My Trails

Burned

This was my best pair of pants! I don’t even remember my leg touching the muffler on my motorcycle but I guess I need to be more careful.

Today I went to visit Bryce Canyon National Park, the longest single trip I’ve put on the Honda so far. The park was only 40 miles to the north but side trips in the park and exploring a couple of forest roads racked up 115 miles on the odometer.

It was not a comfortable day to ride. There was a strong, gusty wind that bounced me from time to time and the traffic was heavy, as usual, once I got close to the park. Every parking area in the park was full but I had no trouble squeezing my bike in someplace. I didn’t take any hikes down to the hoodoo s because I’m still feeling a little weak.

Coyote turned these people to stone because they were bad.

I noticed the new thing all the tourists are doing is taking pictures with selfie sticks. I have seen the formations of Bryce Canyon several times and they are awesome, but I have to say I got the biggest kick out of watching whole families carrying their camera phones out in front of them on three foot aluminum poles.

Laundry day.

I guess I kind of left everyone hanging last post when I alluded to some health issues. Something happened to my eye that made it very sore for a few days I would wake up every morning with it glued shut and the lid swollen and red. About the same time I developed an extremely sore throat with none of the usual viral symptoms of stuffy sinus. It is hard to believe I would catch anything with so much of my existence spent on my own, but who knows. I’m almost over whatever attacked me. I’d say I’m at about 95% now.

With feeling under the weather, and the actual weather being very nasty the last few days, as you can imagine I haven’t been very active. The other night, just before dark, there was a knock at my door. I opened it to find an old bearded man with a cane standing there with a worried look on his face. He told me his dog was missing and he feared dead. He had seen what he thought was his dog, down over a ridge, being dragged into a thicket by a large animal. He was wondering if I had heard any strange animal sounds or seen a large cat in the area.

Sometime during our conversation he mentioned that his dogs name was Timber. If you have ever read RV Sue’s blog then you know the story of Rusty and Timber. I won’t go into the story and saga of Rusty’s life, but let’s just say he is the kind of person that modern society forgot. He lives in a homemade camper on a 1975 truck spending most of his time on public land. He survives on a disability VA pension and eats oatmeal, rice and canned vegetables. He spends most of his time surfing the Internet and reading his Bible. Much of his younger life was spent walking the West with two donkeys.

I know all this because he talked nonstop until 1:00 in the morning. Once in a while
I would offer something to the conversation but mostly it was his opinion and story of his life that interested him the most. The next day his truck was gone.

I found a stream nearby where I can get extra water. I only use it for cleaning and flushing. Water is the commodity I seem to run out of first so it is nice to be able to replenish and supplement my supply.

Pump repair

I took apart my spare water pump and found a broken housing that had rendered it inoperable. I glued it back together last night and will test it out shortly.

I still haven’t found affordable propane. Most places are using the exchange method instead of filling tanks. My tank is brand new and I’m hesitant to exchange it, but that may be my only option if my main tank gets empty.

Welcome

I used to have a flimsy welcome mat that I placed in front of my steps. It worked okay until the wind would pick it up and wrap it around a tree or hide it under my vehicle. When it rained, it took forever to dry out. I found this heavy rubber mat at the Walmart in Page and it is working well.

I was going to go to Bryce Canyon today but I have a sore eye. Maybe tomorrow.

Wow!

There are all sorts of ways to spend money while visiting the Grand Canyon, and those ways reached deeply into my pocket yesterday and today. I figure I will only get to do this once, so why not add a couple more things to the bucket list.

Although I have already seen the IMAX movie about the history of the Grand Canyon, I remembered how good it was and went again. The movie is well done and the action scenes make you feel like you are actually running the river and flying through the canyon.

This morning I drove to the airport and purchased a ticket for a scenic, helicopter flight over the canyon. It was expensive but well worth it. They fly two different helicopters – the Bell 130 and something called a Eurocopter. Most groups were flying in the Bell but our group was shuttled over to another area where the Euro Copter are kept. I overheard someone say they have more glass and a better view. There were 6 passengers plus the pilot. I was lucky to get the best passenger seat – front right side – while a family from the Netherlands filled in the back seats.

It is an experience that can’t be described. Everyone was taking tons of pictures, but the Grand Canyon will never be captured to an image. It is just too vast. Probably the best part is when you break over the rim and fly out above the thousands of features on display. When you arrive at the North Rim, the pilot flies up through a gorge for a while before banking over a ridge and heading back. It was fun, I can’t put it any other way.

I rode into the park late in the day yesterday. I wanted to make sure the afternoon thunderstorms were over. Even at 6:00 pm there were four lanes filled with 6 cars each waiting to pay $30 each to get in. My senior card keeps paying for itself over and over. I think I will go back today because I have a lot of dirty clothes and it is the only laundry near here.

San Francisco Peaks

New camp

I woke this morning to bright sunny skies and decided to make the move before the rains came again. I packed up and drove back to Flagstaff for a quick dump at the Giant station and food at the Walmart, then headed back up 180 to get closer to the Grand Canyon.

Rt. 180 was a nice road with little traffic. It passes through pretty forests of the Kaibab and Coconino with many options for dispersed camping. I have to be kind of picky and choose my forests roads carefully as many of them are rutted and soft from all the rain.

I stopped at a pay campground on 64 called 10 X just to check it out. The spots were tight to get into and not very level. There were still quite a few people there, presumably left from the weekend. I was mainly looking for a dump station and water for when I come out, but they had neither.

As I entered the town of Tusayan, just a few miles from Grand Canyon National Park, a sign announced a forest road to the right. Only a mile up the road I came to several open campsites. I parked Minnie and walked around until I determined the best one and staked my claim. I have good cell signal and quite a lot of holes to the sky. The main drawback to this place is that it is in the sightseeing, helicopter flight path for the Canyon. There is a constant stream of helicopters that buzz 100 feet above my head.