Interesting that when I lived on a sailboat my only wish was a good wind, when that good wind finally would arrive, often in the form of a storm, I would be the only one leaving the Marina solo, to the frustration of the Dock Master, and come back with a smile on my face.These past two days my only wish as been for this wind to stop! I remember spending nights in a tent, fully dressed, with a rope around my waist and tied to a tree and being sandwiched between the top and the bottom of the material from incredible storms. Am I getting soft? Checking out 6 different weather forecast on the Internet, they ranged from 13mph to 50mph gusts! We will be moving tomorrow morning, 4 miles up the road, I checked it out as it is a bit sheltered from a SSW wind that prevails right now. Of course we are right smack in the middle of a wide open space and elevated… might have been smarter to bite the bullet and move this afternoon, even this morning when the winds were calm! Instead we went for a ride up the Moki Dugway and on to Muley Point. Priorities! right?

I woke up just in time to catch the full moon, I think it was, going to rest behind the Mesa. Spirit never gets up that early so he missed it of course. All was calm, even was able to catch my own short shadow!

I did debate whether to move or not at that time, right now I wish we had as we are rocking and rolling… The Dish is down of course, has been down more than up on this stay, fortunately all my e mails and Blog is set up to be done off line. Moky Dugway and Muley point road had been on my mind and it just seemed like the right time for it. Strange as I had been warned that Muley Point Rd, a 4 mile gravel stretch with a 10% grade was a real scary road… on the other hand, when in Moab I was told that Hurray Pass was an easy one… well, it all turned out to be vice versa… specially seeing a group of Gold Wings going up today!

I tried really hard in the above first picture to figure out where the road was on the cliff and how we were going to get to the top. The original road was hand carved by the Native Indians till the one taken today was cut in deeper, but only paved on the curves. Only 4 miles long with many pull outs, nothing to fear, even my vertigo did not act up!

It actually was a very fun road, wish the weather would have been less hazy for better pictures as you can see The Valley of the Gods, Mexican Hat and Monument Valley. I originally had set a plan B in case the road was not doable downhill for us, of course that was a joke. It would have been to do a full circle by the Natural Bridges, on to Blanding and back here through Bluff. A circle that we will ride soon. A soon as we arrived to Muley Point, a must see, the winds picked up and my mind was more on the campsite left behind than anything else.

Casual road, don’t you think? We will ride it again late in the day to catch a sunset on Muley Point. On a clear day it sure will be worth the ride and put those headlights to work! Elevation?… if you can read through the stickers "6425 ft", a 1600 ft climb in 4 miles! Not bad… I will probably stop there also and add an "The Oasis of my Soul" sticker. Interesting display.

The road to Muley Point was also an easy one, flat on the Mesa, no challenge per say and was not surprised to find campers on the point. It is a sight to see… great tip, I love my readers! It is from a bird’s eye view past the Gooseneck Campground and the view is just spectacular. I can just imagine the sunsets and sunrises…

This is the Top of the World! No need for words, they will not do justice.

This below is the end of the road, must be "the" Muley Point and right below as I checked on the map it is Johns Canyon, #242, right off the road that will take you to the Gooseneck State Park. I was told that it is an fairly easy road and will try it sometime soon. How strange that lately I wish I had a riding companion when adventuring ourselves on out of the way more deserted trails. I think the thought of our own safety is starting to play a bigger role than before. Wiser? Time will tell… We did not spend that much time up there, the winds were howling, my mind was back on the camp, but I know that as soon as this wind dies down, tomorrow should be the last of it, we will go back up to make a day out of it.

We found our first Desert flowers tonight… maybe it is a good sign for things to come!

We have never traveled through so much beauty, so many destinations that could each take days to explore. This State of Utah has so much to offer and we have not even scratched its surface, I know as the summer’s will chase us north soon that there ill be plenty left for next year!

You be well and stay well…   Ara & Spirit

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Ara Gureghian   853 Vanderbilt Beach Rd #245   Naples, Fl 34108

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 4:01 am and is filed under travel, spirituality, pit bull, sidecar, motorcycle, cooking, photography, riding, homeless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.