In 2020 I was determined to ride more as this was the first year in which I had no responsibilities to an employer. Foot loose and fancy free, despite a pandemic, I headed out in May for a trip to Missouri and Arkansas. Arkansas was pretty shut down, but I was able to get motels and takeout food to survive. I headed south to Mena through the lovely rolling Ouchita Mountains and spent the night and next day with Mark Roth, we had a great time.
By June first, with the west being open I headed out to Utah for a solo trip. I have heard about that part of Utah and wanted to experience the beauty and twisty roads it has to offer. My destination, The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and the many Utah national parks.
Day One: My trip across Nebraska through the sand hills on US20 was a pleasant ride, even though the weather in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming had turned extremely hot. I spent the first night at a motel in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Day Two: I headed south on I25 to Denver and caught I70 west through Colorado. I really love the ride through Colorado, especially the Glenn Canyon area with the red rocks and green flora.
I arrived at Moab UT midafternoon and checked into The Red Stone Inn. The Red Stone Inn is advertised as “Moab’s Best Deal”. It is a locally owned establishment, rustic but dated with small rooms. Now whether it was the best deal, I do not know, but I booked a room for two nights to provide ample time to explore the Moab area before resuming south.
Day Three: Woke up early and started before breakfast to Arches National Park. I took Larry Hawes’s advice and bought a Golden Eagle Pass years ago, however all the National parks were offering free admission during this time. Arches is beautiful in a rugged kind of way, with the red rock spires and humanistic rock features. I spent the early morning hiking around Arches, taking in the amazing views. I was early enough to miss the normal traffic. As the morning wore on, the park was filled with visitors, with a long line at the gate. So, I rode back to Moab for a hearty breakfast before I visited Canyonlands.
Canyonlands has enormous vistas; you can see for miles and miles. The red rock formations were different than Arches, still very red, but the formations in the canyon were huge, many looked like buildings. I spent the extremely hot afternoon on the motorcycle riding around the park, stopping many times to take in the incredible landscape. I wandered back to the motel for an air-conditioned nap before walking to dinner. I enjoyed a great meal at El Charro Loco, a local Mexican restaurant and walked back to the motel for an early night.
Day Four: Began my day with a leisurely ride south from Moab on US 191. I followed the valley between high mountain ridges on my right and steep mountain peaks on my left. I stopped in Blanding for breakfast at the locally owned “Yaks Café”. South of Blanding I turned west on Ut95 for a beautiful ride through the tail end of Glenn Canyon. I stopped for a break and pictures at a rest stop that overlooked the canyon. Following the highway north took me to Hanksville, Utah where I caught UT24 west for a coffee stop in Torrey. Torrey Utah is what most consider the top of the Staircase where I turned south onto UT12. The Staircase Grand Escalante is an incredible ride. The landscape and terrain change several times from heavily wooded green mountain peaks and valleys, through desert-like areas where most of the rocky terrain is stark white. At the bottom I passed through the red rock area just north of Bryce Canyon to my destination for the night Panguitch Utah. (pronounced sandwich with a p) The town Panguitch was named by a southern Piute tribe meaning ‘Big Fish”, likely named after the plentiful nearby lakes hosting Rainbow Trout.
Because the time was getting late, I did not have time to visit Bryce Canyon, but had to keep pushing on for the night.
Day Five: The prior days ride through the Staircase so amazed me, that it was a no brainer to ride this time from south to north. I got up before dawn and began a beautiful ride north, with the low hanging red morning sun on the red rocks, that glowed like hot coals in a weber grill. As I traveled north on the very sparsely populated highway 12, I stopped several times at the many scenic areas to take in the incredible beauty.
This time as I approached the “backbone”, the top of the stairs, I stopped to take photos. I could hardly believe what I saw. The highway construction crew that paved this area must have been fearless. The highway was slightly narrower than the ridge it was built upon. There was no shoulder, so if you happen to run wide in a curve, you will drop hundreds of feet to your peril. I was in awe of the engineering and construction task of building such a road. Luckily, there were several places where I could get off the road to take some pictures.
I made it to Torrey for a great breakfast before continuing northwest on UT12 to Loa. At Loa I turned northeast on UT72 to connect with I70 east to Denver. The ride through Utah on I70 was again extremely hot (102-104 degrees). The temperature cooled down 50 degrees with scattered showers as I passed through Colorado on my way to Denver for the night.
Day Six: Denver to I25-I76-I80 to North Platte NE, then northeast on local and state roads through Nebraska to home.
I have ridden motorcycles for over 50 years through some of the most interesting and beautiful places in the world. From Arkansas, northern New England, southern California, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina and the South Island of New Zealand, The Grand Staircase Escalante is one of my favorite rides and yes, I would ride it again in a heartbeat.
