Day 4 (10-11-07)
After a quick breakfast with the family at “Patio Pancake” it was time to give hugs and part ways with each other. I had some ground to cover today. I still didn’t know exactly where I was going, but I knew I had a long day ahead of me.
First stop, Monarch Pass (aka the Continental Divide). An interesting fact about the Continental Divide is that water and other fluids run to the East on one side of the sign, and to the West on the other side of the sign. Hmmmmm, go figure. Don’t ask how I found this out, and man did I get some strange looks from that school bus. But….. I got rid of that orange juice I had for breakfast that morning so I was ready to roll!!!
And yes, in case you were wondering, the bike felt like a V-Strom 650 at 11000+ feet above sea level. I would roll on the throttle like normal and presto, nothing at all would happen. That was one thing that I didn’t miss about Texas. Plenty of nice thick air to make good horsepower.
From there it was off on Highway 50 until I reached my fork where I needed to decide where to go. I decided on a new route that we hadn’t even thought of last night and that was to go up 92. It was the scenic byway that took me up to see the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness.
But first, time for a stop at a dam, for some dam pictures.
One thing that peaked my interest when I got here was just the immense size of the Blue Mesa Reservoir. It is close to 15 miles long and seems to contain more water than I’d care to drink in a single sitting. But while standing there looking at the sign I wanted to figure out just how much water was in there.
Now I don’t know about you, but I didn’t know off the top of my head what was a good conversion of Acre-Foot to gallon was so I whooped out my pocket Encyclopedia and looked that baby up. It turns out that one Acre-Foot of water is equal to just under 326,000 gallons. So that would bring the total capacity of the Reservoir to 306,766,000,000 gallons of water (give or take a tablespoon or so). Man, that’s a lot of dam water.
Alright, enough of that nonsense, it’s time to ride and enjoy the views.
The Aspen’s were just turning and it was truly a beautiful sight to see.
After making it to a great scenic overlook I decided this was the perfect time to stop and eat some lunch. I had a turkey sandwich that was made from yesterday’s leftovers and it was awesome. That’s my favorite part about Thanksgiving, the leftovers!!! Then while I was in this picturesque setting what else is the first thing that comes to mind to do…….
Yep, you guessed it… lube up a chain for the next thousand miles or so…..
After lunch, it was time to boogie and make up some time. I had decided that I wanted to camp somewhere near Moab and enjoy the Colorado River and the canyons a little.
Ahhhhh Utah, finally the place that has been in my dreams for so long. I must apologize to you all. These pictures, and for that matter, any pictures of the Canyons in Utah just do not do it justice. I’ve searched and searched for photos that capture the true spirit of Utah and to this day I can’t find a single one. I honestly believe that it is something that must be felt to truly enjoy to its fullest. But this is as close as I could get to bringing it home. I tried my best.
And now time to find a camp site along the river. Most were taken by groups of mountain bikers since I came to find out that there was a big event in town that week. But I did manage to find a campground with one site left. If you ask me it was a beauty.
I made some dinner, and sat out staring up at the stars until it was time for bed. Tonight was a fairly warm night, with the temps only getting into the low 40’s, so I was excited for my seemingly good fortune. I was also less than 30 feet from the river and the gentle sound of water creeping by soothed me off to sleep in no time flat.
See you tomorrow for the Valley of Monuments, crazy Indians, strangers for dinner, and a really cold night ahead......