Day 6

Down the Paria river bed, and on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon !!!!

     If I told you where this picture was taken---I would definitely have to kill you. OK--Ok, Me and Kenny had talked to some more BLM people who were totally in un--agreement as whether we could ride down the Paria River !!! One said we could, another said we couldn't, another said go ahead---but don't get caught---jeeeeshhh!!  The Paria river had historically been a major road believe it or not for hundreds of years and now the "Tree Huggers" and "Greenies" were trying to keep everybody out. The locals said it was open and they couldn't stop you as it was still an existing road of sorts. This picture was taken in Sheep Creek in total darkness and below freezing temperatures.
      I wasn't wanting to go to jail on our ride----and I don't want to trespass or go where I shouldn't be even if I feel differently about the situation. Me and Kenny talked it over and decided to go-----but in case---I wanted to get up at 4AM---ride in the dark to the river, and start riding it at first light and getting out of the river bed before the BLM got out of bed !!!!!!!!!!!

      This picture is in Sheep Creek which leads into the Paria.
        Still in Sheep Creek the sun is barely lighting the horizon. Oh man is this an adventure or what------both our hearts were pounding with excitement !!!
         Oh yeah-----this is awesome !!! The river is down in a very deep canyon and yes---if it came a sudden thunderstorm and big rain, you will die in this river. This is no joking matter-------we were very careful, and watched the weather channel the night before. Many people have lost their lives in here.
       It was below freezing but we were oblivious to the cold as we were having so much fun. We ripped off a bunch of pictures in here. We never seen a soul in the river bed--but seen fresh tracks as a few hardy souls still ventured in here. Hey--you gotta get out of bed early if you're going to ride with me !!!!!!!!!
          This overhang was neat. We would ride down the river bed crossing back and forth across the river probably about 50 times. Kenny got his feet a little wet but I stayed dry.

     I'm sticking my neck out here----but I think this is the neatest place I have ever ridden since my 51 years on this earth-----really !!!! I said it---and I'm sticking to it !!
   
             "Make My Day"

We gave this fellow all the room he wanted !!!!!!

This guy never flinched a muscle and just stared us down. I was afraid to shut off my bike in case he charged us. Then after several minutes I concluded he was frozen solid as I never seen him blink even once. I thought he was setting us up for the kill---my electric starter had never failed me and I hoped it wouldn't now. I was afraid to be occupied with my camera in case he did run at us. We rode around him and he never did move ????????

 
         We rode right out of the Paria river bed into this old western movie set.  However the original movie set deteriorated to nothing and is gone. They built this newer one on higher ground close by. And as I said---the last movie shot near here, was "The Outlaw Josey Wales" in 1976. I do believe the old show "Gunsmoke" was shot in the area----this was all near the old ghost town of Old Paria. 
        We are on "Rock House Road" here heading South across the Utah, Arizona border.
        Kenny's front fender is showing signs of the trip----will we bust ??????????

       Were busted !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The North Rim is closed for the winter----they won't open until May 10th and it is still April !!!!!!!!

    Duh Mark----it seems you didn't do your homework---the adventure continues and the plot thickens !!!!!!!!
         We were at a very high elevation here and it was cold and we were very down and very disapointed, as the North Rim was not to be !!!  I had tried the North Rim on my 1974 R90S BMW back in March of 1983 and ran in to a huge snow drift and had to turn back. Two failures--I was more fired up than ever to see the North Rim. Ok----what now????
       We went inside the Jacob Lake Inn to warm up here by the fireplace and head back to Moab. It was still early as we had entered the Paria in the early morning darkness and had went thru another time zone and the restaurant inside was still in breakfast mode-----alright, we were down---but our bellies were hungry for coffee and breakfast. So we just wanted to relax and enjoy ourselves at the Jacob Lake Inn----and there was some definite regrouping to be done. 
      We sat down to eat and were laughing and cutting up and having a great time cutting up with this lady and the guy who took our order. She was curious what we were doing----and after telling her we were "Busted" and couldn't make the North Rim-----she then prints out a map on a computer for us and highlights a dirt road to the North Rim-----it is still early and all is not lost. I think she was obviously of Indian decent and was so nice to us----and seemed to be running the place. She made our day :)  Thank you !!!!!!!

     We were having such a great time, when 2 older couples sat down next to us----the waiter told them to watch us as we were having way to much fun, but hadn't bitten anybody yet !!!! We all laughed !!!!

       These were some of the signs on the "Good" roads !!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

         North Rim of the "Grand Canyon"

Yes--we made it !!!!!!!!!
        We rode around beautiful dirt roads to several different views of the Grand Canyon. I'm not going to bore you with a lot of pictures of it-----you got to see it to believe it-----then you won't believe your eyes !!!! So get on you sickle and go !!!! Before the greenies turn you away.
        While riding between canyon viewpoints I ran over this skeleton and broke it. What is it----tell me---I don't know, but guessed it to be a mountain lion ??????? I put my foot in for size comparison.

What we have here is a severe case of "Monkey See-----Monkey Do" !!!!!!!!!!  In the Kaibab Forest.

First it was me and then Kenny !!!!!  We encountered this snow while riding to different points of the

Grand Canyon rim. We ended up in a Motel in Kanab, Utah for the night.

 

             So we made it to the North Rim----what a trip. I've never had so much fun in my life---but wait-----it's only half over and I'm not gong back the same way I came----no way. It was suppose to be easier, but we had some very difficult trail ahead and almost got arrested----who me ???? fraid so !!!!!!!!!!  We also rode into a deep canyon down sandy rocky hills and there was no way we could ride our bikes out----we were trapped !!! What did we do ????? Read On to Day 7.

 

Day  7      The ride from hell---why did it takes us 4 hrs to go 9 miles ??????