "The Abyss" viewpoint
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My friends geocaching
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Hermit's Rest
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Famous Fireplace
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Bright Angel Canyon
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The Battleship Formation
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Hopi House
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Changing light in the canyon
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Geological Fireplace
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Famous hotel where Teddy Roosevelt once stayed
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Some sunset shots
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(http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wcFshltGWnEIOPkWM_rOaw?feat=embedwebsite)

(http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Dg4AS5ZWLCDDUNQZ0Dq3xw?feat=embedwebsite)

(http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wgj5bD2qgxipsY-ADANgMQ?feat=embedwebsite)

(http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wQFXecSNcgLvd6CvIaPzig?feat=embedwebsite)

From the Grand Canyon it was just a long slog home.  It was time to go home for a short bit.  I managed to get in about 6,000 miles on the trip.  The bike was great.  I did have to replace chain and sprockets, but that was needed anyway before the trip.  I can say that the Spencer Motocare seat mod was worth every penny.  

I hope everyone enjoys the photos.  I'm just a point and shoot guy but I do like to take them.

[Mustang]

Excellent photos for "point and shoot"  hehehe

[zadok_oz]

Magic trip. Great pics. :D

[Geoff D]

Superb... I would love to come on one of your rides...

[macgart]

I have a couple of spots on my lens that I can't remove.  Might be time for a new camera.  I currently have an older Nikon Coolpix, if I ever go back to work I may look at the Lumix, they are supposed to be really nice for a P&S.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the photos.  I'm getting a bit better at actually stopping to take photos instead of just slowing down and shooting from the bike.  :shock:   I missed a lot of great opportunities be being in a rush.

[KuzzinKenny]

     

What a trip !! thanx for sharin !!  

i just went a funny shade of GREEN !!  :)

KK

[macgart]

Probably the same shade of green I turn looking at pictures of Scotland.

[Sin_Tiger]

:shock: thanks    words fail me

[Nick Calne]

Brilliant stuff.  Thanks for posting.  I dream of riding through terrain like that.  Must be amazing.

[Timbox2]

awesome mate, thanks for sharing

[HappyMan]

Stunning!  I'm always amazed at how much better other people's photos are than mine.....Thanks for sharing.  Looked like an awesome trip.

[macgart]

Thanks to everyone for the great comments.  It is easy to forget that what is commonplace for one person is completely new for another.  

I'm glad that everyone has enjoyed the photos.