Loneliest Road in America

[leroys73]

Just completed a 4341 mile, 13 day motorcycle trip from Dallas to Tahoe down to Show Low, AZ then to Dallas. We hit US287 to Amarillo then took an FM road at Bushland which connected to FM 1061 to US385 running us into Hartley then US 87 to I-25.  We stayed in Clayton, NM the first night before moving on to Colorado.

We clinched Colorado 12 from Trinidad to US 160 which we followed to South Fork, CO. At South Fork we ran into a lot of snow falling.  This was a bit spooky on a motorcycle.  Fortunately we talked to a guy from there whose daughter owned a lodge.  We checked into Spruce Lodge for the night. 

A late start the next day to let the roads clear we headed out on CO 149 through Slumgullion Pass, 11,361ft, to US 50.  I guess we clinched CO 149.  No more snow while traveling, just a lot of wind in places.  US 50 took us to Grand Junction to visit a brother and to spend the night.

Just outside GJ US 50 joins I-70 which we ran to near Cisco, Utah where we exited to ride the very beautiful loop UT 128 (clinched) to Moab and Arches National Park (third visit).  Arches is very unique and beautiful.  After the park we gassed up and headed back to I-70/US 50 as we did not have time to visit Canyonlands NP.

When US 50 left I-70 we followed US 50 to Delta, UT where we spent the night, and another night because of the weather.  It turned off cold, wet (snow and rain), and very windy so the second night was a smart move. 

From Delta we ran US 50, "The Loneliest Road in America", or at least to where I-80 takes it over.  The only section of US 50 I have not ridden on a motorcycle is from Newton, KS to Gunnison, CO. We had a base "camp" near Truckee, CA.  The entire property we had to ourselves belongs to my riding buddy's son. His son lives in CT.  It is a huge house with a guest house in a secluded area outside Truckee.  Using this "camp" as our base we rode all around Lake Tahoe. 

Upon leaving, we were glad to leave Truckee as it was too touristy for us, we connected to and headed south on US 395 to Yosemite NP where the Tioga Pass road had just opened for the summer.  Half way across my buddy noticed his tire was wearing very fast and I noticed my luggage rack was broken.  So a trip to Sonora for repairs kept us from going to Yosemite Valley as we lost valuable time with the repairs. 

We returned to US 395 via Tioga Pass Road then down to Death Valley.  There is a reason it is called Death Valley.  After our required pictures at Bad Water, 282 ft below sea level (now I can say I have ridden my made in USA Honda VTX 1300 on the highest paved road in North America and the lowest), we headed towards Baker, CA.  From there I-15 on a Friday night heading towards Las Vegas was a near death experience.  We only had to go about 20 miles for a cut off to Search Light, NV where we spent the night. 

Leaving Search Light we joined I-40 at Kingman, AZ.  I-40 took us to Holbrook, AZ where we picked up AZ 77 to the big Arizona cities of Snow Flak, Taylor (spent the night), and Show Low.  Show Low was where we turned east on US 60 to hit I-25 in Socorro, NM. 

I-25 was a short ride south to US 380 which took us through the rest of NM and almost home.  About 20 miles from home we took FM 156 then FM 407 to finish the trip. 

This was my third longest motorcycle trip, longest with someone, and tied for the best motorcycle trip ever.

Love this country.

[dmr37]

someday...

[OCGuy81]

That sounds like an awesome trip.  Were there often times you just felt like you were the only person(s) around for miles?  That's hard to come by nowadays!

Would love to see pictures if you managed to get some good ones.

[leroys73]

Yep there were miles where we did not see another vehicle.  I wasn't big on Truckee but I do want to go back so I can ride from west to east on US 50.  The view would be like a totally new road.  I'll try to get pics added in.