Spring Trip to Moab?

[HOBBES]

I’ve been tossing around the idea of taking an early spring ride to Moab! Most likely would be leaving on a Friday morning and returning Sunday. The route I have been considering is to take I-70 into Utah, then South on Hwy 128 along the Colorado River to Moab. My thoughts have been to camp in town on Friday and Saturday night.

http://www.moabupthecreek.com/index.html
http://www.discovermoab.com/motorcycles.htm
http://www.moabhappenings.com/menuguide.htm


For the return trip, I hope to travel South of Moab to La Sal Junction, then East on Hwy 41 to Naturita Colorado. From here, there is a stretch of highway 141 which follows the Dolores River that I’ve always wanted to ride. It eventually connects with Highway 50 near Grand Junction.

Certainly timing good weather will be critical! I'm hoping for March but perhaps not till April. Let me know if you have any interest?

[Jason ON]

I've been planning a 4-corners trip this spring, myself. Moab, HWY 666 (sounds fun) monument valley, Glen Canyon, Navajo Nation and depending on time, Page. It would be a 4 day Fri-Mon trip for me.

[HOBBES]

I've been reading your posting. I'd be very interested in riding with you all. We'll wait and see how things materialize. Attached is a map you may find useful. I was checking out Utah Highway 12. The local weather looks pretty good. I may ride this weekend.

[Xtremjeepn]

FYI-The Moab Easter Jeep Safari runs the week from march 15th through Sunday March 23. The later weekend is the most crowed. The town is completely over run buy Jeeps. This is the largest 4 wheel drive event on Earth with over 25,000 people attending.

Just a thought if you want to avoid crowds and find a camping spot. This is the week to avoid.

[HOBBES]

Thanks for the Info! I was there during this event a number of years ago. I was riding my KX500 and had the pleasure of watching about 20 Jeeps tackle Rose Garden Hill. The most impressive was a Jeep Honcho w/ some sort of military step side bed. Serious Horse Power! Fun Trail!

[OldKneeDragger]

You got a great plan going...

You will love 141.

With three days of riding you should be able to take in a lot of excellent roads without making for really hard riding.

I've spent a lot of time riding the 4 corners area (used to live there) and I really miss the diversity. Southern Utah with Arches N.P., Canyonlands, Glen Canyon, and the Manti-La Sal National forest have some great roads made for motorcycles.

Another road to consider in Colorado is 145 from Delores to Placerville via Teluride and then to Ridgway on on to 50 (another OUTSTANDING ride). There are many great choices in SW Colorado. 550 is worth seeing but is very busy and I try to stay off of 160 and 50 as much as possible (too much traffic). That still leaves a lot of great roads.

I plan on several rather long day trips over to that part of the country this summer.

[HOBBES]

Thanks for the feedback! I went to school in Durango. Never get tired of Southwest Colorado. That stretch of highway between Dolores and Naturita you mentioned is a must do. I rode two up to Telluride last summer. Rode over Dallas Divide, and Lizzard Head Pass. Awsome! Soaked in the "lobster pot" at Orvis Hot Springs in Ridgway which melted the miles away. Highly reccommended!

For this trip, because of the time of year, I'm trying to stay at lower elevations. Attached is an addtional detailed map.

Lets ride!

[sprtbkbabe]

141 is an INCREDIBLE road through Gateway, passing (or stopping to check it out) the Gateway Museum with the $3M prototype!

If you ever get a chance to take those twisties on a bike, or fast-four set of wheels, DO IT!

[HOBBES]

Is this the museum you are referring to? I look forward to checking it out! I hope they have a 1962 Chrysler 300H. I got this photo from Dave T's website. http://coloradodave.net/CO-UT%20Ride/CO_loop_rides.htm An excellent resource for colorado riding.

I went to see the Banff Mountain Film Festival (World Tour) last night at the Paramount Theater. For those who enjoy 100% adrenaline, I highly recommend it. It will be showing in Colorado Springs tonight, March 1, and in Moab on March 10.

[HOBBES]

http://www.utah.com/byways/highway_12.htm

I've been reading good things about Utah Hwy 12 - Scenic Byway. I am considering adding a couple days to the trip to check this out. Tenatively, my plans are to leave Wednesday or Thursday, April 17. As of now, it looks like I'll be flying solo. Let me know if you have any interest or suggestions.

"Despite the official name, locals refer to this road simply as "The Backbone". We've ridden all over and still find this road to be one of our all time favorites. Leaving Torrey, Utah and heading south the road starts out among high-desert scrub and ascends into juniper tree's and eventually into aspen as it climbs up and over Boulder Mountain. Look to the east for glimpses of the distant red-rock Moab backdropped by the La-Sal mountain range. The road is wrought with corners that are just a little too tight to be called sweepers, but flow well enough to allow for a brisk pace - be careful of free-ranging cattle. After cresting Boulder mountain you'll begin dropping towards the town of Boulder and you'll overlook a sea of rumpled beige rock reaching out to the horizon - this is where the road will soon take you. Be sure to stop in Boulder at Hell's Backbone Grill - fantastic food with the best oatmeal we've ever had. As you continue the road clings to narrow ledges cut impossibly into rock walls before it climaxes at the section that gives the road its nickname of "The Backbone"; a narrow ribbon of pavement follows an equally narrow ridge of rock. The road climbs and drops through the endless expanse of rock, like a scene from the Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, before the cornering calms down into an average two-lane route a few miles shy of the town of Escalante, Utah. You can run the road in either direction, but we feel the road flows better when ridden from North to South."

Canyon Chasers

[Clovis]

Looks like fun, I'd be interested

The wife and I are currently in Southern California on vacation with a couple friends that live out here.

I have to way the 80 degree weather is freak'n awesome but everyone drives like an asshole here and on the highway even with FIVE lanes it still moves at a crawl and it's considered normal to suddenly dart across all five lanes and cut multiple drivers off / nearly cause accidents to go to a slightly faster moving lane.

The first time some bikes lane splitted with me was kind of weird and startled Shannon with the sheer ballzyness of them.

Anyhow, April 17th - could still snow or at least rain.

[Matty]

Looks like fun, I'd be interested

The wife and I are currently in Southern California on vacation with a couple friends that live out here.

I have to way the 80 degree weather is freak'n awesome but everyone drives like an asshole here and on the highway even with FIVE lanes it still moves at a crawl and it's considered normal to suddenly dart across all five lanes and cut multiple drivers off / nearly cause accidents to go to a slightly faster moving lane.

The first time some bikes lane splitted with me was kind of weird and startled Shannon with the sheer ballzyness of them.

Anyhow, April 17th - could still snow or at least rain.

drivers are still worse out here.... but ya the weather is nice.

and as for splitting lanes... it's really not that scary and nerve racking, once you split a couple of times, it's second nature.

[Chad4000]

hmm, if i could get that time off I would be down. i just dont think that i can.

[HOBBES]

Well, my trip to Moab finally materialized! I wasn’t able to include UT Hwy 12 into our four day itinerary. Instead, my girlfriend Tracy and I rode two up through Moab to Lake Powell where we rendezvous with some friends on the Mary Rose, a private houseboat moored at Bullfrog.

Friday, May 30, we left Denver around 11:00A. We spotted the usual big horn sheep near Georgetown. We stopped in Vail and strolled through the Betty Ford Botanical Gardens. We ate lunch and fueled the cycle in Glenwood Springs. After crossing the Utah border, we took the Cisco exit 212 to Scenic Byway, UT Hwy 128. We followed the beautiful Colorado River into Moab where we set up camped in town at Up the Creek Campground. We rode approximately 355 miles on day one.

We woke up Saturday, enjoyed breakfast, broke camp and rode the 35 mile out and back Scenic Byway UT Hwy 279, again meandering along side the magnificent Colorado River. We then proceeded to Arches National Park and purchased the $80 annual National Park pass which we plan to make good use of. Due to a tight itinerary, we chose to ride to Double Arch. Described as spectacular, we hiked the short trail to the base of the Arch. Spectacular indeed!

Returning to Moab, we stopped at the natural spring at the junction of UT Hwy 191 and 128 to fill our water bottle and re-hydrate. Here, unfortunately, I noticed I made the mistake of trying to push the limits of my Avon Storms. I must say I am disappointed with the mere 4,000 miles I got out of the rear before showing threads. I had a new Azaro AV45 delivered before we left and was waiting on an AV46 which was on my front porch when we returned home. Well, we rolled back into Moab around 12:30P and found a Yamaha dealership. Unfortunately, they only service atv’s, dirt and trail bikes however, they were able to provide a phone # and directions to a place called Arrowhead Motorsports. There we met a couple locals, tourist, and the owner, Fred Hink, who was hosting a dual sport rally. He only had a Bridgestone BT-002 in a 180/55/17. Oh well, guess I get to rip through a road/race tire for the rest of the trip. He had us rolling again in less than an hour. We are forever grateful to Fred for saving our trip. My front Avon is now showing threads and I am searching for a used Bridgestone 120/70/17 before mounting the new Azaros. I may never purchase another sport touring tire again.

Running short of time, we fueled up the cycle and ourselves and headed south on Hwy 191 towards Blanding. Not knowing when we would get another chance, we opted to take the 70 mile out and back route to Canyonlands NP. Fun road when you are in a hurry. The park was nice but not spectacular. The highlight may have been seeing a wild turkey cross the road in front of us.

Our plans were to make the 6:00P ferry from Halls Crossing to Bullfrog and meet our friends at 7:00P. After some triple digit touring, we stopped in Blanding for fuel, then blasted down UT Hwy 95 towards Lake Powell. It was 5:35P when we arrived at the junction of Hwy 95 and 276 where the sign read, Halls Crossing, 50 miles. We had been hauling ass but still came up short of time. Fortunately, we opted to skip the ferry crossing and take the Bicentennial Highway 95 down through Hite then took Hwy 276 south to Bull Frog. Awesome road! Fun to ride! Beautiful scenery! Crossed the bridge spanning the Colorado River at Hite and stopped at the overlook to rest and take pictures. We made it to Bullfrog by 7:00P as planned. Met our friends at the slip, ate dinner and slept on the top deck under the stars aboard the Mary Rose. The trip meter had over 700 total miles on it.

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Sunday, we woke up and enjoyed breakfast. We helped our friends with some chores, then Chuck, Bob, Cailey, Tracy, and I took a scenic ride on their 16ft runabout to scope out a spot to beach the houseboat. After returning, we chose to ferry the cycle across to Hall’s Crossing while our friends ventured across the bay on the houseboat. Chuck picked us up in the runabout at Halls and we arrived back at the houseboat in time to cool off with a dip in the lake and meet some of our new reptilian neighbors. We enjoyed a steak dinner with our friends that evening and again slept on the top deck under the stars. Fantastic! Thank you Chuck and Carol Baker family and friends. Your hospitality and friendliness was exceptional.


Monday, we left Halls Crossing at around 9:30A. We rode about 60 miles to Natural Bridges National Monument. About a 10 mile loop with several stops to view some marvelous natural bridges and fantastic scenery. Well worth the visit! From there, we made it to La Sal for a fuel stop in route to CO Hwy 141, a road I’ve always wanted to ride. No disappointments here. The road along the San Miguel and the Dolores River was made for riding and the scenery was magnificent. We stopped in Gateway around 2:00P for lunch and visited the Gateway Auto Museum. Perhaps my favorite was the 1967 Mustang Shelby GT 500 Fastback however all of them were a feast for the eyes. Highly recommended! We left Gateway around 4:00P and stopped for fuel again in Parachute. We arrived in Denver around 8:00P. The trip meter read 1300 miles. The weather was great, no rain, no mishaps nor disagreements with law enforcement. 100% fun, successful journey!

Ride fast, Take chances!

HOBBES

[HOBBES]

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[riverock]

great ride report Hobbes!

nice pics too....

[AshliRider44]

Moab is such a blast, we just got back last weekend, have fun! Prepare to sweat!

[Jason ON]

Hey, I was through Moab last weekend, too.

[Clovis]

Nice pics and trip report Hobbes! Looks like you were able to fix your bike, she looks good as new!

-Clovis