Watch for Falling Rock - Trip Report (Pic Heavy)

[Trip]

Day 4:

This was a surprisingly fun 350 mile run through some beautiful desert from Mesa Verde National Park, CO to Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim, AZ. I found I rather enjoyed the desert. Of course it wasn't ungodly hot when I went through and I enjoyed the scenery a lot. There was also this interesting smell that was a sweet flowery smell that I liked in some parts of the desert. This seemed to correlate with the "red" sand/dirt desert.

So the day started off with a nice little early morning jaunts in Mesa Verde. I am so glad I paid the money to stay at this place. Being able to wake up and explore the park before anyone else was worth the extra cost I spent on getting the room in the park. I beat all the traffic, got to see all the cliff dwellings I wanted without ANY traffic. I was literally the only person on the road til at least 8am mountain time. I was still operating on EST, so I was up and out by 6:30 mountain or so. This park was amazing, I will be back again.

So I left Mesa Verde with a twinge of regret because the park was beautiful and headed on to my next stop in the tour which unfortunately was 4 corners. With the beauty of Mesa Verde still on my mind, 4 corners was simply a dump. Terrible waste of $3. The monument was surrounded by crappy Indian shops. Oh well, I wanted to do it....and this was not be the last or most money I spent on a shitty place...

I continued my trek through the desert and saw all sorts of neat scenery/rock formations. This was beautiful country. I loved the desert. It would be on my mind the whole trip. If I had seen the northern route before the trip, I would of just doubled back over the same area because I enjoyed the lower that much more than the upper part. I think I just had a crappy route for the northern part though, that was mostly to do with what I wanted to see up north.

I did the 40 miles through the forest to the Grand Canyon Lodge. I had a little cabin for the night. It was nice, but having the Grand Canyon as you backyard will make any room seem nice. I crossed off a top 5 item on my bucket list this night. I watched the sunset on the rim of the canyon. It was amazing. I had a big canyon cookie, drinks, cell phone with 3g, and a laptop tethered to the cell phone. LOL! This place exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed the hell out of the night and morning I spent on the canyon. This is a must do item for anyone. I highly highly recommend it and spend the money to stay at the lodge, well worth the cost. Plan ahead and make sure you get a reservation.

Mesa Verde:





























Square Tower at Mesa Verde:



Pit House at Mesa Verde:



Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde:



Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:



Entering AZ, actually taken on Day 5, but I didn't see it on Day 4:



More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:

[Trip]

Day 4 continued:

More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:





4 Corners:



More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:





















Awesome dude in a recliner:



More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:











Entering Grand Canyon National Park:

[Trip]

Day 4 continued:

Forest in Grand Canyon National Park:



Lodge at the Grand Canyon:







My Cabin at the Grand Canyon:



Me and the Grand Canyon:





Grand Canyon:

[Trip]

Day 5 and 6:

Day 5 was a 290 miles easy ride from Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim, AZ to Las Vegas, NV. While Day 6 was a regrettable off day in Las Vegas, NV. The ride from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas was an awesome ride until I-15. I-15 did have a few nice pieces of scenery though.

The first half took me through Zion National Park. I considered going up to Bryce Canyon National Park, since I only had a short ride that day, but I wanted to get into Vegas to spend some time with my wife who was out there with her family.

Zion was awesome, but did not live up to what I had seen previously. I liked Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon better. Zion was still a great stop on the trip. It had some fun twisties and a mile long tunnel through the mountains that was interesting.

The ride into Vegas on I-15 was boring except for a little canyon pass.

My day off in Vegas was only good because my wife was there. I stayed in the Luxor and got a suite with a hot tub. That was good too. It was on $84 a night and was probably one of my cheapest stays of the trip. I despise Vegas. The pure desperation that infests the city and the constant sales pitches that are coming at you from all sides the entire time you are on the strip and in the hotels gets annoying fast. Plus, I am not a gambler, so playing the slots/cards/dice is not for me. I doubt I will come back to this city. Being with my wife and spending time with her was great though. Made the day off worth it.

Grand Canyon in the Morning:







Deer at the Canyon:



Little DS Fun at the Canyon:



Forest got burnt up at the Canyon:



On the way to Zion:









Zion:

[Trip]

Day 5 and 6 continued:

More Zion:





























Headed to Vegas:











Vegas:

[Trip]

Day 5 and 6 continued:

Da Strip:



View outside of my Suite in the Luxor:



Me and the Wife at the Bellagio:



Pawn Stars rip off store (10% of store is pawn store, 90% is Pawn Stars gift shop LAME):



In N Out Burger NOM NOM:

[Trip]

Day 7:

This day was a 500 mile day from Las Vegas, NV to Oakhurst, CA. This day can best be described as remote. Google maps didn't even want to map the route my Garmin took me on. I went through Pahrump, NV and up into Death Valley and took Wildrose/Trona/Trona Wildrose Road through Searles Valley and then 178 to 14 through Red Rock Canyon State Park to Mojave. From there I took 58 to Bakersfield and the normal route from there to Oakhurst. It was an interest ride through the desert and then a boring ride from Bakersfield.

This was not the initial choice for the route. I REALLY REALLY wanted to do Tioga Pass into Yosemite this day, but it was not open so I had to chose between this route and taking 395 up to Tahoe and SR88 or Highway 50 through the Sierras, these routes were 600+ miles to Yosemite and the weather across was looking iffy, which led to me taking the southern route. I am still pissed I didn't get to do Tioga....

The ride from Vegas to Pahrump was uneventful. I felt like I was starting to get a sinus infection and was feeling really bad and stopped in Pahrump and got some Dayquil and Nyquil. These saved me. The Dayquil pepped me up for the day and I used the Nyquil at night and got myself back to 100% near the Redwood Forest later in the trip.

Pahrump through Death Valley was great. The desert was awesome. It was only 80 degrees for my trip through. Perfect temperatures and awesome scenery. All the people that told me not to go through can kiss my ass, I loved every minute in Death Valley. The dips in the road were fun.

This was also my first taste of annoying gas fill ups. California's stupid heavy vapor things on the gas pumps annoy the shit out of me.

After the Valley, I felt like I was in a horror movie and was waiting for some strange desert locals to come out and get me. LOL! Trona/Wildrose route was interesting to say the least. After I got into Bakersfield and from there, I did not have a good time. I was in the part of California I did not like, it was boring and I wish freakin Tioga Pass was open or I had taken the northern route.... I pulled into Oakhurst for the night and I have to say the little town, although touristy, was nice. I ate at a decent BBQ place and that made things better. Took some Nyquil and dreamed of hitting Yosemite in the morning.

Ride into Death Valley:













Death Valley: