Gremlin's Tall Stories

6.45am and the cursed alarm is going off. Kevin had said yesterday he thought it was about a 7am start, so I drag my bag out and down the row to the van, where he is already loading it. I think I smiled briefly at Jan, and straight back to bed. Didn’t go to sleep however, as Anjum would be around shortly to collect his camera battery.

He comes shortly after 7am, and thinking it’s now safe to count sheep, as I’m right on the verge of sleep, Murray comes knocking. He’s staying on for a few hours, so wants to charge his phone a bit. Plugged in, and I’m finally away with the fairies.

The alarm rings again at 8.30am, but I reset for 9am. Even that seems too early, and while slowly waking up Murray comes back for his phone. Ken and him are now off for the Grand Canyon… I’ll follow in my own good time. I shower, pack and in the process of readying the bike, remember I need to top up the oil, which is duly done. About a bottle and a half left, I should be absolutely fine to the end of the trip on that consumption.

I decide that after yesterday’s high of 42 degrees, it’s time to pull out my secret weapon for the heat, the evaporative cooling vest bought in San Francisco. A soak in a basin of water, then squeeze out the excess water and it’s good to go. A little wet putting it on, but it’s certainly the right size, and fits well. As I start the bike and leave the Lodge the BMW is saying it’s 31 degrees, so the signs are there it’s going to be a cracker of a day.

The fair is in full swing, but most of it I saw yesterday evening so I carry on through, finding a gas station near the edge of town and fill ‘er up. Bit of a servo clean and she’s set for the day. Heading out on ALT89 it’s 25 degrees within 50km and I’m second guessing my decision to use the vest. I don’t bother stopping though, carrying on, wanting to rack up some mileage.

At Jacob Lake I detour onto Highway 67 to go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Some are not bothering to do both rims, but I reckon that while I am here, I want to have done both. It’s 40 miles one way (and then you come back) and the road was reasonably boring, the scenery beautiful, but not jaw dropping. The temperature was also annoyingly staying in the mid-twenties.

Reaching the North Rim, it was simply for some photos, half thinking that for an 80 mile round trip it may not have been worth it, but the view was pretty good. On the return trip to Jacob Lake bison had moved next to the road so I took photos of them plus the scenery at different stages.

I reached Jacob Lake shortly after 2pm and decided to stop and have something to eat. Good thing I did, as the pulled pork sandwich, fries and coleslaw was delicious. I finally found a place that served milkshakes, except when the pineapple milkshake arrived… well… I’ve had thickshakes in NZ that don’t come close to the viscosity of this milkshake. I would liken this milkshake to soft serve ice-creams. Still, it was very nice, even if I had to have it via a spoon.

Leaving Jacob Lake just before 3pm on ALT89, then 89, it was back into the open country. Hot and looking like a desert there were some very nice vistas overlooking valleys. The temperature rose and stayed in the 30s, and typically, now the cooling vest was no longer cooling, being spent. Deciding it was foolish to keep it on without it doing anything, I stopped briefly in Marble Canyon, using the servo restroom to recharge the vest. It’s easy to use. Soak in water, shake/squeeze out the excess, then put it on. Doesn’t do much when you’re stopped, but once the breeze is passing through, it’s brilliant.

I stopped at the Navajo Bridge for pictures, the usual Indian stalls were also there, but didn’t look at their trinkets. From there it was a very long and boring haul down the highways with very threatening dark clouds overhead. I did get rain now and then, hard enough to make me wince as it went through gloves or jacket, but nothing so sustained so that it drenched me. The only problem was that it got the cooling vest wet, the temperature was cool because of the rain, so I ended up being colder than normal.

The straights yielded one hell of a surprise… I’m tootling down the straight, observing a car U-turning in the gravel on the roadside, wondering why it’s doing that. I look back at the road (happening in seconds of course) and hello… there’s a car in my lane pointing at me. WHAT THE?!?!?! SHIT!!! Swerved onto the hard shoulder to give the overtaking car more room… thanks man. And I thought having a tripod of lights would help make me more visible… perhaps not for some.

Finally turned off onto 64 towards Grand Canyon and in due course came across the park gate. The annual pass has been brilliant and if I’d paid every park fee I would probably be over $80 already (and we have more parks to pass through). Right after the gate was the first sighting of the Canyon, so I stopped and had a brief walk around. The sight was quite stunning, the river so far below and a watchtower provided an even higher view. Still, the stops were delaying my arrival more and more so I carried on.

I filled my water bottle at the Visitor Centre. They offer water from the Grand Canyon spring out of taps, with the aim of reducing the number of thrown away bottles. By re-filling of course you re-use decreasing bottles into landfill, plus it’s free. Can’t argue with that.

I stopped several more times for great vistas of the Canyon and at one stop saw an enormous raven that seemed quite Ok with humans being near it. I’d been watching the dark rain clouds, half hoping I would dodge rain, half knowing I would probably get caught in it. Sure enough, my luck with rain came to an end, copping the full force of a thunderstorm. I came around a corner with it raining already, to see the road turn from black to grey in the distance. Those of you that have ridden in those conditions know… it means extremely heavy rain ahead.

Well… it’s probably the worst rain I’ve ever ridden in. Drenched within minutes, visibility almost nil, I even had a bolt of lightning appear to flash in front of me, on the road, within a hundred metres. I heard later from Murray that a nearby town, Flagstaff, had had an inch of rain in 15 minutes. Sounds about right. The middle of it was hail… I fear I might actually start getting used to being pelted with hail.

Once again, the cooling vest was annoying. It had dropped to mid-teens due to the thunderstorm, the vest was soaked, and so it started cooling me again. I put the heated grips on to try and counter it a bit. Reaching Grand Canyon Village, I had no idea where to check in, expecting it to be next to the little huts, but it turned out to be in a different building. It was handy tho, as Murray said don’t worry about checking in, otherwise they’ll try to give you an extra room at $200. Instead, I had a mattress from Ken and Jan’s suite, in Murray and Anjum’s room. Sweet, flick them some dollars instead.

Chatted to some of the people, dragged my gear inside and spent the early evening trying to catch up a bit on blogging… I’m waaaay behind. Also hung out my gear to try and dry… everything was blooming soaked from the rain. Should have worn the rain jacket, but realistically, since it’s on the mesh of the jacket it dries fast enough.

About 8.30pm, Ken, Jan, Murray and I headed over to the cafeteria for dinner, a really nice selection where you picked what you wanted, then proceeded to checkout and paid. I had a baked chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, veges and gravy, bottomless soda and cheesecake for dessert. Ran into Mark and Gerry while finding a seat so filled seats at their table, then found Gary and Barbara in the food line, and added them to the table. For the first time in a long time I added salt to my meal, aware that with all the fluid loss from the heat, I should make sure I have enough salt (drinking water only will still get you into trouble, as you dilute your salt content).

Had a fun dinner, jokes all round, it appears they think I am a brain box or something (and I thought I was the deluded one), asking me how high a bridge would have been if it took 10 seconds for the stone to land in the river. Somehow I blurted out that gravity is 9.8 m/s. Dunno how I did that and it did nothing to dispel the brain box thoughts, did it?

Back to the little hut we call home for night, where I did some more blogging before turning in for the night.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KM2Yt5vHAhRmr4a48