The Mobius Trip

Always good to hear from you, LDF. I'm looking forward to the further adventures of the Mobius Trip gang. I've only got a 30 year old Goldwing at the moment, so while we do ride some dirt roads (not the brightest move) I live vicariously through you and David and a select group of other like minded folks.

How's the new helmet?

By the way, love the santa hat pic at the Grand Canyon.

Glad to hear from you Francine, and that things are going steady for you and David. We'll always enjoy seeing more trip reports if you have the time to share.

David

Hello LDF...Parked on your corner last night and thought of you guys. Hope all is well and neither of you are working too hard.

^^^ that close and you didn't do a doorbell ditch? what are you, grownup?

francine and i suppose dave as well

His pimp probably didn't allow it.

Rock ON you two!

Great to see you back online LDF. Looking forward to the next adventure in April.
Don

thought just occurred to me. you guys didn't leave us for another forum did you? like one that pays you for your wonderful stories. hey francine who do you want to portray you in the movie version?

Laia Sanz

Sorry. Not pretty enough. Try again.

+1

"The Rematch"

[Las Vegas -> 3-Step Hideaway -> Las Vegas]

A 1900 mile counter-clockwise loop out of Las Vegas. Intended to be a kinder, gentler route, however due to torrential rains and flash flooding across the area in the 2 weeks prior to our arrival, well.... you know what they say about roads paved with good intentions.

Prelude & day 1 - Leaving Las Vegas
Double negative Day 2, Lime Kiln camp to Nutter twists thwarted from getting to Twin & Kelly points.
Camping at Oak Grove,
Day 3: Out to St. George for gas, and back in past Mt. Trumbull (school) to Toroweap.
Day 4, back out again to Kanab/Fredonia, then back in to Point Sublime, and camping at Fire Point.
Day 5, Hiking into Buckskin Gulch slot canyon at Wire Pass, and on to Page, AZ.
Day 6, Grand Staircase/Escalante bypass on pavement (flooding), a lap around the Valley of the Gods, up the
Moki Dugway, and hiking & camping with Scott & Julie at Natural Bridges.
Day 7, the back way over to 3-Step Hideaway.
Day 8, bike maintenance, and hanging out with Scott & Julie at the ranch.
Day 9, heading back west in rain and mud, forcing a paved go-around to camp at Hite Crossing.
Day 10, rerouting around a big washout, then to Capitol Reef, camping at Singletree in the Dixie NF.
Day 11, Hell's Backbone through Escalante to Skunk Creek cowboy camp.
Day 12, a nice connector and a windy ride over to another great cowboy camp.
Day 13, crossing back into NV and stopping to chat with a cowboy on a round-up. A nice night at Caliente.
Day 14, riding down Kane Springs Valley and back to Las Vegas.

Woo Hoo!

This trip was taken against medical advice. LDF was supposed to take an entire year off motorcycling after her concussion. That said, we'd been talking about changing the tenor of the Mobius trips. Rather than seeking out the baddest ass trails through the remotest areas, rolling into far outposts on fumes, and connecting vast empty areas by the skin of our navigational teeth, we've been considering covering fewer miles per day, incorporating some hiking, taking more off-bike days, visiting friends and family.

At the same time, to be honest, generating a full-on ride report with a minute-by-minute timeline, and lines and arrows drawn on the back for each segment has entered the realm of diminishing returns. I love being able to go back and reference each section and adventure, but it is a ton of work, and I think you'll agree, the quantity and caliber of adventure riding insights and helpful hints that I've been able to provide is starting to (let's be realistic... has long since) plateaued.

I'm the kind of person who loathes covering the same ground twice, whether it's cooking the same dish for dinner, or retracing a route to backtrack after finding a closed gate... I'd much prefer to cut into the new.

That said, I really don't want to stop writing ride reports, I truly enjoy the interaction and the process, and so I think the best compromise will be for everyone to lower their expectations... I mean WAY down. I'm just going to present highlights, not so much detail anymore. If anyone wants specifics, just ask. Here's the link to the M12 Smugmug gallery, the curious stalkers can feel free to peruse all the photos.

This will be the last Mobius section updated on this thread. A dirty dozen... that seems like a nice round number. From here on out, future Mobius rides will have their own little ride report linked to here. We're going to do another this spring, but won't be able to do the next for a year.

The writing is going to be perhaps a little more abstract stream-of-consciousness, but I think with really low expectations, what can go wrong?

Leaving Las Vegas:



Up and around Lake Mead





And straight out of the gates, I put Francine on a hellish sand wash.



It wasn't supposed to be like this, I swear. (then she swears )

"Still don't know what I was waitin' for
And my time was runnin' wild
A million dead end streets..."





"Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet,"



"So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse,"



"Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test."

to clear the Muddy River north of Lake Mead... Overton, or the interstate.



That's Overton, where the lush green is:



We were looking for Double Negative (1969), by Michael Heizer. We knew we were close.

some of our neighbors here at The ADVentureLoft™ where we were going on this trip, they all said... "Oh, are you going to see Double Negative"?

That's why I love New York City in a nutshell. (no pun intended, but yeah, we're all nuts for living here)

Here's a neat website for details: http://doublenegative.tarasen.net

What's most interesting for me is that our stop there was the highlight of our day, not because of the artwork (which was, um, interesting conceptually), but rather on accounna the folks we met there.

This hilarious band of Overton folks,



Who were just cleaning up from the 1st annual Double Negative arts and music festival. Bigger than Woodstock, bigger than anything. Don't miss it next year.



We chatted a spell, they really were cracking us up.

across the Virgin River



is to kick it up to the Innerstate.

But we had fun along the way.