Ok,
The scenery picks up from here. Rob is making demands for vistas at this point and we must not disappoint. I dumped the bike at the campsite again this morning trying to turn around. I think it was my final standing still dump.
I had my morning briefing on routes. You can tell the guys were really focused
We backtracked a mile to get some shots of the San Francisco peaks (not that San Francisco)
After getting gas S on 89 we returned to the trail
Today we were going to take a side trip to the Grand Canyon.
It meant working through a bunch of forest roads. The only problem was that these trails were not on any maps I had, maybe topo maps but I was not going to carry 100 of those. So my phone kept crapping out cause it is a POS and has been dropped too many times. This means we had to stop a lot to try and get it working, and/or guess as to where to go.
The guys were trying to stay close to me as I kept changing course. It was a bit challenging as I was looking at my phone mounted on handlebars while also looking in mirrors to ensure I had 3 people behind me and there was that pesky issue of occasionally looking at the terrain itself to ensure I stayed upright. At one point I came upon a dry creek/dropoff and had to stop suddenly. Then right behind me came all 3 of them all stopping just short. Maybe we were too close. We had to all back up but we were jammed up between a fence post, dropoff and barbed wire fence. Joe: "Darren just turn around." Darren: "there is a f*#king barbed wire fence. Shut the bleep up!" We eventually rounded the creek at a soft grade and I was off. About 10 minutes down the path singing, "Skyrockets in flight…..Afternoon delight!" I realized I was alone. I went back and found that Chris dumped in the creek dip
He broke a piece of plastic in his exhaust. We helped him up and I helped repair his exhaust ;)
We found our way and continued on to the GC
I had been here a few times but it was the first time for Joe and Rob. I like the view but I guess I never really thought it was as visually appealing as some other sights in the area. Maybe it was too big and hard to appreciate it without some of the perspective of other locations.
After getting the requisite shots we headed East towards Cameron where we would dip into Navajo country and get about as remote as possible along an offshoot of the Colorado River canyon
I did not have an exact location for the above overlook. We just kinda rode offroad through this flatland, going parallel with the canyon until I saw ways to angle closer and closer to the edge. Eventually we got as close as we could and stopped for the night at the Little Colorado Overlook.
here is a video of the sight
Here is my Survivorman moment
Some sort of frog I guess but I told the guys it was a rare poisonous desert dragon. They were all impressed.
There were some better views to be had but I think this site struck the guys the most because of its randomness and remoteness.
Until Tomorrow,
Darren
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