After I got fed up by squashing bugs that were clearly out to get me (no, I'm not paranoid), I got on the bike again and headed to Grand Junction, fastest way, since it was dark and didn't want to risk too much in my super tired state and in an area with lots of wild life on the roads.
Went okay though.
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| Day 4, Part 2 A fast highway/freeway run to the next hotel |
This will be a short one, I'm super tired, have to fight some weird bugs in my hotel room and are on the verge of packing up and go some place else.
Today was probably the last day of riding in areas I've been before with a motorcycle when Andrea and I were on our trip in 2013.
The route took me from Cedar City along Cedar Breaks East to Bryce Canyon and on to Grand Staircase Escalante, through Capitol Reef and to Monticello, UT.
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| Red Canyon – on the way to Bryce |
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| Bryce Canyon |
It was an interesting day, temperatures ranged from 10C/50F to 36C/97F. The afternoon was tough again due to heat and not having slept well the night before. We'll see how it goes today.
And it's important to be fully alert at all times since you never know what awaits you around the next corner:
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| Sheep ... |
I had ample time to stop and it wasn't a problem getting through.
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| Beautiful Nature in Utah |
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| More "Red Stone" |
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| And some straight boring stretches as well |
At some point in time I had to stop, be in the shade for a while, eat a granola bar and just relax. The day was long enough to take a few breaks and about an hour before I arrived at my destination, I really needed that break.
Overall, it was a beautiful ride. Especially Capitol Reef was mesmerizing. Southern Utah is definitely beautiful. I did ride into Bryce Canyon National Park, but didn't do any of the other parks here since we stopped for them in 2013 and my goal was "East" ...
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| Day 4 |
Today was another day of riding mostly roads I already knew and have done before. I'm still in the "get out of the known area"-mode.
The route today was from Henderson, NV to Cedar City, UT. I stopped at Eurocycle in Las Vegas to pick up a cover for my GPS mount and surprisingly they had one in stock, in addition to the ones on all the bikes on the floor, of course. So, at least that part is set.
Since I wanted to ride some nicer roads today I took a route through the Valley of Fire:
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| Valley of Fire |
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| Valley of Fire |
I've been here before, but it's worth it. It's a very beautiful State Park and well worth the entrance fee.
From there I went further North East and rode through Zion National Park, finally getting an annual park pass since the Rangers in Death Valley are only on site during Friday, Saturday and Sunday right now.
Zion is one of the most beautiful and breathtaking parks I have seen so far, I like it better than Bryce Canyon or others I've seen, the only problem is that it's always packed with people. At least always when I'm there ...
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| Zion NP |
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| Zion NP |
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| Zion NP |
It was a great day today. I ended it with an interview with a company I've been talking to for a while, could be an interesting job. That's why it was so important to just do this trip before joining the hamster wheel of daily office work again.
Route from today:
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| Route on Day 3 |
Tomorrow my route will take me mostly East. I haven't fully planned the day yet, so don't know where I'll end up, but I'll likely keep the pace of 450 to 550km (280 to 330 miles) per day for now. If I don't, I'm not making it to the East Coast and back on the roads I hoped to ride in the planned time of four to five weeks.
Also, I hope to get into slightly more temperate weather, today was again mostly 37C/99F.