Premium Member racreative Posted May 14, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted May 14, 2018 Good afternoon all! My wife and I are planning a road trip from SoCal to Zion and back home through the Grand Canyon this Memorial Day weekend. Should be a little over a 1000 miles round trip. Has anyone been to Zion on Memorial day weekend before? Curious if it is normally hot or if the weather is still nice for riding. Anyone have advice for places to see or stay while traveling through? We are not camping this trip.. we will be staying in hotels along the way... so far our planned stops are Mesquite Nevada, Page Arizona and Most likely need to stay somewhere around Williams or Grand Canyon Caverns off route 66. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koth442 Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 Its gonna be HOT. 90-100's most likely. If you're sub 90, you're a lucky SOB. However, it will be beautiful. I love Zion. Enjoy the ride! Also, love the avatar. '15 FJ09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted May 15, 2018 Supporting Member Share Posted May 15, 2018 Its gonna be HOT. 90-100's most likely. If you're sub 90, you're a lucky SOB. However, it will be beautiful. I love Zion. Enjoy the ride! Also, love the avatar. Yikes. A buddy and I are riding down to that area, riding up through Staircase-Escalante/ Moab at the end of June. I'm glad that we didn't chose July or August. ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member racreative Posted May 16, 2018 Author Premium Member Share Posted May 16, 2018 Thank you! We are really looking forward to it. Also excited to see Powell, Marble Canyon and the North Rim! Hopefully we will get lucky and get some nice cool weather... 90s are better that 120s, but still hot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member racreative Posted May 16, 2018 Author Premium Member Share Posted May 16, 2018 Moab is awesome! If you get a chance (and you have not see yet) Goose Necks is a cool place to camp and check out. Have Fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpjet Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 I did that run last year which was around 1400 miles. Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu back to SoCal. It's going to be a little cooler as you go up in elevation. Definitely a nice trip. I did close to 600 miles the first day to get up to Zion. Then the next day I hit Bryce and Grand Canyon. I was planning to staying overnight in Lake Havasu but was feeling good after 500 miles and figured I'm only 4 hours from home and did over 700 miles that day which was grueling. It sounds like you are planning on doing this in 3 days? Are you still on your stock seat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member racreative Posted May 19, 2018 Author Premium Member Share Posted May 19, 2018 I did that run last year which was around 1400 miles. Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu back to SoCal. It's going to be a little cooler as you go up in elevation. Definitely a nice trip. I did close to 600 miles the first day to get up to Zion. Then the next day I hit Bryce and Grand Canyon. I was planning to staying overnight in Lake Havasu but was feeling good after 500 miles and figured I'm only 4 hours from home and did over 700 miles that day which was grueling. It sounds like you are planning on doing this in 3 days? Are you still on your stock seat? I am taking off Friday, so we will have 3 nights on the road. We contemplated heading south after Lake Powell, go down through Sedona and Jerome and then over to Prescott before coming home. However the temps once we would get to the valley floor sound a bit high. so our plan is to go from Page to the north rim and and then back towards Vegas and stay the last night in Vegas. Should be close to a 1000 miles. Low enough daily mileage that we can do some hiking and sight see along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfjniner Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 Sounds like a good trip and the temps won't be that bad if you have vented gear. Here is a hint for traveling in the SW when not traveling alone. Get up early, 4-5am, start day riding no later than 7am, try to finish day by 3:30-4pm. Beer, shower, eat, walk around town. Chat with neighbors. You will get more out of the trip. Dawn to Sunrise hikes are the best. When alone, ride till the sun goes down. Here are some pics of my trip in 2015 on the FJ of Zion and south end of Escalante. Rode out of Cedar City, UT. We skipped Bryce. Plenty of short hiking paths. Here are some pics of my trip in 2014 trip on my FJR when I hit Zion, N. Rim and S. Rim of the Grand Canyon going to Silver City, NM then up to MT. Ken, Candy Ass L.D.R. Sleeps 8 hours (2)2005 FJR1300abs: 230,000 m 2015 FJ-09: 114,000 m (Replaced engine at 106K) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member racreative Posted May 22, 2018 Author Premium Member Share Posted May 22, 2018 Sounds like a good trip and the temps won't be that bad if you have vented gear. Here is a hint for traveling in the SW when not traveling alone. Get up early, 4-5am, start day riding no later than 7am, try to finish day by 3:30-4pm. Beer, shower, eat, walk around town. Chat with neighbors. You will get more out of the trip. Dawn to Sunrise hikes are the best. When alone, ride till the sun goes down. Here are some pics of my trip in 2015 on the FJ of Zion and south end of Escalante. Rode out of Cedar City, UT. We skipped Bryce. Plenty of short hiking paths. Here are some pics of my trip in 2014 trip on my FJR when I hit Zion, N. Rim and S. Rim of the Grand Canyon going to Silver City, NM then up to MT. Thank you very much for the advice! Yes, we have vented gear which should help. Used to live in Lake Havasu when I had my FZ6r, so all my gear is made for high temps... not to helpful now that I live at a much higher elevation in CA. Winter riding can be quite chilly with a mesh jacket... Will take a look at the pics from your trip tonight. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted May 22, 2018 Supporting Member Share Posted May 22, 2018 @racreative. I would be interested in hearing about your trip in a post-ride report. I am going to the same basic destination in a little over a month . We will be going north from St George through Escalante and then Moab, the following day will be in Colorado, South of Grand Junction, Million Dollar Highway and Durango. And then the following day will be cutting across New Mexico and Arizona through Marble Canyon. ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member texscottyd Posted May 22, 2018 Supporting Member Share Posted May 22, 2018 We will be going north from St George through Escalante and then Moab, the following day will be in Colorado, South of Grand Junction, Million Dollar Highway and Durango. And then the following day will be cutting across New Mexico and Arizona through Marble Canyon. I am insanely jealous of this trip. It’s been far too long since I’ve ridden in that part of the country, and I really want - need, in fact - to get back up there again at some point. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted May 23, 2018 Supporting Member Share Posted May 23, 2018 We will be going north from St George through Escalante and then Moab, the following day will be in Colorado, South of Grand Junction, Million Dollar Highway and Durango. And then the following day will be cutting across New Mexico and Arizona through Marble Canyon. I am insanely jealous of this trip. It’s been far too long since I’ve ridden in that part of the country, and I really want - need, in fact - to get back up there again at some point. Enjoy! This is my first time into this part of the country on a bike, virgin territory. I too, am very excited for this trip. ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member racreative Posted May 29, 2018 Author Premium Member Share Posted May 29, 2018 A quick recap of our 1300 mile Memorial day weekend road trip. We started our journey on Friday morning. Stayed our first night in Mesquite Nevada. Not a bad little town, definitely get there early enough to eat dinner, the town shuts down pretty early (not on the Vegas 24 hour clock). Woke early and left Mesquite heading north through Arizona and into Utah, made it to Zion National Park by early afternoon. Great ride, incredible views and perfect temperatures! My wife looked up restaurants in Page Arizona for the second night and found a place called, Into the Grand. It was the original warehouse for the rafting expeditions down the Colorado River. The Original Owner's grandson had turned it into a Dinning hall with Live Native American dancers and drumming. Absolutely amazing! Need to call ahead for seating though, the owner hand picks where you sit and meets and greets everyone who comes. Unfortunately, the Antelope Canyon tour was full so we took a boat ride up Antelope Canyon on Lake Powell. Fun boat ride but not as impressive as the hike would have been. We left Page, AZ and headed for the Grand Canyon for sunset. Amazing ride, beautiful dropping down into the upper grand canyon, the Views were awesome as you descend from Page heading south. We decided to go to the South Rim and then stay the night in Lake Havasu City, AZ. Wanted to make the drive at night because we know how hot it can get across the desert. Yesterday we left Havasu and drove to Joshua Tree National Park and then made it home by sunset. It was an incredible Journey and my wife and I have made some memories that will last a lifetime! I will bullet point a few things for anyone who decides to visit any of these locations: [span style=font-size:16px;background-color:transparent] Buy the Annual National Park Pass (by the time you go through 2.5 parks it already paid for itself) [/span][span style=font-size:16px;background-color:transparent]If you go to Lake Powell [/span][span style=font-size:16px;background-color:transparent]Eat at "Into the Grand" Call ahead for reservations. [/span][span style=font-size:16px;background-color:transparent]Make reservations for Antelope Canyon tours a few days or weeks in advance [/span][span style=font-size:16px;background-color:transparent]If you want to see Horseshoe Bend, be sure to where Hiking boots... my feet still hurt from my Herman Munster motorcycle Boots. It is a healthy hike to the edge of the canyon. [/span] I have attached a few notable pics from our journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieyed07 Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 You are a awesome phopodrather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted May 30, 2018 Supporting Member Share Posted May 30, 2018 VERY nice photos. I’m glad you enjoyed the trip, we will be leaving for our Utah/ Colorado/ Arizona ride in 3 weeks. Can’t wait. ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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