PDX to ABQ and Back

Allan FG · June 14, 2009

I decided to take a 4000 mile road trip across the great American west. I've done this trip before but this time I was going to concentrate on shooting more and riding less. For camera gear I'm carrying my new Nikon D90, Nikkor 18X200, Sigma 10X20, and some filters.

Here is my mode of transport somewhere in eastern Oregon

As I was crossing over the hills I came upon a wind farm, it is hard to describe just how massive these are.

Since I couldn't leave until after work I hit the John Day Fossil bed right at sunset, it turned out to be excellent timing

Fire in the sky

I stayed there shooting until dark, then I had a nerve racking 30 mile ride through deer county in the dark to my hotel.

The next morning broke clear and cool, I wandered about 20 miles down the road and stopped for breakfast, and saw this across the street.

After breakfast I started to climb out of the valley, I stopped at a scenic overlook to see what I could see

I pretty much put the camera away here because I had to make some miles to meet someone for lunch in Idaho

Art Scott · June 14, 2009

Really great shots.....keep'em comin'

Allan FG · June 14, 2009

When I got to Bliss ID I finally reached my friend on the phone and she was several hundred miles away, so I headed due south into Nevada. I bucked headwinds all the way south, I also ran into a lot of this.

As I came into Wells NV I could see the mountains surrounded in rain, not what you want to see when riding a bike

As I pushed south the clouds broke up.

I continued south to Great Basin National Park, I setup camp and wandered around. A small stream right behind my camp site.

Of course then I had to look at the days pictures

It rained pretty good in the night and I awoke to the most amazing skys, it was raining in the valley and the sun was coming up. I grabbed my camera and walked up the road to get a good view of the valley, I turned on the camera and it was dead. The live view button must have been pressed and the battery drained overnight, I don't have a spare. I grabbed my pos point and shoot and tried to capture the sunrise.

After I packed up getting my battery recharged became my first priority, something that would become a theme for the next couple of days. I found a cafe, ordered breakfast and asked the waitress for somewhere to plug in my charger. After breakfast and getting a partial charge I headed out to the parking lot and saw this.

I saddled up and headed to Utah, it wasn't far I was just on the border. Actually on one side of this road was UT and NV on the other. The last couple of shots from NV, at least on the outbound trip:D

And one more of the bike, we bikers are a funny bunch we always wind up with lots of pics of our bikes parked somewhere.

Up next UT, AZ, and NM. I'm still in NM as I write this, I head for home on Monday.

Allan FG · June 14, 2009

Utah, especially Southern UT is one of my favorite places on earth. I was really looking forward to spending some time here. Unfortunately the weather gods conspired against me. I arrived in UT under dull overcast skys, and it was chilly around the mid 50s. For you non riders that doesn't sound cold until you figure in wind chill, traveling at 70 MPH or better on a bike with no wind protection you feel the cold. I was prepared for the weather as I always carry my electric coat with me, think of an electric blanket shaped as a coat that plugs into the bikes electrical system. It works really well

Well I was all geared up and heading up into the hills, I saw this old mining town off the main road. I figured if I took a couple of dirt roads I could get over there. It was really interesting to see what they dragged up this mountain in the middle of nowhere to get lead and zinc. It looked cold in the winter and hot in the summer, they were a tough bunch those miners.

As I was heading back to the main road I took a different route, this was taken right after the No Trespassing sign, they really should mark all the roads

A teaser for the next installment, when it absolutely has to be there the next day

Allan FG · June 15, 2009

After getting back on the road I pointed myself to Zion NP. I was planning on spending the rest of the day and camping there. Well I fought head winds all the way there, after riding up a very nice road to the park. I ran into Disneyland, it was about 2 PM on a Friday. I expected it to be busy but the overflow parking was overflowing, the campsites were all full and there were people everywhere. After fueling up I looked at the map and saw a nice little road that went North from Virgin UT and crossed over the corner of Zion. This road would take me to Cedar Breaks, my alternate site for the day.

It is a sweet little road, it is hard to concentrate on the corners with scenery like this abounding

This is where I saw the luckiest FedEx driver on the planet.

Imagine having to drive here every day

I rode this twisty little gem of a road, it wound in and out of the park, turned to dirt for a little while and then dropped me just outside of Cedar City UT. I headed up the Canyon, found a campsite and headed up to Cedar Breaks right before sunset

I headed back to camp and got there just as the sun was setting.

Well I'm back on the bike in the morning, I will finish this when I get home next week.

PixNW · June 15, 2009

Some great images. I like your mode of transport too. In 06 I rode a Dakar up to Prudhoe Bay and then south into Baja. I'm riding a 1200 Adventure now and have covered a lot of the territory you rode through. Thanks for the trip down memory lane with some fine pics.

GP Images · June 18, 2009

Great stuff Al! Keep em coming.

Allan FG · June 19, 2009

After packing up in the morning I just started wandering South and West, I wanted to get to Page AZ that day but I didn't have a route planned. As I'm cruising along I see a sign for Coral Dunes State Park, well I flip a U-turn and go check it out. It was mid-day and very bright, not the best conditions for shooting but these are the best of what I got.

After loading up I headed to Page AZ and Antelope Canyon

Allan FG · June 19, 2009

I arrived in Page AZ and decided to book a hotel. After checking in I called around and found a tour going out that afternoon. Antelope Canyon is an amazing place and one of the highlights of my trip.

I will just let the pics do the talking

You have to take a tour for both the upper and lower canyons now, I took a tripod but never used it. You have to move too fast and there are too many people for a tripod. Fast glass and VR are a must, don't plan on changing lenses because it is very dusty.

My favorite

Allan FG · June 19, 2009

I left Page AZ headed for Chaco Canyon in North Western NM, there is not much to say about the ride, other than there is a lot of nothing in Northern AZ

. Chaco Canyon is very remote, you travel about 20 miles of wash-boarded road to get there if you take the main route in from Hwy 550. I came in from the North West and followed about 40 miles of unmarked roads to get there, without the GPS it would have been very difficult to find my way. I was thinking this can't be right as I was crossing a dry creek full of deep sand. Not a lot of fun on an overloaded bike with street tires. As I was riding along praying that Mr. Garmin knew what he was talking about I see these strange formations right off the road. Well I pulled over to check them out.

This looks like a huge canyon system but everything is scaled down

These formations are only 4 to 6 feet high

A wider shot, these "trees" are actually bushes are only about 6' tall

Well I finally arrive at the campground setup camp and I decide to wander around.

Pueblo Bonita

Old road sign

You don't want to be standing under this rock when it decides to fall

I've been seeing this grass along the road for a hundred miles. Anyone know what it is called

The trail up to the top of the mesa, not for the feint of heart.

Made it to the top

Somebody put a bunch of effort making this hole in the ground, it was all by itself out there on top of the mesa

More amazing rock formations

for scale

I just sat up there watching the ravens and enjoying the solitude, that shadow bump on the right is me

A nice spot to just sit and think of the amount of work that went into building these sturctures

Mind the gap

Some lonely flowers

The way back down

Back to the campsite

Sunset

The moon was full so I was out of luck for shooting star trails

The next installment will be ABQ and the reason for the trip. I was headed down to spend time with my kids

Allan FG · June 20, 2009

My youngest Daughter is also into photography and I gave her my old D40, we went to Old Town on a little photo journey

San Felipe de Neri Church

The flowers were blooming

I guess they are not open on Tuesdays

Allan FG · June 20, 2009

Have you ever walked past something and caught a scene out of the corner of you eye, then when you looked at it you see that there is something there but you can't put you finger on what it is. This happened to me here, I know I saw something that would make a great shot but I couldn't work out what I saw. I worked on this scene for a while and I couldn't quite find what I saw, these are the best of the bunch.

Allan FG · June 24, 2009

My daughter and I took a trip out to Acoma Pueblo for the day, it was not as colorful as I was expecting.

We also did some hiking

GP Images · June 24, 2009

Nice shots Al but most of these look under exposed on my monitor here at work

Allan FG · June 25, 2009

I just ordered on of these Hopefully after I get my monitor calibrated I can see the pictures better. Right now they look good on my monitor.

Allan FG · June 25, 2009

We traveled down to Southern NM, while everyone was sleeping I ran down to White Sands NM to catch the sunrise. The park doesn't open until 7 AM and of course sunrise is 6:35

I kept heading down the highway until I found a spot where the dunes had overwhelmed the fence.

After breakfast we went back to wander around, who would have thought that there would be cottonwood trees in the middle of the sand dunes, apparently the water-table is just 3 feet below the dunes.

The immense amount of sand is mind blowing

There is a space museum in Alamogordo NM, this is the remains of a V2. We grabbed hundreds of rail cars of Nazi rocket equipment after WWII, as well as a bunch of scientists.

An experimental drone

Then next installment the road home.

MLangton · June 26, 2009

I arrived in Page AZ and decided to book a hotel. After checking in I called around and found a tour going out that afternoon. Antelope Canyon is an amazing place and one of the highlights of my trip.

I will just let the pics do the talking

I'm completely awestruck...
:jawdrop

Allan FG · June 26, 2009

It was Monday and time to head NW again. I loaded up and set my sights on Moab. It was cool and clear so I made great time getting out there, I setup camp on the shores of the Colorado and then went for a wander in the park.

I got lucky the flowers were blooming.

This reminded me of that Star Trek Episode where they jump through the portal and go back in time.

Life and Death

You have to keep your eyes out for these, or else you will be wandering around the desert

I love these desert trees, I havent' been able to catch their vibrancy.

Sheeps rock, no idea why the call it that

View from my tent the next morning

dsm02c · June 29, 2009

great work! love the shots from Zion especially the ones in the canyon.

Allan FG · June 30, 2009

Thanks

I've been busy moving and unpacking this week, I hope to get this finished next week

Allan FG · July 1, 2009

I rode out to Dead Horse State Park, this is located high on the mesa above Canyon Lands National Park. It is a nice twisty 20 mile ride from the main road, the views are spectacular but I didn't have much luck capturing them, so I concentrated on the smaller things.

I love the twisted trees.

Justiceiro · July 1, 2009

This is fantastic stuff. I'm quite jealous. Especially the desert shots from the first bit, those colors are magnificent.

Allan FG · July 2, 2009

I dodged rain showers all day, made it to Capital Reef National Park mostly dry. I setup camp and went for a wander.

On the road into the park

Cool farm right next to the campground.

I saw this tree and thought it might make a nice shot, looking at it later I thought just a boring shot.

Then this guy got curious about me. He just appeared out of nowhere.

It is too bad that I had my AF on the wrong setting.

Allan FG · July 8, 2009

My last installment. Today I would ride from Southern UT Northern NV. I dodged in and out of rain showers all day. I was mostly lucky, only got a few drops on me all day

Not to say that I missed the rain by much

It made for interesting skies, really changed what would normally be a pretty boring (if high speed) ride into a visual feast.

I saw this rainbow and quickly pulled over.

When I reached the top of the hill this was the sight that greeted me

When I hit Austin NV, I headed North. It wasn't looking promising dark clouds to my west. I talked to a couple that had just ridden through that storm and they said it was pretty brutal. I put on my rain gear and my heated gear and headed North. I was doing well for about 20 miles and then it started raining pretty hard. I just put my head down and kept going, there was nowhere to stop. They say Hwy 50 is the loneliest road in America, well let me tell you there is plenty of traffic on Hwy 50. It is 88 miles from Austin to Battle Mountain on Hwy 305 and I saw exactly 3 cars. I passed a truck and I saw two cars coming the other direction. That is lonely

My rainy ride paid off with the sunset.

I love this shot

This looked like a spaceship to me

A crown for the mountain

One last bike shot

One more sunset shot

From here I rolled 2 short miles into Battle Mountain. I was planning on camping but since I was dripping wet, well my gear was, I was was warm and dry. I grabbed a hotel.

Allan FG · July 8, 2009

My last day on the road was given totally to ridding, 700 miles of a combination of 2 lane and gravel roads. It was a long day but a great day of riding. I was on the road for 14 hours, I arrived home tired but glad that I had pushed home. I was greeted by a pile of boxes in my living room. I had mostly packed up my house before leaving because I was moving in 8 days.

Thanks for your comments, I hope you enjoyed my journey.

PDX to ABQ and Back

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