Jornado del Muerto – Journey of the Dead Man!

I had few expectations regarding yesterdays’ ride from Zion National Park to Las Vegas.  There was nothing on any social media that I saw referencing interesting roads.

The conventional route, as seen below, is to get on I-15 and ride 80 MPH for 141 miles.

Look closely and you will see Moapa Valley, Nevada Route 169, converting to Nevada Route 167 and connecting with Nevada Route 147.  Finding this detour, I immediately saw hope for an interesting ride.

The minute I left I-15 I knew I was in for fun.  The sign below was at the intersection of I-15 and Rt 169 just as I started down the road.

I looked at my surroundings and saw the exact same sight those early Spanish traders saw.  Untouched dry land for miles and miles.  Unchanged in hundreds of years.

I drove south approximately an hour and was surprised to find this sign encouraging me to continue.

After spotting Lake Mead, I continued on and found a Red Rock Wonderland – an area with rocks so red that they glowed.  I apologize as again the pictures do not do justice to the deep red they featured.  This area is near the Valley of Fire State Park, but I do not believe that I entered the Park.

There was a sign that called out the vista I was seeing in front of me.  Read below how the farthest out and darkest ridge is a highly eroded interior wall of a volcano that erupted about 12 MILLION years ago.  Which means that I was standing inside the volcano as I read the sign.

It also calls out limestone coloration and what the sign calls my red stone as red Aztec sandstone.  Look at the following two pictures, I have attempted to duplicate the sign so that you can see clearly what the sign refers to.

Returning to the road, I continued to pass red rocks, Limestone, and desert until I crested a hill and there was Las Vegas.  When you hear that Las Vegas was built in the middle of the desert, they are telling the truth.

Just a few minutes later I found the first Starbucks I had seen in over two weeks, since I left Phoenix on April 7th.  I did not miss Starbucks and I was 100% happy without them, but I did immediately run in and had an iced coffee.

As a quick reminder and an update on my Indian.  I came to Las Vegas to first and foremost have my Indian Motorcycle checked out.  She has been through a lot over the last few weeks, “ridden hard and put up wet.”  She had developed a whine in her drive belt, the kickstand was slightly loose, her power was down and some other minor issues.

Sin City Indian is a great Indian dealership and their manager Drew was really attentive.  Knowing that they may never see me again, they still gave me, what I consider to be, 100% attention.  Below is Drew, the manager, helping me clean the drive belt and checking my shock pressure.

I am happy to report that the whine in the drive belt has been fixed, the belt needed aligning.  The kickstand, something I use many times a day, is tightened, the air filter has been changed and the power is back up.  Over the past weeks, I have ridden through so much dust the air intake was clogged.  I am happy to report that the Indian is now happy.

OK, I am also in Las Vegas to lay down a few bets – $30 on the Yankees to beat the Angels tonight – Straight money bet.  Go Yankees and…

Keep Wheeling!