I spent last fall testing out routes between Fruita and Moab and I worked out several of them. Some are dirt-bike friendly. Others are big twin-friendly. Yesterday the temperature dropped from the 100’s down to the low 80’s so Zoom! off I went on the Huskie Adventure-450

I rode old highway 6 & 50 from Fruita out to Sulfur, UT then jumped on a dirt road which turned into a gas-line road and took that to the Cisco / Agate road. South to Agate past the dead cow then west to the Cisco Pump House Road on the Kokopelli. From there south to the Kokopelli trail, west to the first fork (turn right) and over the easy-way to UT 128 (easy on a dirt-bike – not for big twins)

Down 128 a mile or two then west again on the Kokopelli Trail / Owl Creek Road to Dewey Bridge. It was getting late and the Huskie Adventure-450 was low on fuel (I didn’t fill up before leaving Fruita) so I rode the wyndy blacktop to Moab, gassed up and rode UT 128 to Danish Flat and hopped on the super-slab east to Mack then 6 & 50 to the house. 189 miles round trip, 6.5 hours

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The Sun, half as bright as a car’s turn signal and just as amber-colored, is about an hour and a half from setting. It’s dark enough for automatic headlights to come on

The power of the Sun so muted by the smoke the temperature has dropped from 95* to 85*F in less than an hour

White flakes drift gently down like snow on a windless February day; ash from the Pine Creek fire

We are hoping for rain in September

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So there are a few fires burning in Colorado this week. One is snowing ash on everything in Fruita, and the other has the interstate closed so all my online orders are delayed a few days

So now we’re wearing an ash mask on top of our Covid mask to stay safe. The good news is we only have to put up with this until the rainy season which maybe starts in October????? So only two months or so away

Since it’s getting into the 100’s in Fruita again I headed up to Grand Mesa for coolness and adventure

I started my day in Collbran then went North and East from there

I rode a loamy little two-track ATV trail up to the boundary between the Grand Mesa and White River forests

I didn’t see but one person and a half-dozen cows the whole day. It looked as though the trails had not been used by ATV’s for awhile. Only cow and horse feet prints marked the soft earth

Where it’s nice and cool, Mmmmmmm

There is an old historic cow camp up on the Mesa which has been preserved for our enjoyment. It was likely tough work in the day, but now we drive to it in air-conditioned rental cars so it’s no big deal

The inside of the upper cabin is quite nice. It smells a little dusty; nothing some sweeping and new curtains couldn’t fix

Further west on FR 100 I came to Lands-end. It’s where the Mesa turns to a cliff and falls into the Grand Valley. Super great views and decent cell phone service. The local wildlife has figured out that humans are a source of food. They put on quite a show for a meal 🙂 so squee!

I’m in stand-by mode these next few weeks. I have a big trip planned for mid-july and I don’t have as much time to play in the desert now that it’s HOT. I did manage to sneak in a couple bike rides though. My friend Tom came to town with The Lost Box and we went riding out in the Kokopelli area

Some creative person left a kewl gift for passers-by out on the Wrangler trail

It seems there is a baby dragon in the Park making cute little foot-prints

First-off a rant aimed at Target! I ordered some corn chips along with other things and the dufus who packed it put the can goods on top of the corn chips. Grrrrrrr

Meanwhile back at the ranch … CACTUS BLOOMS!!

I love these little flowers so much!

I also took a couple rides out where the peeps don’t go and found myself on the Old Spanish Trail above the Colorado River. I’m a little confused as to why anyone would ride this way to get somewhere, and it’s possible that the somewhere that this trail served has disappeared since then (POOF!) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Spanish_Trail_(trade_route)]

I also took a spin on Lions/ Kokopelli trail since I’ve never been this way before. An early morning delight!

I friend of mine went traveling across Texas and stopped at the world’s Largest Bowie Knife (Bowie, TX). I was there a few years ago so here are pictures!

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As I was driving back from Moab I notice that Fruita keeps getting closer to Grand Junction

When you get on the highway at Fruita going to GJ the sign says 5 miles to go. YaY! weirdness!

After the Kane creek adventure I hooked up with the La Sal loop in Spanish Valley and rode it around to the Sand Flats Road

It was cold enough up on the hill to make me put my coat back on. Covid-19 has most of the campgrounds closed in the area. That’s not stopping some people from camping there anyway, but hey, this is ‘murica. It was a pleasant ride on mostly decent pavement around to the Sand Flats Road. They call it Sand Flats for a reason. The road is half-dirt, half-deep sand with a few rocks jutting out at odd angles just for fun

The Sand Flats Area includes the Slick Rock Trail which is super grippy when dry. Super slick when wet. I stopped for a scenic break out on the slick rock

The Mtn Bikers always look at the moto’s with distain on the trial because they don’t know it’s actually a moto trail that you can ride bicycle on. Silly rabbit

Down from the Sand Flats Road into Moab and the cross-walk is looking festive! As I was loading the bike up a deer came to see me