OK, Since the last post I have been quite busy...
First I rode my bike around the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands which is about an 80 mile circuit just North of Moab. The trail skirts the canyon rim all the way around and is a mixture of real 4WD and just dirt track. I decided that two days would be sufficient (lots of dirt bikers and some 4WD people do it all in a single day).
I off loaded a bit of my gear to make the bike lighter but it was still a heavy machine for the ride. The trail its self has some absolutely magnificent views and I was really glad I did it.
The bike did quite well but I was very glad of the bash plate on the bottom. It got a real work out at least a dozen times a day. I'd have to say that the weakest point for the bike on off road is definitely the limited clearance (I now have a big flat spot on the bottom of the exhaust system as a result!). Anyway, both the bike and I made it around the circuit and had a good time learning how to ride off road (don't touch the front brake, stand up when things get tricky, and don't go too slow or too fast - still got lots to learn).
There were some really steep and rough sections to the trail and others that had deep soft sand, and I was quite impressed that I got through with the bike loaded so heavily, so that bodes well for adventures further South :)
After I was back on "hard top", I headed out to Casteleton Tower (a climb I did many years ago) to have a look around. It was quite a hike up to the base of the tower and when I got up there, the wind was again howling (hard to stand up), so I promptly turned around and headed back down.
Next day (after a shower and a shave) I headed South-East to "Mesa Verde" to see the cliff palace. I headed out at about 7:30am and there was a solid frost on the bike. It stayed very cold for the whole three hours of riding to get there and I was really shivering by the time I got there. It was however worth it.
I did the ranger-led tour and looked at assorted cliff dwellings in the area (there are lots of them!) and then headed back west toward Natural Bridges park.
I didn't get there before night so I pulled off into some national forest and camped. There were some other people camped there too so I went and said hello.
They were Wendel and Stan ( and Suzie the dog) and they were in the area to look for cliff dwellings (experienced amatures). Anyway, I politely asked if I might join them and they said yes, and we spent the whole of the next day wandering along a canyon and looking at about a half dozen cliff dwelling sites in assorted condition with assorted accessibility. I had a great time and saw stuff I would otherwise never have visited.
The next day I finally got to Natural Bridges park and did the "drive-by viewing" (with one 45 minute hike) and then I visited another off the beaten path cliff dwelling called "The Citadel" which had some more off road riding as well as a good long hike and some very exposed slickrock walking to get to. Really quite an impressive location.
And then I rode south into Monument Valley where I again did a "drive by tour" before finding myself a place off the highway to camp - spectacular scenery for a morning view :)
So It's been a busy and productive few days. - I expect things will ease up a bit for a day or so now.
That's it for this post.
