Earache

The rain falls, but evaporates so fast that you never really get wet ...

It's starting to get late and weather is rolling in on us again ...

Our private racetrack awaits ...

Back into Utah and the reason we came here - to ride some curves ...

Above Page, Arizona looking down on Lake Powell. It used to have much more water in it - look closely and you can see where the water level was a few years ago....

There isn't shit out here - 100's of miles of nothingness ..

Out of New Mexico and into Arizona and the Navajo Nation. Better watch our speed now so the Indian police don't get us. Nothing more fun than ticketing a white boy on a motorcycle if you're a Navajo cop ...

Next day and we're headed out into the desert. Saw another guy having a bad day ...

The road to our hotel is one of my favorites - twisty with lots of drop offs.. Apparently not everyone is a fan though ..

And in town, the deer were munching on the houses ...

Moose in the woods chomping on some wet grass ...

Started to cloud up so we attempt to beat the rains to the hotel ...

Built around 1905 so not too old at all. It only last 4-5 years until miners all moved away - probably due to a lack of gold. It snows a shitload there - in feet rather than inches - so winters are extremely rough.

Only a fool would enter an abandoned mine opening, so in we went. Luckily, we didn't plummet to our deaths. Not a lot in there really, very dark of course. Had to really suck working in here years ago with only a candle on a stick to light your way ...

Got off the bikes for a bit and hiked to some old mine entrances ...

Despite the cold weather, the ride was great ...

Todd was hating life as his bike had streety tires and aluminum rims - not the best off road set up. My bike with Missions and spoked rims liked it a lot better. But I did lose a bolt on the way up that held my rear brake caliper to the stay arm. Had a spare with me though ...

Still has great views though ...

Built in the early 1900's, not a lot left of the town now ....

Fuck the trees, we're here to ride! Headed up another mountain in search of the ghost town near the summit ...

The Aspen trees turn color and that lasts about a week here - we must have hit it at the right time ...

Out of the hills and into the valleys below where it's much warmer (55F now) ...

Amazing what these guys built with rudimentary tools back in the day...

Dropped down the hill and into an old gold mine with an enormous ore house and other buildings from the 1840's ...

Further down the road and we're above the tree line and freezing our asses off, (32F at this point), as we summit the hills and head down the other side. Lots of brightly colored foliage and open sweepers ...