The general landscape of arches national park
Balancing rock
Entrance sign.
Me in Park, yes once again for you that think otherwise, this trip is not a front for me being in jail!
Courthouse rock
One of many arches
This one is called delicate arch
These are called window arch
This is the outer park boundary, ten miles off the main hwy, very few people see this sign!
My bike on a slick rock trail.
This is an example of the rough back road, the picture does not show it well, but the white marks are where vehicles have bottomed out, there is a 3' drop here, I almost did not make it on my motorcycle!
Talk about a day in paradise, I was truly humbled by Mother nature today! Arches national park was a major stop on my to-do list and it did not disappoint. About 10 years ago I went to the Grand Canyon, while not as big as the Grand Canyon it was much more enjoyable. Especially from the seat of a motorcycle, with the wind whipping through my hair, it felt as if you could just reach out and touch the grandure with your hand.
I started the day out early, at 8:00 am had a light breakfast and packed a small lunch. The entrance to the park is only a few miles from Moab. I stripped my bike down to the basic necessities, loaded up a 1/2 gallon of water and headed off. Without the side boxes and extra baggage the bike was like a nimble stallion, it was a good thing because I would need the performance later in the day. Imagine walking around in a heavy pair of combat boots caked with mud, then trading them for a pair of light sneakers, that was the difference in the feel of my machine.
I entered the park about 9:00 am and road about 30-40 miles on the paved roads, and stopped at the typical turn out points and tourist related areas. It is Sunday and while it was early the traffic was beginning to build. After a couple of hours on the paved roads, I found a turn off for a limited access road, the sign indicated rough terrain ahead and only off road or 4x4 vehicles were permitted, the sign also indicated the park boundary was 10 miles a head. The first couple of miles were not too bad, the were like minimum maintenance roads we see in the farm land of Kansas. Another mile in things started to get pretty rough, A big jeep, the kind with the big tires that you need a ladder to get into came from the opposite direction, they stopped and a couple of young guys in dreadlocks, the real hardcore out door type, said a few miles up it got really "Gnarly" and they had to turn around, they thought that I might be able to make it on my bike, but were not sure as they had only made it 5 miles in. I hesitated for a moment, then thought what the "Hell" this is what I was here for, to take the road less traveled, or in this case, very rarely traveled.
I have owned or had a motorcycle since I was 10 years old, and have ridden many miles off road, but this was a challenge like I had never experienced before. Deep sand in areas, while there were no large climbs, there were a number of steep technical type areas that while no more than 4 or 5 feet, they were hardcore. It took me over an hour to make it 10 miles, I lost the road a few times, as this is rock country and some times it would just disappear. I finally made it to the outer park boundary. I cannot imagine how a 4-wheeled vehicle could make it, it was tough enough on two wheels.
After I got to the park boundary. I parked my bike and got out my day pack and put in my lunch and water. I thought I would take a little hike and eat my lunch. I had walked about 100 foot then decided to grab the GPS off of my motorcycle, this turned out to be a good decision. I walked for about 1/2 hour, sat down ate my lunch and looked off in the distance thinking about the people fighting traffic and jostling for spaces at the scenic over looks 10 miles away. After lunch, I took a little nap. I got up and headed back to my bike, after about 100 yards, I realized that everything looked the same and I was not sure where I was at, or going. I took the GPS out of my pack, turned it on, and It showed me the way back. It was interesting because I did not see my motorcycle until I was about 50 feet from it.
You see reports on the news about how people get lost for days and days and you wonder how this could happen. Well believe you me it can, while I was only 10 miles away from the tourist hub bub, I could have taken off in the wrong direction which goes for hundreds of miles. Thank you GPS, thank you Garmin.
I got back to my bike and after being a little scared, I was off again. The return trip was more enjoyable as I new what to expect, another hour later I was back to the paved roads. I put me earphones in, turned on my XM radio, once again thanks to Garmin, as it is part of my GPS system. Put my feet on the pegs and headed out of Arches National Park.
It was a great day, full of beauty, great scenery, and a little bit of being scared. That is what I call adventure!!!
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