Riding to Onion Creek Road proves a "wet" experience...and once again camping alone

 Today dawned overcast and with a good chance for rain, though forecasted accumulations were said to be around 0.06".  So,  I felt pretty confident suggesting a ride to Onion Creek Road located about 20 miles N/NE of Moab.

We got there with no issues and under overcast but not really threatening-looking skies.  The road conditions were fine on this dirt road, and we were enjoying crossing over the Onion Creek where it meandered across the road.

I lost count of the water crossings after a bit, hadn't seen so many the last time I was here during a Ural Rally.

Soon enough we reached the really scenic rock formations/walls of the canyon formed by Onion Creek over the millennia.

At this point in time, we'd been feeling an occasional drop or two of rain, commensurate with the forecasted 0.06" of accumulation.  So no worries, we kept on going.

About two-three miles later, the rain was becoming pretty steady so I decided to turn us around and start heading back to US Hwy 128 and pavement!  

I should have turned around sooner, the rain got pretty steady by the time we returned to the pavement and we got a pretty good and windy soaking before we got to J & J's Mercatile Store within the nearby Sorrell River Ranch Resort.

Unfortunately, the store wasn't open.  It wouldn't be till May, but there was a lady inside doing inventory and she let us stand at the open doorway out of the wind.

We hung out there, trying to stay somewhat warm and at least to me, enjoying the feeling of being able to feel with my finger and toes, wet as they were.

Perhaps an hour later, the rain let up and the skies were starting to look clearer.

Before, while it rained hard, you could only the a vague outline of the above rock formations near the ranch!  Sorry, no pics, was too busy shivering in my wet riding gear.

Finally, we rode out and chased the open patch of sky to the south, finally enjoying some sun as we neared Moab.  Sadly, this sun exposure didn't last as we saw forbidding clouds and rainfall in our way.

The last four miles or so to the campsite, in a word, sucked.  Strong, very strong winds, hard rain and I think some hail for a few seconds, made it quite the perilous riding conditions.

Steve had peeled off from us back at the ranch to go get gas, so it was just Bob and myself that "enjoyed" the lousy weather until we finally reached the shelter of our respective RVs!

Steve later arrived safely and we all sheltered in our respective habitations for the rest of the afternoon.

It would even hail on us, pea sized, amidst lightning and thunder for about 10 minutes around 6:00 PM.

Saturday, April 23

Both Steve L. and Bob W. packed up and left this morning.  Steve is continuing to do some riding and Bob is headed home.

I spent the rest of the windy and cool but sunny day dealing with issues resulting from replacing the brake pads on the pusher wheel on Scarlett.

Tried for quite a while, but couldn't get the piston pushed back into the caliper far enough to allow the new pads to fit.  Finally ended up removing the bleeder valve on the caliper and that did the trick.

Of course, that also allowed a bunch of air into the brake circuit.  Tried to bleed it unsuccessfully for quite a long time, even invoked RichardM's assistance, disturbing his dinner unfortunately.

In the end, I realized you have to rotate the caliper 90 degrees to the rear, so that the bleeder valve is pointed up...then, and only then, can you get all the air bubbles out of the circuit!  Now I have brakes again all around.

Dumb design on that brake caliper!