jogitu
New member
I made the move to Salt Lake last Sunday. The moving truck made it here a day earlier and the wife who had been here a month dealt with all of the unloading. I must mention that is only fair as I dealt with all the packing, loading and the moving sale. On the way here from Indiana I was nearly put to sleep by the vast nothingness of Iowa and Nebraska on I-80. The riding juices got flowing upon driving deep into Wyoming and finally Utah. I could it help but think of all the work that was ahead of me before I could go riding.
My wife had taken off last Monday to help unpack and Thursday & Friday so we could be together some as we had been apart for a month. After unpacking all day Monday and Tuesday I looked at the forecast for the Moab area and got to thinking. I called her at work and suggested that unpacking could be done anytime but weather like this will not last forever. So after a few phone calls to make reservations we were off to southern Utah for a three day trip. Did I mention I was a salesman by profession?
We rode to Canyonlands National on Thursday and then into Moab for the night. I was amazed the whole trip there and then when I saw the Canyons in the National Park I thought nothing could be as great as that ever again. Simply amazing. We took 15 from Salt Lake to 6, 70 and 191. I enjoyed that entire route.
Friday we ate at the Peace Tree for breakfast and drank plenty of water to start the day. I learned the day before that water is important and by all means carry plenty on you. We then took 128 which is an amazing road. We doubled back to hit the Arches NP and then rode back 70 and dropped down 24 to Hanksville. From Hanksville we headed west to Boulder with a stop at Capital Reef. Ending a hot day by riding through Dixie National is a good thing. We stayed at the Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch. They have good food and I would recommend it but you have 3 miles of gravel to deal with getting back to it and with scary canyon drop offs. Not exactly GTL friendly but GSA boys should find it a breeze. That whole leg was amazing and I would change a thing except for the gravel road.
Saturday we started the day in the gravel road and I was pretty sure the worst was behind us because surely there were other scary roads with sheer drop offs and no guard rails in the area since we were on asphalt the rest of the day, right? Nobody had mentioned Hell's Backbone to me so boy was I surprised by that stretch of road. Holy crap! There was no danger of getting throttle happy through that section. Once through what a great road. Bryce Canyon was amazing as well. We spent the rest of the day riding back to Salt Lake via 89. The only thing I would change was the last 130 miles or so of that trip. When 89 merges into 70 the rest of the trip is just a slab. Lesson learned and next time I will adjust.
All in all what an amazing first ride in Utah. Vistas I have never seen before in my life. Great roads, great people and plenty of BMW's sighted along the way. In fact I saw more GS and GSA's on that trip than I have seen over a 2 year period in Indiana, maybe even in a 4 year period. Highway 12 was defintely great, 128 amazing, 70 I made some serious time. I feel blessed to live in this state and have only been on one ride but what a ride. This week I get service then off to cotton wood canyon. This coming week we will head off together to the Northwest for some mountain time before it gets too cold. See ya out there on the road.
My wife had taken off last Monday to help unpack and Thursday & Friday so we could be together some as we had been apart for a month. After unpacking all day Monday and Tuesday I looked at the forecast for the Moab area and got to thinking. I called her at work and suggested that unpacking could be done anytime but weather like this will not last forever. So after a few phone calls to make reservations we were off to southern Utah for a three day trip. Did I mention I was a salesman by profession?
We rode to Canyonlands National on Thursday and then into Moab for the night. I was amazed the whole trip there and then when I saw the Canyons in the National Park I thought nothing could be as great as that ever again. Simply amazing. We took 15 from Salt Lake to 6, 70 and 191. I enjoyed that entire route.
Friday we ate at the Peace Tree for breakfast and drank plenty of water to start the day. I learned the day before that water is important and by all means carry plenty on you. We then took 128 which is an amazing road. We doubled back to hit the Arches NP and then rode back 70 and dropped down 24 to Hanksville. From Hanksville we headed west to Boulder with a stop at Capital Reef. Ending a hot day by riding through Dixie National is a good thing. We stayed at the Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch. They have good food and I would recommend it but you have 3 miles of gravel to deal with getting back to it and with scary canyon drop offs. Not exactly GTL friendly but GSA boys should find it a breeze. That whole leg was amazing and I would change a thing except for the gravel road.
Saturday we started the day in the gravel road and I was pretty sure the worst was behind us because surely there were other scary roads with sheer drop offs and no guard rails in the area since we were on asphalt the rest of the day, right? Nobody had mentioned Hell's Backbone to me so boy was I surprised by that stretch of road. Holy crap! There was no danger of getting throttle happy through that section. Once through what a great road. Bryce Canyon was amazing as well. We spent the rest of the day riding back to Salt Lake via 89. The only thing I would change was the last 130 miles or so of that trip. When 89 merges into 70 the rest of the trip is just a slab. Lesson learned and next time I will adjust.
All in all what an amazing first ride in Utah. Vistas I have never seen before in my life. Great roads, great people and plenty of BMW's sighted along the way. In fact I saw more GS and GSA's on that trip than I have seen over a 2 year period in Indiana, maybe even in a 4 year period. Highway 12 was defintely great, 128 amazing, 70 I made some serious time. I feel blessed to live in this state and have only been on one ride but what a ride. This week I get service then off to cotton wood canyon. This coming week we will head off together to the Northwest for some mountain time before it gets too cold. See ya out there on the road.