>From: Mark Denovich foo.RemoveThis@bar.com
>US160 from CO
Trouble with looking at maps is that they don't tell you much about the
scenery, (or the climate, or the weather) you need a guidebook for that, and,
hopefully, some interest in geology, history or the natives inhabiting the
area. Otherwise, you're just chasing the horizon, and you'll never catch it, no
matter how you twist the throttle. You just pile miles on top of miles, get
home and highlite your collection of raggedy maps with yellow squiggles until
the maps fall apart.
Oh, maps do sometimes indicate "scenic" routes by running a series of dashes
along this or that numbered route, and you'd get the impression that US160 is
such a scenic route. Maybe, if you've never seen red rock formations, or
volcanic plugs, like Ship Rock (a sacred place in the Navajo creation myth)...
I ran 90~100 mph through there on my Yamaha...
I left the very worthwhile Mesa Verde N.P. (near Cortez, CO), where the Anasazi
built their stone dwellings under overhanging cliffs, stopped at Four Corners
N.M. to place my feet in Utah and Colorado, while I put one hand in Arizona and
the other hand in New Mexico, and raced through the Navajo Reservation as fast
as I dared on a hot 4th of July weekend several years ago. Not much to see
between the New Mexico Border until you get to the Painted Desert, while
watching your rear view mirrors for
the Navajo Tribal Police.
But a side trip to Monument Valley (Hollywood movie directors like John Ford
did not believe such a place existed, until shown photographs of it in the
1930's) and another side trip to Canyon de Chelly (you could take a 4WD trip up
the canyon which is the ancestral home of the Navajos) definitely changed my
perception of the region.
(Even so, I didn't learn much about the region until the second trip, on a
*bus* filled with tourists, escorted by a very knowledgeable guide who had been
a high school teacher. She kept us entertained, crossing the vast expanses of
empty, arid land, and introduced me to the writings of Tony Hillerman, via
Books on Tape.)
Even a ride around the rim of Canyon de Chelly, viewing White House Ruins and
Spider Rock is worth the effort.
There was a display in McDonalds in Kayenta, dedicated to the Navajo Code
Talkers (this was before the movie "Windtalkers" was made). There was a hungry
dog begging for scraps outside the restaurant, and a guy told me that he'd
rented a jeep to tour the area around Ouray, CO, but that it was so cloudy and
misty he couldn't see anything. About that time, we were baking in 100-degree
heat. After I rubbed some feeling back into my butt, I sprinted for Tuba City.
>to the Grand Canyon (I've never seen it)
Approaching the GC from the east is a nice ride, you feel like you're getting
somewhere, and all of the viewpoints won't be so crowded as the ones near the
main entrance to the park. There will probably be 250,000 tourists around
Mather Point and the visitors center on the 4th of July weekend.
Did you ever think of visiting the North Rim, then heading out into Utah, to
visit Bryce Canyon and Zion N.P. and maybe tour a bit of Utah Hwy 12? That's a
truly scenic area. But I was torn between the performance of my sportbike and
the beauty of the region. The bike won.
>AZ64 South to I40..
Ah, the tyranny of time, on the open road, drags you back to Earth from your
illusion of the "freedom of the road." Time is what you have, spend it wisely,
call ahead, get to a motel early, leave early and get on the road while it's
still cool.
Williams AZ is a tourist trap, for those unfortunates who can't get a motel
room at the South Rim or in Grand Canyon Village. Certain unscrupulous
operators of run-down motels will put out a "No Vacancy" sign until their chain
motel competitors put out their own "No Vacancy Signs". Then the flea-bag motel
operators will put a sign on their office door stating that motel rooms begin
at $100 or more.
You'd have more motel selection in Flagstaff. But always call for reservations
first.
There's a nice little loop just east of Hwy 89. It takes you past Sunset Crater
(12,000-ft Humphrey's Peak is right there) and Wupatki National Monument, where
the Sinagua Indians dry farmed the bottoms of
sandwashes and ravines that only get water twice a year.
You can walk around the ruins of their stone houses.
You could also head south on Alt 89, down through Oak Creek Canyon, a beautiful
winding scenic road down a oak tree-lined canyon , down through the red rock of
Sedona, through Jerome (an old western town restored through the efforts of
bikers) toward Prescott, and then turn northwest on Hwy 93 back toward your
Grand Canyons Caverns loop. While on I-40, it's wise to watch for cars coming
up fast behind you, the AZ state patrol has cars of all colors, then let a
faster car run "rabbit" for you.
You'll see a little town called Oatman, southwest of Kingman. That's another
little western town that draws a lot of bikers.
>Not reflected on this map is my desire to ride through Death Valley.
Got a camelback and a still suit, like a Fremen, from Frank Herbert's "Dune"?
The season for Death Valley is October through May. The average temperature in
the shade (Ha! What shade?) on July 4th will be 120 degrees.
You might find Hwy 395, on the western side of the Sierra Nevada range quite a
bit cooler, and have scenic jagged mountains along your left side. Just watch
for California Highway Patrol cruisers.
There are a number of interesting places along the route, Mt. Whitney (highest
point in the lower 48 states, you can ride up to 8300 feet), Lone Pine,
Independence, Big Pine (Bristlecone Pines, oldest trees on Earth east of Big
Pine), Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, volcanoes along the road, June Lake, Mon Lake
with its sea gulls in the desert and its tufa towers and then take Tioga Pass
across the Sierras, down through Yosemite N.P. and over to San Jose.
You won't regret having missed Death Valley after you do Tioga Pass...<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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