I sit here today groggy from the drugs. I was in surgery this morning to repair the damage from this journey into John's Canyon 5 months ago. Maybe it's just the drugs, but I started reminiscing about this journey. I looked through the photographs and decided to finally share a few here.

I haven't posted many photographs on dgrin. As an amateur, I'm rather intimidated by the great work displayed here.


Southern Utah is a magnificent place. A few years ago I rode my motorcycle to the top of Muley Point, which is not far from the Moki Dugway, Goosenecks of the San Juan, and Valley of the Gods. The view from Muley Point includes Monument Valley in the distance. Looking down from this high point my attention was drawn to a little dirt road running around the base of the cliffs. Hmmm... That looks fun. With a little research I discovered it was named John's Canyon Road.

I rode my motorcycle into John's Canyon in 2010, but was in a hurry to make a ferry. I didn't have the time to exlore this beautiful, remote, dead-end canyon like I wanted. I promised myself a return trip to John's Canyon someday to spend the night and finish the exploration. The main goal of this tour was to fulfill this promise.

I had a little trouble the first time in John's Canyon when a bad battery nearly stranded me.
Trouble of a more serious sort followed me into the canyon this year.



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I left Phoenix at 4 AM and was North of Flagstaff on the Navajo Nation in time for the sunrise.

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My transportation is a 2007 KTM 990 Adventure capable of long-distance asphalt touring, and with a talented rider, some pretty gnarley off-road stuff. I camped each night, so I was carrying about 80 pounds of luggage. The bike already weighs in close to 600 pounds, so it's a handful off-road.

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It was a chilly morning and the skies were threatening.

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The highway towards Page, Arizona cuts through the rock here.

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I stopped to hike up a nearby sand dune. In addition to warming me up, I found wildflowers and evidence a bobcat patrols here.

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Alton Amphitheater

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I had planned to travel mostly on backcountry dirt roads, but the majority of this trip was restricted to asphalt due to the weather making many trails impassable.

More to come...

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