Hey, kids! Just got back yesterday from 2 glorious weeks of riding in southern Utah. I mostly rode my 610 but the TR650 got to see a little action, too. I'll post up a real report in the ride report forum once I get through the zillions of photos I took, but until then I thought I'd post up a few shots from the trip. We did a little bit of two-up on it, too, with Eric at the helm. I am perfectly comfortable as a passenger on the Terra...it's roomy and plush, decent seat-to-footpeg ratio, nicely placed grab bars on the rack, just an ergonomically thoughtful layout, if anyone's interested in those things. Anyway, on with the photos, eh? The Great Western Trail... Cottonwood Canyon... Some nice wet sand off the Notom-Bullfrog Road... Did I mention that Eric gets a kick out of riding my 650? Should've stayed in the sand... Racing slicks, Utah style... Was a little cool this morning...20 degrees to be exact... Had a blast riding down the Shaffer Trail... Potash Road in Moab... No, I cannot flat-foot the Terra. Heh, at least, not without the help of some strategically placed rocks... A little bit of new, a little bit of old... I really like this bike! WoodsChick
Hey Woodsy you got some postcard shots there. Love the one of you at the hairpin and the canyon to the left.
I am dumbstruck with the beauty of that place. Those are fantastic photos. What a great place to be able to ride. I rode through 20 states on a coast to coast bike trip in the USA a few years ago, and Utah was far and away the most spectacular place we rode, and that was just sticking to the bitumen. The closest we go to anything as spectacular looking as those places you've been was a detour out to Needles Overlook, but that doesn't even come close to actually being down there in the canyons. Oh boy I gotta get back there some day !
If you went down Shafer switchbacks and out Potash Rd, I assume you didn't do the White Rim Trail - I was going to ask if you had the range covered, but I'm pretty sure there's 140 miles in that tank. I've done the WRT quite a few times, but always in at Mineral Bottom and out Potash. Gas at Archview, then back in town. Once it quits snowing here I can take a weekend and ride over... You covered some ground if you were out Notom - did you get down to the Burr Trail / Bullfrog area?
That was pretty scenic, alright! Got tons of photos of that place but I'll save `em for the ride report. My bike is missing something though, eh? It needs a swingarm decal Utah is special, no doubt about it. We spent some time in the Canyonlands area, hitting it from the west side first and camping at the Maze Overlook, and it was simply incredible. It just goes on and on forever. We love it there. We did WRT (610's) from the Shaffer Trail side and out Mineral Bottom and back to camp at Horsethief. When we got back to camp, I picked up the TR650, then dropped down Shaffer again and went into Moab for supplies (pizza and wine.) The WRT was incredibly beautiful, and it had been raining so conditions were spectacular. It was raining the morning we left and I couldn't have been happier! I am embarrassed to admit how many photos we took We camped on Pleasant Creek right off Notom-Bullfrog Rd. Took the 610's and dropped down to Bullfrog via Butt Canyon and Starr Camp, bypassing Burr Trail since we did it last year, and camped at Stanton Creek. From there we zigzagged over to Hite for gas, then took NPS633 up to Sunset Pass, rode out to the Maze Overlook and camped there, up Flint Trail, out Hans Flat Rd., found the Robbers Roost Cabin, then took Lower San Rafael Rd up into Green River and spent the night there. We did Black Dragon Canyon and rode through the San Rafael Swell the next day. We rode out Lone Man to 5MOH. Went down through Wild Horse Canyon, crossed the Muddy, out past Factory Butte and down through Caineville and back to camp. That was a nice 600-mile loop with 3 nights camping. The weather came in, it snowed on us in Capitol Reef, so we loaded up the bikes and trundled over to Canyonlands for a few days. It was a blast! We put 1000 miles on the 610's plus whatever the 650 did and it was pure heaven, like only Utah can be...
Oh, you're in for a treat! Make sure your camera batteries are fully charged Let me know if you have any questions. WoodsChick
Thank you. Here's the basic route that was sent to me by my friend. Let me know what you think: Day one -- Montrose Colorado to Mulley Point. Day two -- Mulley point to Moab area, some nice campsites on the Colorado River on 128. Day three -- River site to up around Wellington, Ut. Day four -- Wellington area up to around highway 40 and somewhere between Fruitland and Heber City. Day five -- Huber City area to up around Woodruff or maybe to the border and Bear Lake.
Are you riding street bikes or dualsports? Well, let me put it this way, spiderman: The first time I rode Utah 12 years ago I started in the north, riding around Bear Lake, the Highline Trail into Idaho, etc. I worked my way south and rode American/Spanish Fork, and did all sorts of stuff in between there and Moab. I've been to Utah many times since that first trip and I always make a bee line to the south. Riding in northern Utah was nice and all, but really no nicer than the forests than Idaho or California or Oregon. Southern Utah is special. Real special. If I were you I'd stick to the stuff south of I-70. Just my opinion, mind you, but that stuff is mind-blowing and you won't see it anywhere else.
Rain can be a mixed blessing on the WRT... keeps the sand firmer in Potato Bottom, but can make a slippery hellish mess out of Murphy's Hogsback and Hardscrabble Hill You did it the right way - doing a couple weeks to see it in big chunks
There will be 5 of us on dual sports and they're all set up pretty well for off pavement. We've taken other trips before together and always have a great time. Thanks for your suggestions WoodChick. I'll relay it to others.
X10000 Southern Utah is pure magic. Your Utah Pics are great WoodsChick. Looks like the Terra did what was asked of it. Sooooo jealous!
Beautiful pics WC! Moab is addictive, we're going back again in Sept. If camping off the bike, consider reserving a campsite on the WRT (near White Crack) and take two days to do the loop so you feel like you saw it. It's an 11 hour day (moving briskly) in one shot. Yep. It rained the morning that we went down Mineral onto WRT last Sept. The deep sand area was under water. View: http://youtu.be/MIz6P8dYt-A At Hardscrabble campsite after the sand soup...
WoodsChick, that's a great route, all layed out (kinda) for us to try. I'm going to be in the area over July and August and need to do some of that, probably on the 630. Anyone else headed that way this summer?
Gaah!! That sand is power-robbing enough without it being a quagmire, too! Heh! We had no reservations or permit when we showed up and the only campsite showing available on the website was Airport, which is, like, 10 miles from the start at the Shaffer Trail end. I went in and talked to the ranger at the visitor center and we ended up with a sweet spot at Murphy with a fantabulous view! Good thing, too, as it took us about 5 hours to get there I must have taken 200 photos and darned near blew through my first camera battery We did all the out-and-backs, too, like White Crack. We took Lathrop Canyon down to the Colorado River for a quick dip and a snack, too, but most of the time was spent gawking at the unbelievable views! We could have blown through there in a day easy but I wanted to take my time and enjoy the incredible scenery, which is what that trail is all about. This was the view from camp...
Yeah, I could imagine. As it was, conditions were great. The sand was pretty dry at Potato Bottom but it was great everywhere else, what with puddles and all. Thanks, Harder1! The 650 was along as a spare, pretty much, but I had a blast riding it, and so did Eric! We've been wanting to do a leisurely trip through the Paiute Trail for years, but we keep passing it up on our way to the "real" Utah that we can't get anywhere else. Right on! I'm sure you're going to have a blast wherever you go in Utah
