14 days, 9 states, 4K miles, 1 sore butt, Priceless

[mikeli1303]

Left my Home town of Bakersfield on July 12 at 0530 hours on the first day of my solo ride to the BMW moa rally in Gillette Wy. Not much to talk about pretty much slabbed the ride from Bako to Las Vegas on Highways 58 and I 15 first stop Was Virgin River Casino



Saw this sign and had to have a cool one


After a little cooling off I was off again and was making my way towards Zion. Had stopped and spoke to a few locals to inquire as to a good camp site.

The directed me to this place


It looked real nice at first, High altitude fresh air, but then this came along

This was not just a dark cloud, It was a serious thunderhead, spewing lightning and .


So I left hastly, and it followed me


I hurried back from hence I came and managed a few pics on the way down


and this


I finally made it to my camp here along the river


for those who don't believe


I then sat by my river and enjoyed then end of a 500 mile day


The next day I entered the Park proper


I had seen photos of this park my whole life, and still I was not prepared for what i saw. Believe me when I say photos do not do it justice one can not achieve the depth and dimension, but I will try.




I was then off to Bryce Canyon


Highway 12 in Utah is one heck of a road, Strongly reccomended


So here we are in Bryce Canyon




And the road running through Bryce


A roadside stop


After I left Bryce Canyon I started to climb over a pass which was loaded with Aspens


This was still Highway 12 which thank god was higher in elevation which helped to cool things off.


The road led me to Capitol Reef which was truly awe inspiring, but was too damn hot at 105 degrees to stop and take a pic. So off I went to Cortez Colorado where I would call it a day, but not after riding by parts of Lake Powell


Day 3 would bring some great Riding and really cool pics, as I rode the Million Dollar highway or Hwy 550 from Durango north to Montrose.


When I got to Durango, I was shocked at what a tourist trap it was and quickly bailed North to Silverton


This was much nicer, small little town, cool little shops, much slower paced and surrounded by big mountains


I even met some other riders from California on the road


Next I was off to Ouray, which was even a sweeter place


This was a really pretty town as you can see, excuse my ugly mug


So as I'm taking pictures of this beautiful little town I look down and see this guy climbing this rock face.


Then I hear him scream and he falls to his death

Well That's what I thought, He was there, then he was gone. And he screamed on the way down. But then I heard him laughing and could see his safety line.

Thank God JAFO28 was not running that rig.

That day I continued riding through Montrose, Gunnison and spent the night in Salida Colo.

Boy the things are time consuming, I don't know how you all do it. But I will continue with more later...

Oh and by the way I was advertising for the Pashnit riders

[demenshea]

Great trip Mike! I really love the stormy sky shots!

I wish i could convince myself to do some moto-camping, but i truly believe that it really isn't the safest way for a solo female rider to overnight. I suppose a good self-defense class could assist.

Anyway, thanks for the lovely shots of some mighty fine country. Utah is on my list of "must see" places. I can hardly wait to see what else you have in the offering!

[MrZero]

Originally Posted by demenshea

Great trip Mike! I really love the stormy sky shots!

I wish i could convince myself to do some moto-camping, but i truly believe that it really isn't the safest way for a solo female rider to overnight. I suppose a good self-defense class could assist.

Anyway, thanks for the lovely shots of some mighty fine country. Utah is on my list of "must see" places. I can hardly wait to see what else you have in the offering!

Donna, learn how to shoot (see www.suarezinternational.com), get a Utah Carry Concealed Weapon (CCW) license, and carry in most states (except California and a few others). It'll give great confidence IMHO!

[motorrad]

Nice Mike. Experiencing Zion by motorcycle, as Utah in general, is one of those must do destination rides. Colorado is next on the longer adventure ride list.

[Sbyllek]

Originally Posted by mikeli1303

Boy the things are time consuming, I don't know how you all do it. But I will continue with more later...

Attachment 76042

I sure hope so.
Thoroughly enjoying your ride so far!!!

[eye.surgeon]

Looks like a great start to an epic ride. Looking forward to more...

[mikeli1303]

The next day I had my choice of routes, either Leadville or the road to Aspen via Independance pass. Most folks I spoke with said I should do the Independance pass route.. So off I went.



This lake was at the start of my journey up the pass. There were so many photo opportunities it was hard to ride. On the Bike off the Bike,digging the camera out of my tank bag. Then comes the dilemma, do I shoot or ride? I tried to do a little of both.



I'm not much of a camera man I tried stiching several photos together to give a wide shot, but I'm still learning.



This was my first ascent



Looking down the hill from where I had come

Finally making it to the top



As you can see at 12 K there was still snow all around,sure would not want to be here in the winter.



My GPS says it all



I rode through Aspen a very nice community very heavy on the dollar, obviously for the very rich, as I passed the airport I saw several private jets, several Gulf streams and business jets just line up like cord wood. Gas was over $5 a gallon

I didnt stop to take any pics it was also very upity and did not appeal to me.

I finally made it to Gillette Wy. and met my buddie Dustin, this is Dustin...



Dustin had already been on the road for over 2 weeks and had been to the east coast and back and met me at the rally.

This tent city would be our home for the next 4 days.

Gillette is only about 100 miles from the Black hills of South Dakota, so you guessed it why not go.



Our first stop was the Chief Crazy Horse Memorial which is still a work in progress and has been going on since 1947. No public monies have been used for this project



Here is Dustin on his GSA on the Needles Highway going to Mt Rushmore.



This is why it is called the Needles Highway



You will find several of these small tunnels carved right through the rock on the Needle Highway. They are only big enough for one car to pass





Can't quite explain the feeling you get when you round a bend in the road and see this...





Rushmore is more than a Granite mountain,it is but a symbol of American resolve.



of course we had to add some faces to the mountain two other famous Americans



Me trying to look presidential, somehow I don't think it worked for me.

After Rushmore, Dustin and I then rode to Deadwood and had dinner just down the street from where Wild Bill was gun down. There is a little exibit and museum that is free to the public.

OK, whew... Next will be riding to Montana and the Beartooth Pass and enter Yellowstone from the North.

[winger ed]

Good one, Mike! Great pics, too. Keep it coming. You ARE a camera-man.

[Chocoholic]

Like you said, it is priceless. Keep the pixs coming. Can't wait to see more of your adventure.

[mikeli1303]

As we left Gillette I saw this Horrific scene, A perfectly good bike loaded on a trailer. It must have a been a chore to load that thing up while it was kicking and screaming



We rode from Gillette west to Sheridan and took some side roads to get to the Beartooth high or route 212. It's kinda going out of your way, but oh boy was the reward worth it.



My first moon landing



We just kept riding, and kept climbing and climbing, you can see the road we came in on way down there...



We must have stopped 15 times just to look and take pics, this was awesome



If you look way past the switch back, you'll see the road



Me looking cool





Saw this little predator, he tried to strongarm Dustin for his camera, Dustin was a little shook up by the whole event



The route was filled with wild flowers



you are looking at the scene of the attempt robbery to Dustin, but from about 500 feet higher



Dustin stopping to take a quick pic



Once we got above 10,000 feet things sorted to flatten out into a large Mesa and we saw this



and this



Talk about pristine mountain lakes, I'm sure you could drink the water



Taking it all in





The top of Beartooth Pass



My model Dustin looking south into Yellowstone



Here is the road making its way down



More of a great road, This road was so great it never seemed to end and always got better



Great helmet loaded with an Autocom and Ipod, but the music was turned off for this road