Picto Diary - 10, 11 June 2020 - SDFTMP Tour 1
Above: Hippo and Survival. Markagunt Plateau, UT. 10 June 2020.
Out and about on the Duc.
Social Distancing from the Mask People Tour..
Hippo and Survival and their back yard (they actually live in this paradise in the mountains!).
Applying #2 (being with people I really like) and #7 (Ducati) of my Covid-19 Era imperatives.
I was lucky to have picked my friends wisely. Hippo and Survival have three, college educated, married kids and ten grandchildren. True heroes of Western Civilization. — at Markagunt Plateau
PS. Treated to most excellent dinner of corned beef with special mustard sauce and veggies. Desert: Survival's famous rum cake.
Above: Duc (Markagunt Plateau) and Sunset Cliffs (Pansaguant Plateau). Garfield County, UT. 10 June 2020.
Out and about on the Duc.
Social Distancing from Mask People Tour
Above: Bright Angel Point, North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ. 11 June 2020.
Out and about on the Duc.
Social Distancing from the Mask People Tour
Park is virtually empty. Lodge is closed.
General store and gas are open. Perhaps 5% of Lodge parking places had vehicles parked.
Great day to be outdoors! Outdoors is good for geezers!
PS. Look carefully and you can see in the image the two nubs of the San Francisco Peaks, just north of Flagstaff.
Above: Grand Canyon National Park. North Rim. Arizona. 11 June 2020.
Out and about on the Duc.
Social Distancing from the Mask People Tour
70MM years (.015% age of earth) of multiple sea beds in this image. I try, but I always find it difficult to think in terms of geologic time. Considering mankind appears in the earth at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, of a converted 4.6 billion year clock, we should be more humble in the face of our woeful lack of knowledge of the universe as opposed to being arrogant about what we think we know...which is still very little in the grand scheme of things. — at Grand. Canyon National Park North Rim.
Above: Bison. Kiabab Plateau, AZ, 11 June 2020.
Out and about on the Duc.
Social Distancing from the Mask People Tour
Above: Vermillion Cliffs. Northern Arizona. 11 June 2020.
Out and about on the Duc.
Social Distancing from the Mask People Tour
Condors in these cliffs.
Fathers Dominguez and Escalante first Western Culture figures to pass by this way in 1776, coming from Santa Fe, then Mexico.
Above: Lees Ferry, Arizona. Colorado River. 11 June 2020.
Out and about on the Duc.
Social Distancing from the Mask People Tour.
My maternal great grandparents, Abel Alexander and Caroline Skousen DeWitt, coming overland from Eager, AZ, 200 miles south, crossed the Colorado River here in 1877. Following the "Honeymoon Trail," they were on their way to St. George UT to be married for time and eternity in the newly completed St. George LDS temple.
Above: Monument Valley, Utah. 11 June 2020.
Out and about on the Duc.
Social Distancing from The Walking Mask People Tour.
Image: Duc parked at Bishop's "little house."
Bishop channels Thelma and Louise, and half of the auto commercials ever made.... not to mention umpteen John Ford movies.
Bishop does Jack out on the outdoor porch of his little house and contemplates the slowly changing shadowing on the rocks as the sun sets.
Out of 50 "little houses" at Gouldings, only 3 occupied.
Outdoors and physical separation is good for geezers.
To say the least, Gouldings is one of my favorite places.
Avoiding the restaurant this time, though. No outdoor seating and they won't deliver to my cabin 1.5 miles away. So, Nissin microwave noodles, and ham cheese convenience store sandwich for dinner.
Brand Man, if you're reading this, 'member when you and I, me on a Rocket Three and you on some Yamaha crotch rocket, circa 2008, started in Mesa, rode to Winslow, ate Mex, captured an image "standing on a corner," and then pounded ground across the rez to Gouldings? Great memories. Love this wide open country. Takes my mind off the bullshit elsewhere.
Not to mention the throaty rumble of the Duc. I looked at my Duc trip log for the 80 mile section from Page to Kayenta. Said top speed 105. Must be a broken brain on the bike. Gonna have to get it fixed.