Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 4: Zion

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
09/04/2018 at 12:25 • Filed to: Decay mototrip, Two Wheels Good

I started off day 4 saying goodbye to the folks who had traveled down to Bonneville with me. From here they would travel back up to Portland, and I’d travel south. I wasn’t sure from here exactly where I wanted to go. I had a general idea of places I did not want to miss, but didn’t have my day to day planned. I’d been told of some great roads east of Salt Lake, and that the roads southbound through Nevada were terrible, but I wasn’t feeling the interstate required to get east, so headed south through Nevada.

There wasn’t much in the way of corners... at all. Pretty sure there were multiple 20+ mile straightaways, but riding though here early in the morning was incredibly peaceful. From about 6am through 9am, I only saw 2 other cars going the other way, and none going the same way. For certain sections, it was just me and the bike as far as I could see. Multiple times I was able to stop right on the road to take photos. The mountains off in the distance the whole time made this road fairly interesting overall visually.

I realized later in the evening that this section through Nevada took me within 50 miles of Great Basin National Park. I hadn’t known, and there wasn’t any signage along the route. Oh well, next time although I can’t really think of a reason I’d be in this section of Nevada again.

Somewhere just North of one of my planned fuel stops, I glanced a cool looking rock formation out of the corner of my eye. A bout a mile later there was a turnout for a viewpoint.

I’d stumbled across a place called Cathedral Gorge State Park, a neat rock formation in Middle of Fucking Nowhere County, Nevada. There was a set of stairs hidden behind a gazebo that lead right down into the gorge. I took about a half hour break here and had lunch down around the rocks. Only one other group of people came through the whole time, so I pretty much had the place to myself.

I got back on my bike and before long was crossing over back into Utah. A short section of I-15 later and I took the exit leading toward Zion. I figured I’d look for somewhere to camp in Springdale and hit the park the following morning. I started to see the rock formations as soon as I turned on to Ut-9.

Riding through this area was beautiful, not a whole lot of cars on the road so I was able to take it slow and enjoy the scenery. You don’t see rock formations like this in the Northwest.
I eventually made it to Springdale and quickly realized it was a pretty tourist trappy area, not exactly the vibe I was going for, so I pressed on (that’s what I get for not doing any research :P ). The views kept getting increasingly breathtaking the further East on UT-9 I went.

Shortly after leaving Springdale I arrived at the ranger station and the park entrance. Waiting in line to get in, I became aware that it was well above 90 degrees. I’d been moving for some time, so hadn’t realized just how hot it had become. I hadn’t been drinking enough water throughout the rest of the day and get my first nosebleed from dehydration of the trip. As soon as I got into the park I drank about a half gallon of water to make up for that. I hadn’t been quite prepared for how quickly the desert takes fluid away.

Even the parking area of Zion was god damn beautiful. Giant red rock faces surrounded the whole area. It was truly breathtaking.

Knowing full well that I’d be spending more time here than I should, and not wanting to search for a campsite in the dark, I called ahead to a town a little bit east and booked a room.

Zion had a shuttle system to take people around the park itself. The first stop I got off on to walk around was the court of the patriarchs, still probably my favorite viewpoint from the park.

I take the bus in further to Weeping Rock, and the Temple of Sinawava. Both of these are much further in, closer to the rocks. As such, I couldn’t get great photos. The scale of this place absolutely needs to be experienced in person. You only get a feeling of how big it is from pictures, in person it’s incredible.

The further in you go, the harder it becomes to photograph

After wandering around and being absolutely wowed for about 4-5 hours, I headed out continuing East on UT-9. This had been one of the roads I’d been really excited to take because of how twisty it looked on a map, but to be perfectly honest, I took it at a snail’s pace and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery as much as I could.

One of the few photos I was able to take that conveyed the size of these rock formations, was looking down at a section of the road through the park from a ridge about a thousand feet up.

Zion was amazing, I need to go back with a good set of hiking boots and spend at least a week here.

I headed Southeast from here, got to my hotel and mapped out a route to the Grand Canyon for the following day.

Total Miles : 1221

Total Miles for the Day : 424

Highest Elevation : About 8000 feet

Lowest Elevation : About 3000 in Zion

Killer Piece of Gear : Auto Tinting Visor

Best part of the day : Zion

Worst part of the day : Shortchanging Zion

DISCUSSION (22)

GolfR Guy > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 12:31

Beautiful! I need to visit Zion, preferably on my bike.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 12:40

Is that a VTX1800?

Decay buys too many beaters > GolfR Guy
09/04/2018 at 12:40

It was magical, being out there on a bike had a whole extra level of immersion you just can’t get in a car. I wish I’d found a way to pack a real set of hiking shoes, that became my real limiting factor in most of these parks. Walking on the rocks, in either motorcycle boots or lightweight sneakers was not ideal.

Decay buys too many beaters > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/04/2018 at 12:42

Yep! That was the salt beater I picked up just for the trip (knowing I’d be driving on at least 2 dried up lake beds)

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 12:57

Hell yes. I love those bikes. Great power delivery and all the comfort in the world.

Decay buys too many beaters > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/04/2018 at 13:02

It was great for this trip! Definitely got tired while muscling it thorough some of the California back-roads later on in the trip, but I did multiple 400+ mile days and didn’t feel any worse for wear afterwards.

Plus, whack it open in second gear and it does a pretty mean rolling burn out :p

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 13:06

Yeah after owning a Kawasaki Vulcan 500 I’m pretty sold on cruisers. 1.8 liters of fuel injected water cooled Japanese v-twin sounds like heaven, lol. Even the 1300 isn’t exactly a slouch.

Decay buys too many beaters > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/04/2018 at 13:16

If the 1300 was fuel injected, I’d probably have gone with that. Due to the elevation changes I was going to see, that was one of my hard requirements.

Still not sold on cruisers for the “around town” type usage I see most people arou nd me using them for, where a naked s port bike or a scooter are way more at home. But for longer distance touring, it real ly is THE answer. Out in BFE I only saw two type of bikes, big cruisers... and a c ouple goldwings.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 13:21

For around town I’d definitely prefer my CX500 but living in Wichita the only way to get anywhere interesting out of town has a prerequisite of 4 hours on the highway, and buzzing along at 6,000 rpm with a 40 year old 500cc vtwin is less than ideal for that sort of thing.

Decay buys too many beaters > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/04/2018 at 13:23

Ah! Different usage then, I’m 20 minutes of backroads away from Portland where my lightweight stuff really comes into it’s own.

Ash78, voting early and often > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 13:29

Great pics...Zion is probably my next stop when I get back out West.

You don’t see rock formations like this in the Northwest.

I’m not disagreeing, but don’t totally write off Smith Rock, Oregon. It looks like it could have been plucked from Utah or Colorado.

Kinja'd!!!

Decay buys too many beaters > Ash78, voting early and often
09/04/2018 at 13:32

O.O

Added to my list. That looks cool as hell.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 14:31

Man how I wish we had some curves around here. I’m tempted to get the CX500 to a track day sometime but the cost of track-approved riding gear for that is pretty incredible.

Decay buys too many beaters > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/04/2018 at 15:24

True.

Good gear can easily equal the cost of a motorcycle, and crappy gear.... well... is crappy and won’t ke ep you safe.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 15:32

Zion will probably be one of the next two national parks I visit. The other being Lassen, due in part to proximity to Portland. Already thinking I might get a flight out that way next year some time and spend a week or two exploring Utah.

Decay buys too many beaters > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
09/04/2018 at 15:44

Several times throughout this day, I thought about skip ping the rest of my trip and just riding around U tah. Even just going south on I-15, I could see all kinds of stuff out east that I’d have loved to expl ore. After passing through Zion, I could see Grand Staircase Escalante off in the distance.

Also apparently I’m crazy for skipping Bryce :/

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters
09/04/2018 at 15:53

It’s amazing how much there is to see in that area.

Decay buys too many beaters > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
09/04/2018 at 16:01

That whole 4 corners area, it would take months to expl ore it properly.

AestheticsInMotion > Decay buys too many beaters
09/06/2018 at 01:39

Are you holding on to the cruiser?

Decay buys too many beaters > AestheticsInMotion
09/06/2018 at 02:47

I don’t think I’m going to keep THIS cruiser. But I’m pretty sure I’ll look at picking up another Triumph cruiser over this rainy season as a long term keeper. Still regret selling my old Thunderbird.

Kinja'd!!!

HammerheadFistpunch > Decay buys too many beaters
09/10/2018 at 15:10

Looks fun! It also looks like you were lucky with the crowds. i.e. you actually got to park in the Zion parking lot.

Decay buys too many beaters > HammerheadFistpunch
09/10/2018 at 15:12

Motorbicycles are a lot easier to find parking for :p