I left Tuba City early today. The weather is much nicer now, and there was only a light chill in the morning hours.
West of town the dirt starts immediately.
Heading west in search of the Grand Canyon. I don’t have any maps or directions, but figure it can’t be hard to find.
I found it! From a couple miles back it’s difficult to see. The ridges that shoot up out of the valley floor hide it quite well.
I find the pictures more interesting when I’m in them. I’m such a self-important ass.
There is tons of fantastic riding on the east side of the canyon. The jeep roads criss-cross all over the place. There isn’t any sense in a map out here – just get a sense of where north is and start exploring. I spent a few hours rolling around looking at views of the canyon.
I think cows just love me. They always want to be close.
I haven’t seen the Grand Canyon before (oddly enough). I never had a whole lot of interest to see it – it seemed an over commercialized trite tourist gimmick. I must say now though, it is quite impressive. Definitely worth exploring further. . . and in the 3 hours I spent zipping up and down the east side, I only saw one other person.
Did I mention the great riding?
From time to time the roads fade out, and I more or less just cross the desert any way I please.
One of the highlights of day was seeing a roadrunner zoom by. It was too fast to get a photo, so here’s some rock surfing instead.
Found the road again.
Time to find some gas – I only have the stock tank.
I dropped back down to the east and caught up with the main road. I was stuck behind a cattle fence for a ways, but eventually found a way through.
This section of 89 isn’t so bad!
Topped up the tank in north rim and sent a couple emails at the same time. Ahhh, the modern world.
Wilderness? Yes please!
I was trying to take 67 south and find a Forest Service road that would go up over the mountains to the west.
Several times I thought I found the right one. . . . .
. . . . but they all turned to dust. The ground was real soft, I almost at sh*t a couple times when the tires caught a groove.
I rode around in circles for at least an hour trying to find a way through, but I couldn’t find one. As it turns out, there is a 67 and 67a, and I was in the wrong spot searching for the Forest Service road in the wrong place – but hey, I don’t have a map, so whatever. . .
Time to turn around an haul back out.
I came back out on the main road in a different place and got confused. I ended up having to backtrack about 30 miles, but it was beautiful, no worries.
I spotted a dirt road heading north – looked like good riding so I gave it a shot.
It met up with Winter Trail (FS1025), which I took a chance on. Luckily it was a trifecta; great riding, great views, AND it took me where I needed to go.
The trail runs down out of the hills and across the valley. Highly recommended.
I rolled into Kanab on vapors (I had a little spare fuel in my bag though!). I scored a hotel room and a case of beer. I’m not on the Navajo reservation any more, so beer flows freely!
The bike is starting to look used!
More to come.. . . .
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