Motorcycling a MOVIE SET in UTAH. (Unbelievable) | S1E55

My journey begins at North America's most northern drivable point. The plan is to ride through Canada and America before crossing over to Europe. From there I'll make my way across Asia and down to Australia. New Zealand's southern most drivable point will mark the end of my journey. I'm calling it the Big Spiral and this is Act 3 Across North America. Alright, good morning from Moab, Utah. So today is going to be an interesting one. We're going to go see an old uranium mine. I don't know if it's a good idea, but we're going to see an old uranium mine. And this is a place where they actually mined uranium for the Manhattan Project. And it's quite interesting because a lot of the people that were mining there did not know what the mined resource was going towards. So that'll be interesting. And then there's an old mining flume that's just perched on the side of a cliff. It just looks really cool, so I want to go look at that. But before that, we're going to go to Onion Creek Road. And basically this is just a really beautiful ride through a canyon just outside of Moab here. So basically the goal is to get over towards Colorado. So I've kind of picked a few spots on the way to Colorado to go check out and have a look at. I have to say, since the first time I visited Moab, probably 10 or 15 years ago, it's grown so much. Way busier. It used to be a pretty sleepy little town. And look at it now. What an absolutely gorgeous road. It just gets better and better. You know, I've never been up this far and it is so good. I had no idea. You can see that black varnish up there. That's basically weathering. But if you remember in the past video, we saw those petroglyphs. So they'll just chip off a bit of that black varnish and you can create an image out of that. Jeez, you can just turn any corner in Moab and you'll have a whole brand new view to look at. Pretty amazing. Jeez. What an amazing place. And look at this. You can just reach out and touch the rock, you know? Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway. It's a great name. Gotta say, the Americans are good at naming stuff. I think we've found our turnoff. Oh, it's not here. Just up there. Onion Creek. There we go. Back to the gravel. Wow, it's crazy right here. Oh, first water crossing. I'm surprised there's even water here, to be honest. When I did the White Rim, I didn't see a drop of water the whole way, except for the river. Look at this place. This is ridiculous. It looks manufactured, you know? Like it looks like I'm in Disneyland or something. Wow, this is really cool. Wow, this is... I could imagine a brontosaurus just grazing right there. Stegosaurus over there. Wow, this is wild. The trail's getting more difficult. Oh, God. Steep. It's pretty chunky and steep. When I pick these routes, I have no idea what I'm getting into. And, yeah, it looks like I'm getting into a bit of trouble again. This trail's getting interesting. Oh, my God. Oh, God, look at this. Jeez, this is definitely harder than White Rim, without a doubt. This is cool. Big slab. Wow, I've climbed a bit. Jeez. I'm really... I'm not making it easy for myself, am I? You know, I could have taken the highway to these places I want to go. I could have. I'll just take a break. Yeah, this is pretty full on. Maybe I should do a little more research before I... go onto these roads. It's fun. And very stimulating. But I was hoping for a bit of a more relaxing day after the White Line. But it is really beautiful here. Yeah, it looks like maybe a little less than halfway through this route. Oh, well. It smells so good up here, like pine trees. It's kind of pretty, too, isn't it? It must mean we're in Colorado right now, right? It must mean that. Oh, look at that mountain. That's a Colorado style mountain, isn't it? Oh, is that pavement over there? What in tarnation? Some motorbikes. Motorbike gang. Oh, no, it's not paved. You guys need help, or...? No, we're good, thank you. Oh, good? Cool, I can't hear anything. Oh, God. Hi. Did you come through from Onion Creek? Yeah, I did, yeah. Do you know this area? No. Oh, okay. I turned around and I saw a sign that said Cocopelli. I'm like, oh, I'm on Cocopelli. Well, this would have said Polar Mesa on my GPS. I don't know if that... Okay. Uh, yeah. I just drew a line this morning and I'm following it, pretty much. Where'd you start from? Where are you riding from? I started in Vancouver. Vancouver. And then I went out to Prudhoe Bay. And then now I'm going east. And the plan is to go over to Europe. And then keep going east and middle east and Asia. Cool. You're on a trip, then. I'm on a trip, yeah. You got a proper bike for it, too. Well, it's, yeah, I guess it's... I chose it because it's small and light. Yeah, you got the right idea. Yeah. So. What is it? It's a KLX 300. 300? No way! Yeah, yeah. With extra tanks and stuff. Yeah, a big tank and... Do you mind if I take a picture? Yeah, sure. You guys from Vancouver know how to do ----, you know what I'm saying? Do we? Yeah. Why is that? I don't know. Everybody from Canada seems to have their ---- together. Oh, well, the thing is, the only ones that make it this far probably, you know... Oh, yeah, the survivors. Yeah, we're the survivors. It's confirmation bias. Have a great journey. Yeah, thank you. You, too. Thanks. I'll just pull ahead a little. See ya! Oh, I love that he's on a C90. Is that a C90? Well, the road just improved a lot. And I think I should put my jacket back on because... What's it say? Ride for the slide? Or dress for the slide? I don't know. Alright, I gotta find a spot to pull over. Ride for the slide. I think that's what it is. Okay, I can pull over here, I think. I just want a straight section so I don't surprise anybody at the corner. Okay, now I am riding for the slide. I hope that's the right phrase because otherwise I'll look like a total jackass on the internet. Yeah, I'm enjoying this ride, actually. It started out pretty technical, which is fine. But this is a sweet relief, maybe. Look at those beautiful fall colors. Just keep climbing. Oh, look at... Oh my god, look at that. The majesty of... Oh god. It's crazy how it's changed. Because we were just 20 minutes ago in desert, rocks, cactuses, cacti. Now leaving Utah State Trust lands. Does that mean I'm in Colorado? Maybe not. This cloud is moving with me. There we go, into the sun. Okay, apparently I'm turning onto State Line Gateway Road, which probably means I'm going to cross into Colorado on this road. Just a guess, just a guess. Gateway. I've seen a few signs for Gateway, I don't know what it means, but that's where we're going. I have a feeling we're in Colorado now, but I did not see a sign, so... I think as I descend, slowly transitioning back to the mesas and the red rock, I think. If you look at all that. Oh, it looks really cool down there. Wow. Oh, are we going in that canyon? I won't say no. Oh yeah, we're definitely going into this canyon. Maybe that's why it's called Gateway. Honestly... I don't know what to say anymore. It's just so crazy out here. Alright, now we gotta head southeast. Alright, so we got a point of interest, that's what the sign said. But it's right in here, apparently. Which is kind of wild, actually. Is it here? Nope. Where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Is it below us? Oh, it is below us. Ooh, cool. The Hanging Flume. Alright, let me just undress a little. I'll be right with you. Alright, let's go check it out. Oh, it's actually... It's kind of crazy. So, there was a mining company that needed water. Because they thought they had a pretty sweet little mine. They were, you know, they were like, wow, we got something good here, we got something good here. So, they built a flume, or what is essentially an aqueduct. So, here, let me show you with the camera. So, if you look down there, it looks like a boardwalk. But that was designed to flow water, I'm guessing from upstream to downstream. Because upstream is obviously higher. And if you look here, too, it keeps going. So, apparently the whole flume portion is five miles long. So, they built this in 1888. And I guess they thought they had something pretty special. But apparently three years after they finished the flume, they realized, oh, they didn't have much in terms of mining. But when it was flowing, it transferred a lot of water. So, it's like an aqueduct. So, like, if you think about the Romans, they built these aqueducts to move water around. This is basically the same thing. But in this case, they just stuck it to the side of the cliff. So, yeah, kind of cool. So, those people over there, they just gave me a cold carbonated water and two oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Oh, it's so good. Thank you. Enjoy your travel. Thank you. There they go. The little wind guy, he's like, oh, is that a KLR? I'm like, no, it's a KLX. But yeah, he had a KLR at one point and he did a whole bunch of traveling on his motorcycle. So, I think he relates, cause he knows it's really hot out here and we don't have coolers or anything on the motorcycle. You just, you know, you're just out there with elements. So, it's always appreciated to get a cold drink. Okay. Well, that drink was very welcome. So, our next destination is radioactive. So, yeah, just 10 kilometers up the road and yeah, let's try not to irradiate ourselves. Definitely looks like some mining's been happening over there. Okay, wow. Any area or container on this property may contain radioactive materials. Well, how about that? So, in the early 1900s, they were mining vanadium here. And if you've never heard of it until today, I hadn't either. So, it's used for reinforcing steel and it's quite valuable. Now, the thing is with vanadium, as you process it, you also get a by-product, which is uranium. Now, back in the day, they used it as like a yellow dye, like, and the miners here thought, well, yeah, we're just mining something that makes yellow dye. Well, the US government was buying a lot of vanadium and not admitting to buying uranium. And that's because they were working on the Manhattan Project. If you don't know what that is, that was basically the project to build and design the first atomic bomb. So, that yellow cake, uranium, was being mined here and directly feeding the Manhattan Project. And the miners did not know what they were mining. And it was only until the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima that, oh God, I didn't expect that. I've, I've, I've been to the A-bomb dome and, I've been to the A-bomb dome in Hiroshima and it's just absolutely shocking and devastating what happened in, and I've been to the museum in Nagasaki as well and it's just unbelievable what happened there. So, but anyways, these miners that were working here, they had no idea. They were kind of, I don't know what to say, complicit in supporting that. And obviously there's a lot of politics around nuclear weapons and all that. And I'm not saying it shouldn't have happened and I'm not saying they shouldn't have been invented. But, you know, a lot of people died. But, but, you know, a lot of people died in Japan because of that. And, jeez, I did not expect to get emotional about this, but yeah, I just thought of this place as a place where they mined uranium. And then, you know, you start thinking about these connections and the knock-on effects and, you know, what happened, you know, back then it was a world away for Americans, you know, and, but for the Japanese it was their home. And anyways, it's a very political thing and obviously the Japanese were not in the right either. The Japanese were doing terrible things as well. So, yeah, it's a really heavy topic as I've just been reminded. But, yeah. So this is the place where they got their uranium and it's just kind of, I just hope it gives you a little context about where in the world America got its uranium. It's up this beautiful valley and it happens to have uranium in it and they started digging it up and they turned it into a bomb. So. Hmm. Well, sometimes the world is such a beautiful place and then other times it's just horrible. And, uh, we've got a bit of both today, I think. Um, to be honest, I kind of surprised myself. I did not expect to get so emotional, but it just, something clicked in my head and I was like, oh my God, what a horrible situation. And, uh, yeah, so. But, you know, everything else today was amazing. Like all those valleys, all those red rocks, just honestly, I had a lot of fun. And sometimes in life you got to balance all the good times with a little bit of the bad times. Otherwise the good times are just, you know, you're normal and they're not good anymore. So, but, um, yeah, I don't know. But maybe we should just look at the map and, uh, I'll show you where I went today. Uh, there's a new map as well. So that's kind of nice. So yeah, let's do that. All right. So here's my Utah map. Uh, I've, I've gone quite a ways. Um, so from Moab I backtracked a little bit and headed up to, I think this is the Colorado River and, uh, went all the way up to here, I believe. And then I went up the Onion Creek Canyon and kind of went, did this big thing around a mesa onto that beautiful mountain and then uh, got into some gravel and I think it went like this. And that is Gateway, uh, Colorado. And then, so after that I just went down this highway and then now we got a new map which is actually a lot smaller than I expected. Um, so came in like this or something and then drove up this beautiful, beautiful canyon. And around here I think is where those flumes were. And then just up the road, oh yeah, it's even here. Uravan. So yeah, Uravan is named after uranium and then the vanadium. Uh, and it's just kind of combined into one name. And then, so I kept going up the highway here and then turned up here to Nucla. And Nucla is another interesting name, I would say. Uh, so the idea was that Nucla would be the nucleus of the area. So the center. But obviously it's uh, all these nuclear connotations associated with that. So yeah. Um, you know our world and me and you and everything is not a perfect place. And I think it's okay to acknowledge that sometimes. And um, I don't want to whitewash all the videos and just make things, everything happy go lucky. Like, sometimes bad things are going to happen. And um, I don't want to shy away from that. So, yeah. Um, but anyways, if you liked the video, I would really love it if you subscribed. Um, it really helps me grow the channel and it makes it so other people can see the videos as well. And uh, that's kind of important to me. Um, but yeah, anyways, thank you so much for watching the video. And uh, I'll see you in the next one. I hope. Alright, bye.