Continue North

We are on the way home now, but by the scenic route.  We are spending two nights here in Zion.  We had eaten lunch at the checkpoint and arrived at the campground early in the afternoon.  We did our laundry and kicked back with a brew.  The campground was nearly full, an unusual occurrence for us on this trip.  We are used to having the campground to ourselves, or maybe one other camper who is in an RV.

We toured Zion Canyon the next morning.  We caught the shuttle bus in front of the campground and rode it to the park entrance.  Then by showing my Senior Discount Card we got in for free, a $25 per person savings.  The card is available for purchase to people over 65, only costs $10 and lasts for a lifetime.  It lets up to three additional people in with the cardholder.  We used it on the Alaska trip with Dirk and Hetty two years ago.  It has saved us several hundred dollars in entrance fees already with, hopefully, many more years to go.

Once inside the park we caught another shuttle bus and rode it to the end of the road.  Here is the trail leading a mile on up the canyon to the jumping off spot to walk to "The Narrows".  The Narrows is a section of the canyon that is only 25 feet (8 meters) wide and 2000 feet (600 meters) deep.  From the end of the trail one must walk up the riverbed to get to The Narrows.  But when we got to the end of the trail a sign said that it was closed past that point because of high water.  We had already guessed that would be the case.  The river alongside the trail was brown and roiling along, much too rough to walk up in the water. 

After returning to the shuttle stop we rode back down the canyon stopping a couple times to take short side trails.  This one is to a "hanging gardens" area.  The rock drips water and flowers, ferns and other plants grow on it.  The dripping water has actually flaked small pieces off the rock creating this undercut area where it constantly drips like light rain.

After walking several miles on various trails we took the bus back to the campground.  After lunch we walked through the town's tourist shops making a couple of purchases.

The next day we headed back to I-15 and on north through Salt Lake City.  The freeway was still under construction.  Our last trip through Salt Lake City was about ten years ago and the freeway was under construction then too.  I doubt if they will ever be done.

We turned off the freeway and headed northeast towards Wyoming.  We had to cut through the very southeast corner of Idaho to do this and decided to camp near Bear Lake.  This is where it started to rain.  We got camp set up and inside before it started, but then it dumped on us.  And again there was only one RV in the campground besides our tent.

The next morning we packed up in a light drizzle and headed on through some pretty mountains.  We had camped at about 6,000 foot (1.900 meters) elevation.  The passes were about 8,500 feet ( 2.700 meters) high.  And the rain had turned to a sleet/snow/rain mix.  We were glad we were inside the truck and could turn up the heater.  Just two days ago we had the air conditioner on high, now it is the heater.  What a change.  In the highest pass the snow was sticking to the ground and the highway department had plowed it early this morning.

We made it to the checkpoint.  The clerk in the cafe could not find the rubber stamp to use in our passbook so he signed it.  We then took a picture outside to prove we were actually there and didn't fake the checkpoint.  Its too bad that Lemonade had to ride on the trailer and not do it on her own.

After the checkpoint we drove back south about 35 miles (60 km.) to the town of Jackson Hole.  After lunch the rain/snow had let off and we walked around the town and park.  This town is famous for the city park.  This one square block park has an entrance at each corner that is an arch made of Elk antlers.  The Elk, like a deer, loses its antlers each year.  The locals have collected them and built these arches with the antlers.

The walk settled our lunch and we hit the road again.  Now over the mountains and west to the freeway again.  We crossed about half of Idaho and camped in a city owned campground.  There are two others in RV's camped here.  It is now Friday and we got two more checkpoints, Oxbow and La Grande.  We had planned to camp at La Grande but the thunderstorms are still hanging around.  We have traveled through several this day.  So we decided, it being only 5 hours to home, to go home.  We arrived just before 8 PM and collapsed.  It has been our longest day, just over 12 hours on the road.

On Saturday I took the bike into my mechanic Cycle Specialties (formerly WingMan) in Portland, OR.  I showed him the chunk of brake drum and we commiserated on the hazards of riding and how great ABS is in keeping control in slick conditions.  I'll leave this ride report with a final picture of the brake drum.  It is 6.5x7.5x.5 in. (19x16x1.5 cm.) and weighs just over 6 lbs (2.75 k).

With the additional expense of this rescue we will not be taking any more long trips this year.  We have three checkpoints left to get.  Two are northwest of us and one is east of us.  This will make a couple of nice lunch runs once the bike is fixed.  If we make it to them this will be the first year that we will have made all 19 checkpoints.  Wish us luck.

On to The Final Three Checkpoints.