California Adventure Rider

[FYYFF]

Let's start...
Moab was not in my plans. Was too far and I wasn't ready to do it, however when Joel invited me to share his truck and camp spot, I said "what the heck...". Was the best decision I made lately...
We met at 7:10 am on Saturday, loaded my 990 on the trailer and left LA in a beautiful Southern California day.


Joel drove all the way to Utah and we switched somewhere once we entered UT.


It was almost 11pm when we finally made it to Canyonlands Campground. No pictures from the night.
Next day we set up our tents in the morning.


My baby was ready to ride but it we decided to drive around town and some local trails.




Fall colors on the mountains were just amazing.


Met some local wildlife.




We stopped by at Porcupine Tim Trail head to check it out. It was on our "to do" list but it turned out to be a black diamond single track. We thought it would be hard on some guys with small bikes, you know, e.i: Riddler... :)


Entrance for Porcupine


Then we checked out an "open house" right around the corner from trail head. Specious and had a great view.


Without a door, not too safe though.


On our way back to camp, we stopped by at Lion's Back and Baby Lion's Back. Big one was closed to public. Little one was still open and we came back to check it out later.
This is day 0.

[FYYFF]

Next day our ride officially began. Day 2:
We, happy campers, and Larry planned to ride Arches National Park to see some touristic spots first.
Slugdad (Bill)


$5 per rider


Mornings were a bit chilly


Bill & Larry


Our ride through park was full of breath taking views. We stoped at 4 major spots. This is one of the most famous ones, "Balanced Rock"


Joel (love that skinny pants) ;) & Larry


Holes and arches were everywhere


Larry


We couldn't make the trip to the "Delicate Arch". It was over a mile hike one way and we had a looong way to go, including a dirt road.


Weather and sky were just perfect






Next stop was "Landscape Arch". However it was too hot for me to make the 1 mile hike, as well as Cindy. So we waited half way and had a chit chat in front of this view


We were finally done with sightseeing and headed down to dirt roads to have fun.


Regrouping after some easy dirt.


And finally real fun began. :o




We had to climb this steep hill with big boulders and sand. It was kind of like Mengel and Goler steps in Death Valley. John attacked it first with his 250 and made it look easy. But it was really challenging and tired hikers decided to take the easy way around. It was me, Ben, JohnG and Larry to continue.
I decided to go first and made it to the top with only one stall. :lol:
Ben followed me.


Then Larry


And John (again)


One last look back from the top


After this climb there was lots and lots of granite slabs, both up and down, and lots and lots of deep sand. But we managed to make it to our next stop with out any problem. Were were the only ones there, it gotto be the impassable trail. :lol:




Sorry no pics of the road, but I have videos coming next.

After about 10 miles of sand and more sand, we met with rest of the group to finish the day.


Larry's one of many wheelies.


This wraps up Day 2. Our first day was supposed to be an easy introduction to Moab but that last part of dirt really kicked out buts. We were not expecting that much sand and steps. We were really tired, but it totally worth it. ;)
Day 3 is coming...

[FYYFF]

Here is my RR for White Rim Trail. A looooong day...

Our first day was "supposed" to be an easy introduction to Moab. But since none of us has ever been to Moab, we didn't have any idea what to expect. Therefore second part of Day 1 was much much harder than we expected and kicked our butts.
At least we knew what was coming this time. About 160 miles round trip with no gas and water. Once we leave Moab and hit dirt about 10 miles north of town, we began ascending rapidly.
We met early to make it back before sun down. We were ready at 8:00am. And look, even the small bikers are joining us today. :lol:


We decided on minimum stops since it was going to be a looong day. Joel wasn't happy of course. :lol:
Here is our first stop. Gemini Bridges. Larry and Tom walked down to take a look at it. I didn't, so no pictures but they say it was scary beautiful.


Then we had a long dirt hwy to this. Amazing dirty curves... :shock:


After our sweeper showed up, we begin our descent. Here he is, sliding all over the place. Show off. ;)




It was some nice, curvy dirt road. Very dangerous since there was nothing to stop you from couple hundred feet drop if you stare at the beautiful scenery.



Regrouping at the bottom.


Here comes Joel


And Bill


Nice bike Jon


Next challenge was long sand stretches along this beautiful river.




A panorama of the river


Damn, where ever you look, you need to take a picture








Road is somewhere down there.




Thumbs up for the views


Damn small bikers. :lol:


Ben and Joel. This is as close as they got to the edge.


Beautiful.


This is where we had our lunch. There was a outhouse too, just in case.


This is Day 3 - Part 1 of 2. Rest is coming.

[FYYFF]

Part 2 of 2 for Day 3:
More beautiful scenery from White Rim Trail.




I think I've seen those in a movie. ???


Pat and ? :?


Larry & Bill


Sky was as good as it can be. Weather was almost perfect. Not too hot. And dirt was red.


Can this be Mars???






And me




Color match.


Larry is on his way from the other side.


This place makes you feel like you are "nothing"...


No comment. ;)








What comes down, must go up. Or something like that... :lol:


Just amazing...






Unreal


Once we hit the pavement, we had about 20 miles to the camp. We were death tired but couldn't be happier.


Bill lost a footpeg today. But even he was in a good mood, as usual.




We were back way before we anticipated. We were lucky, no flats, no bike problems, etc. We awarded ourselves with all you can eat pizza, salad and soup. Beer and cheese soup was something else.
This is end of Day 3 - White Rim Trail. Coming next is Chicken Corner and Kane Spring Road.

As usual, all pictures are on my SmugMug.

[FYYFF]

Day 4 is Chicken Corner ride. A short day, low mileage.
Hurrah Pass (4780 ft)




This one is for Ben's desktop.


Welcome back to adventure riding Ben.


Your west looks like a BC Joel. ;)






Group shot


John and his Reklused 250 (cheater) :lol:


More beautiful scenery




But this is the most beautiful one.


Watch it Ben


Larry did a great job putting this ride together.


Lunch at Chicken Corner.


Chicken Corner is a dead end and you need to go back all the way but it totally worth it




I just cant stop taking pictures


Ben is admiring the scenery


John


Ben


Joel


Together


Joel is checking out the hiking trail at the end of the road. I dont know if it goes around the corner, didn't try to find it out.


On our way back, John had to put some air in his rear tire. Luckily it wasn't a flat.


Larry


Red red red


Joel is over taking this cyclist on a uphill using his internal combustion engine in his favor.




Isn't it pretty???




We split at Kane Creek road to check it out. Larry, John and I decided to explore a little more. Ben had a problem with his bike and Joel was tired.


Ben and John


Kane Creek Road was very rocky didn't have opportunity to take a lot of pictures.




I have a very nice video though. I'll post it once it is uploaded.
We had a great dish that night. John fixed a chicken dinner in a Dutch Owen. It was delicious. Joel has some pictures of it.
Next is Onion Creek.

[FYYFF]

Day 5 - Onion Creek, Rose Garden, etc.
Last day of our Moab trip. It was supposed to be an other "easy" ride just like Chicken Corner. But...
I had about 20-25% left on my D606 when we got to Moab. But those sharp rocks and big rocks and little rocks and all other kind of rocks just ate up my tires. This is what it looked like on our last morning:


An other beautiful day in Moab


Onion Creek road


This road is full of little water crossings


John, Larry & Ben


Larry


While taking a piss, I found this camp spot behind the bushes. Amazing view.


We are trying to decide which way to go, right (easy) or left (crazy). Hiimmm....


We obviously took the left one and ended up here. A singlish track full of 10-12 ft ditches.


John is trying to repair the bottom


Larry


Joel sliding down


Larry coming up


After the last ditch, we decided to have a rest. It was too tiring and Joel said he will wait for us there and take some pictures. :lol:


Rest of the way got worse and worse. Long rocky steps, tight switchbacks, etc. This one we had to get off the bikes and turn them 120 degrees to keep going.


It led us to this, Rose Garden Hill


There was no way we were gonna try it. We took a short break here and turned around. But before that John hiked up there to see what it is like. And he said quote "you need to be an A rider, on a trail bike, to make it" :lol:






John is riding up the slabs


John and his #2


Larry went and got Joel to take the easy way, once we find out which way it is.


This was the easy way


Then we climbed up to 8,000 ft and took a lunch break in a shade


Joel's new secret (no more Red Bull)


Rest of the way was all down hill with beautiful fall scenery.






KTM blends in perfectly in Autumn set up




Gang




Ben


Finally we made it to the famous Slickrock trail. We had to try... And we did.
Up to this point. a 180 deg switchback on a 30 deg down hill.


Ben is the only one who tried and did it.


Been there, done that. :)


After this we went to see Lion Back. Big Lion Back was closed. Only little one was open. And John, Ben & Larry climbed it just fine. I draw the line there and just watched them do it. No pics, video is coming.
We went back to camp and had one more nice camp night around the fire. Decided to leave on Friday due to rain precipitation. John made it out of the camp around 3 am. Ben made it at 6 and Joel and I waited. Big mistake. Rain came down hard right around 6-7am. We were stuck in our tents. And when finally it stopped raining and we packed our stuff I realized that I set up my tent on the lowest ground of the camp. : My tent was on top of that water pond. :(


Check out Joel's dry spot. Good choice.
We left camp right around 8am. We had some rain on our way back. It was a long drive again but with this beautiful scenery we enjoyed it as well. Check out the rock formation. Interesting...


Our ride in front of Subway. Thanks again Joel for the ride.


Snow on top of nearby mountains


And clouds



That's it from me. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and report.
Thanks to Larry for putting this ride together, thanks to Joel for the lift, Ben, John, Bill, Jon, Tom and Pat for joining us. And thanks to you for reading this report.
Videos next.

[BanhXeo]

Great RR!

[browneye]

Amazing scenery. Very nice!

[isaac004]

Amazing RR's! Thanks for sharing Joel and Ersin. Looks like an amazing trip, I would love to make it out there again. So many rides, and so few vacation days!

[FYYFF]

Thanks for the positive comments. This is a short video from Kane Spring Road. It was very rocky and one section had big steps. It was challenging but fun.

[spafxer]

I'm a Moab virgin boys, sign me up for the next one... It looks too good to be real ..


Great pics and riding with great people

[LittleWan]

Fantastic Moab pics, you guys!




Looks like you hit most of the best stuff, and what a nice time of year.

Thanks for the report!

[rruugger]

WOW! that looks like a perfect ride. Sign me up next year

[rider914]

Awesome
Looks like you guys had a great trip

Originally Posted by FYYFF

And he said quote "you need to be an A rider, on a trail bike, to make it"

-M

[Pantah]

I noticed that except for one, all of your motorcycles got progressively smaller as the your day trips played out.