Category: Land

In recent years, Arizona has invested in the use of roundabouts to handle traffic at busy sections – a practice that is similar to that in Europe. However, it seems as though the practice is somewhat new so there is a big focus on proper signage to explain the proper way through.

True to form we started our trip today passing through a few roundabouts in Page before we backtracked along Hwy 89 back to Bitter Spring where we turned east on 89 A. We took a short stop at the bridge crossing the Colorado River.

Continuing on 89A we followed the Vermillion Cliffs before winding up through pine forests enroute to Jacob Creek and the turnoff to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Time was short so a return trip to the Grand Canyon wasn’t in the cards, so we continued on 89A towards Fredonia. Here the road crosses a plateau with spectacular views of distant cliffs for miles in all directions.

At Kanab we rejoined Hwy 89 and continued north and up into the cliffs continuing to Mt Carmel Junction and then east on Hwy 9 to Zion National Park. Zion is majestic – rather than fumble with a proper description we’ll just let these pictures do the talking.

The descent from Zion opened up additional views of the cliffs and mountains beyond the I-15 corridor. We finished the day with a quick blast up I-15 before checking into our hotel at Cedar City.

Our route today contained many straight sections – but the absence of twisty’s did not mar the experience in the least as we had a experienced a smorgasbord of climates.

Starting from Flagstaff we headed North East on US -180, starting in large Ponderosa pine forests which transitioned into another type of conifer and then desert as we descended from 2200 meters to about 1800 meters.  Heading north on US-64 we passed through more desert before regaining the pine forests that rim the Grand Canyon.

Notwithstanding the mid-week visit in late September, there were considerable crowds at the visitor center.  One enthusiastic group of motorcyclists were from Brazil; they were nearing the end of their two-week tour.  The started out from Los Angeles and were returning through Las Vegas (which they had visited earlier and were not entirely impressed with).  It was a brief exchange, so we didn’t get to explore potentially interesting topics such as the recent Amazon fires and the controversy surrounding their current president.

It was a perfect day to visit one of nature’s great wonders. Blue skies with a smattering of cirrus clouds, we had clear views in all directions.  The geology that created this vast expanse is fascinating.  Over almost two billion years, deposits were laid down in ancient seabeds, building the bands of sedimentary rock (sandstone, limestone and shale) that line the canyon. Then something remarkable occurred. Through the agency of plate tectonics, the whole plateau slowly rose. The Colorado river was already established, draining water from the western ranges of the Rockies to the north, and as the plateau rose the river continued to cut into the rising rock, so that today the river is up to 6000 feet/ 1829 meters from the rim.  Amazing what water has wrought!

After taking a tonne of photos, we left the south rim, continuing east along US-64.  The pine forests again gave way to spectacular desert views as we looked upon south eastern canyons and the cliffs of the painted desert in the distance.  We finished the descent with a short band of twisty’s before turning north on US-89.  Here we found desert again, however much different than what we’d seen earlier.  The palette of colours was extensive – ochres, greys, sienna’s and umbers, with strange looking tope coloured dunes.  As we moved north the red rock cliffs to our east gradually encroached, until just past Bitter Springs we cut up into the ridge on some beautiful sweepers before emerging on the plateau above. From there it was straightforward before again descending down into Page Arizona, just south of Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam.

The distance from Wickenburg to Sedona is only 133 km – as the crow flies. So a trip there can easily accommodate a few deviations from course while still getting there at a reasonable time. And that we did ...

We started out north on Hwy – 93, turning right onto AZ-97 towards Baghdad. This was a fun road, very twisty with a lot of up and down – somewhat like a slalom run with moguls. It also had warning signs for ‘flash floods’ which were easily identified as these sections of road were typically made of concrete. Fortunately all the flood zones were dry as we passed through.

Baghdad (Arizona … not Iraq) was a small copper mining town. A surprisingly large community in a large expanse of desert, but not much to hold our interest so we reversed course on AZ-96 and headed towards US-89 and onto Prescott via another twisty (and fun!) road.

Crossing a plateau we ascended into Jerome which is a funky town built on the knife edge of a small mountain range. Not sure why anyone would build up there – perhaps a mining town in it;’s past?

Jerome is full of bizarre and unusual shops. There also seemed to be a gathering of vintage autos.

The descent from Jerome took us onto another plateau through Cottonwood and on towards Sedona where the red rock cliffs rose gradually to meet us. A quick stop in Sedona and we ascended the twisty canyon road up into Flagstaff where we ended our day – after racking up another 350 km.

Setting out from Sandpoint, our route took us west along US-2 to Newport where we took WA-20 north west towards Chewelah via Flowery Trail Road ( a fabulous twisty road – definitely worthy of ‘destination highway’ status). Fueling in Chewelah we met a travelling salesman who was also a biker who recommended we change our route and take in the Keller Ferry to Wilbur. We continued on to the Gifford/ Inchelium Ferry and down to Wilbur as suggested. Bridge Creek road was another fine motorcycle outing.

Both ferries were free – ostensibly as compensation for roadways lost when Lake Roosevelt was formed by the Grand Coulee Dam which was built along the Columbia river during the depression. The dam generates power and provides irrigation for the region.

Further on at Bridgeport we took in another large dam on the Columbia River – the Chief Joseph Dam – which has the distinction of the most ( 27) penstocks and generators of any hydro damn in North America.

Turning south on US-97 we passed the Wells Dam just south of Pateros. The Columbia is one of the largest river watersheds on the Pacific side of the continental divide so little wonder that it is used so extensively for hydro power generation.

Throughout the whole region large boxes were strategically positioned at orchards in anticipation of the harvest. We passed several processing plants as we continued on south on US-97 to our destination in Wenatchee.

Our first day was perfect for riding. It started out cool – approx. 5 C – but quickly warmed to double digits and the day ended at 27 C.  Sunny with cumulous clouds along the whole route.  We set out after breakfast at the Chuckwagon in Black Diamond. All the vistas (Cowboy trail – along Hwy 22 in Alberta; Hwy 3 through Crow’s Nest pass) were crystal clear.  

We crossed into Montana at Rooseville and then drove some new roads from Rexford to Yaak. These roads were clear of traffic, twisty and scenic for over 100 km. Amazing!  Yaak River Road is a great motorcycle road. It has sections that are reminiscent of roads in the Alps, except that it is very remote – No roadside cappuccino bars! Not a good place to have a breakdown or be in need of help. No cell service!

We made good time so we stopped off in Sandpoint Idaho (rather than Bonner’s Ferry)