I ride through Zion National Park in the late evening on Day 9 of my Utah Loop 2019 Trip
I depart my campsite at Hi-Road Campground, which is just outside of Zion National Park. It was interesting riding through the park so late in the day as the setting sun makes interesting lighting contracts on the canyon walls and mountain tops.
Today I roll out the campsite near Torrey, Utah and roll south on Utah Highway 12 – Journey Through Time Scenic Byway. This is one truly entertaining road with outstanding scenery. I captured what I thought was the best of this scenic route in this video.
Another video of jaw dropping Utah scenery. I love riding in Utah!
I end the day setting up camp at Hi-Road Campground on Utah Highway 9 just outside of Zion National Park. A dedicated video will cover riding through Zion National Park.
I depart Moab, Utah heading south on US Highway 191 through Monticello, Utah. I then turn onto Utah Highway 95 just south of Blanding, Utah and ride that amazing rode through Hite Canyon and into Hanksville, Utah were I pick up Utah Highway 24 and roll east to near Torrery, Utah where I camp for the night.
Utah Highway 95 and Utah Highway 24 offer up some spectacular Utah scenery.
Scenic ride on Utah Highway 24 near Torrey, Utah.
Scenic ride on Utah Highway 95 near Hite Canyon on June 1 2019 where Highway 95 snakes along a small creek twisting through a canyon.
Today I ride and explore a portion of Canyonlands National Park. Like on Day 6, I stayed on the paved roads due to the fact that Dexter is a 2005 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic, not ideal to riding the gravel roads / trail in Canyonlands.
I would like to return someday and explore this park more in depth and other areas around Moab and Utah, but on a touring adventure bike (which I do plan to add to the roster soonish, maybe 2025). I admit that riding Canyonlands National Park only on the paved roads is a serious injustice to the greatness of this National Park. But, that is ok. Now have a great excuse to come back to Moab again in the future! 🙂
The paved roads had some enjoyable curves with some areas having spectacular scenery, though not really visible for the pavement itself and hence, the really epic view were not capture on GoPro. However, I did take photos of the canyons and are at the end of this video at time mark 26:56:17 to include my campsite and pics of my tasty steak dinner I cooked .
I finally made it to Moab!
Today I ride through Arches National Park (main paved roads only) and hiked for a few hours on some of the trails.
Honestly, video and pictures do not do justice to the magnificent landscape of this National Park, truly a spectacular place to visit, feels almost other worldly. It was quite warm on this, about 95 degrees Fahrenheit but with the low humidity was not back hiking (also had my camelback of water with me).
On a chilly Nevada morning on May 25 2019, I departed Tonopah to ride through Ely, Nevada and ending the day in Moab, Utah. However, after about 60 miles or so East of Tonopah I began to have warning lights indicating problems with my electrical charging. I pulled over, unlplugged everything that was charging (Windows tablet, GoPro batteries, etc) except for my cell phone. After a few more miles the light came on again and noticed the volmeter was bottomed out at 0, meaning my bike’s electrical (including spark and fuel injection, was all running of battery.
I decided to ride as far as I could towards Ely, Nevada and figure it all out from there. I made it to 63 miles west of Ely, Nevada and had to arrange for a tow the remainder of the distance to Ely. I discovered that there were no bike repair shops (at least at that time) in Ely. So, I arranged a tow to Zion Harley Davidson in Washington, Utah, a tow of 233 miles. The next day (May 27 2019) with Dexter’s (my bike) stator replaced, I rolled out onto Interstate 15 North and was planning to head to Moab, Utah.
This time I only made it about 96 miles to Beaver, Utah where I discovered I could no longer downshift (mounting frustration to say the least). Had the bike towed back to Zion Harley Davidson (by them) and had the bike fixed ….again.
This trip was originally named Wyoming Loop 2019 as the plan was to ride through Nevada, Utah, Colorado and into Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. Due to losing two days, I changed the trip to Utah Loop 2019 to ride in and explore Utah. In the end, I believe I came out a winner as Utah has loads of breath taking scenery and some extremely entertaining roads to ride. Utah may very well be my favorite state to ride in so far (with Colorado and California close behind).
Last day of USA South 2020 I ride from Selma, Alabama to our new home in Douglasville, Georgia.
Day 9 of USA South 2020 – October 15 2020. I depart from the motel in Jonesville, Louisiana in the wet, thick morning fog and continue the journey east rolling through Mississippi and stopping in Selma, Alabama.
Very pleasant travel day and happy to report no mechanical issues this day with Dexter. From here all the way to Georgia it’s trees and more trees :).
Wanderlust Lyfe 