Ride along a portion of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) – California Highway 1 PCH is one of the most stunning and beautiful routes in California. Sit back and relax and think coastal vibes 🙂
Video taken from much, much, much longer video, California Loop 2018 Day 1 Part 3. I made this video to give a small sample of what Pacific Coast Highway has to offer. Also for those that don’t enjoy watching 1 hour YouTube videos …..I like them so I am not going to stop. What you all think about that! 🙂
A portion of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) California Highway 1 was closed. This is often the case as winter storms wreak havoc on roads on the coast, especially PCH CA 1 as this road hugs the California coast line (which is also why this road is so awesome). My original trip was to ride PCH from Morro Bay (I have ridden this section before) to Salinas, CA. Just north of Ragged Point the road was closed.
My detour route had me ride north on US 101 from Santa Margarita, CA (instead of heading south briefly to pick up California Highway 1 (PCH) in San Luis Obispo. I rode US Highway 101 north to Bradley, CA and then road west on Jolon Rd (Monterey County Road G18) through Fort Hunter Leggitt and onto Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. This road was very narrow but had some great curves and was engulfed in the Los Padres National Forest trees creating tunnels of trees, along with some brief epic views of the surrounding mountains.
The only downside was the considerable amount of oncoming traffic that was diverted from PCH. There were several curves where I came to a near stop hugging the right portion of the road as much as possible as some drivers were less than generous with road sharing. Regardless, this detour actually worked out great as this road is occasionally closed due to Army training.
According to the Wikipedia article linked below, In January 2021, the road was washed out due to the impacts of the Dolan Fire and closed. It is not expected to reopen until at least December 2023
Considering I had ridden the original planned route a few times, this was a great opportunity to ride a new and scenic road!
Wikipedia has more information on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and the region.
This video wraps up the Utah Loop 2019 Motorcycle Trip. Today I rode from Zion National Park to Lake Elsinore, CA. Mostly on Interstate 15.
This trip had some major setbacks starting on day 2 with the trip not resuming until day 5 due to repeat mechanical breakdowns and the long distance tow from Ely, NV to Washington, UT. The 3 day trip stoppage forced a change in plan from traveling to eastern Wyoming to adding one vacation day and exploring Utah. While I greatly dislike being stranded roadside, the diversion proved to be worthwhile as Utah is an awesome state to ride motorcycle.
The scenery, nice roads, and curvy roads made Utah my favorite state to ride in, thus far.
Ride through Zion National Park on my way back home to California (where I lived at the time).
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 .
Wanderlust Lyfe 