Officer Dan

After the great trip we had on five bikes last year we figured we could take what we learned, and open this up for more to join. I have taken the time to edit our route to include a couple places we missed last time and to exclude the dirt road (but if people were up for it, it is only a couple miles off of our path).

First and foremost before someone decides to make this trip with us (us meaning those "Arrogant Bast*rd" type riders; Me, Kirby, Andy, Paul, John, Jim, Mike etc). This isn't to say that if you aren't an AB you aren't invited, it is just to make clear; we ARE NOT your ride-in-formation, stay grouped together, clean and cover your bikes at night types. We let eachother know where we'll be at the end of the day. If you want to stop for a picture or a smoke, stop. If not, ride on and we'll have dinner and drinks together at that days final town.

With that out of the way, here is my schedule.

Day 1: Arches
I will be leaving the Provo Orem area in the morning on Monday June 25. It is about 240 miles to Moab UT counting riding through Arches NP.

If you are going to arches there are a few things you should know. There are many arches that are very close to the road where you only have to walk a couple hundred yards or so to be right next to them.
The most popular arch, Delicate Arch, is a 1.5 mile (one way) hike. The hills aren't too bad, but you may not want to walk that far in riding boots, and there is no supplied water, so bring walking/hiking shoes to wear and water to drink.

Day 2 June 26: Four Corners, Goosenecks, Monument Valley
This day has the most flexibility on choice of route. My initial plan is to ride from Moab to Four Corners, then to the Goosenecks and finally through Monument Valley and into Kayenta AZ. This would make for a 260 mile day. I may however decide to go another 100 miles and stay in Page AZ. For those who want to cut about 90 miles off, you can eliminate Four Corners and head strait to the Goosenecks through Bluff from Moab. If it goes like last year, we'll decide on Tuesday morning how people feel and chose where to stay, if the group splits for a night? no biggie, we'll meet up on the following night in Kanab.

Day 3 June 27: Grand Canyon North Rim
From Kayenta, or Page to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. North rim is a site to see, very high, elevation is over 8000 ft. The walk isn't too far out to the marker and the view to the South Rim, however it is steep enough we stopped to catch our breath on the way back. Before climbing to the Grand Canyon you dip down around 3000' and it was 105 when we were there in July (two weeks later in the year). But the Grand Canyon was in the 70's. Make sure you are prepared for various temps.
From the on to Kanab Ut for the night. Mileage is bout 205 from Page or 305 from Kayenta.

Day 4 June 28: Zion NP
From Kanab to Zion. Zion is an amazing place. If you want to do a hike you need to plan ahead as you are required to check in and let the park know where you'll be. I just plan to ride through. As John told me recently "Zion is amazing because you are right in it." I intend to ride through to the bottom of the park. Just outside the park there are a lot of places to eat, we'll get lunch and ride back up through the park to Panguitch UT. Distance for the day about 150 miles.

Day 5 June 29: Bryce Canyon and Hwy 12.
From Panguitch to Bryce Canyon. There are hikes here, but most people seem to look from the viewpoints, walk a little but not so much you'd take separate shoes. Mike showed us last year that it is best to ride all the way in to the park and then hit the view points on the way out, as they are all on the east side of the road. All offer a different view and are worth stopping in my opinion.
From Bryce Canyon you head east on Hwy 12 toward Boulder. This hwy is amazing. You see so many different landscapes, plus there are curves that make me drool thinking back. It is a bikers dream, and I am probably understating it. It does climb to over 9000' and can be cool in June.
At the end of Hwy 12 is a town called Torrey UT. There is a great hotel there on the East end of town.
This is another 150 mile day.

After this, on June 30, Saturday Morning I'll head back to Orem, 175 miles. Anyone is welcome to join me, or head their own way.




Another great thing about this format is that people can join and leave as they please.

One more thing to consider is a National Park pass. The price per vehilce at the Grand Canyon and Zion is $25 each park and another $15 at Bryce. An annual NP pass is $80. Part of the motivation for going in June is our passes we bought this year will still be good.

I didn't list hotel info as those who have been before know where we'll be going.
Really though, I will wait to see how much interest we have before contacting hotels and making arrangements. I'll probably leave that to Paul, Mike or John, as they remember that stuff better than me, and what will happen is we'll decide where we want to stay and from there let everyone know where we'll be and allow them to make reservations, like we did at Crater Lake.

Feel free to add suggestions comments or concerns. We had a great time this past year and we know we will have a great time again.

Just remember, if you are looking for any more structure than provided here, this isn't the group for you. Our philosophy is make sure YOU are having a good time and don't worry about everyone else. We have learned that you can't make everyone happy, so just worry about YOURSELF. If we get 100 or so miles out to the next gas stop and someone doesn't show up, we'll check our phones for a message. If there is no message and 90 minutes has passed, we'll send someone to go find them. We didn't have this issue last time, but we all knew we were all competent riders who we didn't have to worry about.

Looking forward to June,
Dan

[added date to title Ed, Admin]

__________________
"What's the worst that could happen?"

Proud Original Member of the Arrogant Bast*rds. You don't become one, you either are or you aren't. I thank God for my fellow AB's who aren't easily offended.

Polovision

Something like this? It all sounds great, except I do want to go ride the dirt road again,...loved the cliffs.

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My Rides in the west

Eurotrash

Dan,

What, no Tuba City? Come on, our buddy Dwayne should have his HD by then.
Already dreaming about the trip, except for the "I'm not really here".

Andy

Officer Dan

Great minds think alike Paul. And you know the dirt road is less than 30 miles from the goosenecks we missed last time! We can ride up and back down just for kicks.

__________________
"What's the worst that could happen?"

Proud Original Member of the Arrogant Bast*rds. You don't become one, you either are or you aren't. I thank God for my fellow AB's who aren't easily offended.

Officer Dan

I know it's a lousy pic, but it was the best I could get.

__________________
"What's the worst that could happen?"

Proud Original Member of the Arrogant Bast*rds. You don't become one, you either are or you aren't. I thank God for my fellow AB's who aren't easily offended.

Polovision

Might have a car tire for the back of the ST by then.

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My Rides in the west

Polovision

Sounds good.

I will also miss this....

__________________
My Rides in the west

Officer Dan

We can hit it on the way home.

__________________
"What's the worst that could happen?"

Proud Original Member of the Arrogant Bast*rds. You don't become one, you either are or you aren't. I thank God for my fellow AB's who aren't easily offended.

Officer Dan

I just realized I forgot to include the fee for Arches. It is $10 per vehicle. So it'd be $75 for all four parks, or $80 for the annual pass. The annual pass can be bought at any of the parks.

__________________
"What's the worst that could happen?"

Proud Original Member of the Arrogant Bast*rds. You don't become one, you either are or you aren't. I thank God for my fellow AB's who aren't easily offended.

Krusty

I'm ready........lets do it.

****, i'm even gonna do the gravel again, now that i know when the 3 separate signs say:
-Steep grades
-rough road
-gravel section
They mean, at the same time.

I fondly remember.....

"whats the worst that could happen"

"do my eyes look weird?"

"go back to sleep Andy....it's just a dream"

And this time Noodles will be coming one way or the other.........

__________________
Do not walk behind me for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me for I may not follow.
Do not walk beside me either.
Just pretty much leave me alone.....

"Arrogant Bastards" hate waiting.