Mark Loves to Ride!

Monument Valley

Monument Valley
Valley of the Gods
November 28-30, 2008

When I was first asked by a friend to join him on this trip, my primary thoughts were: this would be a beautiful and fun ride, but also cold as a well diggers butt. My initial response was “thanks, but no thanks.” Riding northern Arizona and southern Utah anytime after Halloween risks frostbite, freezing rain and/or snow. None of the above was particularly appealing to me at the time. Between that first invite and trip departure time, one event affected my perspective on life. One event changed my decision about going on this trip.

One event:
The abrupt and violent death of a co-rider and friend—Stephen C. Cheshire.

This one event “sealed the deal” for me to go on this Monument Valley/Valley of the Gods trip with Dwayne. We both “needed” this ride to, as Dwayne put it, “heal my shattered soul.” In retrospect, this trip has begun that process of healing for me.

As departure day approached, the weather was looking iffy. Fortunately for us, the storm front (and rain) moved on. The trip was to include over 1000 miles of the Southwest (AZ & UT) over three days, camping each night and enjoying the sights along the way. Dwayne and I knew Stephen’s spirit was going to be with us on this trip. We were ready.

Day 1 - 28 November 2008 - Heading North

The departure plan was for those of us coming from the East Valley (Dwayne, Anthony and me) to meet Friday morning at “6ish” to ride to Phoenix to meet Bill, the organizer and planner of this adventure. I had the primary packing of my motorcycle done the night before, but had a few minor things to finish up that morning. I rose at 4:30am to allow time for coffee, SS&S, final packing and transporting the dogs to the sitter (not on the bike, mind you). Before leaving the house to drop off the dogs, I did my “walk through” three more times to make sure I had remembered everything. I did well, as the only thing left behind was a spare key for the motorcycle. I left the house to drop off the dogs and noticed the time. It was already 6:00am. I had wasted time and was now behind schedule, but reminded myself that “6ish” allowed me some leeway. I sent Dwayne a text, to let him know, and hurried as best I could.

When I finally arrived at the east side meet point, Anthony wasn’t there. His gear was, but he wasn’t. Dwayne filled me in. The man parked across the cul-de-sac had run out of gas and had no money. Anthony had gone to get him some gas. A text was sent to Bill to update him and we were on our way once Anthony returned. Before our journey had really even begun, we had done our good deed for the day.

We met up with Bill shortly after sunrise, topped off our tanks and were on our way--Three Sport bikes and one Sport Tourer. Because of the limited miles per tank on Anthony’s bike, we planned to stop every 100 miles or so for fuel, so by the time we reached Camp Verde, the bikes and bodies needed fuel.

Bodies needing fuel meant breakfast at Denny’s. It had been a chilly ride to this point and wasn’t going to get much warmer. As the day progressed, we knew our route was to take us to higher elevations. We hoped to avoid any rain remnants of the last few days’ storms. As luck would have it, we spent most of the first day with gloomy looking, overcast skies, but no rain or snow, and mostly dry roads. In the Denny’s parking lot, we were warned by a kindly older gentleman of it being “too cold to ride moto-cicles” up north as there was snow. We thanked him for his input, I added another upper-body layer and as we turned north onto I-17, saw the last of any other RIDING motorcyclists (we were to later learn) until our return to the Valley two days later.

We headed into Flagstaff and continued north on US-89. Around noon, we stopped for fuel at “Speedy's” on the Navajo Reservation, just short of AZ-64. We chatted and stretched and were ready to continue.

We continued north to US-160 and headed northeast to Kayenta, AZ and turned north on US-163 towards the Monument Valley area. After a couple brief photo stops (during one, my motorcycle decided to take a short nap and must have thought I needed one as well, throwing me to the ground),
we continued to the Utah State Line and on to GoosenecksState Park near Mexican Hat, UT to set up camp for the night.

Though the area had received rain over the last couple days, it was relatively dry and we had our tents up before dark. The wind TRIED to blow my tent away and over the cliff during setup, but Anthony reacted quickly and saved me from having to sleep under the stars that night. Firewood was another issue. We found a couple bundles in town, which consisted of about a two-hour campfire.

It got chilly that night as temperatures dropped below 30°F. I was prepared with my 5°F sleeping bag, but it sure was hard waking up in the middle of the night, realizing Nature’s Call was not going to wait and having to leave the warmth of that bag to answer. Where is an empty water bottle when I need one?

Day 2 — 29 November 2008 — Touring and Sight-seeing

Soon the Sun was peaking over the horizon and we promptly got the coffee pot started. While waiting for the coffee to brew, we decided to break camp. In short order, camp was torn down and the loading of the motorcycles was done . . . but the coffee was not. Who would have thought getting 15 cups of coffee to percolate would take an hour . . . or more? Some exploring of the area on foot, a few photos later, and we finally had hot coffee. Loving coffee each morning as I do, it was worth the wait. I’m not sure Dwayne, Bill and Anthony felt the same. The wait did give us time to discuss the plan for the day.

By this time, it was mid-morning and we were off to check out Valley of the Gods Road. Twenty miles of dirt road through some of the most scenic landscape in the area . . . or so I’m told. I did not ride the loop. When we arrived at the east entrance by the highway to begin this portion of the ride, I noticed the road crossed a wash and still had standing water there (as it turned out, that was the only wet part of the road). Bill and Anthony chose to make the run.

I declined. Dwayne agreed with my logic and joined me, choosing instead to head back into town to wait. This gave us time to discuss plans for the day and the lodging situation for the upcoming night. We had both decided we were going to spend the night in a motel rather than camping. Call us what you will, but we both were “jonesing” for a hot shower and warm bed for the night. I love camping but prefer to be fresh and rested when I am riding.

About an hour later Bill and Anthony returned, we topped off the tanks (we knew we had a long run ahead of us with unknown fuel availability and wanted to be certain Anthony did not run dry), then ate lunch at Valle’s in Mexican Hat.

After lunch, we headed north on US-163 to UT-261. Our destination was the Natural Bridges National Monument. However, to get there from Mexican Hat via UT-261 we had to traverse the “Moki Dugway” (a.k.a. Moqui Dugway, a.k.a. Mokee Dugway). Here is a description borrowed from the Natural Bridges National Monument:

The Mokee Dugway is located on Utah Route 261 just north of Mexican Hat, UT. It was constructed in 1958 by Texas Zinc, a mining company, to transport uranium ore from the “Happy Jack” mine in Fry Canyon, UT. to the processing mill in Mexican Hat. The three miles of unpaved, but well graded, switchbacks descend 1100 feet from the top of Cedar Mesa (on which you are now standing). The State of Utah recommends that only vehicles less than 28 feet in length and 10,000 pounds in weight attempt to negotiate this steep (10% grade), narrow and winding road.

The term “mokee” is derived from the Spanish word moqui, which was a general term used by the 18th century Spanish explorers and settlers in this region to describe the Pueblo Indians they encountered and the vanished culture which had left behind the numerous ruins they discovered during their travels. This term continued to be used by the Anglo pioneers, who moved into southern Utah during the 1800's, and their descendants. Today the standard term used to describe these prehistoric Native Americans, who lived in this region more than 1000 years ago, is “ancestral Puebloans”. It is based on present day Puebloan tribes' and archaeologists' beliefs that these people were the ancestors of the today's Hopi, Zuni, Acoma and Rio Grande region cultures. You may also see them commonly referred to as the “Anasazi”, a Navajo word meaning “enemy ancestors”.

It was a tense ride up the Dugway and Dwayne and I both agreed we were happy to be going UP rather than DOWN when we covered this section of road. The road itself was relatively good with a few “washboard” areas but no guardrails. From my perspective, I am glad I have ridden it but it is one of those things I prefer not to do again unless I am riding a dual sport motorcycle. Look around youtube.com and you will find a few videos there. You cannot really appreciate it based on the videos I found, but they give you an idea of what it is like.

Once we reached the top of Moki Dugway, Bill, Anthony and Dwayne headed down a side road to Muley Point. This road was again a dirt and sand road. Not for me and my ST, I decided. I waited by the highway for them to make the trip there and back. A while later, I saw Dwayne come over the hill . . . alone.

My first thought was that one of the others had broken or gone down. Fortunately, this was not the case. Part way in, Dwayne decided his motorcycle was not made for this kind of road and turned back. Shortly after, the others returned and we headed north to UT-95 and the Natural Bridges National Monument.

Arriving at Natural Bridges National Monument, the wind had picked up and the temperatures had dropped. This made for a brief, “whirlwind” tour of the park and we headed northwest on UT-95 toward our final destination of the day – Bullfrog Campground. Despite the cold and some wind, UT-95 ranks up there as a great road to ride if you love high-speed sweepers. This time of the year, traffic was light (almost non-existent) and made the road even more enjoyable.

As we approached Hite, we noticed the sign for gas, so we stopped to see if Anthony wanted to top off his tank. At this point, we also noticed Bill had disappeared (he was bringing up the rear on this leg of the trip). We figured he had stopped to take a couple photos, so while Anthony made the one-mile run into Hite for fuel, Dwayne and I waited for Bill on the highway at the bottom of the hill.

Bill soon showed up to explain his delay. He had been taking a couple photos while riding along the highway and, because his hands were cold, he could not feel the camera and it had slipped from his grip. He had made a couple passes up and down the area to search for it, but not finding it; he gave up and chose to catch up to us. After he finished his explanation, Bill went back up the hill to wait for Anthony at the end of the turn off to Hite, while Dwayne and I waited down below. A few minutes later, Anthony made his appearance, but no Bill. Bill had told Anthony he was going to return to look for his camera one last time but for us to go on and he would catch up. Nightfall was quickly approaching and we did not want to leave one rider to finish the day, possibly in the dark, on unfamiliar roads. Anthony agreed to go back (seeing he now had a full tank) so he and Bill could return together while Dwayne and I continued on to UT-276, where we turned south towards Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Bullfrog Campground and Lake Powell.

About ten miles before Bullfrog, we stopped for fuel at a station (quite conveniently . . . next to a motel) located a few hundred feet back from the road in Ticaboo, UT. We soon heard Bill and Anthony approaching and were concerned they would not see us. Our worries went unfounded, as they too made the turn for gas. At this point, Dwayne and I sprung our plans on them. We were staying in the motel, assuming the price was reasonable, and told them to camp if they wanted. They agreed that a hot shower and warm motel room was appealing after having spent two days riding in wind and temperatures below 50°F.

We checked into the motel/lodge and having no restaurants open this time of year, found a deli (located in the Chevron station) down the road. The food was actually good and reasonably priced. At that point in time, I learned one thing I do not like about Utah. Their liquor laws suck and the beer selection in the Lake Powell area is bad. The guy at the convenience store next to the motel even told us he drives to Grand Junction, CO for groceries and beer. Call me a beer snob if you want, but the commercially available domestic brews just do not do it for me. We wanted to take some good beer back to the motel as part of the wind-down time that evening, but Utah made sure THAT did not happen!

Day 3 — 30 November 2008 — Heading for Home

Sunday was primarily a day about making time and covering 550 miles, preferably arriving home before sunset. Under normal circumstances, that would not be a problem. The difference on that day – we had to cross Lake Powell on the Ferry. The only other choice was to add at least 100 miles to the day’s journey.

After a good night's sleep, we woke early and headed down to catch the Ferry to cross the lake. This time of the year, the Ferry only makes the north to south run twice a day: 9 AM and 3 PM. We arrived early and waited at the top of the ramp, enjoying the view of the lake area. Shortly before 9 AM, the Ferry docked with just a few vehicles. There were no motorcycles on board, except for the R1200GS in the back of a pickup. The driver stopped and told us he had just returned from a 7500 mile trip on his GS. He did not stick around long enough for us to get any details, wished us a safe ride home and was off. We rolled onto the Ferry and with no other vehicles, fifteen minutes later we were on our way across Lake Powell.

During the Ferry ride, one of the crewmembers had told us there was a pair of Bald Eagles nesting on Haystack Rock. We watched as we crossed and were able to see one of the adults sitting atop the rock as we passed. Dwayne and I both believe Stephen’s spirit was in that eagle watching over our safe passage.

The Ferry docked on the south side and we were off. We continued along UT-276 to UT-95 near Natural Bridges National Monument, turned east toward Blanding, UT and bypassing the downhill ride on the Moki Dugway. After a quick stop for fuel in Blanding, UT on the Ute Indian Reservation, we turned south on US-191. The roads in southern Utah made for some magnificent riding; plenty of high-speed sweepers and little traffic to slow us down. US-191 . . . not so much so. Many straight, flat runs and more traffic as we got further south.

We stopped in Many Farms, AZ for fuel, but there were too many cars and trucks waiting to gas up so we continued on to Chinle, AZ. Here we fueled up the motorcycles, then the bodies at the local Burger King. Noticing Anthony’s chain was a little loose, Bill helped him with a quick adjustment and we were on our way. We continued down US-191 to Ganado, AZ.

At this point, we altered our route to cut a few miles and make up some time. I lead the group on a short-cut along BIA-15, CR-15, BIA-6, and AZ-77 to the Hopi Travel Plaza, near Holbrook, AZ, for another fuel stop. The BIA routes were a bit torn up in places, but the winding roads through the beautiful countryside made for a better ride, in my opinion.

From here, we followed AZ-77(through Holbrook), AZ-377, and AZ-277 to AZ-260. We turned east on AZ-260 through Heber, AZ (this is not too far from the old Hoon and the lovely Mz. Pam) to AZ-87 in Payson, AZ. AZ-260 runs along the top of the Mogollon Rim, rising to approximately a 7700-foot elevation, gradually dropping to an elevation of about 5000 feet in Payson. It is a beautiful ride and well worth the detour if you are in the area (but watch for the photo radar in Star Valley). We felt the temperatures drop and saw remnants of snow as we traveled the higher part of the Rim, but the temperatures moderated as we hit Payson.

Payson was our final fuel stop before returning to the Valley. At this point, Anthony hit the road a minute or so ahead of Bill, Dwayne and I. Apparently, he just wanted to get home! We knew the sun would be setting before we got home, so I changed out my face shield. AZ-87 is another road full of high-speed sweepers, but with holiday traffic (and increased LEO activity), we enjoyed a leisurely ride into the valley. At the Bush Highway exit, Bill continued into Phoenix as Dwayne and I split off towards east Mesa. The Usery Pass Road intersection was soon upon us. Dwayne and I stopped at the sign; “punched fists” and each headed our own way for that final leg home.

Reflections of the Trip

There were many positives and few negatives on the trip.
• Due to the time of year, much of the riding was on the chilly side. I’m not sure we saw temperatures above 50°F the entire time. The best parts of this time of year, however, meant little traffic, no crowds at the parks, campgrounds or the motel.
• The riding, despite the chilly temperatures, was great. Beautiful scenery and great companions.
• I owe a great deal of gratitude to Sheri and her children for taking care of my dogs! They are the best dog-sitters ever!
• Last, but not least, my friendships were deepened through this journey brought about, at least on my part, by the tragic death of a mutual friend and fellow rider—Stephen Christopher Cheshire. Thanks for watching over us, Stephen. I did this for you as much as for myself. You made a huge impact on everyone you met in the few years you lived amongst us. Your legacy lives on and you will never be forgotten, my friend. RIP!