I left Portland on May 24th, with a bit of a delay because the inaugural packing of the bike always takes longer than I think it should. Once I got going it was much colder over MT Hood than I had initially thought. Plus, brilliant me, I ditched the warm liner in my motorcycle pants before I left. I was packing and taking photos and it was warm, and determined that I didn’t need that extra liner. Ha!
So, I stopped in Redmond, OR at a pizza place to take a break from the cold and texted Priscilla (the leader of the Bend chapter of the Litas) to ask her if she was still in town. I knew that she was also heading to Motos in Moaband had crossed my fingers that she would still be around to rescue me. As luck had it the group she was riding with wasn’t leaving until the next day! Winnning!
Above is a photo of her and her cool Bend people that I got to ride with from Bend to Burns before I split off to go play in the desert.
ON the road to the Alvord Desert
Here you can see that despite having to ride about 40 miles down a gravel road, I was more than happy to be riding next to this gorgeous range of mountains before arriving in the Alvord Desert.
Alvord Desert, Fields, Oregon
I’ve been wanting to visit the Alvord Desert for two years and it finally happened! I’m pretty sure I rode around for a good hour because it was so surreal. This was without a doubt the high point of road to Motos in Moab for me.
I wish I could have spent more time there, I’ll definitley be back. When I finally hit critical heat levels I somehow found the exit and headed to Fields.
I made it to Fields about an hour after the gas station closed. I sat outside for about ten minutes looking at my phone trying to figure out where the next gas station was before the wonderful woman who owns the Fields Station came out. She talked to me for a minute and then turned on the pump just so I could fill up.
When I mentioned to her that I had been worried about where I was going to camp, she said I could just camp next to this row of trees right next to the gas station. The only downside to camping there was the batteries in my air pump went dead, so no Air Mattress. Sleep was a little rough, and I woke up the next morning with a stiff shoulder and a daunting 487 miles to cover to get to Salt Lake City.
Took my sweet time packing up since I didn’t sleep very well, and a big pack of bikers rolled in. I was distracted when I left after talking to one of the guys who owned an Indian, so I didn’t notice that my camelbak was sitting on the back of my bike when I took off. I rode two miles before I realized I didn’t have it on me. Drove all the way back and asked the guys if they had found my camelbak. They said, “Oh, ya we were just gonna meet up with ya in Winnemuca and give it back to ya.” They were pretty cool dudes.
Side Note: There was no “Welcome to Nevada” sign and I’m terribly offended because I wanted that picture damnit.
Finally got back on the road and hauled ass. There isn’t a lot of photos from that section of road because I was so focused on making miles. Rode right by the Bonneville Salt Flats which is like a mortal sin for a motorcyclist. I hate doing that many miles because it’s hell on my body and I get in a bad mood for the next two days. Ya ya ya, I can hear all ya’ll who do more miles on a regular basis, that’s great for you but I hate it. I like to take my time and take it easy.
Made it to Salt Lake City around 8:30-9pm much later than I initially thought. However my gracious host, Jude Rosenthol, the gal in charge of the Women’s Adventure Riding group on Facebook, set me up with an awesome air mattress, wifi, a shower and it was heaven.
Jude and I outside, Santaquinn, Utah
I had a lovely morning running around with Jude, we rode down the coast of Utah Lake and had a late lunch in Santaquinn. Sitting and talking to her was incredibly therapeutic and I thought that I was over my mental slump. I parted ways with her and dodged storms and tried to keep myself in a positive mood.
The last leg to Moab was alright, and I was doing fine and dandy until I arrived at Motos in Moab and set up camp in the dark. More on that in my next post!