Big day today. We take Highway Alt 89 to Jacob Lake and turn right onto AZ-67 which takes us to the North Rim. After the visit backtrack 67 to Alt 89 and continue east to Bitter Springs where we connect with US 89 and proceed north before turning right onto AZ 98 East to Highway 160 and the a left turn onto Highway 163 and into Monument Valley.
Daily Highlights
- North Rim of the Grand Canyon – A worthwhile trip for those who enjoy the road less traveled, the North Rim, or “other side” of Grand Canyon is visited by only 10% of all Grand Canyon visitors. The North Rim is over 2438 m in elevation.
- Vermillion Cliffs – Known for its colourful swirls of slickrock, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument is a sherbet-coloured dream world filled with fantastical rock formations like The Wave, White Pockets, and Buckskin Gulch.
- Lees Ferry – the only place in hundreds of miles from which one can easily access the Colorado River from both sides – it historically served as an important river crossing and starting in the mid-19th century was the site of a ferry operated by John Doyle Lee for whom it is named.
- Lake Powell – man-made reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona.
- Monument Valley – has been featured in many films since the 1930s. Director John Ford used the location for a number of his best-known films and thus, in the words of critic Keith Phipps “its five square miles [13 square kilometers] have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West
- Mexican Hat – a small settlement named after a curious formation nearby consisting of a large flat rock 60 feet in diameter perched precariously on a much smaller base at the top of a small hill.
Daily Video Highlights
Daily Blog
A big day in the saddle so a 7am start. Rider meeting this morning where Hydro excitedly told us that the first stop was a side trip to the North rim of the Grand Canyon. “We ride through lovely meadows and forests”. It went downhill from there. We rode through cold, windy conditions up to 8,800ft. We are totally unprepared! Russ’ top box lid flies like a spinnaker dragging him to the other side of the road. We saw some deer eating grass so we honked them to get some action. Nothing. Our pace is frantic as we determine to reach the canyon! 
this is Navajo country and there is not an Indian to be seen. No wonder they pissed off. At the canyon we put on everything we had and went inside the lodge to grab a latte. Having settled down we took in the views and a few photos (out of focus due to cold hands). Finally, we realised we couldn’t stay here forever so we Left with trepidation.
Next part of trip to Page was magnificent. We rode through Prairies (night boxy, night mike, night Singo, night Russ, night Andy…..night John boy) and dry gulches. (Boxy wants to get in one). Large mountains tower on both sides of us surpassed only by the Vast spaces. We are totally overdressed now so got undressed again as we descended.
We pulled into Lees Ferry to relive Hydro’s happy memories here. He was obviously very emotionally effected. He proceeded to tell us about the minutiae of every experience he had here. I think it was riveting. A couple of hours later he woke us and gave us a hug and thanked us for being here. We nodded enthusiastically. We stopped off at the Balancing Rock to shoot footage for the Foxes Calendar 2017! Oh what a feeling. We had Lunch in Page, a shit industrial town built on a power station. We had a very quick lunch at Subway/Burger King. We fled Page and headed for Monument Valley.
Singo is leading and manages to avoid a white coyote that charges in front of him. You can’t predict this sort of thing. We transcend a pass and there they are – the so well known irregular shapes thrusting up from the ground. We are almost runover trying to get photos in middle of road. We match the rocks to the shapes on our patches. We are the real thing! but we’ve had enough dicking around so it’s time to ride (HARD!).
We Arrived at Bluff (Navajo Nation in Utah) at 7pm. Desperately in need of hydration we had a quick turnaround and off to dinner at cottonwood tavern (under Utah law copious drinking means lots of food). We Souvenired the napkins which are now our formal tour neckerchief. After confirming that Boxy had enough petrol to get to breakfast it was…..Night John boy.
Silver Foxes Motorcycle Club Australia 