June 3rd and starting this trip out with three good friends at Denny's in Blythe, CA

Heading north from Blythe on CA 95

There are always a few minor adjustments to be made at the beginning of every trip.

Ken, on the bike on the right will be leading most of this trip as he has built several GPX files to guide us along. Hope I got that right.

He asked if we wanted to see the original bridge that was used to cross the Colorado River back in the olden days. We all did!

I thought I had never seen it before, but I had. I thought this bridge had been constructed just for the pipelines, but I found out that this was actually the original car bridge converted to just pipelines.

So we turned around and crossed over the Colorado on the new bridge. New might be used rather loosely here.

Mike on the left, Ken in the middle and Rocky on the right. Must be a cell phone parking area.

On the road between Golden Shores and Oatman

Historic Oatman is not too busy during the hot summer months. There are actually only about 80 people that live there and surprisingly, they aren't the business owners.

Olive's family was mascarae by Indians and Olive was raised by them for awhile.

It was nice to get a pic of the Oatman Outlaws before they were run out of town.

I especially like this first bike

Always planning something

He thinking he liked it better when them humans could feed us anything.

I was told this was an original route 66 sign. Personally I'm not buying that.

I don't know too much about Olive, but Sherm and I did visit the massacre site

Mike volunteered for guard duty

Was it really necessary with this guy standing by?

Ken is taking over watchman duties. I don't think Mike is too happy about losing the income.

A little place called Fish Pond on the Sitgreves Hwy where travelers would refill their radiators back in the 20's,30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's

Rocky and I climbed the stairs up to the pond but we forgot our fishing poles.

Cool Springs is  a cool place but I don't think they can actually make a living from it.

A pretty good size developement on the west side of Lake Mead

These next few pictures will be just road pics of the group riding through Lake Mean National Monument.

This gal was bathing in the waters. The sign says there is something in there that can kill you if you get it in your eyes or nose.

The place is called Rogers Spring and it flows quite a bit of water

I think we all needed a moment to chill out from the high temperatures.

just a natural cave

The lake formed by Rogers Spring

Our original trip plans included another good friend of our's Matt Sheen. It was such a shock to all of us when we heard that he had unexpectedly passed away. So we are now making this a Memorial National Parks Tour. In the middle is Matt's wife Chris who joined the group for dinner at the Virgin River Casino this evening. It was so enjoyable getting to know her just a little. I did find out that she is just as sneaky as Matt and went behind our backs and bought our dinners. Thank you so much!

It's juniper berry harvest time on the local juniper trees. Gin anyone?

Still a lot on the tree and easy pickens.

Pink Coral Sand Dunes

Aiken's lodge, home sweet home for the evening.

I'm not sure what this film crew was doing, but I did take their picture.

We had a late lunch at Houston's. Definitely enough to hold me over until tomorrow especially after I subsidized it with a quart of ice cream.

Not much weight losing going on here.

 

Riding into Kolob Canyon

Stopping for pictures at one of the many pull outs in Kolob Canyon

We are leaving Kolob Canyon now and going to head for the main part of Zion National Park

I'm guessing there is a 20 degree temperature difference between the canyon and that freeway below.

Sometimes we are re-routed to the wrong road

It was our desire to take the bus tour through Zion but it would have cost $120 to park the motorcycles so we could ride the free tour bus. Hmmm?

We didn't see it all, but what we are seeing is beautiful

One way traffic in the tunnel today due to RV escorts

The lights were turned down low, but the horns were turned up loud!

There is a light at the end of the tunnel

Checker Board Mesa?

It was a very wet night and morning

Maybe a little delay to our start is in order

Rocky's stayed nice and dry....................until he took the cover off.

A viewpoint of Navajo Reservoir on our way to Cedar Breaks NP

Most of the rest of the reservoir

One of the nice things about viewpoints is it give you a chance to adjust your clothing, text, etc.

A brand new visitor center since August of 2024

I would think that a one off fake Bristlecone Pine tree would be a waste of taxpayer money.

Our clandestine efforts were thwarted

But they couldn't block our view

A most excellent lunch at Cowboy BBQ in Panguitch

Giving us the real thing

Red Rock Canyon on Hwy 12 just before we turn into Bryce

They give motorcycles special parking. Farthest point away from the viewpoint!

Enjoy the next few pictures from the various view points of Bryce Canyon

And you thought we were the only ones there

Avoided me again

Gotcha!

Permanent Parking Spot

Inspiration Point

Moving on from Bryce to Escalante

We had a comfortable night at the Prospector Inn

This looked to be our best option for breakfast

An unusual set up but good food.

Hwy 12 is a beautiful drive with some interesting surprises along the way.

This little section is called the Hog Back for a reason.

The very beginning of the Burr Trail

Famous for it cattle drives

Today it is famous for some of the most beautiful scenery in America

This tree will from this day forth be know as Matt Sheen's Memorial Tree

Mike brought along the remains of a friend of ours, Ken Ayers, who's favorite trail in the world was right here.

A few words and final thoughts being shared

May the wildflowers grow in this spot from this day forth

As we were driving off, I heard Ken say that his GPS identified the area as Singing Canyon

The last time I was here, I wasn't able to locate it but really wanted to.

I made a U-turn and found it.

Legend has it that you can sing a song in there and here it sung back to you

It's supposed to transform anyone into a most excellent opera singer

So I belted out a few notes

It's didn't

Lookin back from whence we came at 9200' 

Riding through Capital Reef NP

A nice lunch with the Duke in Hankville

Food

A short ride through Arches NP

I thought about sliding it back where it belongs

They said I have to wait and do it during maintenance hours.

Popsicle Rock

This is why it was a short visit

Decent little diner. We had a dinner and a breakfast

Checking out the ice cream

Our motel was perfectly adequate.

Scoping out the view

And what a view of the Green River Valley

Hanging out at Upheaval Dome in Canyonlands NP

Yosemite's might be bigger but........................

Some tall cliffs on the Potash road.

After this trip I think I could just about map the route of the Colorado river from memory
Now that I've thought about that, maybe not!

A few petroglyphs

This is called the Jug Handle

God's Jug Handle is a lot bigger than mine!

My lunch

Ken's lunch

The petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock

This guy was between 3' and 4' long. Maybe more like 3" or 4"