With Rallys being cancelled or postponed all over the country, I have decided to take a 10 day tent camping trip to Colorado and Southern Utah. There are plans to meet up with a couple of FJ owners during the trip. Departure will be 6:00am May 15th. Unfortunately I will not be riding one of my FJ's. Some electrical gremlins popped up this week on the 95 and the 90 is not set up for long distance riding. The VFR will be used instead.
Fred
My 9 day camping trip has begun. A very wet start leaving this morning. Cleared up in Kingman. Rode through Dodge City Kansas and into Colorado. Camping West of Ponche Springs, Colorado at about 8000ft elevation. Tunes for the evening, and planning the routes for tomorrow
543 miles for the day
Fred
Video of Skyline Drive from yesterday
https://youtu.be/TjUYHQa1xIo
https://youtu.be/RLAnDmSKmB0
Fred
Riding into Salida, Colorado
https://youtu.be/KJQLoUOJFfI
Fred
Quote from: aviationfred on May 16, 2020, 10:40:12 PM
Riding into Salida, Colorado
https://youtu.be/KJQLoUOJFfI
Fred
Thanks for sharing the adventure with us Fred. Watching that pickup passing you in the beginning of the video. Reminds me of one time my buddy and I were riding back from BIR. He was on his FJ (that later became my FJ1350r) and I was on my 87 FZR 1000. We were cruising along, on a long stretch of 2 lane hiway @ about 120mph. And out of nowhere comes an older 2 wheel drive Nissan pickup. Passed us alittle faster than that truck in the video. We just stayed a ways behind him. Figured he'd catch any cops ahead. He was going alittle over 130mph. He turned off about 10 miles later. Was the dangdest thing. Looked totally stock.
Day 2
Rode up over Monarch Pass and down into Gunnison. Stopped for a bit of On the Road lunch. The serenity of Mountain Air, a Crystal Blue Lake, and Tortilla's with Ranch flavored Tuna Fish. The best lunch I have had in aong time. Onward to Hwy92, a brilliant road. Dropped down into Crawford. Picked a new road and went up Hwy65 and over Grand Mesa. Much more snow than I expected up there and many of the lakes were still partially frozen over. The biggest surprise was the canyon between the town of Mesa and I-70. 224 miles for the day. Half the mileage from yesterday but 100 times the curves. :yahoo:
Fred
Day 3 Colorado/Utah trip. Left out of Grand Junction, CO. and road I-70 to Hwy 128 into Moab, UT. Absolutley stunning view. Words and photos can not describe it. Unfortunately Arches National Park is still closed. Decided to just blaze on down to Mexican Hat UT. Stopped at the Wilson Arche. My out of shape a$$ had to climb up inside it. Pretty steep climb, but I made it. Not much to see between there and Bluff, UT. The scenery changed real quick and the the Mexican Hat Rock came into view. A little jaunt down a gravel road and I was at the base. I headed down towards Monument Valley. I got a couple of BUCKET LIST photos from the Forrest Gump Point. Found a nice KOA just on the other side. One heck of a campsite view. 253 miles for the day.
Day 4, The Moki Dugway
I rode back into Mexican Hat this morning and got another shot from near the Forrest Gump Point. The rocks were lit up by the morning sun. Made it to the Moki Dugway. I thought the dirt/gravel section was longer. Actually only about 4 miles. Got video of it and then went back to the top lookout point for some photos. While there, my campsite neighbors from Montana came putting up on their Thumpers. Got some more video going to Muley Point. A short video from Muley Point is at the end of the photos. I didn't go all the way to the end but got some great photos where I stopped. Back to the paved road and came across a rock formation called Jacob's Chair, crossed the Colorado River as it becomes Lake Powell, found some Petroglyphs Mark another item off my Bucket List, and another rock formation called Chimney Rock. It got really warm and very windy from Hanksville into Capitol Reef National Park.
212 miles for the day
Video of riding The Moki Dugway https://youtu.be/ru8mfg-_3yE
Video of the ride out to Muley Point.. a stunning cliff top view at the end.https://youtu.be/3-GeAHxqqk4
Awesome stuff Fred!
You're picking some great routes, and places to see.............. :drinks:
Fred, keep one eye on the weather. We had minor storms pass through Sunday and today we got more than a half of an inch.
The storms yesterday appeared to be almost across Nevada heading east.
Safe travels.
Randy - RPM
Quote from: racerrad8 on May 18, 2020, 09:33:54 PM
Fred, keep one eye on the weather. We had minor storms pass through Sunday and today we got more than a half of an inch.
The storms yesterday appeared to be almost across Nevada heading east.
Safe travels.
Randy - RPM
Thank you for the heads up. My route today is to St. George with stops at Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. They are suppose to be open. Today's forecast looks good with it being windy in the afternoon.
Fred
Thanks for the posts Fred.
Loving the pix.
Day 5.
Hit the road and headed South on Hwy12 with Zion National Park as my destination. Riding through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument was like riding through land that had melted. Zion National Park is something to behold. Words can not describe what the views are. The one mile long tunnel was really awesome. In a couple of the photos you can see a hole in the cliff face. That is actually holes cut into the side of the tunnel that let's fresh air in. Rode into Hurricane, UT. and met a fellow FJ1200 owner. We have a ride into Zion National Park tomorrow. Found a free campsite on BLM land, got all set up and sat down to eat some dinner. A brush fire kicked off just to the west of the campsite. Then a Sheriff's deputy showed up and told everyone that we had to evacuate. Hastily packed everything up and relocated to another BLM free campsite a few miles west.
Thanks for posting all of this Fred, I feel like I'm there!
Day 6
Not much riding today. Met up with a fellow FJ1200 owner who is local to the area. We rode into Zion and saw the sights. We did get a special viewing of about a dozen Desert Bighorn sheep coming down off of a peak. There is a photo of them, but I had to really blow up the shot to see them. I also tried to get them on video. Not sure if you can make them out. I did get some video riding through the 1 mile long tunnel. Only did about 70 miles for the day.
Seeking out BLM campsites, touring National Parks, that's what I call really doing it.
This is the best current thread.
Well done....er Fred
Quote from: andyoutandabout on May 21, 2020, 10:19:14 AM
Seeking out BLM campsites, touring National Parks, that's what I call really doing it.
This is the best current thread.
Well done....er Fred
Agreed!
Day 7
Camped about a half mile from the Zion National Park East entrance. The elevation is around 7000ft. I woke up at 3:00am freezing my butt off. The temperature had dropped below freezing. A pair of sweat pants and my thermal jacket did the trick, slept good the rest of the night. Rode out through Mt. Carmel Junction and found Hwy14. Another great road. Amazing Lava rock fields and alpine lakes. Stopped at an overlook close to the summit and got a good view of Zion National Park from the North. Got to I-15 and rode aways North and got on Hwy143. A spectacular road that I had almost completely to myself. I accidentally found the house where Butch Cassidy (of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid fame) lived as a teenager Hwy62 and Hwy72 are some good roads. Met up with I-70 and blazed to Hwy191 and back through Moab. The Speed Limit on I-70 is 80mph, riding through the Utah Swell there are sweeping curves posted between 60mph to 40MPH which is very rare on an Interstate. I pulled into Green River for gas and noticed that I had tire buggers on the rear tire. Another BLM campsite for the night. Tomorrow will be back into Colorado for more riding and new roads to explore. 404 miles for the day
Fred
Chasing a FJ1200 through a mile long tunnel
https://youtu.be/b9sACphDTOs
Fred
Your night-time cold story reads me of the time we were touring there in a RV about 10 years ago in July. The daytimes we're really hot, but at night it froze a few times and we threw on extra blankets and extra clothes to try and stop shivering......before we realised the RV had a really good central heating system !
:Facepalm:
There are some really great rides around Moab, with the best stretch of road I've ever come across in the world (but only 1 mile long), on the way up to Dead Horse Point. Also near there is the is the place where they filmed the end scenes for Thelma and Louise (where they drove the car off the cliff). Moab is really one of my favourite places in the whole world.....and the place I'd love to spend my final years.....(if there was a NHS in the USA).
Hopefully you managed to get to Bryce Canyon while you were in the area, didn't see any photo's from there in your earlier post where you mentioned visiting it, but it's a stunning place with amazing views.
Quote from: Millietant on May 22, 2020, 03:15:15 AM
Hopefully you managed to get to Bryce Canyon while you were in the area, didn't see any photo's from there in your earlier post where you mentioned visiting it, but it's a stunning place with amazing views.
I rode by Bryce canyon a few days ago. The wind was very brutal up on the plateau, that I just wanted to get through there without getting blown off the road.
Fred
A few videos of Zion National Park
https://youtu.be/D3uqL8DN1tc
https://youtu.be/UhWW4Dk6DZM
https://youtu.be/b9sACphDTOs
Fred
Day 8
Rode Hwy46 into Colorado. Encountered a large herd of cattle camped out on the road. Definitely interesting. While sitting there contemplating what to do. About 15 BMW's and Goldwings came up behind me. We rode through the cows and down into Naturita, CO. for gas. Headed up Hwy141 along the Delores and San Miguel Rivers to Gateway, CO. The Hanging Flumes were interesting to find. Made to Clifton and I-70. Super Slab for the next 4 hours into Aurora, CO. 425 miles for the day.
Day 6 photos
Day 7 photos
Day 8 photos
Day 9
This was a non travel ride day with Alan Humes on some of his favorite roads near Denver, Colorado. I had stripped all the luggage off of the VFR and Alan (Firehawk068) was on his FJ1200. After we ripped up some canyon roads, we were headed to Golden, Colorado when my VFR experienced total electrical failure. Since I had removed all the luggage, I didn't have my tool kit or parts to make a roadside repair. Alan blazed home and got his trailer to rescue me and the VFR. Once back to Aurora, I got busy with repairs as Alan opened Al's Bar and Grill for dinner. 103 miles for the day
What was the cause of the electrical gremlins Fred ??
Day 10
Last night on the road. I left Aurora, Colorado as storm clouds were over the mountains to the West. Radar showed that is was snowing at the higher elevations. Got on I-70 East and blazed for awhile. Got on Hwy36 for the ride into Kansas. Rode by High Plains Raceway in the middle of Nowhere. Not much else to see other than wheat fields and other crops. Got into St. Francis, Kansas and the Motorcycle Museum. Many many old motorcycles. They were very light on old Yamahas and Suzukis. Made my way to Goodland, Kansas for the night. 215 miles for the day
Riding in Colorado with Alan (Firehawk68)
https://youtu.be/Jhl1F4THXCg
https://youtu.be/AL-6bxq6goU
Fred
Day 10
Last night on the road. I left Aurora, Colorado as storm clouds were over the mountains to the West. Radar showed that is was snowing at the higher elevations. Got on I-70 East and blazed for awhile. Got on Hwy36 for the ride into Kansas. Rode by High Plains Raceway in the middle of Nowhere. Not much else to see other than wheat fields and other crops. Got into St. Francis, Kansas and the Motorcycle Museum. Many many old motorcycles. They were very light on old Yamahas and Suzukis. Made my way to Goodland, Kansas for the night. 215 miles for the day
THIS IS NOT MY FOOTAGE.
While I was riding home to Wichita yesterday. Brave souls were doing a Track Day in the Rain at Heartland Park Raceway in Topeka Kansas. The video captures a Tornado in the distance.
https://youtu.be/4dxMko6lZHA
Fred
Day 11
The final day of my trip. A Super-Slab day back to Wichita. I spent about 5 hours riding in rain. I stayed dry, even my gloves kept my hands dry. Even though the oves kept my hands dry, they were water logged and stuck the warmth out of your hands. The heated hand grips paid dividends. Didn't get many photos. A couple at a stop in Wakeeny, KS. The guy on the Harley was traveling from Seattle to Kansas City. 327 miles for the day
I'd like to visit that museum some day....some great bikes there (at least a couple I'd want to ride right outta the door) - and they have VFR 750 in the very best colour scheme :good2: :good2: :good2:
Glad I was part of your trip Fred, and glad you got home safe.
https://youtu.be/jhNrOr_t2Jg (https://youtu.be/jhNrOr_t2Jg)