After visiting the stunning Horseshoe Bend park and witnessing a beautiful sunset you would think I was done with national parks, but I still had a few on my bucket list. I left page early and headed north to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument which I had already visited a few years ago but I needed to go through to my next destination. The park is among the most remote in the country being the last to be mapped in the contiguous United States. After passing Kanab I took a detour south to go see Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park still in Utah.
The park has coral-hued sand dunes located beside red sandstone cliffs which are formed from the erosion of pink-colored Navajo Sandstone surrounding the park. Pictures don’t do it justice, you have to be there to see the contrast between the sand and the green surrounding it. The dunes are estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000 years old. The sand is as fine as talcum powder as you can see on my last photo.
After a quick stop I exit the area and continued towards Zion National Park and entered the park through Checkerboard Mesa. Zion is another park I had visited by car but this time felt different. Riding a motorcycle through all the curves and tunnels gives it a different feeling, you can’t help yourself but be in awe at the magnitude and size of the rocks. Riding through Zion Canyon which stretches 15 miles (24 km) long and spans up to half a mile (800 m) deep and be up close with the monolithic rocks, buttes, and mesas, and seeing the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone is simply amazing. I highly recommend you go see it if you have a chance.
I spent quiet a few minutes just looking out in awe at the Zion beauty.
I exited Zion and headed for the town of St. George but I could no longer stop to see anything, the only stops being for water and to cool down. The ride through the northwest corner of Arizona and into Mesquite in Nevada was horrible with the heat above 105 degrees and then after gassing up and drinking another quart of water in Mesquite it got even worse. From Mesquite down to Las Vegas on Interstate 15 the temperature soared to 114 and stayed there until I encountered afternoon traffic in Las Vegas where it then soared to a new record for me of 118 degrees. The exhaust heat from the other cars and trucks and the reflective heat from the asphalt made it impossible to be on the road. The bottom of my feet were burning and riding with full gear made it worse. Other drivers must have thought I was crazy. I had put on a soaked cooling vest and a cooling neck scarf earlier on but it wasn’t helping much. It would be a few miles at a crawl pace before I could retreat to an air conditioned room in Las Vegas.
I had two things to do in Las Vegas, pickup the two seals I had ordered from Yamaha at a local dealer and get a photo that I had been dreaming for a while too. I will leave that for the next post.
A sneak peek at what’s next.
To be continued……
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