Spent today at the two parks in this area, Arches and Canyonlands. Both worthwhile, although the northern part of Canyonlands, the part you access from here, could be missed. It fit my schedule, so I'm glad I went, but I wouldn't make it a target destination. (The Needles area, down south, is supposed to be different. Arches on the other hand is spectacular even without the arches. The stuff right inside the gate before you encounter any arches is simply as spectacular as any other scenery in Utah.

This will have to be short as my day ran long but my battery may not. Tomorrow I have to find a place with power! Weather continues very hot, although the natives act like its a cool spring day. Evenings are in fact quite balmy.

There is a lot of red stone here. I think I'm ready for a change of scenery. Will see what Durango has to offer in the way of change.

Did find some good music tonight at a little cafe in Moab. Same sort of stuff I do (and therefore like). Tonight is a big gay and bisexual weekend in Moab, so this must be something of a bohemian pocket for Utah. Sorry, kids....its still Utah. I couldn't order a non-alcoholic beer without also ordering food, but the place lets people sit on the window with their wine and smoke. I guess the window sill means they're drinking inside but smoking out?

I find Utah a very cloying environment. Made the mistake of reading the Salt Lake Tribune today...Did you know that the Utah public schools on back to back days allowed parents to sign their kids OUT of listening to the President's annual address to school children (and widely publicized the fact that parents would have that option), and the next day had two Utah republican office-holders deliver an annual lecture on patriotism and the meaning of the US Constitution! I just bet that was an earful. Make no mistake, they may smile and tell you to come back, but they don't mean it beyond a natural desire to help you part with your money.

Speaking of which--I hear people complaining a lot about foreigners here. And its true that about 90% of the visitors I have encountered at the parks have been from Northern Europe...lots of Germans, Dutch, English, French...Based on what I've heard, I guess the locals would much prefer to get American tourist money...Must just feel better to them. When they complain, do they have any understanding of balance of payment issues and how fantastic it is to have Europeans spending money here? The dominant sentiment seems to be summed up by a T-shirt enjoying considerable popularity among locals. It says: “Why should I have to dial 1 for English?” More tomorrow. Adios. Auf Wiedersehen. Adieu. Ciao bella!  

The wind came up about 1:00am this morning, gusting pretty strongly the rest of the night. In fact taking the tent down this a.m. Was a bit tricky—had to catch it and de-pole it with tent in the air. (Reminder to self: do not un-stake tent until its flat on ground). But the tent proved up to its reputation and wasn't bothered at all by the gusty conditions.
Here is the setup:

After a leisurely breakfast, I was able to tour the Capitol Reef NP. Got a fantastic lecture on the geology of the area. I'm not at all sure I'll ever get it, as in places the newer rock is on top of the old and in others vice versa. But Capitol Reef refers to the Waterpocket Monocline—the longest monocline exposed in North America—100miles of it. All this area is essentially sedimentary, having received the deposits over millions of years of being sea level tidal flats. Then came the general uplift caused in some way not fully understood (and not just by me) by the accretion of California and Nevada to the continental landmass we have today. This lifted the area to its current elevation of 5500 feet. ( When the uplift occurred right here, it encountered an ancient fault line, which caused one side of the fault to rise 7,000 feet higher than the other. Because it occurred gradually and because the sedimentary rock was soft, it “folded” rather than fractured. Over subsequent millenia, 5,000 feet of this difference eroded away, leaving 2,000 feet today of exposed sediment.ary formations chronicling some 350,000,000 years of geologic history. Fascinatin' stuff this. I remember taking a Geology class in school, but it was at 8:00 am, so....well you know. I haven't seen all the N.P.s in Utah yet, but I have to say this one is a hidden gem. Right up there in beauty with any of them I'd say. 10 mile scenic drive is just not to be missed!

Left Capitol Reef about noon and meandered my way towards Moab. Passed a petroglyph site along the way and had to stop. It was so cool. I've never seen petroglyphs in the flesh—er, stone-- before. So had to take photos. They probably won't come out very well as the light was OK for the eye, but not so good for the camera. These are the only history we have of the Fremont indians, the precursors to our modern day tribes.

Found Moab about 4:00 and found a private campground with lots of room and lots of shade! Its hot. All of the NP campgrounds fill up by 9 am. I could move up tomorrow, but I'm here and set up and want to site see. Plan on spending two nights here, so I'll have all day tomorrow to travel through Arches NP and Canyonlands NP. Then I'll head south on Saturday, probably into Durango.

Its dark and the cameras are packed away on the bike. So, I'll try to upload photos tomorrow. Got to find a place to charge up the laptop, as I haven't had power since Monday.

Ah, where to begin.  Perhaps with the landscape, as I saw a lot of it today.  Lets see, there was sagebrush and what I think may be pinon pine, but some sort of scrub pine.  Hillier and greener than west of Ely.  Got into good old Mormon farming country today.  Neatest stacks of baled hay I've ever seen. Hard working communities to scrape an agriculture based living out of this country.  Passed two "school bus stop" signs out in the middle of nowhere.

I am now into the Utah of "red bluffs and canyons" :  I am in a sort of run down private camp  in the town of Torrey...clean and cheap and warm (barely) shower is included.  But it stares out at a magnificent bank of red eroded cliffs.  I mean the absolutely spectacular stuff!  And they have junky old equipment and some old trailers just sitting there enjoying and/or blocking the view!~  Ah well, such is life.  Will take photos tomorrow so that I can post some. I am right outside the gate to Capitol Reef NP and the drive tomorrow is supposed to be spectacular.

I am trying to decide between going NE to Moab tomorrow and see the parks up there, and my original plan of heading SE  towards monument valley.  I think I'll do the former, as 1) its lower down and HOT SE from here; and 2) I think I'll see more stuff this way.  I hate to miss Monument  Valley,  but that may be a separate trip all to itself someday.

BTW east of Ely NV Hwy 50 is a lot lonelier...still traffic, but not a whole lot!

Bike is running great, but somehow busted a latch on the Tour Pak (trunk).  I guess I will have to locate a dealer somewhere on the way to NOLa and get it fixed.  Think I can limp along without it. One of those days though:  I stopped and bought some good coffee so I can live the life of luxury here.  Finding good coffee in Utah is a challenge!  Finding Decaf is even harder (that's my evening cuppa, don't ya know).  Finally found some, and when I got to camp one of the bags was no longer wedged in its secure temporary storage spot.  Some animals are going to enjoy a lot of Starbucks Espresso Roast!

Only met one person today to talk to...couldn't really help it as we were stuck in line together waiting for a table for dinner.  Retired overweight doctor from Chicago;  says his wife sends him off by himself on a six week hiking trip each year, and takes out extra health insurance hoping he doesn't make it back.  I'm kinda sidin' with ol' wifey on this one.  'Nite all.

Day 1 is done!

What a start! Discovered loose steering bearing so spent the a.m. today at the dealer in Carson City NV. Fixed and on the road by noon, only to face major construction along the way.t

Hwy 50 is not the loneliest road in America as claimed.  Desolate -- I give it high marks; But Lonely? Nah.   Why once there was a few minutes where, counting me, I could see 4 vehicles at once!  I don't think there ever was a time when a car didn''t pass me going the other way at least once every five or ten minutes! And then there was the visiting hour spent talking with other stranded folks at construction stops.  No, 120 out of Mono Lake, or the Extraterrestrial Hwy are much lonelier.
But Godforsaken I give it.  This is the kind of country that if there were any human kids around, they'd be driven 20 miles to the bus stop, and then ride two hours to school.  Nevadans have some curious notions about things too:  there's the Toyibe National Forest that doesn't sport a single tree, let alone a copse big enough to claim the designation "forest".  And roadside signs warning of impending traffic from "farm equipment" has got to be someone's idea of a cute joke.  The only thing growing between Carson City and Eureka NV is sagebrush, and in some stretches not even that is hardy enough to fight for survival.

Ely is beautiful high desert though, and there was a delightful surprise of a great motorcycle highway coming into the last twenty miles or so.

Enough for tonight...typing in the dark is too hard.  I'll update more tomorrow. 'Nite.






!

So the trip starts tomorrow.  This is the final configuration with EVERYTHING on board except the kitchen sink.  Added some stuff but a general repacking resulted in a smaller profile going down the road.  It still feels a bit like the Joad family revisited, but its actually not that bad.  I leave tomorrow after getting in a good breakfast at the Caspar Community Center.  Probably wont post for the first couple of days, as the real trip starts Tuesday a.m. out of South Lake Tahoe.  First "Between the Lines" stop: Ely Nevada. See ya.

Blast off is in two days, on Sunday Sept 25, and I am hoping all is organized and on board. Have repacked bike three or four times now, and final configuration is feeling and looking good and balanced. Tent was set up again with only a few minor glitches; big test on solo-set up will be in windy conditions. We'll see. Total gear weight is about 80 pounds, maybe a little more when all the little pieces are completely packed. So total weight should be no problem (a passenger would typically weigh more). Distribution of the weight is obviously more spread out than with a passenger, but it feels good in trial run around neighborhood.

Rain is forecast for launch day, so packing (which was done with worst case weather in mind) may be tested right out of the starting gate. All stuff that really needs to stay dry is in "dry sacks" designed for kayaking and other water sports, so should be OK.

First stop will be Fallen Leaf Lake where I have stuff to do for a day (Monday the 26th) before resuming the trek eastward on Tuesday. Next stop will be Great Basin National Park on Tues. night.

Trial packing today. After months of researching and using a fish scale to determine the weight of various components of the camping set up, this is the final...or close to final..arrangement. On board are tent, cot, sleeping pad, two sleeping bags, armchair, cookstove and all associated stuff. Its packed so the heavy stuff resides forward (where a heavy passenger might otherwise sit) and hte bulky light stuff --did I mention pillow, coffee pot, towels laptop (mini) etc goes high up and towards the back. Weight distribution feels good. We'll see how she handles next week with a trial run. I may actually camp out at one of our local parks if I have the time to do a real trial run.

Time to Hit the Road Again-- New Orleans AGAIN?

New Year, New Bike, New Ideas--well, at least a variation. It's off to New Orleans again, but this time I'm planning on camping my way across Nevada, Utah, Colorado....and then, we'll see where the lines take me.

Did I say new Bike? After raving about the old flame machine? Yep. I succumbed to the pull of six years of engineering/design improvements and to the lure of a fixed fairing in lieu of a windshield. Also, did I mendtion it is Harley Davidson black and chrome? My two favorite colors!

Phase I of this year's adventure has been getting the gear ready--and in most cases acquiring it.

Tired of last years succession of motels, I decided in a "Travels with Charlie" spirit to see America from the [camp]ground up. What I found was that a Standard Poodle is the least of the things I don't have room for.

So Phase I A was my decision to purchase a trailer.

But don't get so excited...it didn't make the cut. It was so darn cute, and it was the perfect solution, but after going to all the trouble of finding and getting it here, installing a hitch on the new bike etc., I decided that trailering was not my cup of tea and the trailer went back out the door.

So now the question became, can you get enough stuff on a Harley to camp out comfortably?

I am way too mature and dignified (read old and stiff) to go crawling around the ground finding a backpacking pad in the dark. So certain criteria were established: First, I had to have a good tent that would keep the elements out where they belong, and it had to be one I could both stand up in and stretch out in and spend some time in should monsoon season descend early. Second, I needed a good comfortable chair. I have spent enough time in campgrounds to know that one cannot adjust a redwood picnic table bench to your own ergonomic specifications. Finally, I have no illusions about being able to take enough equipment to cook gourmet meals for myself, but I must have the basics---good coffee-- as well as the means to cook up some high end MREs in a pinch. Then there are all the little things. I must have light to read by at night; should nature favor me with both wilderness and an internet connection, I must have the wherewithal to take advantage etc. etc.

So equipment has been coming and just as often going back to the stores like mad around here. Living isolated is great in many ways, but suffers from the lack of decent shopping centers. Although we have a little "Outdoors Store" (that's actually its name), virtually all my needs have been met, or not, via the internet. At long last, with just a few short weeks until my scheduled departure date of September 23, most nuts have been gathered, with the exception of just a couple key ones which are supposedly in the mail. It turns out that modern ingenuity and technology helps the weary motorcycle tourer these days. LED light technology means that I can leave my old gasoline/delicate mantle Coleman lanterns on the shelf--a good thing, since there was absolutely no room aboard for such antiques. The big gorilla in the living room is--as you may have guessed-- the tent. Although the armchair problem was a poser in close second.

It turns out that there are a surprising number of options for tents in which a 6 foot person can comfortably stand. The more attractive of these from a space and erectability standpoint however, tend to present to mother nature the profile of say --a telephone booth. Real life reviews of such structures tended to confirm ones instincts: they often blow over/away/in/out/down and other words not in the lexicon of happy campers. Having inadvertently braved the harsher elements too many times, I opted for a tent which of all things was first and foremost secure and stable. (I am, after all about to brave the near wilderness reaches of Utah and Colorado, notorious for violent weather.) Plus, it still had to offer headroom to specs. Finally, as for some reason I have been unable to persuade anyone to join me on this venture, it also had to be erectable (easily) by a solo camper. TaDa! Enter the REI BaseCamp6. Initial experiments in the back yard have been promising, and it looks like a winner. The only problem is that its big enough to hold our annual block party in it with room for the band.

With shelter taking up approximately 40% of the available luggage capacity on the bike, one then turns to the second major piece of furniture--the lounge chair. Well, at least a comfortable chair of some sort. It turns out there are quite expensive alternatives here that were nice in theory, but were budget breakers. The PICO chair is great and folds up in a quite ingenious way. Its also still big and heavy and therefore a bit awkward for motorcycle camping...there goes another 10%. Finally, we come to the last critical component of a successful camping experience....actually being able to sleep. Quite comfortable cots are available...yes, Virginia, I know there is a floor, but it will remain theoretical to me as a sleeping platform if I can but help it. But the cots, by their very nature, tend to be long and therefore highly unsuitable for packing on a motorbike. Sleeping pads, conforming as they do to roughly the same dimensional requirements, share a similar awkwardness when one introduces them to a two wheeled vehicle. Perserverance will out, as they say however. The Go-Kot is a quite ingenious device that packs down into a 28' long tube, and the most modern of inflatable mattress provides quite a comfortable interface between me and cot.

Other choices have had to be made: my trusty old two burner Coleman stove just has to stay behind, to be replaced by a Primus backpacking device. Ditto, as stated, with the mantle lanterns, to be replaced by little four inch and nine inch LED lanterns that could signal the Queen Mary into port, and do so for many, many hours on four little AA batteries. Miracles. You'd think sleeping bags wouldn't be much of a problem, but when confronted with a motorcycle, the smallest bedroll looks huge. As it turns out, I have figured out a way to take two...one for the insufferably hot climate I will be going through, and the other for the onslaught of winter I am sure to run into. It all adds up--towels, dop kit, did I forget clothes for a three week trip (minimum). Ah well, take lots of quarters and budget time for a laundramat! First trial run (but with less than a100% of gear on hand) has looked promising. TaTa! Off to pack.