White Rim Trail 2012

eemsreno

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Just got home from another fantastic Super Tenere adventure of the Canyon Lands National Park, White Rim Trail, and Moab area.
I took lots of pictures and had a great time. It will take me a while to get this R.R. all up so as usual bear with me and my slow internet connection.
We [ yes WE rode some great stuff] I have someone new to introduce to you and you are going to really like this guy. (because for one thing he is on a blue beauty).
So here are a couple pictures to wet your appetite until I can get more up.



White Rim Trail, Utah


 

eemsreno

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Eric and I have talked about riding the Moab area lots of times, But he got married 6 days before this trip so he was busy.
I tried some of my V Strom friends but that was a no go. I was willing to go by myself but Eric told me that I can't do this without somone, and he is good about knowing what I can and can't do. [He takes good care of his ol Dad]
So I remembered Matt. I have known Matt for a long time because I have raced MX and ride with his son in law.
About 6 months ago I ran into Matt and he told me he was looking into buying a 900 Vulcan. I showed him the "Baby Blue" and he liked it so much he went and bought one that day.
Well I got his E mail and sent him some links of R.R. on the White Rim Trail. He got right back to me and said when are we going?
He had to get a skid plate and his K60s put on and he would be ready.
Matt had never riden his Tenere off rode but I had heard stories of their rides in Colorado on Dual Sport bikes so I knew he would be OK, He was a Little nervous though.
So without any more waiting ,,,,,,, Here is Matt.


Matt and I are the same age and it turned out we like riding hard and with the same style.
I know, I know, I can hear it now. He looks so much younger than me. He looks like a young Burt Reynolds. Yeah, Yeah.
After seeing the pictures in this ride report you end up thinking he is a better off road rider than me, that's because he is cheating. (He is 3 months younger)
I have aged a lot in the last 3 months.
 

eemsreno

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We met at my house at 3:50 AM Saturday morning and got on the road right at 4:00.
Matt told me he only lives 15 miles south of me and I had had no idea.
Matt set a great pace and we hit the 1,000 miles in 14 hours and 12 min.
He only stopped 4 times, 3 fuels and one fuel and lunch.


This would be 5:12 PM local time near Grand Junction, Colorado.
We turned south so we could ride Dolores Canyon and ended the day setting up camp back in the forest. 1,067 miles before dark.
That was the easiest + 1,000 miler I have ever done. [ Matt's first ]
I keep thinking I'm in a dream and going to wake up, Are these touring bikes really this comfortable and stable I have ,cruise control, ABS brakes, traction control, I even have 2 cigarette lighters. I don't smoke but I might want to plug something in once in a while like a TV while I'm going down the interstate. Then we get to Moab, turn onto dirt, and these things become the most agile, well balanced, go practically anywhere machines ever made. It is not mine or Matt's amazing ability here, it is more like our lack of ability here. These are 2 old geezers (sorry Matt) I meant 1 old geezer and a guy that will be an old geezer in 3 months. Truly if you have not experienced these bikes off road you are missing out on half of the amazing ability of what this bike is made to do.
We are riding Moab's awesome off road trails here thinking we are really doing something, and I can hear my bike laughing at me saying "when are we going to find some challenging stuff so I can show you what I can do". Thank you Yamaha for making the impossible bike. If Yamaha ever goes the way of other companies making 150 hp Starbuck chasers I am going to have to buy another one of these 2012 and keep it in a crate in case this one ever wears out.


Nebraska wasn't that bad riding the Tenere.


We just buzzed through Colorado.
 

eemsreno

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The first night's camp.


Then we rode through Dolores Canyon.



To camp on the White Rim Trail first you have to stop by the visitor center in Canyon Lands National Park and get a permit and camp site reserved. When we got there they only had 2 sites left and 1 of them was half way around the 102 mile trail so we got that one. I think that there is only about 20 sites on the whole trail and you have to camp in a designated site so it might be a good idea to reserve a site. It is also a good idea to take plenty of water, probably more than a gallon. I have read that it is 140 mile loop from Moab back to Moab, but that must be the shortest route ever made. We ended up having 220 miles from Moab back to Moab. There are side trails and overlooks that shouldn't be missed, so make sure you also have plenty of fuel. We were sure glad that we got the camp site at the half way point. This is a very slow going trail ride. The ranger told us the maximum speed is 15 miles per hour, but they don't have to tell you that because it enforces itself. I would guess 50% of the WRT is first gear, and you get in second gear on some of the smoother sections. There is lots of sand and not that it is an overly difficult trail but it is rough.




Looking down the Shafer Trail.




Finally on the White Rim.












Musselman Arch






And our camp for the night.
 

eemsreno

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The WRT is also very remote. Once we pulled into our camp we never saw another person or vehicle that evening. In the morning when we started riding again we rode for 2 1/2 hours before seeing another vehicle on the road and some bicyclers.

To give you an idea of how remote it is, in a sandy section of road in the shade of a large bluff we came up on a young couple right in the middle of the road. You will have to use your imagination to finish that story.










The Green River.
 

eemsreno

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That's all for tonight but check back soon ,, lots more good riding to come.

Short cut on our way home.
 

Siseneg

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Eemsreno ... outstanding set of photos and a great report!!

First piccture in the thread .. is that the point at the Top of the World Trail?? I remember fighting pretty hard to get a KLR up there so mega-kudos on getting the ST up to that viewpoint. I've been to Moab a dozen times and I will stick by the claim that there's nothing quite like it anywhere. Chicken Corners, Metal Bender, Slick Rock Trail, Hurrah Pass, Little Lion's Back ... and much more ... such fun!
 

~TABASCO~

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OMG... ::012::

Please post more....... more.......... more......... Looks awesome ! ::26::


""""""We are riding Moab's awesome off road trails here thinking we are really doing something, and I can hear my bike laughing at me saying "when are we going to find some challenging stuff so I can show you what I can do". Thank you Yamaha for making the impossible bike. If Yamaha ever goes the way of other companies making 150 hp Starbuck chasers I am going to have to buy another one of these 2012 and keep it in a crate in case this one ever wears out.""""""""

X2 No Joke
 

eemsreno

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Siseneg said:
Eemsreno ... outstanding set of photos and a great report!!

First piccture in the thread .. is that the point at the Top of the World Trail?? I remember fighting pretty hard to get a KLR up there so mega-kudos on getting the ST up to that viewpoint. I've been to Moab a dozen times and I will stick by the claim that there's nothing quite like it anywhere. Chicken Corners, Metal Bender, Slick Rock Trail, Hurrah Pass, Little Lion's Back ... and much more ... such fun!
Siseneg Thanks for reading my report, We were lost for most of a day but looking at this topo map I think it's called "Thompson Canyon RD." East of Moab off Onion Creek
Steve

PS I have a killer picture of Matt on that rock coming up in the report.
 

Siseneg

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Got it, thanks. Lots of creek crossing to splash in if I remember right) and a stretch that smelled like sulfur :) Man, that's making me want to take the Ten there and see what it'll do (although I spent a fair amount of time picking up the KLR due to my over-exuberance :). Thanks again fir the report!
 

eemsreno

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Then we rode up out of the WRT and went to the end of the paved road to Grand View Point Overlook.
There was lots of tourest there and a Ranger was talking to a crowd of people,, Matt looked over the edge and said wow we were just down on that road. When people heard him say that everyone wanted to know all about it, We soon had the crowd and the Ranger was left by himself.


This is from the paved road the veiw that other brand of Adventure bikers see.

Well the WRT was a blast!!! It was Matt's first off roading on his Tenere and when we first hit the good stuff all I hierd over the intercom was " Ican't
believe this, This is incredible, This bike is unreal, Amassing This makes it so easy“
Could I ride Michelle around it? Probably , but it would be easy to get her hurt on that Trail too, Lots of sand and sand is hard to ride if you can’t stand up.
She would have had to walk on some sections , and we would have had to go even slower.
Could you ride it all in one day? Yes , with no camping gear and get on the trail early. We wanted to camp in that remote back country though.
 

eemsreno

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Then we rode back to Moab on the Potash road.




We went out east of Moab to find a place to camp.


Nice place to take a bath.
 

rem

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Very nice, Eems-ster ... very nice. WE have our own Pacific Rim trail ... which was named after me .. those government guys can't spell worth a damn.


Thanks for the pics. R ::021::
 

roy

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Outstanding pics!! thanks for sharing. I was in Moab back in August but two up so no off roading for me. We just went into Arches National park and did some hiking. which in august we found out was like hiking in a oven :'(

I so wanted to go on some roads like this but with my wife and side cases I deemed it to unsafe. The sand is what had me concerned the most. I will try to get back out that way either next year or the year after. Unfinished business there.
 

Chadx

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Nice. I've been to Moab the last two springs. The first (2011) was an ATV only trip, so no National Park visits (unplated vehicles not allowed). In April 2012, we headed down again. Two of us brought bikes this time. We did the white rim road one day (plus all the side trails). We were on WR250R dual sports, though, so I won't tell you how fast we did the loop! Would love to go back next spring with my girlfriend and do it again (either two up on a big bike or both of us on our own small bikes) and take two days to do the road with camping. Can't recommend it enough.

I also did a solo day into Arches. There are offroad trails that lead into Arches that are fun, but sections of deep sand. They even have signs that warn of the deep sand making the area impassable.

There is also a road ride, that I did the same day, along the Colorado river then south (twisty asphalt mountain road that tops out around 8,000 feet) and loops around to south of Moab) for about a 60 mile loop. It would be a GREAT Super Tenere road! There are longer loops, but I hit this one after 6pm and it was dusk before I got back. There was snow in the ditch in April. Felt great after being in Arches National Park cooking all morning.

Google map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=N+Main+St&daddr=38.67756,-109.44916+to:38.5405673,-109.3217351+to:S+Main+St&hl=en&ll=38.549776,-109.393616&spn=0.417788,0.617294&sll=38.568301,-109.508629&sspn=0.10442,0.154324&geocode=Fay3TAIdAFx4-Q%3BFTgsTgIdOPB5-SkH5QL5v91HhzFLjEKK-y5n8w%3BFRcVTAId-eF7-SnRodLxSO5HhzFWm4n-AOPVUw%3BFYpjTAIdcnF4-Q&t=p&mra=dme&mrsp=3&sz=13&via=1,2&z=11
 

True Grip

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Eemsreno that was awesome ::008:: I hope you tell us more I've been intrigued with Moab for some time just haven't been. The pics of the landscape are so different from what I'm used to. I'm looking forward to riding Moab. I plan on going to the Big Colorado meet then go to Moab hopefully some others will see this and join me. I'm thinking base camp and take day rides, I would be better off without any luggage. I can see why you pack the way you do. Thanks for the inspiration
 
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