On My Way Home

August 13, 2017July 18, 2021 / ridingwithgary / 25 Comments

One last group photo before heading separate ways at the end of an epic journey.

After 16 days and 3,457 miles riding with Dave and Scott (and Randy, too), I’m on my own.

And, I’m on my way home.

The first sentence makes me sad. The second makes me happy.

***

Dave and Scott, tanks full of gas, moments before heading toward Kingman, Arizona, on their way home to Southern California.

As Dave and Scott head west toward Orange County, California, I leave Cedar City, too – beginning the 500-mile ride to the new Lesser/Murr homestead in Carbondale, Colorado.

My rear-view mirror is full of memories — and in front of me lies unbridled excitement about a new life in the Rockies.

Who leaves paradise (La Quinta) after 16 years of the good life at PGA West?

hp_slide-5 — Sixteen years of the good life at PGA West. It’s been a wonderful experience, but now it’s time for something new. Hey … let’s try Carbondale, Colorado. Why not? For the curious among you, the hole pictured above is number 10 on the Arnold Palmer Private Course.

Who says goodbye to their friends and relocates to a place whose beauty is breathtaking, but so much about it is foreign?

Sarah and I do.

If you have to ask us why, well, you probably wouldn’t understand.

***

Utah Highway 14 leads me eastward from Cedar City into Cedar Canyon, a scenic drive that crests at nearly 10,000 feet.

For the next 35 miles, the road twists and turns, past Navajo Lake, through Duck Creek Village, and eventually to the intersection with US Highway 89. The road through Cedar Canyon offers epic views of the Dixie National Forest, before giving way to massive meadows on both sides of the highway.

At the gas station that marks the junction of Utah Highway 14 and US Highway 89, I turn north and begin making my way toward Bryce Canyon National Park.

I roll through the town of Hatch, population 133, home of the Bryce Zion Inn – where identity confusion apparently caused it to be named after both National Parks. An unconfirmed report suggests Hatch is named after 84-year-old US Senator Orrin Hatch, now serving his seventh term. The ultra-conservative Hatch hasn’t decided whether he’ll seek an eighth Senate term in 2018, but says he might be willing to step aside if Mitt Romney decides to give elective office another try. In a recent Salt Lake Tribune poll, 58 percent of Utahns said Hatch “definitely” should not seek re-election.

***

About 10 miles north of Hatch is the turnoff to Utah Highway 12, a Scenic Byway that’s Utah’s first All-American Road.

201008-w-coasts-utah-rt-12 — Utah Highway 12, one of the most spectacular roads imaginable.

Known as “A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway,” it’s considered one of the top five motorcycle roads in the US.

I’ve ridden Highway 12 three times in each direction (east to west, west to east), and it does not disappoint. It’s 123 miles of unparalleled beauty, alternatingly breathtaking and terrifying.

Parts of Highway 12 were built by in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 as part of FDR’s New Deal. It provided unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state and local governments.

When the Civilian Conservation Corps built Highway 12, the new road provided the first year-round access for cars to this once-isolated part of southwestern Utah.

Highway 12 has been voted the second-most beautiful highway in the world, and for good reason.

crup-070800-utah-05-hr-web — Red Canyon road trip. What could be better? Not much.

A few miles after turning onto Highway 12, I immediately enter Red Canyon, home of Red Canyon State Park and Red Canyon Scenic Drive. All red, all the time. There’s red rock everywhere you look. The colors come from the presence of iron oxide, or hematite. Exposure to the elements caused iron minerals to oxidize, or rust, resulting in red, orange and brown-colored rocks.

The author’s Harley, at the entrance to Red Canyon.

Highway 12 approaches Bryce Canyon National Park from the west via Red Canyon, a relatively shallow valley in the side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau surrounded by exposed orange red limestone.

The rocks are eroded into the familiar pinnacles, spires, columns and hoodoos also found in the national park about 10 miles to the east. The formations line Highway 12 for about 4 miles, starting quite abruptly at the edge of the plateau, then fading away as the road reaches the flat grasslands on top, and extend several miles north, including two other large valleys of Losee and Casto Canyons.

Red Canyon has several tunnels carved from the red rocks.

And before you know it, I arrive at the turnoff to Bryce Canyon National Park, home of hoodos.

USA_10654_Bryce_Canyon_Luca_Galuzzi_2007 — Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos are geological marvels. But today, I’ll skip them and continue riding.

But today is not a park visitation day. I’ll smell enough roses, metaphorically speaking, just by enjoying this spectacular road.

***

Shortly after the Bryce Canyon turnoff, I roll through the towns of Tropic, Cannonville and Henrieville, all established in the late 1800s by Mormon settlers.

Thirty miles northeast of Henrieville is Escalante, a small ranching town with about 800 full-time residents. It’s named after Silvestre Velez de Escalante, a Franciscan missionary and a member of the first European expedition into southern Utah. In 1776, Escalante left Santa Fe, New Mexico, trying to find a route to the missions of California. His expedition took him through western Colorado and west across central Utah before eventually arriving in what is today called the Escalante Desert.

Once you pass through Escalante, the road becomes exhilarating, and in places, sphincter-tightening. It has scary switchbacks and steep drop-offs. That sound you just heard was me, praying for a safe passage.

utah-byway-12-940x519 — A hogback warning of what’s ahead. Signs and words don’t come even close to the terror I feel.

There’s a “hogback” section that pretty much brings me to tears every time I’m on it – today included.

A hogback is a long narrow ridge or series of hills with a narrow crest and steep slopes with nearly equal inclines on both sides. As you might guess, the name refers to its resemblance to the back of a hog. Apologies to my Jewish friends and family for riding on a non-kosher geological formation. I’ll try to pick my routes more carefully next time.

***

From the hogback, you head toward Boulder, a town of just over 200 residents. Boulder has the best food along Highway, at either Hell’s Backbone Grill or the Burr Trail Grill.

From Boulder, the road begins climbing steeply. Coincidentally, so do I.

Near the top of Boulder Mountain, a thunderstorm comes out of nowhere and soaks me. Thunder, lightning, and hail. The works!

The 30-mile long portion of the highway that ascends and descends Boulder Mountain is known as the Boulder Mountain Highway. It climbs to an elevation of more than 9,600 feet, through a huge aspen grove, before descending into the town of Torrey – gateway to Capitol Reef National Park.

UH12_Boulder_Mountain_Aspens_4_rtp — Boulder Mountain Highway’s aspen groves are spectacular, especially in the fall. This photo was not shot today.

Building Highway 12 took nearly four decades, as construction crews sporadically blasted, cut and paved their way through rugged hills cliffs from the 1940s to the 1980s. The road was initially built to move cattle, supplies and mail for the people in five small towns in southern Utah. But when the last stretch over heavily forested Boulder Mountain was finally paved in 1985, it didn’t take travelers long to discover that this road was the best tour of Utah’s red-rock desert that can be made in a single day.

The weather may have sucked, but my bike took it all in stride.

If you enjoyed the ride on Utah Highway 12 as much as I did, here’s a chance to revisit it, this time from East to West – the entire 125 miles in time-lapse video.

***

At the northeastern terminus of Highway 12 is Torrey, elevation 6,830 feet. Torrey was established in the 1880s by Mormon settlers, and was initially known as Youngtown, after John Willard Young. He’s one of the few individuals to have been an apostle of the LDS Church and a member of the First Presidency without ever having been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Gotta love Mormon trivia!

The town of Torrey was named after one of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, Col. Jay Torrey.

Torrey is tonight’s destination. After a thrilling 123-mile ride on Highway 12, arriving here is almost anticlimactic.

1-Scenic-Byway-12-View-5 — The view descending Highway 12 toward Torrey. Photo also not taken today.

The biggest excitement here is conjuring up the past, thinking of Butch Cassidy, whose boyhood home was not far from here, and Zane Grey, author best known for adventure novels like Riders of the Purple Sage, who often visited Torrey.

Me, I’m parking the bike at the Red Sands Hotel, grabbing a quick bite, and preparing to press on tomorrow toward the Lesser/Murr homestead in Colorado.

***

Day Seventeen Summary: One of America’s top five motorcycle roads, the second-most beautiful highway in the world. Life’s good.

Click here to see today’s complete route from Cedar City to Torrey.

I’m on my way home.

Vroom, vroom.

***

Today in Bucket List History:

Bucket List Goal: “Build a Monument to Paranoia.”

Goal Achieved: On August 13, 1961, construction begins on the Berlin Wall in East Germany. The Wall falls 28 years later, on Nov. 9, 1989. East Germany officially referred to the Wall as the “Anti-Fascist Protective Wall,” implying that the NATO countries and West Germany in particular were considered fascists by German Democratic Republic propaganda.

http---a.amz.mshcdn.com-wp-content-uploads-2014-11-Berlin-construction-final-land-9 — Building the Berlin Wall in 1961.

What’s on your bucket list?

***

A postscript: Dave and Scott are in Kingman, Arizona, tonight, cooling off before riding through a blast furnace tomorrow on their way home to Orange County. Here are a few photos, showing their day on the road.

20170813_104225 — Dave found some red rocks, too. These were in Nevada. (photo by Scott)

20170813_123656 — Dave and Scott cool off at a convenience store en route to Kingman, Arizona. Dave’s method of cooling off: an ice cream sandwich.

The Harley Word of Wisdom, Avoiding the Garn Scale

August 12, 2017July 18, 2021 / ridingwithgary / 6 Comments

20170812_165022 — The Red Brigade, three beautiful Harleys, resting comfortably overnight at the Holiday Inn Express in Springville, Utah, where we spent the night Friday. (photo by Scott)

Mormons who live by the “Word of Wisdom” don’t smoke, don’t drink coke, alcohol, or coffee – and eat meat in moderation. Apparently, this sort of lifestyle modification is good for you.

Some years ago, a study of 10,000 LDS Church members in California concluded that those who follow the Word of Wisdom have death rates from cancer and cardiovascular diseases about half that of the general population.

We should begin our last full day in Utah the way bikers usually do: a strong cup of coffee, chicken fried steak, eggs and hash browns piled high on our breakfast plates.

cfs — Breakfast, according to the Harley Word of Wisdom.

Let’s call it the Harley Word of Wisdom.

Leaving Springville, US Highway 89 takes us south through Thistle and Birdseye, skirting the west side of the Manti-La Sal National Forest. Soon we roll through Ephraim, home of Snow College, one of the oldest junior colleges west of the Mississippi.

Next stop on US-89: Gunnison, named in honor of John Gunnison, a US Army officer who surveyed the area for the transcontinental railroad in 1853. Gunnison is also where you’ll find the Central Utah Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison that houses up to 1,125 felons.

Gassing up in Salina. Another 50 mpg tankful on the author’s Harley.

Salina had a quaint War Memorial, honoring those men and women from the area who served in major wars.

The last city of note before joining Interstate 70 is Salina. Salina’s first permanent settlers moved into the area in 1864 at the direction of LDS church leadership. The settlers – about 30 families – found abundant salt deposits nearby, so they named the area Salina.

In Marysvale, along US-89, stopping for a break and refreshments.

20170812_122231 — Same ice cream sandwich. Still yummy. (photo by Scott)

Found a cool covered wagon in Marysvale.

We pass by Richfield, birthplace of Jake Garn, former Salt Lake City Mayor who was later elected to three terms in the US Senate. Garn is a Mormon who graduated from the University of Utah (yay!) and became the first member of Congress to fly in space.

3853_640 — The space shuttle Discovery on one of its 39 missions. In 1985, Jake Garn flew on one of those missions, experiencing severe space sickness.

In 1985, he flew on a five-day mission on the space shuttle Discovery. Garn experienced severe space sickness, whose symptoms range from mild nausea and disorientation to vomiting and intense discomfort. He became so sick in space that NASA jokingly referred to the “Garn Scale” to measure reactions to space sickness; a “One Garn” is the highest possible level of sickness. Apparently, most astronauts get perhaps “one-tenth Garn,” if that. Garn turns 85 in October.

***

After 33 miles of interstate riding, we exit I-70 in Sevier and climb back onto US Highway 89 for another 60 miles, passing Piute State Park and Piute Reservoir. The park and reservoir are named for the Native Americans who once dominated this area. The Utah state legislature changed the original spelling from Paiute to Piute.

Ugh! Rain on the way, so we put on rain gear on US Hwy 89.

Soon we arrive in the city of Panguitch, population 1,500. Panguitch is a Paiute Native American word meaning “Big Fish.” The city is named for the plentiful fish found in nearby lakes, filled with some of the larges rainbow trout in Utah. Major events in Panguitch include the Annual Quilt Walk Festival, held in the spring, and the Panguitch Valley Balloon Rally, held in June.

Not much happening in Panguitch at the moment, though its proximity to Utah’s red rock country and Bryce Canyon National Park brings tourists to Panguitch and gives the city life.

In Panguitch, we turn west on Utah Highway 143 and head toward Cedar Breaks National Monument. We’re riding through Dixie National Forest, past Panguitch Lake, a high alpine lake sitting at 8,400 feet.

We follow UT-143 until it runs into the tiny town of Brian Head, elevation 9,800 feet. Brian Head calls itself the “Highest Resort Town in America.”

Mountain biking is one of many summer activities at Brian Head Ski Resort.

Here, we find the Brian Head Ski Resort, the largest in Southern Utah. Day passes are only $45. In the summer, Brian Head offers mountain biking, zip lining, avalanche tubing, disc golf, and family-friendly hiking trails.

From Brian Head, we descend south and turn on to Utah Highway 148, which takes us to Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Its rock formations are similar to nearby Bryce Canyon National Park. Cedar Breaks includes a natural geologic amphitheater that’s a half-mile deep. Elevation along the rim of the amphitheater is above 10,000 feet. In fact, the road reaches 10,626 feet above sea level, and is Utah’s second-highest paved road. Cedar Breaks, which has been a national monument since 1933, receives nearly 800,000 visitors each year.

***

Leaving Cedar Breaks, we turn west and follow beautiful Cedar Canyon for 18 miles til reaching tonight’s destination: Cedar City, elevation 5,846 feet, located on the western edge of the Markagunt Plateau. Cedar City was settled in 1851 by Mormon pioneers, sent there to build an iron works, because of the vast iron and coal resources only ten miles from town.

Cedar Canyon 1 — Riding Cedar Canyon, as seen from Dave’s bike.

Cedar City is a tourism gateway to nearby Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and of course, Cedar Breaks National Monument – which we visited less than an hour ago.

It’s a charming city where you’ll find Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Midsummer Renaissance Faire, the Utah Summer Games, the Neil Simon Theatre Festival, the Frontier Folk Festival, and the Groovefest Music Festival. No wonder it’s called “Festival City.”

la-tr-shakespeare-festival-cedar-city-utah-20140808 — The Utah Shakespeare Festival is one of many reasons Cedar City is called “Festival City.”

The city of nearly 30,000 is named after the abundant local trees, which are actually junipers, not cedar. Easy mistake to make.

Scott Donaldson, a third of what remains of Team Sturgis, is quite familiar with Cedar City. His son, Kyle, played football here for Southern Utah University. Kyle was the starting strong side tackle for the Thunderbirds in 2013 when they won the Big Sky Conference title and advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs. In his playing days, Kyle was a 6’4”, 323-pound monster, bench pressing 440 pounds and squatting 650 – and also scoring several scholar-athlete awards. “He’s not just a football bonehead,” says his proud Dad.

FB_IMG_1502579644297 — That’s Kyle, in the middle, red jersey,, blocking #94 .

Clearly a product of good genes, Kyle received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice – and today is an operator at Kittyhawk Products, a Southern California company that specializes in heat treating parts for applications ranging from aerospace to racing engine blocks.

Term of the day, and fancy name for heat treating: Hot Isostatic Pressing.

You’re welcome.

Oh … some great new about Kyle: he’ll soon be putting his Criminal Justice degree to good use. He’s been hired by the Santa Ana Police Department, and will begin his training to become a police officer in September. A Milennial doing good for the ‘hood 👍👍👍

***

Day Sixteen Summary: Following the Word of Wisdom (sort of), barfing with Senator Garn, confusion with trees.

Click here to see today’s complete route from Springville to Cedar City.

We’re on our way home.

Vroom, vroom.

***

20170812_185011 — It was pouring rain when we were ready to ride to dinner, so we got smart (and safe) and took a cab. (photo by Scott)

20170812_195132 — Dinner at Charlie’s Southern BBQ in Cedar City. (photo by Scott)

***

Today in Bucket List History:

Bucket List Goal: “Make a Lot of People Happy.”

Goal Achieved: On August 12, 1955, President Eisenhower raises the minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 an hour. When the US set its first minimum wage in 1938, it was 25 cents an hour. Today minimum wage proponents argue for $15 an hour.

Dwight_D_Eisenhower-H — President Eisenhower is the first president to raise the minimum wage to $1 an hour.

What’s on your bucket list?

***

A fun activity toward the end of each trip is the receipt party, where we figure out who owes who for the trip. It’s an exercise in elementary arithmetic, and three grown men with college degrees barely could figure it out.

Receipt party. Woo-hoo! A computer, Excel, a pile of receipts, and someone ends up with a pile of money.

Three States. Two Temples. One Fine Day.

August 11, 2017July 18, 2021 / ridingwithgary / 14 Comments

With elk antlers dancing in our rear view mirrors, we head south toward Bear Lake. Soon we cross into Idaho, the ninth and final state on our trip. Would have made it an even ten, but didn’t have time for Oregon. Or Florida.

Montpelier, Idaho, is the Gem State’s first city we see. Montpelier was settled in 1863 by Mormon pioneers. Montpelier received its name from Brigham Young, who named it after the capital of his birth state of Vermont.

Before long, we’re clearly in bear country. We roll past Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge, Bear Lake and Bear Lake State Park. A natural freshwater lake, Bear Lake is split pretty much equally between Idaho and Utah.

c58472e4-c6e2-4b3b-ffea-55f7270aac66 — Bear Lake: the Caribbean of the Rockies.

It’s been called the “Caribbean of the Rockies” for its unique turquoise-blue color, which is due to the reflection of calcium carbonate (limestone) deposits in the lake. The lake has two state parks, each named Bear Lake State Park – one in Idaho and one in Utah. Bear Lake sits at an elevation of 5,924 feet.

We cross into Utah with little fanfare, at the mid-point of the lake.

Breakfast in Garden City at the Bear Trapper restaurant. We wanted to go to the Crepes and Coffee restaurant, but the wait was 30 minutes — and no crepes is that good. (photo by our server)

In the town of Garden City, we turn west away from Bear Lake and begin riding the beautiful Logan Canyon Scenic Byway. This byway climbs through the diverse terrain of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, whose mountains soar to 9,000 feet.

We pass several small lakes, popular with fishermen. These lakes are all that remain of the ancient Lake Bonneville. Some 30,000 years ago, Lake Bonneville covered more than 20,000 square miles, expanding into Idaho’s Red Rock Pass and the Snake River. As the lake eventually flooded, the water weakened the soil, causing the lake to almost completely drain. The lake’s many islands became the mountain peaks that now dot Utah’s landscape.

Soon we cross 7,800-foot Bear Pass, which offers a spectacular view of Bear Lake. To our left is Temple Peak. At 9,026 feet it’s the 534^th highest mountain in Utah, and the 6,479^th highest in the US. You know the name has to be connected to the LDS Church in some way, and you’re right.

Let’s go back in time, say 150 years ago. That’s when Maughns Fork, near Logan Canyon, was named for Peter Maughn, who ran a sawmill there. Well, the sawmill name was changed when the LDS (Mormon) Church decided to harvest the timber in Logan canyon for building the Logan LDS temple. Thus, Maughns Fork became Temple Fork, and the nearby mountain became Temple Peak. Temple Peak is at the head of Temple Fork up Logan Canyon. That’s information you just can’t get anywhere else. You’re welcome.

***

logan-mormon-temple105 — The Logan LDS Temple. Most readers of this blog do not qualify to go inside.

If we follow US Highway 89 another 10 miles or so into Logan, we’ll end up at the Logan LDS Temple, the fourth one built by the Mormon Church, and today, their sixth-largest. The place is so large it took 25,000 people to build it over a seven-year period, culminating in the Temple’s dedication in 1884.

Logan was founded in 1859 by settlers sent by Brigham Young to survey for the site of a fort near the banks of the Logan River. They named their new community for Ephraim Logan, an early fur trapper in the area.

At Saddleback HD in Logan, Dave adds to his T-shirt collection.

Outside Saddleback Harley Davidson in Logan.

Today, Logan is home to Utah State University, founded in 1888 as the Agriculture College of Utah. Could be why the athletic teams are called the Aggies. Those of us (me) who instead went to school at the University of Utah (BS, Journalism, 1973), generally view Utah State derogatorily, thinking of it as a cow college whose alumni include former US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Merlin Olsen of NFL and Little House on the Prairie Fame.

Merlin-Olsen-Little-House-on-the-Prairie — Merlin Olsen (Little House on the Prairie), one of Utah State University’s more famous alums.

Considered one of America’s safest cities, Logan is actually a nice place to visit, and to live. It’s been variously praised as one of the best places to retire young (CNN Money), one of the best small places for business and careers (Forbes), the most walkable community in Utah (The Monday Report), and the number one city in America to be a kid on Christmas (The Daily Beast).

As a student at the University of Utah in the late 1960s, I had a girlfriend (Toni Potter) in Logan, and visited regularly. We went our separate ways after nearly getting married in 1970, and like so many Mormon girls, she now probably has 12 children and 100 grandchildren.

Old joke … Q: you know the difference between a Mormon housewife and an orca? A: About 100 pounds, except the orca doesn’t have a bowling jacket.

Maybe you had to spend time in LDS culture to see the humor in that. I did, and I do.

***

With the Logan Temple in sight, we turn south on Main Street, which soon becomes Utah Highway 165. The area is mostly agricultural, including a dollop of dairy farms.

Highway 165 becomes Highway 162 with no notice. We continue south, and just north of the town of Liberty, we pass the Powder Mountain ski area, which sells day passes to the first 2,000 people who show up – then closes the mountain to everyone else (except season pass holders). Powder Mountain gets about 350 inches of snow each year, richly earning its name.

A few miles down the road, we roll past Nordic Valley Ski Resort, which bills itself as a boutique resort, where 100 percent of its runs are ski-able at night under the lights. Nordic Valley claims to be Northern Utah’s most affordable winter resort, with adult day passes mid-week selling for $45. For context, my freshman year at the University of Utah, a day pass at Alta was $5.50, seven days a week!

The road takes us along the eastern shores of Pineview Reservoir, developed to provide reliable irrigation to 25,000 acres of land between the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. We pass through the town of Huntsville, then turn south on Utah Highway 167, where we quickly roll past Snowbasin Resort, which hosted alpine skiing events for Salt Lake City’s 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Snowbasin was the site for downhilll, combined and super-G races.

SONY DSC — Steep and deep, at Snowbasin Resort.

Clearly, we are in the heart of Utah’s ski country, and we’re heading for more. We jump on Interstate 84 for 6 miles, then turn south on Utah Highway 66 toward East Canyon State Park and East Canyon Reservoir, which sits at 5,700 feet in the Wasatch Mountains.

East Canyon has a rich history, including an 1846 visit by the Donner Party, later made famous by its misfortune in California. The Donner Party was a group of farmers from Iowa and Illinois rolling west in a wagon train to find fertile land for their crops.

As history buffs will recall, the Donner Party passed through Utah and Nevada, before becoming stranded in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Trapped by a heavy snowfall near Truckee, California, they ran out of food, froze to death, and in some cases, resorted to cannibalism to survive.

A year later, Mormon pioneers followed the same route through Utah, but had a considerably happier ending. Four days after rolling their wagons through East Canyon, Brigham Young and his group of pioneers continued on to the Salt Lake Valley, where he famously said, “This is the place.”

Mormons, then, and now, don’t eat one another.

***

On the side of the road, heading for Park City.

We arrive at Mountain Dell Golf Course, one of seven owned and operated by Salt Lake City. I often played this course when I lived in Utah from 1968 to 1975.

At Mountain Dell, we merge onto Interstate 80 and ride east 11 miles to Kimball Junction, the exit to Park City. Moments later, now on Utah Highway 224, we roll past Canyons Ski Resort, one of three alpine ski resorts located in Park City. During my time in Utah, the area was called Park City West, then ParkWest. Today, following years of dramatic expansion, the area has 182 runs, 21 lifts, and is owned by Vail Resorts.

Vail Resorts, which also owns neighboring Park City Mountain Resort, connected the two ski areas with a gondola, and they now operate as a single, huge entity that’s a ski lover’s paradise.

One mile up the road, we arrive in the chi-chi mountain town of Park City, once dominated by mining and now a haven for tourism. The city brings in more than $500 million every year to the Utah economy, $80 million of which comes from the Sundance Film Festival.

Park City, which sits at 7,000 feet, has two major ski resorts: the uber-posh Deer Valley Resort, and Park City Mountain Resort.

fresh_tracks_deer_valley_ski_resort_2_99955 — Perfectly groomed at Deer Valley.

Both areas were major locations for ski and snowboarding events at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Park City is also the site for Utah Olympic Park, a winter sports park built for the 2002 Winter Olympics. During the 2002 games, the park hosted the bobsled, skeleton, luge, ski jumping and Nordic combined events. It still serves as a training center for US Olympic athletes.

In the 1860s, a mining boom brought large crowds of prospectors to Park City. By 1892, the Silver King Mine had become the largest silver mine in the US, and one of the most famous silver mines in the world. The town flourished with crowds of miners, but Park City nearly became a ghost town by the end of the 1950s because of a precipitous drop in the price of silver.

***

At Park City Harley. First time I’ve been to Park City since the 1970s.

Park City Harley Davidson is on Main Street, so of course we stop, shop, and hydrate before moving on to Deer Valley Resort. Deer Valley didn’t exist during my years in Utah, but since opening in 1981, it has set the standard for customer service at North American ski resorts. When you ski at Deer Valley, you are totally pampered. Deer Valley is one of three remaining American ski resorts that still prohibit snowboarders.

Leaving Deer Valley, we begin the long, steep, winding descent out of the Wasatch Mountains on Pine Canyon Drive. The route, with a series of dramatic switchbacks, soon takes us through an Aspen forest to Deer Creek Reservoir and Deer Creek State Park, located in the beautiful Heber Valley.

We’re now only about 15 miles from Provo, next-door neighbor to today’s destination. We follow US Highway 189 into Provo, and prepare to call it a day. With a population of 116,000, Provo is Utah’s third-largest city.

The city, of course, is best known as the home of Brigham Young University, named for the founder of the Mormon Church. BYU is the largest religious university in the US. It has nearly 30,000 on-campus students.

BYU_Utah_LasVegasBowl_2015_getty_0 — Yet another win for the Utes over BYU, 2015 Las Vegas Bowl. #GoUtes

Historically, BYU has been the University of Utah’s biggest athletic rival; for us Ute alumni, the only game all year that matters is Utah v BYU, known as the “Holy War.” For those of you keeping score, Utah leads the series, winning 59 of 97 games – including the last six in a row. The next game in the rivalry is September 9, four weeks from tomorrow. It’ll be played at LaVell Edwards Stadium, on the BYU campus. Go Utes!

Across the US, slightly more than two percent of the population identifies as Mormon. About 61 percent of Utahns are Mormon, and in Provo, more than 93 percent of the population is LDS. The LDS population reaches 100 percent at the church’s Provo Missionary Training Center.

The MTC is a place where 19-year-old Mormons go to learn missionary skills. The training center was made famous by the Tony award-winning musical, “Book of Mormon.”

Mormon Missionaries — Forget Broadway … this is what real Mormon missionaries look like. White shirts, K-mart ties, magic underwear, and name badges that say, for example, “Elder Lesser” (as if).

The Broadway show begins at the Missionary Training Center, where Elder Price demonstrates how to convert people to Mormonism. Elder Price ends up on a mission to northern Uganda, where language skills in English and Swahili both come in handy. The Missionary Training Center teaches more than 62 languages – including Swahili – and has more than 1,000 instructors.

Across the street from the Missionary Training Center, you’ll find the LDS Provo Temple. It’s one of 15 in Utah, and 155 around the world, including Afton, Wyoming – where our day began – Aba, Nigeria and Nuku’alofa, Tonga. There’s an LDS Temple under construction in Cedar City, Utah – tomorrow’s destination. It’s slated for completion later this year.

But I digress. Let’s get back to Provo, a hop, skip and a jump from today’s destination, Springville. Provo’s largest employer is BYU, followed closely by Nu Skin Enterprises, a multi-level marketing company (pyramid selling) that develops and sells personal care products and dietary supplements. If you’ve mastered selling religion door-to-door, how difficult can selling Nu Skin be?

maxresdefault — Donny and Marie: getting better with age.

One of Provo’s most famous families is the Osmonds, who raised all nine of their children here – including Donny and Marie. Who didn’t love Paper Roses?

Hard to believe – Donny Osmond turns 60 in December!

***

Day Fifteen Summary: In the heart of Mormon country, cannibalism takes a vacation, ski resorts by the boatload, searching for Donnie and Marie.

Click here to see today’s complete route from Afton to Springville.

We’re on our way home.

Vroom, vroom.

***

Today in Bucket List History:

Bucket List Goal: “Say Whatever You Want. Who Cares?”

Goal Achieved: On August 11, 1984 during a radio voice test, President Ronald Reagan jokes he “signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.” Regan makes the joke to radio technicians; his words are not broadcast over the air, but leak later to the public.

BL_radio081809_80919a_8col — A joke that wasn’t that funny.

What’s on your bucket list?

Faithful and Reliable, Erupting on Cue

August 10, 2017July 18, 2021 / ridingwithgary / 13 Comments

Breakfast in West Yellowstone. Guess who ordered (and ate) this?

The third person at the table had this sorry looking breakfast. Guess who?

We leave West Yellowstone, just ahead of busloads of tourists doing the same thing we are today: visiting Old Faithful.

The west entrance to Yellowstone National Park is on the outskirts of town. Soon, Yellowstone Avenue transitions to US Highway 191, and we are in the park, riding east toward the Wyoming state line.

Within a mile, we cross into Wyoming. Ninety-six percent of Yellowstone National Park is in Wyoming. The rest is in Montana (three percent) and Idaho (one percent).

We cruse eastward along the banks of the Madison River. The river, which is a fly-fishing mecca, was named in 1805 by Meriwether Lewis of Lewis-and-Clark fame. He named the river after then-Secretary of State James Madison, who four years later succeeded Thomas Jefferson as President.

Madison River, YNP, gl-3-Edit — Fly fishing in the Madison River.

The Madison River has great fishing for rainbow and brown trout. Within Yellowstone National Park, the river is fly fishing only. All fishing in the park is catch-and-release. Fishing is a hugely popular activity within the park. More than 50,000 park fishing permits are issued annually. Yellowstone has hundreds of miles of fishable creeks, streams, rivers and lakes. The cutthroat trout is Wyoming’s state fish.

Soon we pass Mount Haynes, 8,218 feet up in the Gallatin Mountain Range. Mount Haynes is named in honor of Frank Haynes, the first official park photographer.

The next mountain of note is 7,549-foot National Park Mountain, at the confluence of the Madison River and the Firehole River. National Park Mountain is just west of Madison Junction, where we turn south and follow the Firehole River for the next 15 minutes. Temperatures in the river have been measured as high as 86 degrees F, with elevated levels of boron and arsenic. Despite the seemingly hostile environment, brown and rainbow trout live and spawn in the Firehole River.

1200px-Firehole_river_at_Upper_Geyser_Basin-2008-june — Firehole River: it’s smokin’ hot!

Early trappers named it the Firehole for the steam that makes it appear to be smoking, as if on fire. The steam, of course, is a result of the river flowing through several significant geyser basins in the park.

Scott waits patiently for Old Faithful to erupt.

He’s not the only one waiting for the show to begin.

One of those geyser basins is the Upper Geyser Basin, which contains the world-famous Old Faithful – the first geyser in the park to receive a name. It’s faithful, for sure, erupting every 44 to 125 minutes, 365 days a year. The reliability of Old Faithful can be attributed to the fact that it’s not connected to any other thermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin.

Each eruption shoots up to 8,400 gallons of boiling water to a height of up to 185 feet. The eruptions generally last from a minute and a-half to five minutes.

Finally, the eruption begins. Those are the author’s shoes at bottom.

Yours truly, as the eruption is underway.

Before leaving West Yellowstone this morning, we checked a geyser timetable to reduce the chances of disappointment. We get to Old Faithful, and sure enough, it erupts, almost on cue.

Since you can’t be with us, the next best thing is to check the Old Faithful live webcam. You’re welcome.

People from all over the world come to Yellowstone to watch Old Faithful erupt. The park’s wildlife and scenery are well known today, but it was the unique thermal features that inspired Yellowstone to become the world’s first national park in 1872.

Old Faithful is one of nearly 500 geysers in Yellowstone – the greatest concentration of geysers in the world. Old Faithful is one of six geysers that park rangers can predict; its eruption pattern is so reliable that early developers built special viewing areas, lodging and concessions for visitors to watch eruptions.

Here, you can learn more about geysers at the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, you can stay at the Old Faithful Inn, shop at the Old Faithful General Store, eat at the Old Faithful Lodge Cafeteria, or gas up at the Old Faithful Service Station.

***

We leave Old Faithful and continue east on Grand Loop Road, one of the park’s main thoroughfares. The road takes us over the Continental Divide, past Duck Lake, and to West Thumb, an arm of Yellowstone Lake. West Thumb is home to the West Thumb Geyser Basin, formed by a large volcanic explosion about 150,000 years ago.

The resulting collapsed volcano, called a caldera (“boiling pot” or cauldron), later filled with water, forming an extension of Yellowstone Lake. That extension is known as the West Thumb, which is about the same size as another famous volcanic caldera, Crater Lake in Oregon.

At West Thumb, the road turns south, and we soon pass Lewis Lake, named for Meriweather Lewis, commander of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Lewis River and the Snake River meet just north of the park’s South Entrance.

At Yellowstone National Park’s South Entrance.

Park entrance signs are popular photo spots.

Dave poses by the park entrance along the Snake River.

We leave Yellowstone National Park and follow the Snake River, soon crossing it as we head toward yet another National Park – Grand Teton.

The scenic road that connects Yellowstone to Grand Teton National Park is called John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway.

rockefellers — John D. Rockefeller and his wife, Abbey, on a boat in Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park — in 1931.

The 24,000-acre Rockefeller Memorial parkway was originally part of Teton National Forest, but was transferred to the National Park Service in the 1970s to create an unbroken connection between the two national parks.

Rockefeller was a conservationist and fabulously wealthy philanthropist who was instrumental in the creation and enlargement of a number of national parks, including Grand Teton. By the time Rockefeller died in 1937, his assets equaled 1.5 percent of America’s total economic output. To control an equivalent share today would require a net worth of more than $350 billion. He’s considered the wealthiest person in modern history. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil, which at its peak, had about 90 percent of the market for refined oil (kerosene) in the US. You gotta love a monopoly!

I’ll say this for Rockefeller: despite his great wealth, or perhaps because of it, he helped make the world a better place through his philanthropy – including purchasing and donating thousands of acres of land to the US National Parks system. Rockefeller serves as a shining example that becoming astonishingly rich doesn’t automatically make you a flaming a_ _ hole.

***

We take a break at the beautiful Jackson Lake Lodge, an awesome view of the Tetons in the distance.

It’s not long before we find ourselves riding along the eastern shore of Jackson Lake, at 6,772 feet, one of the largest high-altitude lakes in the US. The lake is named after the Jackson Five, early mountain pioneers who later in life perfected their Motown sound. That’s a much better story than the truth, which is that it was named after David Edward “Davey” Jackson, a beaver trapper in the area in the late 1820s.

Seems everything around here is named after Davey – including the towns of Jackson and Jackson Hole, and Jackson Lake Lodge, which we pass, then turn east on Teton Park Road to take the extraordinarily scenic route to Jackson Hole.

Near the unincorporated town of Moose, we turn onto Moose Wilson Road, another breathtaking detour, and continue toward Jackson Hole. The road is lined with chokecherry and hawthorn bushes.

Scott, in front of the Harley store in Jackson.

Just outside of the town of Jackson Hole, we arrive at Teton Village, home to the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Jackson Hole, with a peak elevation of 10,450 feet, is known for its steep terrain and a vertical drop of 4,139 feet. With the Teton Range’s uniquely shaped peaks, it’s a spectacular setting for a ski area.

6842686629_1bd0766de4_b — The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson, Wyoming. Saddle up!

If you’ve ever been to Jackson Hole, you probably stopped at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, which has been around for more than 125 years. Over the years, its stage has hosted – among others – Waylon Jennings, Glen Campbell, Tanya Tucker and Willie Nelson. The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar’s saddle barstools have been a signature item since 1973, the year I first visited the place. It’s a good place to grab a cold one on a hot day.

From Jackson Hole, it’s 70 miles to today’s destination: Afton, Wyoming.

We follow the Snake River south to Alpine Junction, and continue until we see the world’s largest arch made of elk antlers. The arch is made up of 3,011 elk antlers, spanning 75 feet across Afton’s Main Street.

afton-wy-antler-arch — Fifteen tons of elk antlers. Woo-hoo!

Good place to call it a day. How can you possibly improve on 15 tons of antlers?

***

Day Fourteen Summary: Two National Parks in one day, the predictability of Old Faithful, using your wealth to do good for the neighborhood.

Click here to see today’s complete route from West Yellowstone to Afton.

We’re on our way home.

Vroom, vroom.

We stayed at the Kodak Mountain Resort, Cabins 22 and 23, in Afton. Awesome accommodations … best kept lodging secret ever.

Chinese food tonight in Afton. Here, Dave eats healthy with a bowl of edamame.

Scott had the dinner special. Also a healthy treat.

***

Today in Bucket List History:

Bucket List Goal: “Rename Your Company So Nobody Knows Who You Are or What You Do.”

Goal Achieved: On August 10, 2015, Google restructures itself, placing its search business and its research ventures into a holding company called “Alphabet.” Want to learn more about that? Just Google it.

With all due respect, what the Hell is Alphabet?

What’s on your bucket list?

***

As a postscript, Randy and his Kawasaki arrived at the bike’s parking spot in Poulsbo. Here in the photo below, he unloads it from his F-150. Don’t try this at home.

Clearly a feat of derring. (photo by Jo)

Sturgis. We Did It!

August 7, 2017July 18, 2021 / ridingwithgary / 11 Comments

Overlooking Main Street in Sturgis. We made it!

Today is what the bucket list is all about: The world-famous Sturgis motorcycle rally, attracting more than a half-million bikers for a week of craziness every year in early August.

The route to Sturgis is easy. Ride west on Interstate 90 for 30 miles, then look for a place to park. Or, take the more scenic route, through Nemo and Vanocker Canyon. We take the scenic route, which, sadly – for a lot of Harley riders – is the road less travelled.

Three lonely women in search of a Harley stud. They found one.

Sturgis has a population of 6,267 – until the first full week of August each year – when it swells to a half million or more. The city is named after Brigadier General Samuel Sturgis, who served as a Union general in the Civil War. A sculpture of him mounted on horseback sits at the town’s eastern entrance, on South Dakota Highways 34 and 79, not far from the Full Throttle Saloon.

Sturgis has quite a few colorfully named saloons: One-Eyed Jacks, Iron Horse, Knuckle Saloon, Loud American Roadhouse. They all spring to life during Sturgis Rally Week.

20170807_120832 — Here’s a cute couple having a good time in Sturgis.

The 77^th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is why we’re here.

It began in 1938, originally held for stunts and races – and has since evolved into a meeting for motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world. The city of Sturgis estimates the Rally brings more than $800 million to South Dakota every year. The Rally makes up 95 percent of Sturgis’ annual revenue.

While we explore Sturgis, you can keep an eye out for us. Here’s a live web-cam from Sturgis. Here’s another.

We’re spending the entire day in Sturgis, so today’s blog post is spare on words and heavy on photos.

Gail finds a great perch for taking photos on Main Street.

Because we practice safe photography, Dave hangs on to Gail. Or, maybe he just likes holding on to her.

Dave captures the action from a tower overlooking Main Street.

There were some interesting “bikes” in Sturgis. Like this … (photo by Scott)

There was plenty of live music, indoors and in the sunshine.

All kinds of manufacturers had their stuff on display. It was a marketer’s dream. Here, Randy checks out a Slingshot, made by CanAm.

Meantime at the huge Harley display, Scott lusts after a 2017 CVO Street Glide.

Scott also has his eye on this V8 Chopper. Somewhat impractical, but he’s only window shopping.

Gail went shopping, and found some cool stuff.

Gary, Scott and Jackie on Main Street. (photo by Gail)

20170807_104448 — Scott and Jackie, ready to party in Sturgis. (photo by Gail)

From what we could tell, Sturgis wouldn’t be Sturgis without a little skin.

There were even bikini bike washes, which we didn’t need, cuz our bikes were already spotless.

***

Day Eleven Summary: Sturgis. That’s our story, and we’re stickin’ to it.

Click here to see today’s complete route from Rapid City to Sturgis and back to Rapid City.

We finally made it to Sturgis!

Vroom, vroom.

***

Today in Bucket List History (Special Edition):

Bucket List Goal: “Do Something Impetuous, Improbable and Daring.”

Goal Achieved: On August 7, 1974, actress Faye Dunaway marries Peter Wolf of the J Geils Band. It is one of the first celebrity rock star marriages, predating Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley, Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli, and Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson. Dunaway’s marriage to Wolf lasts five years. Dunaway has been nominated for three Academy Awards, and won the Best Actress Oscar in 1976 (while married to Wolf) for her performance in the movie Network.

0000074091-194812-7421652 — Faye Dunaway and Peter Wolf. A very early celebrity rock star marriage.

Goal Achieved #2: Also on August 7, 1974, Frenchman Philippe Petit walks a tightrope strung between New York’s World Trade Center towers for 45 minutes – 1,350 feet above the ground. Several movies have been made about his feat, including the 2008 Academy Award-winning documentary Man on Wire, and The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Petit celebrates his 67^th birthday next week.

Philippe-Petit_World-Trade-Center_Courtesy-of-alchetrondotcom — Philippe Petit walks a tightrope between New York’s World Trade Center towers.

Goal Achieved #3: On August 7, 1940, a stamp collector pays $45,000 for a one-cent 1856 British Guyana stamp – at the time the most ever paid for a stamp. Impetuous and daring? The same stamp sells in 2014 for $9.5 million at a Sotheby’s auction. For reasons apparent only to philatelists, it’s the world’s most-famous stamp with its own mystique.

GuyanaSc27029 — $9.5 million for this. Seriously?

Goal Achieved #4: On August 7, 1947, the Kon-Tiki expedition comes to an end when the balsa wood raft strikes a reef on an uninhabited islet off the Raroia atoll in French Polynesia. The six-man exploration team, led by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, had travelled more than 4,300 miles in 101 days. The journey from South America to the South Pacific’s Polynesian islands uses only materials and technologies available to people in pre-Columbian times. Films about the voyage have won two Academy Awards, one in 1951, the other in 2012.

kontiki_farver-_6iEPNNCtC1j9VRY5LqSNA — The Kon-Tiki. A nice way to see the world, and travel back in time.

What’s on your bucket list?

Riding With Gary

All Vroom, All the Time.

Street Glide

On My Way Home

The Harley Word of Wisdom, Avoiding the Garn Scale

Three States. Two Temples. One Fine Day.

Faithful and Reliable, Erupting on Cue

Sturgis. We Did It!