Touring the Moab area

Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Moab, Utah, United States
We ordered breakfast from the Moab Under Canvas (MUC) which was delivered this morning, we ate on our porch. After eating we headed to Arches National Park. The first stop we hiked around the monolith and was getting ready to ride on when we noticed a young woman staring at Nick and Jeff's bikes. Nick struck up a conversation with her. She was traveling with her uncle, mother, and I think a sister. They were from China. They love Harleys but she told us that it was illegal for the citizens to own one. We asked the mother, translated by her daughter, if she would like to sit on one. She jumped at the chance and climbed on Jeff's bike. Pictures were taken like mad. The daughter sat on Nick's. The mother asked Jeff how old he was. She said that she was 66, look at her picture below. She looked about 45 to us. We ran into them at another pullout further in the Park. Their excitement was exhilarating, one of Rob's favorite moments of the entire trip.

After leaving Arches, we headed back toward Moab and turned onto highway 128 which ran next to the Colorado River . We went up the canyon about 41 miles. The canyon and cliffs were, to Rob, prettier than anything in the Canyon Lands. Fisher Towers, are huge red sandstone monolith, was phenomenal. We turned around at Dewey Bridge over the Colorado and headed back to the La Sal Mountain Loop road.

We kept an eye on the storm over the Moab area. The road on the north end of the loop was OK to start, however it went down hill fast, and I don't mean elevation. The road narrowed, became full of pot holes, many patches, a lot of loose gravel from the patches, and over growth of vegetation created a limited view. The road went high fast, no guard rail, and dropped down at more than 8% grade. Some of the switchbacks were so sharp and steep that maneuvering the motorcycles around the corner required feathering the clutch in first gear. It was free range country so we came upon a couple of cows strolling down the road. Once we got to the summit, the panorama view.... The storm was still brewing in the valley. We made the loop and headed back to Moab Brewery. A trip that should've take 45 minutes to over 1.5 hours.

We purchased some take tent beer (yes, I said it) and an non-alcoholic Apple Beer and diet pepsi for Rob. When we got back to the tent we sat back and relaxed on the porch, it was perfect. The temperature was right; the sky was clear to see stars, planets and satellites; and there was a light breeze. The storm that we circumvented was now over the La Sal mountains and a lightening storm was hammering the mountains. During the evening the wind howled so much it woke us all. But we were not evacuated.  

163 miles today
3241 miles to date
 
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