Desert Canyons and Motorbikes

"BobintheMtns" (bobinthemtns) 03/13/2018 at 09:11 • Filed to: None

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Back in November I spent a week down in the desert. I meant to post up some photos back then, but life...... Anyway, trailered my bike over the (then) snowy Colorado passes, then left the car/trailer in Grand Junction and spent the next week on the bike.

First spent a few days motorbiking around Moab. Met a couple of guys from a motorcycling forum down there: one, a moab local who was a damn good rider. And the other guy came down from Durango- he was a bit greener when it came to motorcycling, but super fun none-the-less.

But we followed Kane creek, initially following the Colorado River downstream, but then the road angles into the desert heading for Canyonlands National Park through the Lockart Basin zone. A pretty long trek, but we were just planning to do an out-and-back versus running the whole 40-50 miles to Canyonlands.

We left town around 9 am— our plan was to be back in town by 2-3 pm so Doug (who came down from Durango) would have some daylight for his ride back to Durango.

As we approached one of the first cruxes of the road about 10-15 miles in— we decided that here would be a good spot to turn around.. This video is NOT the crux... but you can probably see why we decided that it was a good place to turn around.... ( although in Doug’s defense, it doesn’t look like it, but the left side of the road actually had a legit 10-15 foot drop-off right there.. so it was a bit sketchier than this video might suggest... )

After turning around, Joshua, the moab local- suggested we take the upper part of Kane Creek out of the canyons. It exits out on the highway between Moab and Montecello, Utah. (if you know the area, it pops out across the highway from the “Hole in the Rock”) Then it’s just a quick jaunt back to town.

What we didn’t know is that upper Kane Creek is HEINOUS ! There’s a section called Hamburger Hill that’s unreal. You can see what it’s like from this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .. but when we did it, it was way more eroded and rugged than the linked video shows....

At the bottom of “Hamburger Hill”- Let’s DO THIS!

We essentially had to haul/drag/carry our bikes up the almost quarter mile section..

It was amazing. I loved it. Joshua loved it. Doug.. started getting a little frayed around the edges....

Anyway.. after Hambuger Hill, there were still several other obstacles to surmount. So we’d drag the bikes up and over a ledge, get our gear back on, ride a half mile and find the next obstacle. Strip off your gear (lest you sweat to death hauling bikes), haul the bikes over, get your gear back on and start riding— only to come across the next ledge system... strip off gear, lift bikes... etc etc, repeat, repeat........ Like I said, heinous.

It finally got to the point that Doug was bonked and ready to curl up and cry, and it was hours after dark..... lol. Desert adventures, always fun.

We finally made it back to the highway around 9pm that night. Doug got a motel room in Moab as he was too tired to trek back to Durango that night... Too. Much. Fun.

Anyway... the next day I woke up and treked to the middle of nowhere, to what’s know as the Robber’s Roost area of Utah, close to Hanksville, Utah. I was meeting some buddies to do a few days of canyoneering. If you’re into canyons- you NEED to check out the RR zone...!!

Like I said, middle of no where..

The Robber’s Roost zone is a giant plateau, split by amazing canyon systems. But you’d never know the canyons were there.. until you arrived at one of the rims...

I met up with everyone and we set up a camp for the next few days.. You had to be careful stumbling around camp at night for obvious reasons.....

San Rafael Swell just barely noticeable on the horizon

The view from the other side of the canyon- you can barely make out our camp/vehicles, and what awaits should you venture too far...

Dropping in

Tim, carrying too much gear

Getting weird

Pano shot deep beneath the desert while setting up the first rappel

75 ft free-hanging rappel to escape the canyon- you should of seen the SKETCHY chockstone that we used as an anchor... sketchy.

But spent a few days there.. then spent a day exploring the “ Ivory Castle on the Horizon.” Out on the San Rafael Swell, that was about 20 miles away as the crow flies, there was a huge white mountain that dominated the skyline. Cary and I decided to get check it out. It turned out to be called !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and it was pretty amazing too.

Heading back to camp as the sun was setting

Anyway.. fun trip.

Liam Farrell > BobintheMtns 03/13/2018 at 09:57

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I was only in Moab for one night, but it’s definitely one of the coolest off-road places in the world.

BobintheMtns > Liam Farrell 03/13/2018 at 10:14

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This is true...

Liam Farrell > BobintheMtns 03/13/2018 at 10:56

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Mechanically > BobintheMtns 03/13/2018 at 11:13

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LOVED your photography. Thanks for sharing.

I’ve had bikes in the past, but never a dual sport. I’m looking hard at a WR250r. I have zero roadgoing aspirations, just want something with a plate so I can link together sections of woods and mountains here in Southeast TN. Appreciate the motivation!

BobintheMtns > Liam Farrell 03/13/2018 at 11:21

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That’s a dope bike. Where are you located? You need to drop a line next time you head out that way!

BobintheMtns > Mechanically 03/13/2018 at 11:22

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Do it!!! You’ll love it!!!

Liam Farrell > BobintheMtns 03/14/2018 at 10:42

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I’m from Mass, so it would be a hike. But if I’m out there again I definitely would.

BobintheMtns > Liam Farrell 03/14/2018 at 15:51

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I noticed that— after that pic you posted i was like, “holy shit- who’s this dude with a dope rally raid moto, where’s he live??” Looked at your posts and saw that you were in boston or somewhere...

Liam Farrell > BobintheMtns 03/14/2018 at 22:59

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Your bike is definitely epic looking. There are actually a ton of KTM and BMW adventure bikes around for some reason. I honestly see more European bikes than Japanese or American bikes around here which is really nice.