Day 7

Leaving Capitol Reef today and heading to our final destination of The Arches. Got all packed up this morning and went to our same local restaurant for breakfast. Then went and hiked the Hickman Bridge trail which is a short hike but wanted to see one more scenic sight before getting on the road, it was worth it! The ride to The Arches/Moab was very windy and skirted thunderstorms the whole way, only received a few raindrops on us. Got to our RV park come to find out there are 2 large school groups staying here as well, at first we had second thoughts of being surrounded by a bunch of junior high kids however, they have been well behaved and we haven't been bothered by them at all, just need to plan your shower accordingly lol. A few adult beverages in the evenings always helps as well ha. Being it's Memorial Day weekend (busiest weekend of year for Moab) there have been warnings as to the best times to enter the park. So we have planned our morning to be an early riser to beat the crowds. Today is Carmel's birthday so we celebrated by playing more rummy and yes she won tonight! We had a little evening shower so we had to cover the rotted picnic table with plastic garbage bags since it was all wet. We had a great evening and Carmel has really enjoyed her day doing what she loves!!

Getting ready to hike Hickman Bridge

School kids at the campground - picture doesn't tell the whole story lol

Our new campsite with our trash bag table clothes and seat coverings 

Hickman Natural Bridge

Views at the start of our hike to the Hickman Bridge

Views along our hike

One of the thunderstorms we are trying to skirt around

And another thunderstorm we are hoping to avoid

Can you see Carmel in there...just to show you how large the bridge is

Day 6

Had a great nights sleep in the cabin and woke up to a beautiful morning! Today is going to be a great day as the weather is good and we are at our destination. Headed out this morning for a tasty breakfast at one of the local restaurants to fuel up for our days hike. Today we hiked Chimney Rock (3.6 miles) was a awesome elevation hike once you arrived at the top you could see beautiful Utah forever and Spring Canyon (2 miles) was a beautiful hike with canyon walls surrounding you, such amazing places to visit and enjoy! After our hike we took the 20 mile scenic drive of Capitol Reef again awesome scenery, so peaceful! Lots to be thankful for here is the U.S.! Went back to camp and had a great dinner which consisted of steak for Jerry and trout for me, they make it all right onsite and you can take it to go, nice! Played a few games of rummy and of course Jerry won again lol then off to bed for another good nights sleep for another fun day tomorrow!  

Pretty Cactus Flowers that we saw along our hike

Chimney Rock from the top of our hike

Springs Canyon

The canyon walls surrounding Springs Canyon

Egyptian Rock along our Scenic Drive 

The views from our cabin window

Hiking Chimney Rock

Day 5

Our original plan for this day was to do a short hike in Bryce Canyon then head to Capitol Reef. With the Wing needing some shoe attention that slightly changed our plans but we did get a 1.5 mile hike in going from the hotel to the service station. Well, so far so good. Received a call just before 9:00 am from the roadside assistance people and they stated that the tow truck is on its way and they are taking us to Panguitch which is just 30 miles away however; they stated that they were sending me to Southwest Truck Repair, suspect. I asked them if they were sure that this place could fix the Wing and they assured me yes. The tow truck showed up, a 2001 Dodge Cummings with a cargo trailer. I asked the guy why he didn't bring a flat bed so we can take my trailer also. He stated that the roadside assistance people didn't let him know we had a trailer and his company doesn't like towing motorcycles on flat beds. Oh well lets get this thing loaded and get on our way. We arrived in Panguitch and the place we were told to take it to doesn't exist, it's a transmission shop. I told the tow truck driver to sit put while I go in and ask these people if they were contacted by our roadside assistance people. Guess what? You guessed it, they hadn't heard from anyone and they don't work on motorcycles. I got back on the phone with the roadside assistance people and you can imagine the conversation I was having with them now. While I was on the phone/hold Carmel was calling motorcycle shops in Cedar City to see if we could find somewhere to take the Wing to rather than the roadside assistance people. Carmel spoke to about 3 different shops, some would have to order the valve stem, one couldn't get us in until next Tuesday and one ATV repair shop did say they could get us in and out today, bingo! Roadside assistance agreed to have the tow truck company take us there. While Carmel and I were on the phone we noticed our tow truck driver walking around and not looking so well. He stated that he had a terrible migrane headache and his vision is blurred. He said that he called his brother and he was going to meet us at the junction of Hwy 20 and Interstate 15, about 30 miles away. I offered a couple of times to take over driving so he could lie down in the back seat and he said "it's going to hurt no matter what I do". He continued to drive all the while laying his forehead against the steering wheel, rubbing his head and swerving on the road, Carmel and I were just hoping we would make it to his brother. Met up with younger brother and yes he was driving a 2001 Dodge Cummings but much nicer looking. Of course they couldn't just switch drivers they had to disconnect the trailer and put it on younger brother's truck, younger brother won't let trashy older brother drive his truck. Older brother was a bit trashy, he had to clean out the trash in the back of his extended to cab to get Carmel room to sit. We finally made it to the ATV repair shop and the tech was out to lunch. I didn't want to unload the Wing until I was certain they could in fact repair it. The people inside the sales area assured me they can. The toothless tech came back from lunch and I was immediately reassured, not! After talking with the guy he used to work at a Honda shop for years and loved working on Wings, now I feel better. While the tech was working on the Wing I was inside talking with the owner and he said that he was 2 weeks behind in service and really wasn't going to take me but he knew how much this tech loved working on Wings, he did it for him. After about an hour at the shop we were on our way. I decided that I was going to take a short cut back to Bryce where we had to pick up the trailer so that we could still make it to Capitol Reef before night fall. I knew the short cut would take us through a mountain pass which still had snow on the ground but I figured we would be cold only for a short while and back down the other side. Well, we ran into a snow storm on top of the mountain which really slowed us down and exposed us to more cold then I bargained for, we froze! We got through it and picked up the trailer in Bryce and swiftly headed for Capitol Reef. for the most part the ride to Capitol Reef was pleasurable but we had one more mountain pass to go over, freezing again. The weather never broke all to Capitol Reef. When checking in at the RV park the lady told me we had reserved a cabin and it clearly stated on my reservation a tent site, didn't argue, we took the cabin. The RV Park had some dinner options so we ate there and bedded down in a warm cabin. Let's hope those types of adventures are behind us.
Sorry not much for pictures for today...we were a little preoccupied lol. However, we did get a couple of the views from Bryce to Capitol Reef.

Day 4

Got up early this morning to take the Wing to the shop. Rode the bike 1 1/2 mile s to the shop on the flat tire and it was 34 degrees out. Got to the shop and the manager said his "Motorcycle" guy is off today but will be in tomorrow. No problem with waiting a day, our plan was to be in Bryce for 2 days anyway. No taxis or shuttles so I had to walk back to the hotel. Carmel and I set foot once again and walked back into town where they have a shuttle bus for Bryce Canyon. We hiked down into the canyon via the Navajo trail (1 mile) then took the Peekaboo trail (3 miles) through the canyon and then back out of the canyon via the Queensland and Sunset Point trails (1.6 miles). Unbelievable sites, can't begin to describe how it looks from within (see pics). Once out of the canyon and back in town we had to walk back to the hotel 1.5 miles, barely made it back. On our way back to the hotel I received a phone call from the service station with what I thought was going to be good news, NOT! The "Motorcycle" guy is actually off until Wednesday and after looking at the Wing he said he probably won't be able to fix it anyway. Got back to the hotel and started dealing with our Road Side assistance people to get the Wing towed to a place that can fix it. After an hour on the phone with these guys they finally agreed to have it towed Tuesday to a place that can fix it. We went and enjoyed a nice dinner at the on site restaurant and then crashed for the night!

Jerry walking the 1.5 mile walk back from town

On the Peekaboo Trail - View of one of the windows

Entrance of the park

Overview of the canyon

One of the amazing formations seen in the canyon

Window formaions

Views along our hike

More spectacular views

What cartoon character does this remind you of??

Day 3

Started this chilly morning out at 5:15 again to beat the crowds, we rode the motorcycle to our hiking destination. This morning we hiked Canyon Overlook which was a short 2 mile hike, it was recommended a "must do" by a local guy for being the "best bang for the buck in Zion" some of the most breathtaking views, although pictures never seem to give the views justice. Great way to start the morning! Then back to camp to pack up and head out to our next destination of Bryce Canyon. What would a vacation be without a little bump in the road... The ride to Bryce was a pretty short ride only about 90 miles, we stopped at the Jct of 12 and 89 to fuel up, left there and felt the front end was a little wobbly however, got on the rode it seemed to be fine, stopped again to put on jackets as it was getting colder and noticed again the the front end was wobbly when taking off however, drove fine once on the rode again. Made it to our hotel at that time Jerry realized that the front tire was flat, the "Wing" did us good though rode 60 miles on a flat and got us here safely! Oh and yes a hotel... once we heard that the morning temps were going to be under freezing in Bryce we decided to upgrade to a "hotel"... because we can. Although, back to tenting it Tuesday night. With it being a Sunday we were a little out of luck on getting the flat fixed today however, Jerry found a place that opens at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning, hopefully they can get us fixed up so we can start enjoying Bryce Canyon. The rest of the day we just kicked backed and relaxed!

The 1.1 mile tunnel that you have to drive through to enter and leave Zion Canyon

Starting our Canyon Overlook hike

My muscle man saving us from a falling rock

Canyon Overlook Views

Amazing Views - Canyon Outlook

Looking down from the top of Canyon Overlook

This is one of the windows cut in the rock of the 1.1 mile tunnel  - pretty amazing

More amazing Views

At the top of Canyon Overlook

Our "hotel" in Bryce Canyon

Entering Bryce - A glimpse of what to expect at Bryce Canyon

Entering Bryce

Entering Bryce

Day 2

Well the first night in the tent was pretty restless. Hot night and sleeping on a 1" air mattress and a one square foot pillow just isn't the home bed. The alarm went off at 5:15 am and we were pretty much the only ones up in camp which was good, had the restrooms to ourselves. Got cleaned up, made some coffee and got on the first shuttle heading out to Angels Landing, the most difficult and notorious hike in Zion. The hike is supposed to be a 2 to 4 hours round trip. Once we reached Angels Landing there was another challenge, Scouts Lookout. That was pretty much mountain climbing not hiking. They have chain rails all along the way to help pull yourself up. In some areas the trail is 3' wide with 1000' drops on either side. There have been 6 deaths since 2004. With that extra little surprise we did the hike in 3 1/2 hours. We are paying for it this afternoon. Hope you enjoy the pics, they certainly don't do Zion justice.

Just starting out, we haven't a clue what's ahead!

A shot on the way up.

Another scenic site on our way up.

At Angels Landing and now the warning sign for continuing up Scouts Lookout.

Climbing up Scouts Lookout.

Looking at Scouts Lookout from Angels Landing. We end up at the very top of that mountain.

On the way up to Scouts Lookout. 500' drop off on either side. Carmel didn't fall on this hike.

The site from our front door.

UTAH CANYON BIKE TRIP - DAY 1

Day 1 got out of town by 8:15, didn't test ride the wing with the trailer we just took off. Can definitely feel the weight of the trailer from a dead stop and when stopping I am definitely applying more brake. Other than that it tows great. Average speed 75, made a couple of passes at 90, no problems. Hit Flagstaff and then winds all the way to Zion were terrible. Trailer didn't seem to care about the wind but as usual the wing catches it all. Got to our camp site at about 4:00 and all set up within a few minutes. Our camp site is on the North entrance to Zion and we came in from the South entrance so we got to  drive through Zion today, beautiful sites. Tomorrow will be hiking into Zion.

Bike and trailer loaded up and ready to go!

Trailer loaded. Not sure how Frank and Kim did Sturgis for a week without a trailer.

Riding through Zion.

Entering a very long dark tunnel in Zion.

Riding through Zion.

Our camp site in Zion.