Bridges of Utah
While on a two-week motorcycle road trip last year through the southwest, I found Utah to be the state that wow'ed me the most. The colors and textures of the rocks and vegetation, the vast openness and the resounding silence was haunting, yet soothing. Elevational changes from low mesas to snowy peaks made riding in Utah extremely pleasurable.
Riding is so very different than cruising through such an area in a car. I become one with the elements and my surroundings. There's no roof overhead, no doors or windows to limit my sensual perception of the road beneath me, the rock wall beside me, the wind blowing by me. To ride in the lowlands is to feel like I've really reached the bottom of the earth's surface, I can't possibly go any lower without a shovel. To ride in a valley and look up to the natural wall barriers is to feel consumed in Mother Nature's hug... I feel nothing but the terrain wrapped around me. To rise above a low valley into hills and mountains is to feel the burdens of life being lifted from my shoulders. The air changes, I am enveloped in a crispness that refreshes me and makes me want to ride higher and higher until all I can see is what I left behind. There's a cleansing involved when I ride hundreds then thousands of feet above sea level. It's addictive and once I've risen I don't want to come down. It's the ultimate in a natural high. Living in Florida has taught me to appreciate hills and mountains more. Riding at higher elevations offers an enlightenment each and every time I am there.
Riding is so very different than cruising through such an area in a car. I become one with the elements and my surroundings. There's no roof overhead, no doors or windows to limit my sensual perception of the road beneath me, the rock wall beside me, the wind blowing by me. To ride in the lowlands is to feel like I've really reached the bottom of the earth's surface, I can't possibly go any lower without a shovel. To ride in a valley and look up to the natural wall barriers is to feel consumed in Mother Nature's hug... I feel nothing but the terrain wrapped around me. To rise above a low valley into hills and mountains is to feel the burdens of life being lifted from my shoulders. The air changes, I am enveloped in a crispness that refreshes me and makes me want to ride higher and higher until all I can see is what I left behind. There's a cleansing involved when I ride hundreds then thousands of feet above sea level. It's addictive and once I've risen I don't want to come down. It's the ultimate in a natural high. Living in Florida has taught me to appreciate hills and mountains more. Riding at higher elevations offers an enlightenment each and every time I am there.
Glen River Canyon Bridge, April 2004.
Natural Bridge, Bryce Canyon, April 2004.
posted by Juli at 11:15 AM
3 Comments:
And I'm here right now! Though without my motorcycle. :-(
Your descriptions were durn near poetry. I didn't know you had such a sensitive side.
I knew of someone once who so loved these canyons AND his bike, he tried to jump the Grand Canyon on his bike. Whatever happened to him?
just a stones throw from bryce canyon you know. im just saying.
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