I got to take a ride around the Southwest US last week, visit the family, and see some cool places. The highlights were the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, and Zion. This is the first mostly solo ride I’ve done. There are some nice things about running solo, but there is something to be said about having a companion on these trips. So, most of what I experience, I’ll just have myself to talk to about it. But I’ll share what I can with you all! So here we go!

Stats:
8 days – 9/1/07-9/8/07
1743 Miles
Photo Album: Southwest Tour 07
The Route:

View Larger Map

Heading East – 9/1/07
I woke up around 3:30 AM with the intent to be on the road by 4 AM. I didn’t roll out of bed until 4:15, DOH! No worries, I had no real agenda heading up to Williams Arizona other than to be there before dark. My greatest desire was to beat the desert heat which was getting up to around 110 Fahrenheit. I hit the road around 4:30, double checking all my gear was strapped down, running through my checklist in my head. It was still dark, but warm so I didn’t have to bundle up. It was kind of nice being on the road that early, hardly a vehicle on the road, it was all MINE! My route took me through El Centro, Glamis (Which I had never been to before), Blythe, Prescott and then on to Williams. The ride was pretty uneventful, at one points I found I was Beyond Hope! Before going beyond Hope I stopped at the Kofa Cafe. Excellent breakfast! They made fresh squeezed OJ right in front of me. The road up into the mountains around Prescott is very nice. Twisty and a ton of fun. I passed several cruisers and notice a few ‘interesting’ parking jobs by sport bike jockeys. DOH! There was a big festival going on in Prescott and some Classic Porche club in town as well. I made it to Williams around 2:30, about 30 minutes after my parents. We were staying at some campground that was marginal, no table, no firepit, and hardly any level ground. We had great burgers, and crashed out pretty early. I had a 7 AM flight the next morning.

Off to the Wedding – 9/2/07-9/4/07
I flew up to Calgary early in the morning from Flagstaff via Phoenix. Met up with Simon (Kevin’s close friend) in Phoenix. We landed in Calgary and stood in the customs line for quite some time. We noticed that the secondary line was all asians, and I made a crack to Simon “Don’t get stuck in secondary!” (Simon is chinese). I clear customs, and I’m waiting on the other side and Simon comes through and says “Uh, I have to go to secondary.” I laughed pretty hard, and then proceeded to wait for about 2 hours for him to get through there. The drive to Canmore was pretty uneventful, its alot like Colorado up there. Flat, then all of a sudden MOUNTAINS! Sunday night we got fairly wrecked, some far more than others (*cough* Kevin & Yuri *cough*). The wedding itself was very informal and a really nice. The food for the whole weekend OUTSTANDING! I was really happy to be a part of their wedding and was honored to be invited.

To the Grand Canyon – 9/4/07
Flew out really early on Tuesday. Had to leave the B&B by 4:30 AM to make the 7:30 flight (What the hell was I thinking). Sat next to a guy who was heading home after a 16 day rafting trip down the Colorado River. Sounded like a great time, I’ll add that to my list of things to do. Simon and I went our own ways in Phoenix, and I got a message from Iris that she’s landed in Phoenix! We lucked out and got her on the same flight into Flagstaff, how awesome. We got back to Williams and Iris and I hopped on the bike and rode up to the Grand Canyon.

Off to see a big hole! 9/5/07
Iris wanted to go see the Meteor Crater about 35 miles east of Flagstaff. So off we went on the bike! On the way there we stopped at saw the White Buffalos! Basically, they were buffalo, but white. The goats they had there were more fun, and Iris tried to coax an alpaca to come over to her. The meteor crater is worth seeing, once. Its neat, its a big ass hole in the ground formed about 40,000 years ago when a meteor smashed into the earth. We took a few pictures, but the best part was hanging out with Iris and the ride itself. On the way back we stopped at one of the tourist traps so she could get some presents for the family. We spent the night hanging out with the family around the campsite.

Down the River – 9/6/07
Today we hopped in the cars and went up to Page AZ to take a smooth water raft ride from Glen Canyon Dam. It was a pretty laid back trip both fun and relaxing. The canyon walls are anywhere between 700 to 1400 feet high on each side. We got to stop and see some Petroglyphs left by the Anasazi. While on the beach we got the opportunity to go for a swim. I waded in up to my knees and within 30 seconds I couldn’t feel my feet. The water temperature was 47F. Fricken cold! Our tour guides were awesome and showed us a good time. I’d recommend the trip to anyone who wants to see the river from the bottom, rather than peering over the edge. Most of the area is surrounded by the Navajo Nation. On the way back we got see how most of them live. Its kind of sad actually…

Iris heads home and I hit the road – 9/7/07
Today we rushed to get Iris to the airport on time. We got here there late, but just in time for the flight crew to let her on the plane. Flagstaff Pulliam airport has a 30 minute cutoff before flight departure. We got there 20 minutes before departure. Fortunately, she had no checkin luggage so they let her on. Fond farewells were made with promises to see each other soon again. What most people know is Iris and I only found out about each other about a year and a half ago. She’s the daughter of my older brother whom I never got to know until I was an adult. Very awesome young woman and she’s got a bright future ahead of her. I had breakfast with Mom and Ted in Flagstaff, and then we all bought hammocks in the outdoor store down the street. I found a nice camping hammock with a mosquito net attached. I figured I’d use this for camping for the rest of the weekend since it was just me. My plan was to head up to Lake Powell and camp up there somewhere. After visiting a few camp spots, I changed my mind and aimed my front wheel at the Grand Canyon North Rim. Lake Powell is pretty desolate and offered no shade or cover. The ride over to the Grand Canyon was spectacular. Check out the photo album!

I arrived at the North Rim after dark. The 67 which leads into the area is a nice ride, but at night there are herds of deer roaming around near the road. I took my time making my way through here hoping the whole time that I don’t hit a cow or deer on the way down. By the time I got to the park, it was around 7:30 and was really dark. To top that, the campsites and lodge rooms were all taken. So, my options are ride north 60 miles to Fredonia, camp outside the park in the national forest, or mooch a spot from another camper. I figured I was here so let the mooching begin! My first thought, find other motorcyclists. I wandered around for a bit with no avail and then asked another camper “Hey there, have you seen any other motorcyclists around?” He pointed towards the other side of the camp area and said “Yeah, there are three guys over there somewhere.” I thanked him and wandered off to find them. Sure enough, there were three guys all around a campfire. I approached them and asked if I could share their site being a fellow rider. They were tentative until they found out I was also from San Diego, all three of them were from SD as well! I setup the hammock, and we all hung out at the fire until it burned out. The ANT Squad were pretty cool. I named them that as their names were Adam, Nick, and Tyler. It helped me remember their names, haha. That night, I woke up freezing about an hour after I went to sleep. Fortunately I had the sleeping bag Iris used and I laid that out underneath me which made a big improvement. Then about 2 AM there was a huge crashing sounds. Scared the hell out of all of us. We looked around in the dark, couldn’t figure out what it was so went back to sleep. Turns out a tree had fallen on a car in the site across the road from us. The trunk fell to the side of the car but the branches broke their sun roof, and scratched the side of the car up.

On to Zion and Home – 9/8/07
I packed up camp, said farewell to the ANT Squad, and snapped a few pictures of the north side of the Grand Canyon before hitting the road. I decided that morning to head to Zion, then head on home from there. This time of year the desert is just too hot to roam around on the bike for extended periods. I made my way north through some high desert. Not much to really report other than the hills and the dirt were very red. There were also sections of asphalt there were blood red. I’m assuming because of the local rock they use in making the road. Kinda neat and interesting. Very nice ride through there, took some pictures which you can see below. The rest of the ride, was just a test of endurance at this point. I shot over to I-15 and bombed on home towards San Diego. The day totaled out at 608 miles. I got home around 9 PM to a welcome party (Thank you Gregg, Amanda & Alison)

Now I’m off dreaming of the next adventure!