Got back a couple of days ago after 8 days on the road to one of the most beautiful areas of this country I've ever laid eyes on.

We left Santa Fe, NM on a Wed and rode through 4 Corners...to the N Rim of the Grand Canyon...through Zion N.P., Bryce N.P....up Scenic Hwy 12 and 24 towards Green River UT. Unfortunately, that day, we were riding in heavy rain and got zero pics. From what I could tell (it was hard to see in the rain), mile for mile, this road offered the most bang for the buck on the entire trip as far as scenery and riding...it had it all...twisty's, trees, canyons, cliffs, etc...eye-candy deluxe! And...that's among some stiff competition as it seemed around every bend on every road, the landscape offered us something incredible to look at.

After a night in Green River UT...with the kind of weather forecasts every biker dreads...thunder and rainstorms, flash floods, etc. all day...we donned our full raingear and headed back towards Santa Fe, hitting Arches N.P. and Dead Horse State Park that day. More incredible scenery! We decided to skip Canyonlands N.P. because of the ominous weather...next trip.

I don't know how we did it, but we managed to skirt the major rain that day and the rest of the trip. Sure, we hit some rain showers, but not the heavy storms we could see all around us & just knew we were heading right into. We decided that starting off in our raingear guaranteed we wouldn't need it

Spent the last day in Durango...after a very short ride, then hit the road the last day was some more beautiful riding through Chama and finally back to Santa Fe.

All in all a simply AMAZING trip! And, it was thrown together in about a week. Also, I celebrated the 1 year anniversary on my bike...heck...the 1 year anniversary for me riding ANY bike...on the trip! ~8500 miles and still learning. Oh...I had my first drop...as did my friend Kim on her brand new bike. ...both of us during slow, parking lot turns...felt like a doofus, but guess it was bound to happen at some point.

Anyway...I have a ton of pics as I had a hard time weeding out. So, I'll have to keep posting in this thread to get them all up. Perhaps they'll motivate some of you to take such a trip, or in the least, give you something else to put on your bucket list! Hope you enjoy them!

 

Grand Canyon/Zion N.P

I'd have to say, IMHO, Zion was the most beautiful Park. BUT, I couldn't figure out a way to get the camera to tell the story. It's just so close...the canyon walls take up the whole frame. No way can this little amateur photographer do it justice.

 

More Zion N.P.
Red Canyon on the way into Bryce
Bryce Canyon N.P.

 

More Bryce Canyon N.P.
Arches N.P.

 

Last pics...Arches N.P.
1 from Dead Horse State Park and finally, one last pic from the roadside on the way down from Moab to Monticello UT!

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Mary

 

Wowwww.....what a great ride, Mary!

I remember reading one of your earlier posts when you started planning this trip. Now that I've seen your pictures I'm absolutely convinced that this is a 'must do' ride. Thanks for sharing it with us.

PS: Do you both wear FF helmets? If you don't, I'm certain that if I met you two lovelies oncoming that I'd either break my neck or drive off the road and end up dead at the bottom of one of those canyons....

BTW, the like the fairing on your bike!

Take care.

W

 

Ahh, Whiskers...you charmer you! Love it of course! Thanks...you should definitely do the trip.

Yes, we wear FF helmets. Only used our halfs when cruising through Zion and around town after the touring part was over.

I must say, between our "loud" bikes and the fact we are 2 chicks w/o a man around...we do garner a lot of attention! There was no shortage of men (and women too for that matter) real interested in our bikes plus the fact we were riding our own.

Funny story. In Zion, we were stopped and these 3 guys came riding up and stopped at the same place. I'd seen them at the Grand Canyon and had spoken with them. Anyway, one guy asks Kim if he could take a picture of her bike. His buddies started razzing him about it and the fact he was more interested in her bike than her. She said to him, "I guess that's what happens when your pen!s stops working"...they cracked up and I'm betting he'll never live it down. Nice guys...

 

Been to Zion...It is awesome

 

Been there ;-) SO nice to see your photos. If you would like to see my Arizona Utah trip, please go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/harriki...7618723280626/

At least I had time in my life there!!!!

 

Great pics.....no doubt one of the most beautiful areas in the west.....hope next time the weather is better.....but riding is what it's all about.....