Day 4: August 25^th, 2011.

Sipapu Bridge – Natural Bridges National Monument

I woke up early in the morning, feeling rested and refreshed after finally being able to take a good shower. I packed up all the gear, hopped on the bike and headed out for the Natural Bridges National Monument. Natural Bridges is a somewhat secluded area in the south central part of Utah, directly south of Canyonlands National Park and about 40 miles west of Blanding, UT. The monument contains three naturally formed bridges in which water from the winding streams slowly cut through the canyon walls. The monument includes a 9 mile loop which provides scenic views of each of the three natural bridges, “Kachina,” “Owachomo” and “Sipapu”. The bridges were named in honor of the Native Americans that inhabited the area.

I arrived at the park and made a quick stop at the visitor center to collect my pin and passport stamp to prove that I had been there. I filled as many water bottles as I could find and head out on the loop. There were several scenic pullouts that provided good views of the bridges, but it was clear that if I wanted to get a truly spectacular view, I would have to hike down into the canyons. I was not prepared to do much hiking, even though the weather was a lot cooler than the previous day, so I snapped as many photos as I could and headed back out.

As I was heading down the freshly chip-sealed road back towards Utah Highway 95, my Garmin GPS unit decided that it was going to try to commit suicide. I had been using the suction cup mount attached to my windshield, and although I had been having a few problems with it popping loose, the power cord, which securely fastens to the unit, had always acted as a tether. This time the stars aligned just right and when the bracket hit the frame, it released the GPS unit from the mount, causing it to tumble down onto the road and get run over by my bike. I swung around, rode back and picked up the unit, fearing the worst. Fortunately it still worked, although the case was severely chipped, scuffed and beat up. The two halves of the case were separating, exposing the circuit boards inside. A couple of quick snaps, however, and it was all back together. The power switch did not go together quite right, and it was difficult to turn on, but I was very grateful when it powered back up and began barking directions at me! Read the rest of this entry »

Friday, June 25th, 2010: The day was looking to be pretty nice. The temps were in the mid 80′s and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. This was somewhat of a spur of the moment trip, but I had done a lot of packing the night before so that I could ride out straight after work. All I would have to do is stop by home, gear up, strap the sleeping bag on and head for the hills! Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the beautiful day turned rather ugly right about the time I decided to leave.

Just before I had planned to leave work, some coworkers and myself headed upstairs to the cafeteria for a quick break. Since it had been warm out all day, we decided to go sit in the courtyard. As we were out there, I could see some thick black clouds rolling in from the west. Not even five minutes later, those very same clouds decided to open up, so we headed back inside and down to the dungeon (IT people always work in the dungeon it seems). I hung out for about another 30 minutes finishing up some last minute work and then headed out for the day. As I got back upstairs and to the parking lot, it was no longer raining, although it was still pretty dark out. I wiped the raindrops off the seat of my Road King and headed for home, hoping for better luck than I had encountered so far.
Read the rest of this entry »