BMW Luxury Touring Community - Kingman to Colorado and Page, AZ (lots of pictures!)

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kdog

Jun 29th, 2007, 5:37 pm

I had business in Colorado last Tuesday, and a planned photography shoot in Page, AZ, on Friday and Sat. So rather than fly to Colorado, I figured I'd make a week of it and take the bike. On Sunday at noon, I packed my computer, office clothes, casual clothes and camera gear and headed for Denver.

Along the way, I passed through Four Corners
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3353.jpg

At dusk, I bedded for the night in Durango. Woke up in the morning and headed out on the "Million Dollar Highway".

Past the Village of Silverton...
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3362.jpg

Winding through the mountains...
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3366.jpg

Past the town of Ouray nestled in the mountains. This will never be a large town.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3367.jpg

I was expected for dinner at my friend Karen's house in the mountains outside of Golden, CO, at 6:00 PM and was running right on time. She lives at the top of several miles of steep dirt roads. I came around a corner and spied this fine young fox with a butt hanging out of her mouth.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3432.jpg

It always kills me to see them starting this young, and evidently her brother didn't like it either, judging by the look he was giving her.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3458.jpg

A scuffle ensued, and big brother ended up guarding the offensive object for safe keeping.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3442.jpg
It was fun playing with the foxes, but now I was late for dinner.

The next morning was a work day. Spent one more night at my friend's on the mountain, then headed for Page, AZ the next day. Along the way I took highway 149, if that means anything to anyone. I would have taken pictures, but I was having too much fun to stop. 100 miles of twisties, through amazing scenery, and zero traffic will do that. I spent the night in Durango again, and the next morning I was off to Page.

I got there shortly after noon and too early to check into the hotel, so I rode around and took some pictures.

Page is on Lake Powell, which is part of the Colorado River.
Glen Canyon Dam
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3482.jpg

Horseshoe Bend
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3508.jpg

My friend Aaron showed up who drove from Phoenix and met me in the late afternoon. He takes pictures too.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3532.jpg

We spent the next two days hiking into the slot canyons with some guides and taking pictures. Here's how you get in.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3878.jpg

The light plays tricks on narrow sandstone walls and makes abstract patterns.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3597.jpg

http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3612.jpg

Some amazing underground chambers
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3839.jpg

There were tourists...
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3808.jpg

and ghosts...
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3696.jpg

And helpful guides like Jackson Bridges, a professional landscape photographer, who's shown here helping Aaron's friend Sarah set up a shot.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3921.jpg

After shooting Saturday, I was expected home for a BBQ with some of my wife's family. After a very hot four hour ride, I arrived on time.

Total mileage on the trip was 2,000. The bike ran great. I rode it like I stole it, but for some reason averaged the best MPG I've ever gotten -- 47 MPG. And that's with 106K miles on the bike. I'm still scratching my head over that. Anyway, it was a really great week.

Thanks for looking!
-joel

Col H

Jun 29th, 2007, 5:58 pm

Beemerider

Jun 29th, 2007, 7:58 pm

Wow! Excellent pics. Thanks for sharing them and glad to hear you had a fun & safe ride.

RonKMiller

Jun 29th, 2007, 9:12 pm

gulfxray

Jun 29th, 2007, 11:10 pm

Fantastic pics Joel! Thanks for sharing them with the rest of us...

kdog

Jun 29th, 2007, 11:48 pm

Great stuff,
Truly fantastic photography, it makes me realise how much we all like to ride but don't take the opportunity to stop and 'smell' the roses..
But after seeing what you achieved I feel most of us would be able to share in a more detailed way some our travels.
Col :bmw:

Thanks, Col. This is one of the very rare trips I've taken where I could stop and smell the roses. Normally, I'm in too much of a hurry to see anything. Sightseeing is good!

I'd love to see pictures of Australia too. Please feel free to post some. :D

Best regards,
-joel

kdog

Jun 29th, 2007, 11:50 pm

Wow! Excellent pics. Thanks for sharing them and glad to hear you had a fun & safe ride.

Thanks, Harry. Yeah, it was a great ride. You and I still need to hook up some time. I'm really hankering to do the old 666, what's it called, 191 or something.

-joel

kdog

Jun 30th, 2007, 12:01 am

Veddy nice.

I LOVE the "ghost" - god beams and all! I swear I can see the image of a woman's face at the top looking to the right... complete with a head, eyes, nose and jaw looking upward...

While I will never have the talent of being able to capture images the way you do I always try to stop and take a few extra minutes to appreciate the amazing natural beauty of the Southwest...

Thanks for sharing! :thumb: :thumb:

Thanks, Ron.
You're too kind. You'd have no problem at all taking pictures like this with your talents if you wanted to. Of this, I am sure.
Here's one just for you. The Gargoyle.
http://www.jacara.com/cpg144/albums/page/IMG_3904.jpg
-joel

kdog

Jun 30th, 2007, 12:02 am

Fantastic pics Joel! Thanks for sharing them with the rest of us...

Thanks very much, Shawn. Very kind of you to say.

-joel

Beemerider

Jun 30th, 2007, 12:55 am

Thanks, Harry. Yeah, it was a great ride. You and I still need to hook up some time. I'm really hankering to do the old 666, what's it called, 191 or something.

-joel

Deal. If I don't buy another ride soon, I'll rent something.

Warren_H

Jun 30th, 2007, 1:06 am

Great shots in the slot canyon.

dwillie

Jun 30th, 2007, 1:30 am

Fantastic! I really enjoyed that. dwillie.

blouw

Jun 30th, 2007, 12:57 pm

Great pictures! I was up that wauy myself few weeks ago, but somehow my pictures don't do the place justice.
As a matter of interest, what camera(s) are you using?

kdog

Jun 30th, 2007, 1:18 pm

Deal. If I don't buy another ride soon, I'll rent something.Well, hurry. http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/deal.gif

kdog

Jun 30th, 2007, 1:21 pm

Dick

Jun 30th, 2007, 1:48 pm

Thanks, guys.

Camera is the Canon 20D. Colorado shots used the 18-85 IS kit lens. Fox shots were with the Canon 100-400 zoom. Canyon shots were with the Canon 10-22 ultra-wide angle zoom, on tripod. Yeah, I was carrying a lot of gear.

Cheers,
-joel
One thang I've noticed when it comes to viewing pics of pics by the pros - you carry LOTs of the good stuff to get lots of the GOOD stuff. Those pics, Joel, are awesome in detail and composition. 'Tween you and Randy and Andy and Yates, it's a real learnin' curve for me - wish I could turn out pics like y'all, butt in lieu of that, I'll just thoroughly enjoy yours!! Y'all need to get a shared pic blog goin'!!! ;)

gpolakow

Jun 30th, 2007, 1:52 pm

thanks for sharing. Sounds like a great trip.

pkpr1998

Jun 30th, 2007, 6:42 pm

Man, was that some great shots or what?

Thanks for sharing kdog.

Beemerider

Jun 30th, 2007, 6:47 pm

Well, hurry. http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/deal.gif

I know, I know! Calling my buddy at the Kawa dealer right now...

kdog

Jul 2nd, 2007, 6:48 pm

Thanks, Dick, Greg and Brett. I appreciate the comments.

-joel

GBaker

Jul 2nd, 2007, 9:47 pm

kdog,

Great post! Joining others in expressing graditiudes for sharing.

Four of us will be heading that way next week. The first leg is a 1500 mile Iron Butt Run in 36 hours ending in NM. We hope to get to Four Corners as well. Your is good encouragement.

kdog

Jul 2nd, 2007, 10:56 pm

Thanks very much, Gene. I'm very glad that folks are enjoying the report. It inspires me to do more.

Good luck on your Bunburner 1500 ride! Be prepared for long periods of extreme heat. Stay cool and hydrated, and if you're tired, stop!

Regards,
-joel

kdog

Jul 3rd, 2007, 2:43 am

Elton asked in a different thread how you can tour the slot canyons. Here's my answer.

There are three slot canyons in Page, AZ. They're owned by the Navaho Indians, and you must pay fees to access. Upper Antelope Canyon and Canyon X tours can be booked here: http://www.overlandcanyontours.com/

For Lower Antelope Canyon, you can just show up and pay $21.00 and walk in. That's what I'd recommend if you just want to see one canyon.

-joel