The reason why

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day ... the sun illuminating the far side of the canyon walls first ... an amazing expanse of a one-of-a-kind landscape.

A combination of fear, excitement, adrenaline was there from the moment we woke up just thinking about may be ahead ... by the time we got on the bikes and departed the camp site, our hearts were beating a bit faster than normal. Still 40 miles to go to get out of these canyons ... hoping the worst is behind us.

What a difference a good night's rest makes .... concentration, focus, confidence, physical strength, problem-solving skills ... all back! We found every obstacle, climb, descent, turn, sand pit, manageable ... and exciting again.

After a few hours, we work our way out of the canyons and back to the pavement. What a sense of joy and accomplishment. Realizing that this is why we embark in these adventures after all ... they test our resolve, capabilities, wit, and our ability to survive ... and when it all works out it is ... la pura vida.

We managed to get some gas and stopped to see our friends at the restaurant in Monticello that had saved us from the blizzard a few days before ... best fried fish and chips.

We decide to keep going and spend the night in Pagosa Springs at the hotel with the hot spring pools by the river. Great hotel, great soaking in the hot springs for our tired muscles and wounds ... and a great dinner at the best restaurant in town.

Tomorrow, home!

Exhaustion and mojo - not good together

Today is finally the day to go play in Moab's famous trails, sites, and canyons. Because of some rain in the morning, we had a late start. The road we chose goes all the way south for 100 miles next to the Canyonlands National Park. Incredible road. Through canyons, hill climbs and descents, next to the winding Colorado river ... truly enjoyable ... lots of pictures.

We eventually got to a place on the road called Chicken Pass ... now we know where the name comes from ... very hard going, up hill off camber rocks, big rocks everywhere, impassable river beds, vertical steps as high as 4 feet, sand ... this is when trouble started.

The next 8 hours were a mental and physical beating like no other. The bikes have suffered ... lights, crash bars, mirrors, turn signals, cylinder heads ... destroyed and/or damaged.

We finally gave up at around 6pm, after our brains and bodies could no longer make sense of what we were doing, and decided to camp to regain our strength and mojo. The setting was incredible. Completely surrounded by canyon walls on one side and a view that goes on the canyon lands forever.

Short on water, we set up camp, cooked some food, and waited for darkness. Sleep and food never felt so good ... we slept for 10 hours! ... the desert is so quiet ... no birds, no animals, no wind or vegetation moving ... and the stars! ... so many. We are nothing ... or maybe we are everything?

Tomorrow, 40 more miles to go ... we should be out of the canyons by nightfall ... unless we find some more insurmountable obstacles ... we hope not ... we have had enough to last a lifetime.

A blizzard, tight canyons and river crossings

We decided to wait out the blizzard at our amazing hotel. Instead, we played tourists in Moab ... went to town to eat, walk, and to to visit the camping store to buy all the things we decided we needed from our first experience outdoors a couple of days ago ... food, liners, tarps, etc.

The next day we decided to go around the La Sal canyon ... it was 29 degrees with a wind chill of 18 when we left the hotel ... but it was sunny and beatiful. As soon as we went off road, we went through a canyon with many water crossings, climbs, rock outcroppings ... great ride, life is beautiful.

Because of the blizzard the day before, the roads became highly unstable once we got to the top of the mountain ... slippery mud that stuck to the tires like cement. A very interesting feeling being on top of bikes this heavy, sliding sideways. The last section of the road was completely covered with a layer of snow making the road invisible ... riding through it, blind, not knowing what is under the snow, not knowing the level of traction, where the ruts are, going through turns, uphill, downhill ... nerve wrecking ... but we made it!

What an amazing combination of factors ... being outdoors surrounded by incredible natural beauty all around, doing something that requires a lot of effort and skill, the adrenaline, the challenge ... all part of our quest to feel alive?

How hard can it get?

Today we had the most amazing adventure. We woke up at sunrise with a view of the snowed peaks and the canyon below. Picked up the campsite, packed our motorcycles, and headed out deep into the canyons and Ute indian reservation.

Soon we got into trouble. Snow on the road, sand, mud, wind, hail, rain, down to 34 degrees until we could no longer go forward ... the road buried in snow. We eventually found a way out. A segment that was to take 2-3 hours, took us 12 hours. At the end of the day, what a great sense of accomplishment.

We were so tired and cold and wet by the time we got to Monticello. We ate and got dry and warm. Only 50 miles from from our nice hotel in Moab. The Red Cliffs Lodge - an amazing setting, surrounded by canyon walls on all sides. A hot shower had never felt so good, a meal had never been so delicious. Great ending for an epic dual-sport ride for the books.

What a difference it makes going through tough situations like this with friends, food, water ... and the spot satellite tracker. The teamwork to get through what looks like impassable situations, the fun, the hardships ... all more enjoyable this way.

Tomorrow, the forecast is a blizzard. We will have to decide then what is next.

Everything seems temporary in the desert

We made it to Taos yesterday, uneventfully. Today, we started a dream motorcycle ride - in the making for years. This ride is on big heavy dual-sport motorcycles with the ultimate goal of riding the canyons and parks of Utah on dirt roads, trails, hills, rocks, river beds, and, best of all, camping in the middle of the desert, with incredible rock formations all around, and with no moon to detract from the brilliance of the stars.

Within 10 minutes of leaving Taos, the road that we were on had caved in and was closed. A 60 mile detour ensued down a beautiful river canyon with lots of twisties and beautiful scenery. Not bad after all.

It is amazing how everything in these parts (Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah) seems so ephemeral - houses made out of wood, rotting away, on dirt roads, with rusted things around, trailer homes, falling fences ... If nobody touched these things from now on, it would be swallowed by time in 50 years with no trace of anything.

Why aren't there any permanent structures that could last centuries like forts, castles, mansions. Everything feels temporary - like people living here don't really belong - visitors, hippies, travelers, artists, philosophers?

Pagosa Springs is a nice resort town in the middle of nowhere. Great river, great hot springs. We had the best meal so far at this cafe where everything was nice and everybody was smiling. What a difference it makes to be surrounded by positive and happy people.

Durango and Cortez, Colorado, and on into Utah. Great scenic road to Mexican Hat in between canyons, rivers, farms. Amazing how things change everytime you cross a border. Even a state border. From Colorado to Utah, the pine trees stop, green vegetation stops, and Grand Canyon looking landscapes begin. Great contrast. We tried our dirt road skills going to see the famous Mexican Hat rock. Good prelude for things to come tomorrow.

It is amazing all the places that came to mind when traveling today - Vietnam, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Guatemala. It is indeed a small world with patterns that repeat everywhere.

Miss the family. Everybody is again in different places. A sign of independence? wanderlust? curiosity? self-reliance? Probably all ... but thinking of them nevertheless.