CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S ROUTE
The route today was probably the one I was looking forward to the most for the entire trip. We would be riding almost all the way across Utah through some of the most interesting geology in the United States. We left Cedar City just after sunrise, and were soon climbing out of the valley into the Dixie National Forest. We stopped at the top of the pass to get some photos.
This was at about 9,500 feet (2895 meters) and the temperature was dropping the farther we went. Going across the plateau at the top, the temperature dropped to 24 degrees (-4C) I had the grip heaters cranked up as well as the seat heater - my fingers and toes were cold, but that was about it. We had both layered extra under the gear today - but John did not have the luxury of the heated grips and seat. Just as we turned on to Route 12, John pulled into a coffee shop - great idea! They had a wood stove going and it was nice and toasty! After a bit of coffee, we were good to go again.
Utah Route 12 (click for more) is a road that I have been wanting to see for a long time. In 2008, Kate and I were in Utah on one of our National Parks trips and had planned on driving Route 12, but it ended up snowing pretty hard that day. 9 years later, and I am finally back! The southern end of the road is the main route to get to Bryce Canyon National Park (click for more). We did not go into Bryce, as it was $25 per motorcycle, and we weren't going to be able to spend much time there so we decided to skip it.
What I find the most interesting about the geology in Utah, is how quickly it changes - you'll see as the photos from the day go on. I'll try to put them in the order we saw them. Near Bryce Canyon there are lots of bright orange hoodoos like this:
After another 10-20 miles over some ridges and some really nice corners, the scenery changes again.
After a few more miles, the scenery changes again...
We spent more time getting off and on the bikes today than I have for the entire trip. Every few miles there was something that we had to stop and take photos of. In the photo below, you can see the road winding down from where we are.
This landscape called for a selfie!
Shortly after this, there was a section called The Hog Back where the road goes right along the top of a ridge - but the ridge is only as wide as the road and there are NO guardrails. I really wanted a photo of this, but there was NO way we'd be able to stop. CLICK HERE FOR SOMEONE ELSES VIDEO OF IT.
We keep going, and the landscape keeps changing. We are now getting more trees and a bit more greenery, along with some farms in the valleys. In the photo below, you can see the road winding into the tree-lined gulch near the center of the photo.
You can see the farm in the valley of the photo below. I can't imagine having this view every day.
As we got closer to the end of Route 12, the elevation is pretty high, and you get this view towards Torrey and Teasdale, UT.
The north end of Route 12 ends at Utah Route 24 in Torrey UT. We stopped for fuel here, and I called the KTM shop in Santa Fe to schedule an appointment for them to look at the clutch on the bike. Even after John and I bled the line, I was still having problems. I wanted to make sure that they were ready for me, rather than just showing up as I had to do in Missoula. We also had to take a little detour to the ONE Utah state liquor store that we would pass that day. Our destination was a dry town, and a nice drink after a long ride is the daily luxury. This was by far the smallest liquor store I have ever been to... but super friendly!
From here we turned east-ish and rode through Capitol Reef National Park (click for more) which is the closest you are going to get to being on Mars without leaving Earth. This is one of the most mind-blowing places I have ever been.
As we rode out of the park, guess what... the landscape changed again. We have left Mars, and landed on the Moon.
The next town was Hanksville, and there were a few kitsch stops we had to make!!
From here, we were going through an area I had never been. I was expecting a rather boring desert ride all the way to Blanding, UT, our stop for the night. I was so wrong about that!!! The descent into Glen Canyon was absolutely stunning.
See the bridge in the photo below? We would cross that about 10 winding miles after this photo was taken.
We also had to get a photo of John in front of his sign - a re-creation of a photo he took from another cross-country ride he did many years ago.
The expression on our faces below sums up how we felt about the day - trust me, there are HUGE smiles under those helmets!
We pulled into Blanding, UT not long before sunset. Blanding is a really odd little town. There are not too many places to eat, and not a whole lot else. Our only real option for food (other than Subway) was the restaurant that the hotel shared a parking lot with - it didn't look real promising, but they were really friendly, and make a mean chicken fried steak!
After dinner we walked up to the only convenience store that was open. At dinner, we had a conversation about what people do for fun in towns like this - when we got to the store, we found out!
A gas station, convenience store, A&W, and bowling alley - all in one. - and it was HOPPING! All it needed was a law office and it would have been complete (comment on this post if you get that reference :-)
In a previous post, I had said that the ride through Yosemite was the best ride I had ever done. Today beat that by a long shot.
Today's miles - 392 (631 km)
Total miles - 5360 (8626 km)
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