{"id":31913,"date":"2026-01-18T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T08:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=31913"},"modified":"2026-01-16T19:42:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T03:42:40","slug":"scenic-byway-163-arizona-to-utah-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/01\/18\/scenic-byway-163-arizona-to-utah-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Scenic Byway 163 (Arizona to Utah): Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Mike Huber<\/h6>\n

As I left the gas station in Mexican Hat the sky was looking extremely menacing.\u00a0 I knew that camping in a lower elevation in the Valley of the Gods may not have been the best idea, due to possible flooding.\u00a0 The roads can get really slick with rain.\u00a0 There was a great state park just a few miles away.\u00a0 In fact, it is such a great place to camp I was hesitant to name it here, but it is Gooseneck State Park.\u00a0 There are about 20 campsites there which are on the edge of a 1,000 foot drop into what looks exactly like Horseshoe Bend.\u00a0 This park would suffice for my home for the evening, although in hindsight I should have gotten a hotel.\u00a0 But then there wouldn\u2019t be a story.<\/p>\n

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I pulled into Gooseneck State Park and set my tent up.\u00a0 The sky was black.\u00a0 It really looked menacing, and I was quite sure it wouldn\u2019t be a dry night.\u00a0 After setting up my tent I did my usual walk around the park and talked with other campers.\u00a0 I began chatting up some other riders and invited them over for a beer and to share my fire.\u00a0 Within five minutes of talking to them one replied to me as he pointed to the sky. \u201cYeah, you may need all those beers for yourself, and there is no way we are having a fire.\u00a0 Good luck.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A few minutes later I found myself in my tent alone drinking my beers as the sky opened up.\u00a0 This was not good.\u00a0 As the rains continued to pelt down the winds picked up.\u00a0 Within two beers the ground became so soaked that my tent stakes had uprooted in the now mud puddle I was camped in.\u00a0 The tent was being blown all over just making loud cracking noises like a whip.\u00a0 Fortunately, I had brought my panniers inside and positioned them at diagonal corners of the tent in an attempt to keep the tent somewhat grounded.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the winds had grown so strong that my entrance zipper was ripped apart.<\/p>\n

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I felt like this was as bad as it would get. Sadly, I was mistaken as a strong gust got under the tent and threw my pannier across the tent and in doing so the floor of my tent was ripped apart.\u00a0 I managed to get a little bit of sleep that evening but not much.\u00a0 In the morning as I awoke at 5:00 a.m., I noticed my tent had a couple inches of water in it.\u00a0 It resembled a kiddie pool.\u00a0 Everything I owned was soaked.<\/p>\n

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By 05:30 I had everything packed up and I was ready to find a coffee shop to dry out in.\u00a0 My plan for that day was to meet one of my 82nd<\/sup> Airborne friends in Cortez, Colorado for lunch.\u00a0 Even though I had an early start I showed up late, due to trying to dry my gear out.\u00a0 When asked why I was late I simply replied I had to hit a hardware store for duct tape.\u00a0 He then looked me up and down as I was covered in mud and even my 82nd<\/sup> Airborne hat was destroyed from the previous night. \u201cWhat the fuck happened to you?\u201d he asked as he took in my appearance.\u00a0 I ordered a beer and began to tell him of my adventure. Even though I had a rough night, Scenic Byway 163 is still one of the greatest roads in the United States.<\/p>\n

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More Huber? Check out A Trip Into The Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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