Bryce Canyon & Brian's Head (10/3/23 Tue)

Had a great nights sleep, which I assume was in the high 40F range. Someones dog went off relatively early so most campers probably woke up about that time. I stayed in bed enjoying the eyes closed time until after 0800. Then had coffee and oatmeal at my campsite while I packed thinks up.

First coffee stop was in Escalante, UT. There was a laudromat in town but I wasn't hungry and didn't want to waste time. So I moved on after coffee and chain maintenance. Stopping later in Tropic for both lunch and laundry. Tropic is the last thing before Bryce Canyon.

More canyons that are just as hard to describe. There is a bit more grass and larger shrubs on this ride segment. Otherwise yesterdays observations still hold. The pillars that I previously described standing together, in Bryce Canyon it's more like time square crowds of them.

Passed the Grand Staircase in Escalante today. Actually around it, so I have photos from many angles.

Days are too short to cover distances over beautiful scenery and stop to see some of them more intimately. It's hard to catch things while passing through when you have a time schedule, even a loose one like mine. I still seem quite far from my SW CA target. I have to calculate some travel times to see how hard I need to push to even reach Texas by 10/13. I guess it's not the worst case if I miss the eclipse in Texas, because I'll likely be in an area that is close enough anyway. And those I plan to visit aren't rushing out anyplace that I know of.

After Bryce I continued on great roads towards something called Brian's Head. Dana dumped a lot of info on me, but I really didn't know what I was heading into. I expected another national park. The waypoint I picked was the town of Brian's Head. In the late afternoon I started up a mountain with snow on it. Temps in the low 40F, but sunny. Kind of different accent for my photos. Then I stopped to take a photo of a snowy peak above a feild. Just around the corner I came upon a sign on a dirt road heading up that stating Brian's Head lookout 3 miles. So up I went.

Almost stopped to take a photo while passing a flock of sheep. But the large angry dog popped out of them and came at me barking. I sped up, but sheep ran in front of me. I lost track of the dog, while dodging sheep, bit he growled and barked in pursuit as I sped up the boney washboard road uphill and out of reach. Returning past him was now a future me problem.

Snow increased as I went up, but the road was only wet in short sections and to rocky to get muddy. The top has a grand view covering much of my days riding. With foreground snow to make me appear far more badass than I really am.

On my way down I over took a horseback rider and their dog. Snapped a photo and then crept by them. Surprised to see the rider riding with both hands touching his cell phone, and not the reins. Just slightly further I crested a rise to see my nemesis center of the road. I rode at him slowly and he held his ground. He wasn't sure what to do with me untill I swerved around him and accelerated. Then he knew to display his displeasure with me. But I yelled no at him and continued on a bit faster. Smarter than dogs.

Hours later I was leaving a town and saw two horsemen on the sides of my road. Then noticed both sides of the road covered with sheep, but the road was clear. As I approached sheep started filtering back into the road, and I could see a car leaving the far side of parted flock. I was driving through slowly as sheep scattered, when a dog emerged and flanked me. He didn't seem to be helping or angry, just observant. As I reached the far side and started to speed up the dog got after me. At this point I feel the dogs are more like school crossing gaurds than anti-motorcycle. Drive slowly by my charges or you will be chastised.

Shortly after I was riding into the sunset towards the Nevada boarder across open valleys. The stretch of road was 95 miles of nothing between towns. Many pictures taken in low lighting...

Just into Nevada, I was searching for campsites. The first was BLM wild camping at Snake Creek. That really didn't sound good, but wasn't far off the road so I explored it. A sign just before it announced Snake Valley. I am in my tent their now. It's a corral fence structure near the high point of a huge field. I can see house lights miles away in different directions, but no snakes in sight.