The
next morning we arose bright and early to find ice on our saddles. I
had purchased a new Hot Wired electric jacket liner for this trip and
now was the time to initiate it. It was 33’ when we left. The
liner was great and along with my heated motorcycle grips kept me
warm. Of course, it warmed up fairly quickly but not so much that I
didn’t keep the liner.
We
stopped for a cache or two before turning east at Wells, NV, and
proceeded to Wendover. Interstate 80 takes you along the Bonneville
Salt Flats – really desolate country. Sam has a 6.5 gallon fuel
tank and mine holds only 5 gallons. I believe I had a little less
than half a tank when we passed through Wendover but I didn’t
realize there was no gas for many miles. Each little town we passed
would say “No Services”. We had a terrific quartering head wind
to make matters worse. As the “miles to empty” indicator on my
motorcycle computer crept lower and lower I knew I had to do
something a bit drastic if I was going to make it to a gas station.
As there are many semis on the Interstate I pulled up close behind
one to draft which uped my miles per gallon from about 40 to close to
60 mpg. However, if you’ve ever ridden behind a semi on a
motorcycle you know it’s like being slapped back and forth by a big
invisible hand. Nevertheless this saved my bacon. When I finally
pulled off the Interstate where I could fuel up the “miles to
empty” indicator read 6.
"Shaft Who" cache |
One
interesting cache we found after turning south off the Interstate was
called “Shaft Who?”. It was a long rod or shaft concealed in a
fence post a couple hundred yards out in the desert.
We
continued south before turning east on Highway 24 toward Bicknell,
UT. All the time we had been narrowly dodging rain storms. Soon we
entered the Capitol Reef area which I think is one of the most scenic
rides imaginable. A rain storm had just preceded us as the road was
still wet but it was still a beautiful ride on a twisty road amongst
sheer cliffs and fantastic rock formations. I had several caches
lined up but it was getting so late we didn’t stop.
Hog Spring Picnic Area |
We
made it to the Whispering Sands Motel in Hanksville after 7:00 pm
having traveled 502 miles (our longest day) and logging 9 geocaches
with 2 DNF’s. This is the same place where Yancey and I stayed on
our Utah trip in 2013.
The
next morning dawned clear and cool and we headed south on Highway 95,
the same route Yancey and I traveled in 2013. It was another
beautiful ride and I’m sure I overuse the term when it comes to the
southeast Utah area. We stopped for a geocache and break near the
bottom of the descent at the Hog Spring Picnic Area. I
Cafe Display at Bluff |
Mogi Dugway View |
We
continued this route until we came to the intersection of State Route
261 known as the Mogi Dugway. This 34 mile road was built by Texas
Zinc in 1958. It is a steep narrow gravel road with sharp turns and
no guard rails. We stopped for 2 geocaches on the way down. It was
really not that frightening just slow going. As I recall many of the
turns were posted 10 mph.
After
traversing the Mogi Dugway we turned east on Highway 163 and stopped
for another cache before stopping at a cafe in Bluff, UT, for a
break. They had an interesting art display out front consisting of
old wheels and various mechanical pieces.
Lunch Site |
From
Bluff we backtracked a few miles to the Mogi Dugway intersection and
turned south toward Mexican Hat, UT. It was getting past midday and
we were desperately searching for a piece of shade to eat our lunch.
This is very barren and poverty stricken country. We finally found
a little shade along side a fence by a graffiti painted water tank
with a working windmill. Sam’s usual road fare was a can of tuna
mixed with a can of beans and mine was sardines and Wheat Thins
washed down with a flavored tea mix.
Spider Rock |
As
we traveled south into Arizona Sam suggested that we make a detour to
Canyon de Chelly National Monument which he had visited before. It
was well worth the extra time we took. It had been home to ancient
Pueblo Navajos also called Anasazi. The most outstanding feature was
Spider Rock towering 750’ out of the canyon.
Canyon de Chelle |
After
visiting the Canyon de Chelly we turned east to Gallup, NM. As I
told Sam, “Now the business begins”. Up until now the geocaches
had just been for breaks and occasional ones that looked particularly
interesting. Now, for New Mexico and west Texas, I had to log at
least one find in each county of our journey to fulfill my mission.
McKinley Court House |
We
checked into the motel in Gallup and after unloading the bikes I left
Sam there and set out to find caches for McKinley County. The first
one was at the Historic McKinley County Court House. It had been a
WPA project build in 1938. It had obviously been well kept as it was
a beautiful building. I found one more cache at a mining cart
exhibit. After narrowly missing getting run over after pulling out
in front of a car I didn’t see, I stopped for gas and then returned
to the motel. This had been one of shorter days traveling 378 miles
and scoring 8 geocache finds with 1 DNF.
To be continued.
I am jealous! Wish I could have been with you on this adventure!
ReplyDeleteGood photos!
ReplyDelete