Gettin' Dirty with the Wans: 8400 miles - UTBDR, KLIM rally, Canada, WABDR, OBDR +

The prehistoric version of this???

C'mon, Kelly, stop all that lousy jokery.
Makin' me laugh half of the time gets booooooooring.
At least TRY to stay a wee bit serious, will you?
And dirt trails suck anyways!



.....I'm in^^


EDITH want's to add: "by the way, anyone has heard news of The Wan by chance? Just detected his RR seems to be down :eek1 "

haha, scottmac.

good one!

there are a "Hole" lot of Ass families around, that's for sure.






Day 5: 6/26/12 continued
Torrey, UT to Salina, UT 139 miles




Matt and I were taking River Ford, which would bring us down to Cathedral Valley.
Aaron was going to have a quick look-see and then would make his way over to Lake Powell.


River Ford started off as its name suggested (crossing the Fremont River)...




It wasn'’t bad.




Cap'’n underpants did great!




As soon as you get across and you'’re thinking, "“woo hoo!”"
Boom! Silt.





All right! This is what I'’m talking about...
nice roads,





Interesting terrain,




and no people!
Aside from Aaron, BigWan and I didn'’t see a single person on this entire road.









Bentonite Hills





from the NPS website:
The Bentonite Hills among the Hartnet Road and the Painted Desert on the Cathedral (also known as the Cainville Wash) Road
appear as softly-contoured, banded hills in varying hues of brown, red, purple, gray, and green.
The hills are composed of the Brushy Basin shale member of the Morrison Formation.
This layer was formed during Jurassic times when mud, silt, fine sand, and volcanic ash were deposited in swamps and lakes.
Bentonite clay (altered volcanic ash) absorbs water and becomes very slick and gummy when wet,
making vehicle or foot travel difficult or impossible.






There'’s cap'’n underpants!
I thought this section was really neat. Very other-worldly.





We stopped for a quick break and Aaron decided it was time to turn back.
If he was going to get to Lake Powell in time to catch a ferry today,
he needed to get South.





Matt and I were taking the pink dot route through Cathedral Valley and out to I-70.
Our goodbye point is in orange. I'm guessing that's where it was, but there were no signs.





After water and some snacks, we bid farewell to Cap’'n underpants...
It was a little nervewracking to leave him out here, in the middle of nowhere.
He had a AAA map of Utah and a GPS he didn'’t really know how to use.





We would have felt better if it were a gas station on a major interstate,
but instead it was a lonely road in the desert.
He still had to go back through the silt and that watercrossing....

Aaron assured us he'd be fine.


Bye, Cap'’n underpants!!
Thanks for riding along and hanging out with us!







Now it was just us Wans.

I guess we were crossing in and out of the park boundaries...











It was mucking hot out there.
We stopped for another water break at the overlook.





Wow. Cathedral Valley.





zooming in





Okay, let’'s get down there...





It was a nice ride down.





Getting closer...





Here we are!





It was probably the absolute worst light for photographing these things*.
Harsh, hot, mid-day sun.
Oh well.

*I guess geology-enthusiasts call them “monoliths” or “temples.”



They'’re really cool.
Too bad I did a crap job with the pictures.
We slowed down, but didn't actually get off the bike.



You guys know how we are.
I pride myself on taking tons of mediocre photos.
Not beautiful, not spectacular, not stunning...
But the best one can take from the pillion seat of a moving bike.




So, here are some from Cathedral Valley...





I really like the notch in this one.





This one shows some of the silt we had (not Tilt).





Oh, I guess we were at the Upper Cathedrals earlier...











hey, that’'s us - we want I-70





Away we go...











These roads were really nice.





Except for the silt. Deep, terrifying silt. Tilt.
We had one section that was really something.
I didn’'t get photos (too scary, had to hold on), but don'’t worry.
there will be more Tilt photos on the UTBDR.





Some more weird moonscapes





And then we’re back to wide open desert











We didn'’t know anything about Capitol Reef/Cathedral Valley before this trip,
but the ride was really nice.
It reminded us of Death Valley.
This is a huge national park, with dramatic geologic features and amazing views,
but your average tourist only sees a small portion of it.
You have to get out into the dirt to see the good stuff.



Eventually, the fun was over and we had to get on the slab
Salina, here we come...




Oh Salina!
(prowl off, jump an' prance)




We got a room at the Super 8.
For TAT the Hard Way, we liked the Rodeway Inn but we hear they’'ve really gone down hill since 2009.

Apparently the Super 8 (and all of salina) was pretty booked up, so we were lucky to even get a room.




Have you seen this before? A rubber ducky (to use during your stay, not to keep).
Cute, but weird. I'’m not a bath person.
I do love that song, though (and Ernie!). I used to have the 45.





Norm.





Tomorrow - Black Dragon Wash!!

Haha, you just say that because you didn't enjoy that one little gravel road...
dirt is awesome!



I just read Olorin_the_13th's ride report and it was really fun:
Finally settiing of: British Isles in 14 days


I'm glad you didn't run over any of those cute little bunnies!
p.s. I have no idea who EDITH or The Wan are.

is this another one of your MILF things?

IN.

A buddy and I rode a lot of the same stuff last October in Utah... had the same feelings about "Hell's Backbone" being... not hellish at all.

I'm anxious to see your route near the Idaho/Wyoming border and up into Grand Teton. We have a ride coming up in a few weeks and I'm looking for some route options in that area.

Great stuff so far!

Isn't that BigWan there on the left?

Kelly when you get those midday sun photo's turn them into black and whites. You have lots of textures and good tones in both the scenery and the sky. Turn them into B&W and crank up a little contrast.

OK.

Sadly, Capitol Wash does not go through anymore (unless yer on foot )

But...

The grey line heading off the bottom of your 'tourist' map does (and its beechin )

-M

Subscribed........again!

oh, Pr0xy.
we're only going to disappoint you.
I see your tag line and...
There was most definitely no "shreddin''" on that route.
I'm sending you a PM!

Hi M!
oh, Cap'n underpants took that grey line when he went down to AZ!
thanks



Woo! hanksmybuddy!
welcome.






Day 6: 6/27/12
Salina, UT to Green River, UT back to Salina 249 miles



We got up bright and early the next morning and had a quick motel breakfast
(bagels and coffee).
Today was going to be a special treat.
Black Dragon Wash, Eagle Canyon and Cat Canyon!
One of the best days of riding on the TAT, and this time we were going to do it without luggage.




Unfortunately, we would have to slab all the way to Green River to start the trail...




It was a pretty morning, though.





Look! Eagle Canyon!
I had to hurry to snap a pic as we rode over the bridge on I-70.
If you've ever ridden Eagle Canyon, this is a pretty neat view.






Isn't this gorgeous?
Spotted Wolf Canyon rest stop.





Green River.
Got fuel and a subway sandwich to eat later.
oh, I also got a pair of cheap sunglasses (my old ones broke in Pioche).





Leaving Green River, we bypassed all the crap near the old dump (where everybody gets lost and/or stuck on the railroad tracks).
Instead, we got on Hwy 6 and got off where it crossed the TAT.





This part was as silty and gravely as we remembered...





Turn off to black dragon wash (mile 147)





Gate






Oh boy!





Entering the canyon...




We surprised some hikers right about here...
Heading towards the petroglyphs





No bags! we didn't even feel bad for cheating - this was our 3rd time in BDW (had luggage the other times).





Last time, the asinine comments in the guest book turned me off so much I didn't sign.
This year, Matt did the signing.





I missed this one earlier - dog or wolf?





The second from the left is my fave.











It doesn't look bad in the photo, but in real life, this part of the trail was pretty torn up.





Some screen captures...






I'm always surprised by the greenery in here...





Rocky.





Everybody loves this guy (hi Rob, hi rider914)





Meeting some new favorites?





It's not all rocks, there are some straight sandy sections, too.





I think this is a good place for the video...
Don't forget you can watch it in HD (720)!








After that section, there are a few more rocky spots.





And then you climb out of the wash.









That was fun!

:launch

Nice video, that must have been a challange riding two up.

Matt sure makes that look easy, add in the 2UP factor and he's a Animal on that bike

1:20

-M

I'm still amazed that you two ride with an all-up weight around that of my 1984 Goldwing when riding 2-up. Quite a machine, that KTM. And fantastic riding skills for the both of you.

I'm late to the party, have lots to catch up, and I'm looking forward to it. Glad to see you both on the trail again!

Just watched the video and I have to say I've always enjoyed the pictures, but the video really helps put things into perspective. You're both really good at what you're doing.

hey Little Wan! My buddies and I met you and Big Wan out in Idaho on the Lolo one night and we shared a campfire. Glad your trip was a good one! Subscribed

cool vid of BD , hang on little wan, no flying squirrel off the back....

I may be jumping ahead here, but at the end of black dragon did you guys connect with utbdr track via buckhorn wash/draw?