At 6:30 AM I wandered into the breakfast area at the Iron Horse Inn. I spotted Tomas sitting with Thane Silliker and Dom Isabella. Prior to WeSTOC I had only known them as names on the ST1100 internet listserver. It was nice to associate names with real people. As we ate our meals, plans were made for the days ride. Tomas expressed a desire to see the Grand Canyon, despite the fact that it was 376 miles one way (by map). We all agreed to the 750+ mile roundtrip and finished our meals. This kind of saddle time in one day was nothing to Thane who holds the official, non-stop, cross Canada time of 65 hours and 2 minutes.

By 7:30 AM we were on the road and headed west on highway 160. The further west we went, the more desert like it became. Just east of Cortez, CO we passed the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. It had been my intention to visit the park while at WeSTOC but a big sign on the highway announced that the park was closed due to wildfires. Once past Cortez the scenery became stunning with sculpted red mesas rising from the desert floor.

At most places along highway 160, the roads were straight as it traversed the flat desert floor. This allowed us to wick up our STeeds a bit since we were able see any police that might be ahead. Our luck almost ran out however as we rounded a curve just past the Four Corners area when a cop came around the bend going in the opposite direction. We had slowed down but were still doing well in excess of 70 mph through the curve (65 mph speed limit). Luckily he didn't feel like turning around to pursue us, probably because we were so close to the Arizona border. He did however point to Thane, who was in the lead, as if to motion him to slow down. Then, just as we crossed into Arizona, another LEO appeared out of nowhere (again going the opposite direction). We hit our brakes to scrub off some speed and again we lucked out because he continued on his way. He must not have had his radar turned on.

About 30 miles passed Kayenta, AZ we left highway 160 and headed toward Page on highway 98. The scenery became more and more beautiful the closer we got to Page. As it turned out, it was nothing compared to what we would see later on. At Page we took highway 89 and headed south. About 20 miles outside of Page we came to Antelope Pass. There are no words to describe the view that awaited us. The pass is a window cut in a mountain. Just passed this window the road does a sharp left and winds down into an immense desert valley. The view from the top of the pass was simply awesome.

At the base of the pass we hooked a right on 89 alternate and headed along the desert floor for the Kaibab Plateau. The scenery along 89 alternate was breathtaking as we dipped, weaved and bobbed through small hills and curves. Beyond Marble Canyon the road straightened out some and ran parallel to the Vermilion Cliffs; aptly named because of the brilliant red sandstone that make them up. This stretch was also very, very hot with temperatures approaching 110 degrees.

Finally we began our climb onto the plateau and into the Kaibab National Forest. Almost immediately we got into some nice twisties and the temperature rapidly got cooler and cooler. At Jacob Lake we took highway 67 and headed for the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The twisties and cool temps stayed with us all the way there.

We hit the Visitors Center of the Grand Canyon about 2:30 or 3:00 PM. After seven hours in the saddle it was nice to dismount and walk around. We immediately went to the cafe and ate lunch then did sight seeing for a while. The views were spectacular.

It was too bad we could only stay for an hour or so before having to turn around and head back to Durango. I would have like to have visited several other observations points along the north rim but time was not on our side.

As we went back to the parking lot to mount our bikes for the return trip, we met a couple who had just pulled up on an old (1973?) BMW R90. The couple had been on the road for several weeks and had all their camping stuff on the back (below).

This bike had 176,000 miles on it and was still performing pack mule duty as it took them around the western U.S.. BMW's were made really rock solid back then. As a matter of fact, I had lusted after one myself when I was much younger.

By 4:00 PM we were back on the road again as we retraced our route back to Durango.

The return trip was uneventful until we got back on highway 160 headed for Kayenta. It was there that we found ourselves headed into the maws of two large, lightning spewing thunderstorms. The view was incredible as the sun went down at our backs and colored the desert floor a beautiful yellowish tan while ahead of us in the far distance was a jet black curtain of rain accompanied by incredible lightning displays. Soon after dark, wind gusts of probably 40 to 50 mph kicked up and made riding quite a thrill. There were places along the route where I was practically peg scraping while trying to ride in a straight line. The really challenging thing about it was that the wind changed directions often and quite rapidly. If all this wasn't enough there were large tumble weeds flying across the road in front of us. There were times when we didn't know whether the objects that were suddenly appearing in our headlights were tumble weeds or animals. Things got a little hairy (I found out just how fast my ABS brakes would slow me down!)

We made it back to Durango by 11:00 PM. Incredible as it seemed, the road we were on threaded its way right through the dry parts of the thunderstorms and we didn't get so much as a drop of rain. After stopping we all laughed about the fact that we had just traveled 750+ miles in one day for a one hour visit to the Grand Canyon . We proclaimed ourselves clearly nuts and went our separate ways. I went to my room and to bed while the others went to the motel bar and had a few brews.

While at the bar a very drunk women took a shine to Thane and wanted to take him back to her room. Visions of his fiancée however caused him to pass up what might have been a very interesting night.

All in all, it was a very interesting day with a wide variety of beautiful scenery and awesome riding.

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