13 Day Trip Northwest 8/09
2nd Half of Day 5, Saturday 8/22/09
Ok, where was I... Just got through Yellowstone Park moving West into Idaho...
It was during lunch at Yellowstone that I started contemplating my dilemma... I realized I wasn't going to make it to the West coast... Sure, I could start jumping on interstates and make the coast... but there wouldn't be much point to that... Taking back roads it was close to 950 miles to the coast from where I was... so I would need an additional four days round trip... at least. I didn't have it... So, at that point I decided to start heading South... Destination for the evening... Jackson Wyoming...
This shot is somewhere coming out of Yellowstone off the beaten path... I'm a sucker for a twisty shoreline road ...
I took 20 West into Idaho and then South. Then took 47, to 33, to 22 ...
Idaho 32 is a nice road... rolling hills and sweeping turns with the Dolomites your constant companion in the East...
During this whole trip there were countless opportunities to peel off onto some gravel road going off into the hills... for the most part I resisted... but I saw this track that peeled off and went up a hill, going directly East into the Dolomites... I had to at least go to the top of the hill... It was fairly steep and rutted from the water that must flow down when it rains... But I made it to the top and got this view... Sanity prevailed and I turned the bike around... back to the asphalt...
I continued South and went though the pass over Mount Glory on 22... There is no better road than a mountain pass... is there...? I stopped at the top to take this shot...
If you look closely you'll see a kid on a bicycle... he was peddling his ass off to get up the hill... the photo doesn't do the steepness justice... He was barely moving but his legs were going a mile a minute... not sure where he came from... it's not like there was a town around the corner... we were on top of a mountain...
Anyway, made my way down and got to Jackson... Weekend traffic to almost rival Chicago... I checked around at a couple Motels which ranged in price from $70-90... that sealed the deal, time to find a camp site... Atlas said there was one a few miles north of the City... So after stopping at McDonald's (Southwest Salad, Water, and a Large Fry no salt thank you...) I headed North. Few miles out of town I started seeing signs and followed them to the site... paid my $20 (it's better than $80!) and set up camp... took some notes... and called it a day...
It was another night of multi layers of clothes and still not being warm enough to sleep comfortable... Man was I kicking myself for not bringing my sleeping bag... what was I thinking?
Day 6 Sunday 8/23/09
Once again, due to being cold and not really being able to sleep I was up before the sun. Soon as there was enough light to see what I was doing, so I packed up, took a moment to have a granola bar, and headed back into town for breakfast... Yup, you guessed it... McSkillet Burittos at McDonald's... On the road back to town I took some parting shots of the Dolomites..
The ride into town was cold... Had long johns on, two shirts, a thermal shirt, jacket, raingear over that, and I was still barely staying warm... brrrr...
Destination for the night... Vernal Utah... the route was189, 372, 374, 530, 44, and 191
There were some fantastic roads along the way... everything from twisty valley roads to barren desert to out of this world passes... the Flaming Gorge area and then the pass going into Vernal are amazing...
Ah yes... by noon the skies cleared and the view improved...
Does it get better than this... Look at that view... the road snaking off in the distance... Pfffffffff... I was in heaven...
Did I hear you say you wanted to see some billowy clouds, blue skies, hills and curvy roads? I got you covered...
More serious fun... entering the Flaming Gorge area...
So, you twist your way up the cliff and you think... man it can't get any better... and then it does...
Then you get back on 44 and you go further up... and boom... you get a better view... The light, the shadow, the color, the space, the clouds... damn...
Route 44... put it on your list of roads to see...
Talk about feeling like your on top of the world...
Of course, coming down the other side the views were just as unreal...
The shot above is a view into the valley, but 191 down was an absolute piece of work... There were signs counting down the hairpins... like "6 More to Go"... I'm not kidding you...
Got into town about 5:00 pm and started looking for a Motel... after two nights of barely sleeping I needed a warm comfy room... After some negotiations I ended up with a room at the Econo Lodge... Econo? I talked him down to $60. Econo would be like $45 or $50 max... but I wasn't complaining too hard, the room was spotless and the bed looked comfy...
First order of business was to take my weeks worth of dirty laundry and throw some loads into the Motel Laundromat... Second order of business was to remove the two burritos in my tank bag from McDonald's that morning... and have some dinner... Oh yeah, they were good...
In the mean time one of those clouds came by and dumped...
Then things cleared up again and these serious looking boys happened by...
Turned out they were from California and headed up to Yellowstone... had just come from Pikes Peak where they were bashing some of the gravel roads...
By the way, those flowers in the photos are some sort of town standard... main street was lined with them on both sides...
After laundry was folded I decided I needed something more in my system besides eight hour old Burritos... I noticed a food store as I was scoping out the town earlier, so I took a ride and bought some essentials; pears, apples, bananas, milk & Chips Ahoy... had some for a snack, and put the rest in the fridge... It all tasted better than it had any right to...
Slept like a rock that night...