Day 43
Thursday 17th September
We woke to a bright and sunny day, and after splashing our way through some muddy puddles and laughing as Ed’s bike cut out in the middle of one of them, we proceeded to ride 10 miles in the wrong direction. Ed’s phone wasn’t charged and he’d presumed that it was straight on from our camping spot, but we were actually supposed to turn right. It wasn’t an issue, and we turned back around and got back on to the trail, which took us winding in between forests with mountains in the distance.
The leaves had turned a beautiful yellow colour, and at one point we were riding through a yellow tunnel of autumnal delight. I love autumn, or fall as it’s called in the US, and it was a little food for my wandering soul.
We soon left the foothills behind us, and the mountains on the horizon became a distant memory as they shrunk with every mile.
The terrain flattened out a bit more and actually reminded me of New Mexico a little, there was the same dirt, small bushes and shrubs lining the trail. At one point to our right we spotted a canyon, and as we continued the scenery really started to change. We came down a hill and round a corner and were presented with some really cool and interesting rock formations, we hadn’t seen anything quite like it on the trail before and the change was quite exciting.
But just as I was enjoying the welcome change of scenery I suddenly felt like we’d been deposited back in Oklahoma. It was starting to feel like we were riding a mirror image of what we’d already ridden on the other side of the Rockies. We were back in to the realm of endless flat fields of farmland, sliced up with a long straight dirt and gravel roads.
We came across a cool looking abandoned wooden house at one point, and were both a bit sad that it had been left to ruin. I always wonder who’s lived in them over the years, and who built it. Someone may well have put their heart and soul in to building that house, and now it was left to rot and decay. Sad really.
We finally arrived in the town of Monticello, and went to the post office to collect a few things. We’d ordered two sump guards but only one had arrived, but at least we knew they were decent and strong. We also collected a few other things, then went and got a pizza. I was so hungry after only having breakfast and a cereal bar, I’m not like Ed who can go all day without eating. I think it’s a man thing. I love hanging out with guys but if there isn’t another female around you end up going all day without eating as they don’t think to stop for lunch or a snack. Women seem to be thinking about eating all day!
We decided to ride out of town and camp in the National Forest, and as the sun began to set it cast brilliant shadows of us on our bikes on the field that ran alongside the road.
There were lots of straight roads and it was down one of them that I spotted a sign for La Sal. ‘La Sal? Why does that sound familiar?’ I said to myself. Then I remembered. Someone on ADV had mentioned that 3 Step Hideaway in La Sal was worth a stop. We had no internet connection to check it’s location, but decided that we’d continue on and hopefully spot a sign for it, which we did. We had no idea what to expect as we rode up the driveway, and it was better than I could have ever imagined. There were multiple wooden buildings, cabins and teepees, and as we pulled up we even got our own surprise welcoming party.
There was quite the group of people already there, and we were just in time for dinner. Sadly we were both stuffed on pizza which we both wished we hadn’t had as the food looked delicious, but we both managed to squeeze in a bit of dessert which was absolutely scrummy. Isn’t that separate dessert stomach marvelous?
Followed by entertainment and Smores round the campfire it was a lovely night, and made all the more better as it was completely unexpected.
Hello again…If it is not too late…and not too far out of your way…you should check out the “slot canyons” south of Escalante.
http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.M957009ff3f6778b8fd2cc3280a8eaba0H0&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0&r=0
Hope you are healed up Rachel….
chief
We were surprised to see the word Lifan in your post, We have 150cc and 200cc Lifan dirt bikes and have had great success in our limited adventures. No engine problems but not so with clutches. Every day is an adventure with Lifans. Thank you for sharing your trip. Sorry we didn’t know you were coming South (NC) or we would have treated you to a weekend at our favorite motorcycle only campground in Meadows of Dan, Va.