While they slept, I rode over to Walley world and picked up our Gatorades and a few other things. Kyle really wanted to shave but neither he nor I brought any shaving stuff. I did buy a few dollar breakfast burritos at McDonalds to subsidize the cheapo breakfast at the hotel.
We took some time running around to some motorcycle shops looking for a tank bag for Kyle. He has a headset that allows him to talk on the 2 way radio and listen to music, so he's been keeping is iphone plugged in and sitting in his jacket pocket. But it would be nicer if he could just put it in a bag on the bike. A tank bag has strong magnets and clips that allow the bag to sit on the gas tank so he wouldn't have to plug and unplug the iphone constantly as we get off our bikes.
Unfortunately we didn't find a tank bag. But while we were in one shop, Tanner spotted a throttle lever. That's a little piece of plastic that hooks onto the throttle and allows the weight of your arm to hold the throttle open rather than having to constantly grip and twist the throttle. Having to grip the throttle constantly can leave your hand and arm aching by the end of the day. He bought one and later in the day said it was the best ten dollars he's spent in a long time.
We also got to talking with the shop owner who directed us away from our planned route. We had planned on heading into the mountains straight from Cedar City up center street, but he said there was some major construction up that way which is not fun to ride over and could delay us by an hour or more. Instead he told us to go up the freeway 12 miles to Parowan and then turn into the mountains. That would take us up to Brianhead ski resort and then over to Panguich.
This was a fantastic road and a beautiful ride. The climb up was gentle but very twisty. We were quickly into pine trees and the morning dew was still making the pine needles smell wonderful. I know it's the smell of rotting vegetation, but I've always loved that early morning smell of a pine forest. We pulled over several times to let the locals zoom past us up the mountain.
Brianhead wasn't as fancy as I'd expected. I guess I had Breckenridge in my head. We kept going through town and up toward the top of the mountain. Not far out of town we came to Cedar Breaks National monument. We stopped for pictures and some gatorade.
It was very peaceful out here with only the occasional car and little wind. The sky was a deep blue. We stood talking and munching on beef jerky for 20 minutes enjoying the day.
We continued on the same highway rather than going through Cedar Breaks and back because we weren't sure just how long it was or if there was any gas along that route. We rode slowly looking at the various vistas and sights from the top of the mountain.
When we started down off the Panguich side we could see a forrest fire somewhere off in the distance.
Gassed up in Panguich then stopped for pictures in Red Canyon. There are a couple of small tunnels over the road that I had Kyle and Tanner ride back through to get pictures of them.
We stopped for lunch at Bryce Canyon Pines. I stopped here with John and Angela 3 years ago when we did nearly this same ride. They have some of the best pie I've ever had. I got a hamburger, Kyle got an Elk burger, and Tanner got a Rodeo Burger with ham, bacon, swiss and cheddar cheese. Then afterwards, I got a Coconut Cream Pie, Tanner got Banana Strawberry Cream Pie, and Kyle got Cherry Pie Alamode. Mine and Tanner's were fantastic, but Kyle was mad that they were already out of Blackberry so he says his wasn't that good.
Bryce Canyon National Park was only a couple more miles down the road. We stopped to take photos at the park sign, but there were too many tourists to ride up close to the sign.
The park entrance was packed with cars so the ranger let all 3 of us in on my national park pass. We rode around for a while then went to Bryce Canyon Overlook to see the hudus. We had cell reception so each of us posted a pic on facebook right then and there.
After Bryce we continued East and North. We gassed up in Tropic and got more Gatorades. We drank them all in Bryce. We stopped for a break in Escalante at their VFW memorial park. We soaked our bandannas in the ice chest and it felt GREAT to put them back on when we left.
Between Escalante and Boulder is a series of canyons. The road descends and climbs and twists over and over through these canyons, then finally climbs up and out on top of Hell's Backbone. I don't think that's actually it's name, but the name of another feature nearby. But whatever the case, you wind up on a 2 lane road with 1500 foot drops on each side. If that isn't Hell's Backbone, I don't know what is. We (and every one else) stopped to get pictures of the road and the vistas off to each side. This whole road is one of my favorite rides. Twists, turns, beauty and contrast all the way through. If it weren't for the heat, it would be perfect.
We rode on and arrived in Boulder. It turned out to be allot smaller than I thought it was, with only a single gas pump and very high prices. Kyle and I chatted on the radio and decided that we had enough gas to make it to Torrey, so we rode on.
Right out of Boulder you begin a climb up Boulder mountain. The temperatures dropped rapidly and soon we were riding in the cool 60s. Lots of pine trees and Aspens all around us, and unlike many of the pine forests we've seen on this trip, there was no sign of Bark Beetle damage. We also went through areas smelling heavily of aspen rather than pine. The scents switched back and forth as we rode. The clouds also formed up and threatened to rain on us but never did. They just cooled it off even more.
We stopped at several scenic spots to take pictures and wonder how such a cool and inviting stretch of road could be so close to such hot an inhospitable places. There was almost a sharp dividing line between the pine trees and the red rock canyons in the distance.
The whole mountain seems to be open range. There were cattle all along the road was we continued on, as well as many deer. We saw about 20 deer on the ride and over a hundred cattle. We kept our speeds way down trying to make sure no one got in an accident.
If the country's economy is measured by RV rental, then we must be doing OK. We saw rented motor homes everywhere, and if we stopped for a while, one would drive past us every few minutes. I don't know if it's always like this here, but I have never seen quite so many on the roads as on this trip.
We made it to Torrey after 112 mile since our last fill up. Kyle's bike probably could have gone another 20 miles, but we were glad he made it all the way.
Tonight's dinner was Subway because we blew all of our food money on burgers and pie for lunch.
It was also time to do laundry. I usually just bring 4 changes of clothes on these trips and do laundry in the middle. We piled 3 guys worth of dark clothes into the washer and put in $1.75. The washing machine didn't break, but the dryer took forever. I finally just pulled the clothes to let someone else use the dryer. We hung everything up around the room to dry. I also took the time to pull the pads out of my motorcycle jacket and hand wash it in the tub. I don't think I'd washed my jacket in a year. The water wasn't that brown when I got done.
9:00 and Ready to Ride
Downtown Parowan
Highway 143 out of Parowan
143 quickly climbs to bigger trees
Very soon your are into the pines
Switchbacks at the top near Brianhead
Brianhead
Near the summit
Kyle and Tanner still back there
Entering Cedar Breaks National Monument
Riding through Cedar Breaks
Looking down off towards Panguich
A forest fire or a controlled burn East of Panguich
Entering Red Rock canyon (on the road to Bryce Canyon)
Hudus in Red Rock canyon
Tanner riding through the arch in Red Rock
Tanner riding
Kyle riding through Red Rock
Kyle riding
Lunch and great pie
Entering Bryce Canyon National Park
Looking out from Bryce Point
More views from Bryce Point
Some formations
Cool Kyle
Hudus
Cool Clay
>Horses on a trail at the bottom of the canyon
Not as cool Tanner (no bandanna)
Coming down off the mesa after Bryce Canyon heading toward Tropic
Hot and dry road between Tropic and Escalante. All those clouds and no shade for us.
Almost to Escalante. Still lots of clouds, still no shade, and still very hot.
Taking a break in Escalante at the only shade we could find.
Soaking the bandannas in the ice chest. The red one is staining the water. Tanner said his shirt had a red collar by the end of the day.
Dropping off the Escalante Mesa into the canyons. Somehow my camera got into underwater mode which left an odd tinge to the pictures.
Zigzagging down through the rocks and canyons
None of the roads in the canyon pictures are level even though they seem to be. Here's one showing the grade.
Here the road heads for a scenic pullout and a huge drop. I'd be nervous parking at the bottom of this to sight see.
They cut the road through from canyon to canyon
Finally climbing out of the canyons
Check to make sure Kyle and Tanner are still with me as we come out on top
Because this is what's on the left side of the road
And that's the right side
And this is the road. I call it Hell's Backbone. It's not as scary as I'm making it sound, but it does have some pucker factor.
This is looking back. It's not very long, maybe 1/2 mile, and it's not a sheer drop, but it's a long way down
We stopped to take pictures
Leaving Boulder and starting to climb up Boulder mountain
Deer on the side of the road. We saw allot of them on the mountain
Stopped for pictures looking back South
Kyle on Boulder Mountain with grand Staircase behind him.
Tanner on Boulder Mountain with the Grand Staircase behind him
Typical road on top of Boulder Mountain
Looking West off of Boulder Mountain
Some beautiful scenery and a lake off in the distance
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