Days 98-100: Going Back to Moab
Pocatello, ID to Salt Lake City, UT, Back to Moab for a few Days, and Back up to Salt Lake City
It’s Wednesday, July 17, 2024 - Friday, July 19, 2024, and it’s Days 98-100 of my cross country motorcycle trip.
I started early in Pocatello to ride a few hours down to BMW Motorcycles of Salt Lake City. I needed to get a few things done. They found and fixed the oil leak by replacing the water pump and seals (which was covered under warranty). They did an 18,000 mile service, which included changing spark plugs and checking all the valves. They flushed and filled the brake system. They were kind enough to squeeze me in, even though they were booked for several weeks. We agreed that I would be able pick the bike up first thing Saturday morning.
With the bike in the shop for a few days, Scott and I connected with his friend Tom, who lives in Salt Lake City, and the three of us headed down to Moab to do some exploring, hiking in the parks, and off-roading in the Jeep. We even stayed at the same hotel I stayed back on May 13th and 14th, which is so convenient and very affordable (The Virginian Inn).
In the wee hours of Thursday morning, we made our way over to Arches—if you get there before 7am, you don’t need a timed entry reservation. We wanted to hike to Delicate Arch before the heat of the day, and we’re so glad later that we did. Delicate isn’t super-long or super-strenuous, but in the heat of the day—no thanks. We took some time to explore some of the other arches, like the North and South Windows, and Tower Arch, and the visitors center before heading back into town for lunch.
After lunch, we went up to Canyonlands National Park. We hiked up to see Upheaval Dome and Mesa Arch, and checked out the Grand View Overlook, before embarking on our vehicular challenge of the day. We drove down Shaffer “Road” that goes from the rim of the canyon down to valley, and along the Colorado river back to Moab. To call it a “road,” is quite generous. It’s dirt and rock, with some serious switchbacks along the way. You can see it in the distance on the second-to-last picture.
I need to give Scott a lot of credit for driving down. It was a very “cliffy” experience. So much so, that we didn’t take too many pictures or even talk much on the way down. But we made it the 2.5 hours back to a paved road, and then to the hotel for the night.
On Friday, we went back up to Dead Horse State Park, and were able to get a wide view of the river and the canyon before heading back up to Salt Lake City for the night. It’s about a 4 hour drive, with not much to see in between.
Stayed at a nice hotel downtown, and had dinner with Tom’s family (great to meet you Jennifer, Zach and Garrett), and some drinks on their rooftop. We caught a beautiful sunset and called it a day.