The Grand Circle
Well, here we are in LA waiting for parts for the bike and enjoying staying with our friends Denise and Chris. They have very kindly opened up their home to us and made us very welcome. The wait for the parts is forcing us to have a break from being on the road, and after three months it’s very welcome, once we got used to not moving on each day and remembered that it is ok to do nothing. Since our last update we seem to have been incredibly busy and have visited all the National Parks and Monuments in the Grand Circle – Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Staircase Escalante etc. If we were ‘treed’ out before we are definitely ‘rocked’ out now. This area is so incredible and there’s so much to see that instead of being sensible and choosing one or two places to explore we were like children in a sweet shop, we wanted it all!

Having moved on from a cold and snowy Grand Canyon in which we got to see the area for all of 2 hours between snow storms and low cloud our next stop was Monument Valley. The area is nothing more than a great expanse of red desert broken by towering buttes. In the John Wayne films and later marketing material for the area the valley’s depicted as being pristine desert with not a soul around. From some obscure angle that may be the case but the reality for the most part for us was a red desert studded by prefabricated, rundown trailers and fences. A little disappointed we stayed at one of the campsites in the area and were lucky enough to have a view that didn’t include the numerous trailers. The following morning we moved on pretty rapidly though.

Reaching Moab, Utah we stayed here for 4 days, using it as a base to ride out from and visit Arches National Park and kayak a section of the Colorado River. Arches was pretty stunning even though it was a dull day while we were there. (Warmer than the Grand Canyon though!) We got off the beaten track a little by hiking one of the many trails in the park. Spending the day walking and sometimes climbing through a sage carpeted desert, studded with huge deep orange rock fins and arches is something we’ll always remember as a highlight of the States for us. The trail was hard work in places, demanding that we climbed up some of the slick rock fins on our hands and knees and on occasions pushing or pulling each other up. Plenty of opportunities to get a handful of buttocks there though!

Enjoying a little of the adventure Moab had to offer we booked ourselves on a kayak trip down the Colorado River. I’d never kayaked before and the thought of tackling cold white-water in a double kayak was a bit scary but I wanted to do it. Its been a few years since Chris did any of the mad white water stuff he used to do but he showed me some of the basics before we set off and I felt a little more confident. Once on the water it was as if Chris had never been out of a kayak and was in his element straight away, which made me feel better about it. As we got close to the first section of white water the noise alone had my heart beating faster but Chris told me to just keep paddling while he steered us through. Much wetter and more excited we came through it unscathed and laughing our heads off. Great fun. The rest of the day continued in much the same way and even though it rained on us and we got a few blisters we both loved it. Better still, when we met the shuttle bus at the bottom of the river to pick us up and take us back to Moab it got stuck in the soft sand of the river bank. It took 2 hours of digging to get it out and by the time we’d all got covered in mud from helping they agreed not to charge us for the day!

Having left Moab and on route to Bryce Canyon National Park we took a little detour to Goblin Valley State Park which turned out to be quite an unexpected adventure for us. On consulting the map it appeared that we could take one of the many dirt roads all the way to Capitol Reef National Park, meaning we could get away from the boring and very straight main highway for a while. The dirt road started off in good condition but each time we came to a fork in the road the fork we took became a lesser dirt road. After 70 hard won miles of mud, rock and river crossings the road had degraded to such an extent that the final ten miles were nothing more than a dry riverbed. We were sure of where we were, having checked the map several times but something wasn’t right. This was supposed to be a main through route, even if it was a dirt road. Once again the map came out and to our horror we had taken a road that started parallel to the one we wanted but took us northwest instead of southwest as we thought. The scenery was spectacular and we were in no hurry so we weren’t too bothered. It just meant that we had to retrace our tire tread all the way back to the main highway. Off we set and for a while we were making good progress despite the mud. All at once though, as we rounded a bend the bike became a bucking bronco as the front wheel lost traction and the back wheel tried to overtake it. We skidded one way and then the other as Chris tried to regain control. In a second we were sliding down the road on our side. I don’t know how Chris did it but a few seconds later the bike was upright again and still moving. Only we were moving sideways down the road. Finally we were riding down the road, both still on the bike but incredibly going backwards! Given the weight at the rear of the bike we had completed a less than graceful 180 degree spin down the road until we at last came to a stop. The whole manoeuvre (if you can call it that) would have been pretty impressive if it hadn’t been for the fact that just like in the Copper Canyon (last time we came off the bike) we came to an unscathed stop and proceeded to just fall sideways off the bike. Bugger! To cut a long story short, we were both fine, aside from a little hysterical laughing, and as importantly the bike was fine. As for the road there are some pretty impressive skid marks and a 20 yard, 5 inch deep gouge down the centre that will have a few people wondering what happened here.

With no further mishaps we reached Capitol Reef National Park much later than planned. So much so that we rode through in the dark and didn’t see any of it. Even with the time we have on this trip we’re well aware that we just can’t stop and see everything if we’re going to make Belize for Christmas so on we rode, giving Grand Staircase Escalante a cursory glance even though it clearly deserves more. Our goal was Bryce Canyon and that’s what we were riding for. The ride there takes you over a high mountain pass where the forests are snow-covered and the heated jackets are once again a must. As we reached the summit of the pass the snow had migrated from the forest onto the road and it meant riding at a snails pace until the snow became packed ice. Not the best situation for being on 2 wheels so I left Chris to ride the bike on alone while I caught up on foot. Luckily the snow cleared after a mile or two and we rode on. Discretion definitely the better part of valour there though!

Bryce Canyon is more of an eroded mountain escarpment that a real canyon in many ways. As such we stayed at the top of the canyon (as does everybody). At –11 degrees C it was a little nippy to say the least but the weather was fine for once and the cold only meant that the snow didn’t melt, ensuring that the whole area had a mystical and even more beautiful appearance to it. We had only heard good things about Bryce Canyon and now we can see why. The hoodoos, orange slot canyons, cap stone pinnacles and outcrops are out of this world. All topped by iridescent blue snow and bluer skies no description would do it justice. The canyons namesake, Ebenezer Bryce once described the area as “A hell of a place to loose a cow”. We could see what he meant! We studied the park map and set off early on our first full day there to walk one of the trails. As we pulled into a viewpoint we met Robert and Claudia, a German biker couple we’d previously met in Oregon a few months ago. After chatting for a while we all decided it was far too cold to chat any more and went our separate ways upon which we realised we were in the wrong place anyway and needed to ride 5 miles back up the road to the start of the Navajo Trail that we intended to do. We locked the bike up and got our stuff together for the walk, setting off for the trail head excited at the prospect of getting down into the slot canyons and hoodoos. We were greeted by a big sign and a chain across the path proclaiming it to be closed. We had a quick discussion and decided that we hadn’t come half way round the world to be stopped by a sign. The sign said the path was closed on safety grounds due to the snow and ice. We’ve come to discover that National Park signs don’t really mean what they say. For instance ‘extreme’ means your granny could do it, ‘flash floods’ means it hasn’t rained in years and ‘hazardous’ means you could break a nail. Infact what all signs really mean is ‘Don’t sue us!’ Being English we don’t sue anyone for anything so we decided to go ahead and we climbed over. Within minutes we had the place to ourselves. Wonderful. Walking amongst the hoodoos and slot canyons was a wondrous experience and beyond our expectations. I hope our photos do the place some justice but the only way to really know what its like is to go there yourself. Do it!!

We could have stayed in Bryce for a long time but it was really cold and we’d been cold for a long time. Robert and Claudia had said that it was warmer at Zion National Park so off we set again, looking for warmth. Zion was somewhere we had heard about many times from many people but didn’t really know anything about it other than there were slot canyons there. We rode to Springfield just south of the park. (Chris was hoping to see Homer Simpson not realising that the Simpson’s aren’t real!) Having made yet another base to explore yet another park from we had breakfast the following day and rode the short distance into Zion Canyon. Leaving the bike we walked up to the Emerald Pools. A series of pools fed by a stream running down the canyon side. The Emerald Pools themselves were far more brown and dry than either emerald or actual pools but there you go! We did however bump into Brian and Jane who we got talking to at Bryce. A couple of Brits taking time off from the garden centre they run in Worcestershire. Chatting to them as we walked along the rest of the trail back to the bike made up for the lack of emerald pools so all was not lost. Saying our good byes we next made for Hidden Valley, one of the more spectacular walks in the area with good views of the canyon and reputedly stunning scenery. However ‘for safety reasons’ it was closed. Unlike Bryce there was a big ranger sitting in his pick up truck ensuring that anyone didn’t go up there. We decide to go back the Visitor Centre and enquire about other walks in the park that were a) open, b) had good views, c) was good for photos and d) had some slot canyons. The ranger pointed out a walk right at the furthest point in the park that met the full criteria and described it as ‘not to be missed’! It was a bit late in the day so we went back to Springfield to recharge our batteries for the following day and a ‘not to be missed’ walk. Up early once again we arrived at the trail head by 9a.m. with camera, water and food. Somewhat surprisingly there was yet another ‘closed’ sign and a chain across the path. The sign was dated a being posted 12 days before but checking the map it was definitely the right path so given the ranger had recommended it to us we jumped over the chain and set off. We had walked 8 miles or so by midday and hadn’t seen a single slot canyon, not a single view to speak of and only taken 2 photos. It wasn’t even open! We walked the 8 miles back to the bike somewhat annoyed at having wasted a day and even more annoyed at missing the opportunity to be somewhere else that lived up to our desires. The following day we needed to start making our way to LA so that was that.

We’ve been with Chris and Denise for 11 days now and thank heavens they are the kind of people who make you instantly feel at home and just let us do our own thing without any pressure. Apparently our motorcycle parts are on their way but we were told that a month ago. All being well they’ll be here soon or Chris will fly back and kill someone. If all goes well our next update will be from Belize but we’ve got some hard riding to do if that little dream’s to come true.

Liz & Chris