Woodshed and Welshcake

I have been reading of other’s motorcycle adventures in Adventure Rider (www.advrider.com), and got the bug to take a ride. Of course, it wouldn’t be 3-6 weeks like many of them, only a short one to see how much I would enjoy it. My first plan was to ride to California in September, to ride the Pacific Coast highway from Eureka to San Clemente with the IPCRC gang (Int’l Pacific Coast Riders Club), but that seemed to have too many mileage deadlines for the amount of time I wanted to take off. Then I thought of cruising the Colorado mountains, but my sidekick said that I should take her to Colorado, only in a cage (that is car/truck in cycle lingo). So that took that idea out of the picture. Then on Sunday, July 5, she said that since we were headed to Utah on Thursday, why didn’t I leave earlier on the bike, and she would meet me at Andrea’s house in Lehi by Friday. Bam, the plan was in place if I could coax my boss into 2 more days off. That was easy. I worked Monday, tried to finish all my home chores Monday night, so I could head out Tuesday.

So here it is.

Day 1, Tuesday, July 7 275 miles.

I decided that I would make arrangements like many of the Adv. Riders-that is, no reservations ahead, just drive until you are done for the day and hope you can find a place. Also, to not eat at fast food or chain restaurants. But many Adv. Riders also carry a tent and sleeping bag, which I elected to not do, since this was a last minute decision to go.

I left Page about 9:00 AM, with the goal to travel north through Utah until I had just enough time to get to Andrea’s either Thursday night or midday Friday, following back roads over mountain passes and trying to stay off major highways and the freeways. My route followed US89 to Bryce Canyon, then UT12 to Torrey, shown on the map. I took a few pictures to highlight the ride. The first was in Red Canyon headed into Bryce.

I have a range of about 150 miles on a tank of gas. Since I was traveling lesser traveled roads, I ended up fueling fairly often, to ensure that I would not run short before I got to the next known destination. My first stop had been at Tod’s, or Long Valley Junction, on US89.

I took a short lunch stop about 10 miles before Escalante. Ate under a pine tree and admired the person who was able to live next to such a pretty rock formation.

The first really fun part of today’s ride was along the “hogback just before getting to Boulder UT. The road climbs up onto the top of the sandstone, and it drops off on either side. These photo’s show me near the top, with my attempt to show the amount of elevation drop in 2 switchbacks.

My next gas stop and a big drink was in Boulder. It is such a pretty town. I’ll bet the population is about 200, mostly farms. From Boulder, the road goes up over the mountain, topping out at 9,600’. Then a long drop into Torrey, which is the gateway to Capitol Reef Nat’l Monument.

I had traveled 275 miles, and was getting tired, plus it didn’t look like I would hit another town big enough to have any motels for several hours, so I elected to stay here. I had scoped out a small motel on the internet, which had advertised $49 rooms, the Capitol Reef Inn and Café (appropriate for the area). I found it to be nice and clean, with 10 rooms. I got a room and shared space with 7 Harley riders from Missouri. My little PC looks like it was intimidated by the big “hogs”. There was a little café in front, the menu looked good, so I just ate there. Had a great Creamy Cajun Pasta with Shrimp, and a 10 veggie salad with homemade raspberry vinaigrette dressing. There were lots of bikers traveling through, and about 20 ate there also.

Day 2, Wednesday, July 8 363 miles

I got a fairly early start and headed west on UT 24 to Loa for gas, then up to Fish Lake on UT25, and around a loop road, ending up almost back at Loa on UT72, which I took north over a pass and down to I70, which I passed under. The road continued north as UT 10, pretty barren country with clay hills like the road around Tuba City. I stopped in Castle Dale for gas, visited the cemetery where my brother is buried, then headed north to Huntington, where I turned west again to catch another pass. These pictures are Fish Lake, UT 72 (my morning snack break), and Castle Dale.

I headed up Huntington Canyon on UT 31, past the big power plant, had to share the road with rogue cattle, who kept showing up in the twisties, then past Electric Lake, which was made (dammed) to provide water for the power plant. I got to the summit, where there were many parking areas for snowmobilers in the winter time to ride the “Skyline Drive”, I guess. There was snow on the north slopes and I was above treeline. Rather than drop into Fairview, I turned north on UT 264 and wandered down through Clear Creek past some coal mines in a deep canyon to Scofield. Lois’ grandfather settled there after migrating from Wales. I ate lunch on a picnic table next to his old house. Pictures: Electric Lake, the top of the pass-above tree line, and Scofield.

I gassed up again, and continued north to US 6, then went about 5 miles east on it, to a small cutoff road that took me to US 191, which I took north over another pass into Duchesne. Gas and a big drink-it was getting quite warm at 3pm., then west on US 40 for 18 miles (the worst traffic of the whole trip-with winds), then north on UT 208 to UT 35, through Tabiona and Hanna. Not very big places. I called the Sagebrush Inn to see if they had a room, but they didn’t, so I continued on. When I was in college, I had worked for the Forest Service one summer in this area, so I detoured at Stockmore (find that on a map), and rode up the North Fork of the Duchesne River in Hades Canyon, just to see what it was like after 40 years. If you follow it to the end, you end up at the western trailhead to the Granddaddy basin of the Uintas. Pictures: me along the river at Hades campground (there used to be wild raspberries on the far bank, probably still are), downed trees that poor forest workers still have to cut up, and the canyon looking east to the Granddaddy trailhead. Great place to hike, fish, and camp.

I returned to the highway and headed west up through Utah’s “Wolf Creek Pass”. Not as daunting as the one in Colorado, but very pretty and just awesome for a motorcycle. The road was not straight for about 45 miles, but just easy turns all the way over the pass. Kamas had some B&B’s, but that was above my Adv. Rider allowance, so I zipped into Heber City for the night. My first stop was a $39 place, but it reeked of smoke, and the guys out front were eying my bike and I figured I would be on foot by morning, so I retreated further into town to Mac’s Place. As you can see from the picture, it was for sale, but it was nice also, for $60. The motel guy recommended “The Spicy Lady” for dinner. It was good, I had Chicken Kiev. Found a little ice cream parlor with a old grandmother serving. It was attached to the local theatre, and I could have eaten the ice cream while watching the movie. I wonder how sticky those floors were!!

Day 3, Thursday, July 9 326 miles

Today I woke up early, slipped next door to McDonalds (broke the rules, but ….I love the sausage mcgriddles), and started packing. Decided to go get gas before attaching the packs on the seat. Oops, no lights, no starter, nothing. I had locked the bike last night, but failed to notice that I had turned the key to the “emergency” lock, which locks up the front, but turns on the taillight, for visibility. Well I had locked it up about sunset and hadn’t noticed. So after verifying this by checking all the fuses, I walked over to Checker Auto, about 2 blocks away, and bought a battery charger. After 1-1/2 hours, I had enough power to start it up and head out.

Today I retraced my route to Kamas on UT 150, and up over Bald Mountain Pass, Mirror Lake into Evanston, WY. (see, I am headed north, sort of) A cold front had passed through the night before, and since I was going up to 10,000 + feet, I elected to wear my regular jacket, rather than the ventilated one. It felt really good up there. I actually wore it till about 2pm, before I dropped low enough for the heat to catch up to me.

Pictures: North Fork of the Provo River, me at same place, Bald Mountain Pass (the view north/south/the pass sign), and Mirror Lake.

I ate lunch in Evanston at a downtown deli. Followed the local police in-figured they wouldn’t eat bad food. It was good. I then gassed up, and headed north on WY 89, which turned into UT16 to Woodruff UT. This ended up being the end of my “go north” portion. If I had gone further, I would have gone all the way to Jackson WY and probably Yellowstone, where I had lived long ago. That would have taken 2 days, and I only had one. So I turned left on UT 39, the Monte Cristo Road and headed toward Ogden. My sister-in-law had told us while we were at Bear Lake, that she had many EMT runs on this road where motorcyclists with too many beers ran off the road. So I knew it would be a good one. I couldn’t find a name except Wasatch Ridge, but it was nice and cool up there. I then descended down to Pineview Reservoir, and Huntsville. I found the old road up to Snow Basin Ski area UT 226, which wasn’t marked except for a street sign. Beautiful old style road, with tight switchbacks. Then east to UT 167 and south to I 84 which I didn’t ride, but rode alongside to Morgan. Got gas and a big gulp, as it was quite warm, then headed south to East Canyon Reservoir on UT 66, then south on UT 65 into Emigration Canyon. That road was steep and windy, and I did a lot of it in 2^nd gear. I have a new appreciation for the pioneers who went through in wagons, having to hack through the scrub oak, and the steep canyon.

I then did my one section of freeway, on I80 up Parley’s Canyon to Park City. About 15 miles. Rode at 75 mph beside a Harley idiot in a tank top, shorts, and flip flops. Park City is very upscale now. I hadn’t been there in a long time. Everyone drives really nice “in” cars. I didn’t stop, but headed back down US 189 to Heber and Provo Canyon. Just after crossing the dam at Deer Creek Reservoir, I watched a pickup go off the highway on the upgrade-between 2 sections of guard rail and flip over and came to rest about 100’ below on the access road to the dam powerhouse. There were enough lookers stopping and slowing down, that I decided it would be safer to just leave. A couple of miles later I turned west on UT92, the Alpine Loop past Sundance Resort and over the top into American Fork. That is such a fun road. Much of it is only 1-1/2 lanes wide with tight, climbing switchbacks. (like a picture of a road in the Alps) I had told Andrea I would arrive by dark, and I got there about sundown.

Day 4, Monday July 13 (3 days off in Lehi) 402 miles

Got an early start today, and decided to just head south but still stay off the major highways. I headed west from Lehi and turned south on UT 68, the west side of Utah Lake. Then hit the big towns of Elberta and Goshen. Found a back road south to Mona, where I got on the old Hwy 91 to Nephi. (find those on a map too) This area was interesting. There were a lot of grasshoppers on the road, but they weren’t flying. So my windshield fared well, but I got lots on my boots and grasshopper carcasses on my wheel rims. I could even hear them and feel them hitting my boots. I kept going south on UT 28 to Gunnison, then US 89 to Panguitch. I ate bbq brisket at the Cowboy Smokehouse. Then gas and my last mountain ride of the trip up through Panguitch Lake on UT 143, Brian Head, Cedar Breaks, and Duck Creek on UT 14, before heading home.

There was a huge forest fire west of Panguitch. I took a shot from the gas station, and at Panguitch Lake, where the firefighters were headquartered. Got to see a helicopter getting water from the lake.

Pictures: Fire from Panguitch (city), fire from Panguitch Lake, Brian Head entrance sign, Cedar Breaks sign at North entrance, a shot of Cedar Breaks, and Duck Creek Campground (for Ty).