When I woke up at 05:20, I noticed it was fairly dark and cold out. It wasn’t until I got out of my sleeping bag that I realized the temp had droppedbelow into the 30s overnight.
When I tried to put in my riding pants (the first thing I did upon waking up was start throwing on my cold weather riding gear), I was shivering so much I could barely zip the various zippers for the rain, Thermal, and exterior layers.
After fighting to get myself dressed, I soon warmed up and started packing up. This didn’t take Ling and I found myself ready to go in less than anhour.
The only issue now was the heavy fog that lay over the mountain. The campground was about 8 miles up the winding mountain road from the base (elevation was about 5,000 ft if I remember correctly). I proceeded down the mountain cautiously, watching out for stray animals and other drivers.
I should mention that I had seen dozens of otherriders going up and down the road on my way in. I understand why, and the route was a blast to ride a bike on. At this time and with the heavy dog though, I was the only motorcyclist in the road.
From there I saw some interesting sights on the road (to be posted at some point), but the rest ofthe day was uneventful besides another tourer I met.
Christopher was from Hawaii and was going on a 2-3 month trip. We met at a gas station and after talking for 10-15 minutes, agreed to ride together until our paths diverged.
Once I got to the Grand Canyon, I found a campsite. As they were full, I went around the camp asking if anyone minded if I pitched my tent on their plot. A couple agreed to let me stay nearby and I payed them half the campsite cost. This was beneficial to both of us, as we both payed less, and I had a place to camp instead of needing to go off into the middle of nowhere. Plus, I didn’tactually take up much space of privacy, as all the sites were very close to each other.
After setting up camp (much quicker than the previous day), I took a shower and prepped for thenext day.
I did some more bike maintenance, read a little about the Grand Canyon, and also prepped all my gear/luggage for an early morning start.
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