13,000 Miles in 30 Days - My Incredible Motorcycle Journey

[Helmetdance]

TGYK-

All the positive feedback I've received on this thread is truly appreciated. Can't wait for the sequel!!

Mark

[deaconblues]

helmetdance:

that is an AMAZING photo essay of your trip. I've seen lots of the places you took pictures from (seems like a lot of us take the same 'photos' from different cameras at different times, too!) and I remember when I was there as well.

Some of the photos of Zion almost look like paintings, because of the colors and the lighting.

[HIGHLANDER]

What an incredible pictorial! Thanks for taking the time to post up the ride. I think sometimes we take for granted the area we live, so close to incredible roads, just never enough time to ride all of them. But maybe if we all covered 433.34 miles a day as you have , it could be done!

[Helmetdance]

Once again, the positive feedback is great. Glad it brings back memories for some of you. Writing these posts is a great tool in remembering the high points and also the points I didn't see as well due to weather or not stopping frequently enough. All of these lessons learned are factored into the planning for the next ride!


Day 16 – Zion National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park

Tuesday August 17. Starting GPS mileage = 6365. Today’s ride will be a short one, only 131 miles to Bryce Canyon National Park from Zion, where I plan to spend most of the day exploring and enjoying the park.

Making my way north on Utah Hwy 89, I head west on Hwy 12 through Dixie National Forest and the Red Canyon.







Soon, the horizon provides a few hints of coming attractions:



This must be the place!



I spend the rest of the afternoon riding the park, except for a couple of hours of rain, of which I made use for washing clothes. But the weather was on my side. The rain quickly passes and the skies clear up.
















Fire In The Utah Sky!




Day 17

Bryce Canyon mainly faces east. Thus when it comes to photos, it's primarily a “sunrise park”. Having selected a prime spot the night before, I ready the bike for today’s journey to Grand Teton National Park and prepare to stake out some photos. Before leaving Bryce Canyon, I ride up to the parking area for Sunrise Point. Arriving just before twilight, about 45 minutes before sunrise, it’s a 15 minute hike to my spot. I watch the sun slowly illuminate one of the most fantastic views I have ever seen. Later, a park ranger would convey that this is likely the most photographed location at Bryce Canyon.









Another park visitor makes his way up the path and joins me for the morning light show at Sunrise Point. He’s a New Zealander I had met on the trail the night before, making his way to South America. I told him I was on my way to Grand Teton National Park and expected to be there by evening. Having just come from there, he recommended a hike up to Amphitheater Lake, a tip duly noted. More about that in the next chapter!

By 8am I'm ready to ride the 540 miles north to Jackson, WY. I fill the tank at Ruby's Inn, just north of the entrance to Bryce Canyon, and start out for the Grand Tetons with 6478 total miles on the GPS. The trip from Bryce to Salt Lake City is relaxing, but from Logan, Utah to Jackson - nothing but rain, rain, and more rain! This was one of three wet days I had on my trip, and this was by far the wettest and the coldest! Unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, I missed some great scenery in North-central Utah (Logan area) and Southwest Wyoming, but hope to see some of that on a drier note this year. I roll in to Jackson Hole around 8pm, very much ready for some hot coffee.

[motorrad]

Mark,

Fantastic pictorial and write up. You've truely inspired me to take a similar journey in the future when I can carve out a couple weeks to tour the western U.S. up thru Alaska. I just returned from a two week ski trip over in the Dolomites and believe I've finally found landscape and roads that rival Yosemite and the Sierras in their grander. The weather has been beautiful this week in central CA, so I'm putting my skis away and plan to fire up my bike for a nice weekend ride. Thanks for helping to get my head back into riding. Life should be a balance of motorcycle touring, skiing, golfing, with some work mixed in to pay the bills.

[Helmetdance]

Motorrad,

If you've done the Dolomites, then it most likely didn't take much persuasion to get your head back into riding - but if this helped a bit, then I'm glad to hear it. That sounds like a dream trip.

Day 18 – The Grand Tetons & Yellowstone National Parks

Thursday August 19. Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Having dried out a bit after yesterdays ride I awake to skies that still look a bit tentative at best. But at least it’s not raining anymore. I decide to take my chances with the weather and spend a little time hiking up to the lake recommended to me the day before.



The Lupine Meadows Trailhead is about 2 miles south of Jenny Lake down a gravel road. The skies are breaking. It looks like a good morning for a hike. It’s a 4.8 mile hike to Amphitheater Lake up some very steep and rugged terrain, a 9.6 mile round trip. I try to maintain a fast pace, knowing that I still have to make the ride up to West Yellowstone, MT, but its only a 2 to 3 hour ride.

The lake in the picture below is Bradley Lake, at 7,022 feet. The lake beyond it is Taggart Lake. Teton Park Road is visible in the distance.



About 3 miles into the hike, I encounter a large group taking a rest on the trail. The group was obscuring a sign post in the trail and so I unknowingly miss the turn to my destination.

I start making my way above the treeline, on the wrong trail, but still incredibly beautiful. This is near Cleft Falls in Garnet Canyon.







I thought I should have been there by now. I encounter another group of hikers approaching me on the trail and ask how much further to Amphitheater Lake. They tell me I’m on the wrong trail, and I have already covered over 1 mile since I missed the turn, that means add another 2 miles onto the 9.6 just to get back to the turn, and another 3.6 to Amphitheater Lake and back to the same point - over 15 miles total! I don’t think I have time to do it and still make it to Yellowstone as early as I would like to. In the photo above, look closely and you will see the hiker on the trail ahead of me, gives you a sense of the immense scale of Garnet Canyon.

I start making my way back down the trail. If you’re ever in the Grand Tetons, you really have to do some hiking to see the true grandeur of this park. Here is another view of Bradley Lake, but this time from a bit higher up the mountain.



I finally make it back to the turn to Amphitheater Lake, and stand there for several minutes debating whether or not to go. I take a moment to put a fresh roll of film in the 35mm. I’m in a totally secluded spot, and start hearing rustling in the foliage. The tracks are too heavy for deer and not rhythmic enough for elk. I still can’t see it, but I hear grunting and licking chops - and very close! Obviously a bear foraging for food, it sounds like I'm right on top of it! My heart starts to race – where do I go?? Suddenly the sow appears, not even 15 yards from where I stand. Not wanting to turn my back on her, I ease behind a tree and watch through the camera. At one point she looks up briefly, but hardly pays me any notice. With a single paw, she tears open the fallen tree trunk she's standing on in search of food. Half-rotted or not - that's one powerful animal! I shot the entire roll of film:











I suppose after all that hiking, I just didn’t smell as appetizing as ants and berries – and that was just fine with me. Satisfied that I had taken better pictures here than I would at Amphitheater Lake, I’m happy to head back to the parking lot. Upon return to the bike, I excitedly try my cell phone. It’s working! Heart still racing, I call my deer hunting buddy back in Indiana to tell him what I just saw.

A few clouds approach Grand Teton. I get this shot just before the summit disappears into the cloud.



View of Grand Teton (I think) from a few miles further north on Teton Park Road.





Coltor Bay:





I stop for fuel before leaving the park at Coltor Bay village. GPS mileage = 7095.

On the ride to Yellowstone, more rain. But by the time I get to the park, the rain is finally behind me.



The majesty of Yellowstone is incredible. Truly a “wild” wilderness, it is easy to fall in love with such a place.

The Lewis River:



Old Faithful Geyser and Lodge:







Elk cows grazing along the Gibbon River:





I just have enough daylight left to ride through the south east section of Yellowstone. Making my way into West Yellowstone, Montana, I find a thick steak and a few beers, and settle in for the night.

[ezbeemer]

Great report! Thanks for sharing it.

[SUEDE]

Mark
This is one awsome trip and your reporting, both text and pictures, are absolutely enchanting. They are a great inspiration for me to want to do a similar trip around the US. I'd mentioned this earlier too but have no hesitation in repeating it here once more, mate!
Keep it coming and we'll keep gobbling it up.
Bless you for your patient reporting and painstaking presentation. May you go miles before yu sleep!
Pritam.

[Helmetdance]

Suede,

No problem mate! If I ever make it to New Zealand, and I hope to, hope you can give me a few tips.

Day 19 – Yellowstone National Park & Bears Tooth Pass

Friday morning, August 20th. GPS mileage = 7189. I head back into the west entrance of Yellowstone and start making my way toward Yellowstone Lake. Many different species of wildlife make their home in Yellowstone, including the Bald Eagle. Stopping is prohibited on some stretches of the park road because it passes through Bald Eagle nesting areas. I happened to spy this Bald Eagle perched in a tree that was not in one of the marked nesting areas - OK to stop for this one! Not very close, but still an exciting moment:



Elk are plentiful in Yellowstone and quite accustomed to the presence of humans. There is no way an elk would ever let you get this close anywhere else. That’s why I thought I’d post these pictures of this bull, despite the cars:











No trip to Yellowstone would be complete without a trip to these falls:

The Upper Falls:









The Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Inspiration Point:









A few more elk:







The northernmost edge of Yellowstone is in the state of Montana, including the northeast gate. Leaving the park through the northeast gate on Hwy 212, I twist my way through a rustic 8 ½ mile stretch through the towns of Silver Gate and Cooke City, Montana, and Coulter Pass in Gallatin National Forest, before crossing the state line once again into Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest:









Crossing Bears Tooth Pass on a motorcycle is not for the faint-of-heart nor the lacking-in-sleep. Yet Bears Tooth is breathtaking, incredibly breathtaking, making you feel as if you have left civilization to a distant world, and found the top of another yet more surreal. The road is only open about five months out of the year. But when it is open, there are not many others that surpass this one in sheer motorcycle appeal:











Heading through the little town of Red Lodge, Montana, I head north through some awesomely beautiful Montana backroads, and settle in for the night with some friends in the tiny little town of Absarokee.

Stopping for gas in Red Lodge the next morning, the GPS now reads a total 7525 miles. Not having enough the day before, I head back across Bears Tooth one last time on my way to Cody, Wyoming:

[SUEDE]

Salute, Helmetdance...
Your photo-essay continues to sustain the high standard it began with and I am absolutely enjoying each word and picture.
Went for a ride this Sunday and did just over 300 miles.
Got a few pictures which I am sharing with you and other readers here.
Hope you don't take to this intrusion unkindly...



...wonder if the pics will show... :-((