Like there's a short way?

Well, a few folks wanted us to write a blog detailing our journey from Loreto Mexico on the Baja Peninsular up to San Diego, then on to Maine. In between is a 2 week trip with Barry and Alyson exploring the National Parks of Utah, starting and ending in Las Vegas.

DeeDee and I will be riding our 2014 1190 KTM Adventure, and taking the most scenic twisty roads we can find.

After spending an awesome winter in Loreto, and avoiding the cold and snow back in Maine, our tale begins. We pack up the bike and say farewell to Ben and Jill, Leslie and Said, Ron and Peter and to Ed, who will be minding our humble abode, and to our many other Loretano friends, some of whom we plan on meeting up with on our trip back to Maine.

We leave Loreto with temperatures in the 80's. As we approach Mulege, the temp reaches into the 90's. Not much traffic and the cool breeze off the water is welcomed as we reach Santa Rosalia. We climb steeply up to the high plateau leaving the Sea of Cortez temporarily behind and make our way past the oasis of San Ignacio, a great place to stay, but it is early so we head across the desolate plateau to Guerro Negro. This is my least favorite section of Mex 1, flat, without much vegetation and it seems always windy. We pull up to a new little hotel in Guerro Negro for the night. Temps have dropped down into the 50's with winds coming off the Pacific as we crack open a bottle wine.

In the morning we head out down another long stretch of boring road until we find some fun curves and hills and then stop for gas at the turn for Bahia de Los Angeles. There is no gas station, but there is a fellow selling gas out of 50 gallon oil drums in the back of his pickup. We first bought gas from him in 2002, and he has been selling gas there for over 20 years.

At Lake Chapala we head east down the dirt road to Coco's Corner. If you have never been this way, you should. There are just 23 miles of dirt left, and soon it will be paved all the way to San Felipe. The road is remote and beautiful, there is gas, food, camping and a hotel at Gonzaga Bay.
Coco's Corner has become a landmark and a must stop. Coco is getting old and his health is waining, but he will always greet you with a smile and cold beer or soda. He asks nothing in return, but really appreciates a nice donation of money or food. Be sure to read and sign the guestbook.

DeeDee and Coco

After Coco's we hit the road and the pavement, it makes the trip faster and smoother, but I preferred the days when the road was 120 miles of dirt and the domain of the adventurous traveler. We spent the night in San Felipe and have one of the best meals we've had in Mexico. A nice little place of the main drag, La Vaquita.

The next morning, temps are a bit chilly as we head north west. Up in the mountains we pass by the road to Mike's Sky Rancho and see course markers for the upcoming Baja 500. Our plan was to head up to Rumorosa via the dirt roads through the mountain pine forest and by Hanson Lake, but when we reach the turnoff, the temperature is in the low 60's and I know it will be much colder if we head up and there are no facilities. So we decide to head past Ensenada to Guadelupe Valley and Baja Wine country. We spend the night in a beautiful Hacienda, sitting in a hot tub with a bottle of wine overlooking the vineyards. In the morning we head to the border and San Diego for a few days of R&R at the Cathy and Bart Resort, outrageous food, wine and tequila! Then we fly home to Maine.

Chapter II
The National Parks with Alyson and Barry.
Just 2 weeks in Maine and we fly out to Las Vegas and check into our favorite casino hotel, Palace Station. We have a great dinner at the Oyster Bar and play a little blackjack. We didn't realize how hot it is out west in June, with Vegas in the 90's. So our first day we head out to Red Rock Canyon and hike up the somewhat shaded Ice Box Canyon. Not many people, a beautiful place, great colors and lots of rock climbs, some of which we have done in years past. Back in Vegas we have some awesome sushi and hit the Black Jack tables again, and to everyone's surprise we all walk away winners!  The next morning we hit the road north to St Georges Utah, then east to Hurricane and finally to our rented house in Apple Valley, atop Gooseberry Mesa. The house is nice and the views are amazing. Barry and Alyson researched house rentals on the internet and found great places for reasonable money. Having a house with a fully equipped kitchen gave us the opportunity to eat in and make lunches to go.  We had some pretty wild thunderstorms the 3 nights here which were fun to watch.

The view from Gooseberry Mesa

 Zion is surely spectacular, but due to the huge crowds, you can no longer drive into the canyon and have to take park shuttles which has taken away something from the experience. So the first day we took the shuttle in and hit all the various viewpoints and did a few short walks. The following day we did "Walter's Wiggles" to the spectacular "Angel's Landing", certainly not a hike for those with a fear of heights.

The following day we head out to see Bryce Canyon. Bryce is beautiful and not as crowded as Zion. The temperature is in the high 90's, but we still manage a nice hike through the "Hoodoos". After taking lots of photos we head out towards Escalante and our home for the next 2 nights.

Bryce Canyon

Escalante is a small quiet little town with access to Escalante National Monument and Grand Staircase National Monument. The next day we head out 30 miles into the desert on a pretty good dirt road and park in a nondescript parking lot with one other car. We head down a trail into a large arroyo and look for an opening  where the "Peek-a-Boo" slot canyon begins. We find the opening, but due to the recent rains, the entrance is too steep and muddy to proceed, so we head out in search of "Spooky Gulch", another slot canyon.

We find the entrance and, luckily, it is dry and we head in. Within a few minutes the canyon narrows to several feet wide, and then down to barely a foot wide, zigging and zagging into the darkness with 60-100 foot walls towering above. We continue squirming our way along as Barry and I have to suck in our guts to get by some spots.  After several difficulties and another half mile of squirming, we reach daylight.  None of us have ever experienced anything quite like Spooky Gulch, way too much fun (unless, of course, you're claustrophobic!). There's lots to see and do here including more slot canyons, and we'd like to return to spend a bit more time.

The next day we are off again heading to Moab, by way of Capitol Reef National Park. Capitol Reef, while lesser known than some other parks, has lots to offer, but our time was short, so we did a nice hike up to ??? Bridge, and then set off to Moab. Moab has certainly changed since the last time I was here over 20 years ago. The main street is lined with outfitters offering zip-lines, rock climbing, rafting rappelling, mountain biking, Jeep tours, sky diving, ATV, UTV and dirt bike rentals, restaurants, hotels, fast food and all.  We make our way through town to our house and settle in.
With temperatures now over 100 we opt to go whitewater rafting in the morning. The muddy brown Colorado river was running high which made for good rafting conditions. Our 4 hour trip was fun with a little excitement when our boat almost flipped in the biggest rapid. The next day we rented a Polaris RZR 1000, this is a 4 seat high tech ATV, called a UTV. I had driven my friend Al Jordan's RZR in Mexico, pre-running the Baja Sur 500 along with my friends Kris and Jupiter, so I was excited to get into the driver's seat again. Our first destination was Hoorah Pass, about 20 miles out of town on dirt roads, the ride was fun, fast and scenic. We then headed to the Sand Flats area, where the real fun begins. This is the famous "Slick Rock" area with miles and miles of designated mountain bike trails, motorcycle trails and Jeep and UTV trails. Our first trail is called "Fins and Things"  9 miles of  steep climbs, big sand berms, crawling along big rounded fins of rock with hundred foot drop offs on both sides. There was much screaming coming from the back seat! The aptly named "Hell's Revenge" was next, 7 miles of steeper climbs, bigger drops and longer fins, The RZR performed remarkably climbing the steep sandstone cliffs occasionally with the front wheels in the air!  Too much fun, can't wait to get back and hit more slick trails!

With so much to do in Moab, we opted to stay 2 extra days. Even though the temps were over 100, we did an nice hike up Negro Bill Canyon to  Morning Glory Natural Bridge. The arch is 243 feet which makes it the sixth largest span for an arch in the country. A unique canyon due to the fact of a constant clear running stream, so it was nice to plop in and cool off.

We stopped into the Moab Brewery for a few well deserved cold ones and then headed back to AC in our rental home for dinner and a few games of dice. The days in between we toured Arches National Park, Canyonlands, Castle Valley, with Castleton Tower looming as tall as when I climbed it 20 years previous, the Fisher Towers with the spectacular Titan, first climbed by my friend George Hurley, and the climb Ancient Art, with it's corkscrew summit, which I also climbed 20 years ago.
The next day was mountain biking, we rented great high end bikes and a rack and went out to the "Moab Brands" trail system. The first few miles were really enjoyable, well designed single track with easy up hills and sweeping downhills. We then entered  the slick rock section that followed a single painted line 3 miles across the desert. We had started relatively early to beat the mid day heat but after about 3 hours the temperature was over 100. As we headed back the affects of the heat hit DeeDee pretty hard and gave us a scare. So after we cooled her down we took it easy and headed back to town. One more nice dinner in town and we packed up and headed back to Vegas.

The following morning we headed to Boulder City to board a helicopter to tour Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. The ride was great and the views were spectacular. The Grand Canyon is certainly grand, but I found it not as colorful as Bryce, Zion or Canyonlands. Back at Palace Station we hit the Blackjack tables once again, and gave back anything we had won, and then some...  oh well.  We bid farewell to Alyson and Barry as they headed back to Maine and we flew back to San Diego to visit Cathy and Bart and get the bike ready for the next chapter.
Our friend Captain Benito was driving north from Loreto and was able to pick us up at the San Diego airport and stay for a couple of days. Bart and Cathy are great hosts and great cooks, whipping up some awesome food and of course great wine and tequila!


The Long Ride Home...
June 28, 2015