Over the past weeks we have discussed how best to describe the roads we have been on from a motorcycling perspective. The suite of Alpine events found in the Skiing World Cup and the Winter Olympics seemed to us to provide a suitable analogy for relating efficiently what a road is like. So here goes …
Downhill (DH) – Typically a straight run at highway speeds with not a lot of deviation in the route. You can ride all day on cruise control without having to cancel.
Super G (SG) – A road with gentle wide radius curves/ sweepers. For the most part you can cruise along in cruise control in top gear and navigate the curves.
Giant Slalom (GS) – A road with tighter twisties, curves that require downshifting to 4-5 gear at times.
Slalom (S) – Tighter sweepers typically requiring gear choices from 2nd to 4th gear.
(NB: We’ll be using this system going forward to describe the roads we have had the pleasure to explore)
Starting out from Bloomfield we headed east on US-64. We passed extensive solar collection ‘farms along the route – each plate angling towards the sun during it’s transit, much like sunflowers. A little further along there were oil pump jacks and a small gas processing plant. Deviating slightly onto NM-511 the road meandered along the San Juan River Valley before arriving at the dam at Navajo Lake which has 32 Megwatts of power generation capacity.
After the dam we rejoin US-64 and continue00 to Chama and turn north onto NM-17. This route runs up through Cumbres Pass and parallels the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. A number of spectator’s had gathered at various level crossings and were awaiting the arrival of the steam engine driven train. We pulled out on and overlook and waited as well. After the train passed, we continued on over the pass towards Antonito.
The route south to Espanola was straight run, with some nice views along the way. Heading west towards Los Alamos we followed the unusual US-501 – a three lane highway with a somewhat slow speed limit – that appears to funnel commuters up into Los Alamos. A brief stop for coffee and we continued on, passing by the Los Alamos Research facilities (the original labs hosted Dr. Oppenheimer and the rest of the scientists of the Manhatten Project that developed the first A bomb – Little Boy), but not before being stopped and questioned by a Marine at a check point. We were warned of dire consequences if we deviated from our path and entered any of the research facilities.
Leaving US-501 we continued on NM-04 – a fun twisty route through forests and valleys – on our way to Jemez Pueblo. Continuing on US-550 towards Bernalillo we passed a CoGen power plant with supplemental solar panels. A great day of riding that – among other things – highlighted the diversity of energy use in the state of New Mexico – from steam to oil to gas to nuclear to solar – they have it all.
We faced a strong headwind while heading south on US-95 from Hanksville. The route was open plateau with red cliffs and mountains to the west.
After a twisty descent we entered the upper reaches of Glen Canyon, where the Colorado river flows into Lake Powell. Further south the road followed staggered red rock cliffs to our right while on our left was a virtual labyrinth of limestone canyons of a depth of 20 to 30 meters. Down in the canyons the strong headwinds became excessively turbulent, buffeting us from all directions.
Turning right at onto UT-261 we followed a freshly paved roller coaster of a road through pine forests filled with Buscemi Bushes*. When the pavement ended we diverted right and took a gravel road for 8 km in order to access Muley Point and it’s fantastic views. On the return trip the sandy sections proved a little much but no damage was done.
We descended the ‘Moki Dugway’ – a 5 km stretch of twisty gravel road – and entered the series of canyons that we had viewed moments ago. The road continued on with the Valley of the Gods on our left. Following US-163 we eventually arrived at Bluff (suitably named as there are rock bluffs on both sides of the town.
Continuing on through Aneth we crossed the border into Colorado – but not for long. Turning right on US-160 lead us briefly into New Mexico (for 1.5 km) before entering Arizona. We had just driven around the ‘four points’ monument where these four states (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico) meet.
At Tee Nos Pos we turned east on US-64 and crossed back into New Mexico (this time fore more than 2 minutes) and on to Bloomfield – but not before taking in the iconic views of Shiprock peak at a distance.
* Buscemi Bush – At many times throughout our trip through the desert we noticed these ‘funny looking’ bushes that we couldn’t decide if they were deciduous or conifers. In the end we concluded they are a Juniper of some sort – but not before calling them Busemi Bushes in honour of Actor Steve Buscemi and the description provided of him in Fargo as ‘funny looking’.
The objective of this trip is to visit State Capitals. If that were the only consideration, the journey from Phoenix to Santa Fe would take only two days. But that would mean missing out on the southwest corner of Utah – an area with some of the most spectacularly scenic roads on earth including the route rated #1 by Readers Digest – Utah – 12 through the Staircase Escalante. So the plan had to be adjusted.
We started out from Cedar City and quickly climbed up a twisty route along UT-14 up into forests laden with Ponderosa Pines before descending again to the junction with US-89, heading north through Hatch and turning off at UT-12.
View from the top along UT-14
After a brief climb we were in the midst of Red Canyon with highly contoured red shale cliffs on both sides.
Soon we were out on a plateau with a summit of 7,777 feet which was not named (at least there was no sign posted) so we christened it “Mau’s Pass” in honour of my father-in-law who begins his signature with 3 sevens.
Turning left we entered Bryce Canyon National park and followed the road out to Rainbow Point – one of many viewpoints that provides a panoramic view of the Escalante Region to the East. In the distance segments of Lake Powell could be seen. On the return route we stopped briefly to take in the ‘Natural Bridge’.
Travelling beyond Bryce City is difficult to describe. Every corner seems to offer some new unexpected vista of endless permutations of shale, limestone and sandstone. The road is perfectly engineered with constant radius turns and unblemished tarmac. One section on the seems to be on a knife edge – leaving the road on either side would result in a plummet to a certain death.
A brief stop in Escalante for a cappuccino ( a popular spot with many bikers) and we continued on towards Boulder and exited the valley with a high elevation twisty road on the way to Torrey.
Turning east on UT-24 we had the best ride of the day. Close cropped canyons ring twisted bands of perfect asphalt and road. The scenery was a constant distraction which made concentration in the corners difficult. (Unfortunately, my camera battery went dead back on UT-12 so was not able to record any of this!)
When I was a teenager growing up in Ontario, each Labour Day weekend, the local FM station used to host a countdown of the top 500 pop rock tunes of all time. There were strong opinions as to which would be number 1 – many felt it should be “Hey Jude” in recognition of arguably the greatest band of all time – but for many years the top spot wen to Stairway to Heaven. Over the course of this day I found myself recasting the lyrics of this great tune in a vain attempt to capture the special quality of UT-12 – arguably the best ride in the USA. Here’s how it goes ….
” There’s a biker I know Who says Inter-states blow And he’s riding the Staircase to Heaven When he gets there he knows That the roads are all gold In a word they are what he lives for
Oh oh oh oh ….. and he’s riding the Staircase to Heaven
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.
Greater Metropolitan Phoenix is not known for it’s motorcycle roads. However, to attend the State Capital it was not to be avoided.
We started out from Needles heading East on I-40 and then dropped down US-95 through Lake Havasu City (home of the relocated London Bridge) Lake Havasu had all the amenities of a thriving retirement community including big box stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot.
South of Havasu the road finally get’s interesting with some twistier sections and some irregular landforms, mountains and hills. Around this time we got hit with some rain (the whole region was broiling with thunderstorm activity).
South of Parker we left 95 heading east on Hwy 72. To the north the clouds were black and menacing; to the south blue sky with cumulous clouds marching in formation. Some low points were beset by water coursing across the road as we were entering a ‘flash flood’ area. Too much rain to the north apparently – it proved too much for a stretch just west of Bouse which was closed by the police – forcing us to detour back to 95 and south the I-10.
On I-10 the cross wind was from the north and quite refreshing at a relatively chilly 27 C. Moments later it shifted and was suddenly a hot muggy 36 C; suitable prelude to a dust storm.
The rest of the trip was uneventful as we entered Phoenix and visited the Capitol. The stop proved fortuitous in that the delay meant we arrived in Wickenburg just after the downpours had come through and drenched the town. Rainbows were taken as a sign of better weather tomorrow.
Upon our approach to the Arizona Capital we reached out to a staff member for directions. A quick exchange revealed a) the location of the original Capital building as well as the newer buildings that housed the Representatives and the Senate and b) she was a democrat with not a good opinion of the current Republican Governor Doug Ducey. Oh and she was a Quaker and wore a ‘Democrat Blue’ pant suit.
The original Arizona Capital building proved has been turned into a museum, the House of Representatives and the Senate having each relocated to newer buildings (built in the 60’s) . Neither is session so we took pictures of the respective chambers. It was interesting to note the various signs and ‘mementos that some members left on their desks. It was as though they were leaving silent messages for any citizens who visited the chambers. Many Republicans has small Elephant statues (perennial symbol of the GOP). Some had banners displayed such as “I Support Parents”, “We Support #Red for Ed” and the ubiquitous “Make America Great Again”. A member of Hispanic heritage had a copy of a book ” We Will Dance Our Truth”.
To enter the House of Representatives we underwent a full inspection of our bags and jackets and were scanned for metals. To enter the Senate – we just walked in. Apparently the security requirements are established by the Leaders of the respective assemblies. Makes one wonder what the House fears that the Senate does not.
A brief inquiry of the 3rd floor security guard identified Immigration as one of the more contentious issues when the house was in session. Legislation – previously approved – had been recalled (ostensibly to revised it’s requirements). As a border state it is no surprise.
Starting out from Lone Pine this morning, a refreshing 16 C outside, we turned east on CA-136 enroute to Death Valley. Another perfect day with no wind, high cirrus clouds amidst blue skies – where the airliner contrails remained intact and well defined for extended periods. The road was straight and true until we neared Panamint Springs. The temperature had warmed to 20 C when we started our twisty descent. At the bottom the temperature had risen to 27 C.
Passing through Stove Pipe wells and across the plateau we ascended another range, traversed the pass and descended again into ‘Death Valley Proper’ where we paid our $25 fee and entered the park. At Furnace Creek we veered south on Badwater road to check out the Badwater Basin (at -282 ft / -86 m) is the lowest point in the US. Badwater road as fun to dive – much more twisty than the alternative Hwy 190.
The landscape is nothing short of spectacular.
Upon exiting the park we headed south through Shoshone and Baker, crossing into the Mojave Desert. – a desolate and forlorn space beset with beautiful dunes and unusual rock formations – and not a few budding Joshua trees. We picked up I-40 south of Kelso and made a quick tack towards Needles where we stayed for the night.
