UTAH TRIP - Day 5 Loop South

Hi! It sure is beautiful here.

Sometimes you have to take a chance. Steve and I were plotting out a route for the day but the options open to us were few. From what we could tell by the map, there is nothing fun to ride on west of Salt Lake City. We did most of the available route to the north of us (Ok, there are a few more options but we'd probably need to cover ground already traveled). So we were looking at our options south. We know that there are some fine roads in the far south, but we needed something closer to home. As we looked at the map we saw HWY 35 running from Francis towards Duchesne. But at least one of our maps indicated that about 15 miles of this highway was gravel. Remember, we tend to have a small aversion toward riding on gravel. We made the decision to run down HWY 35 until we came upon the loose rock. If we found it, we'd turn around and back track to HWY 40.

As we headed down 35 I saw a sign that started out: 'Truck and Motorcycle Advisory'. When I read this my heart skipped a beat. As I read further it said something about steep hills and sharp curves. This wasn't an advisory; it was an advertisement. As the sign said, HWY 35 was filled with curves and hills and even a pass over the mountains that was pure pleasure to Steve and I.

At Duchesne we headed down HWY 191 towards Price. This route took us up a long canyon that continued upward toward another pass. Off to each side of the canyon were other canyons. Has anyone ever traveled up these? Better yet, how much of the 50 states has man or woman not put a foot on? 191 joins HWY 6 in Carbon county. Ironically, there by the intersection is a carbon fuel power plant.

Touring down HWY 10

At Price we turned west on HWY 10. This highway took us up and over another pass. Going up was incredible. But at the top of the pass the road went under construction. The highway department was applying tar and then rock on the road. They had already swept most of the route, but I still was very cautions. Then we met up with the actual crew applying the rock. We cautiously crossed through piles of the rock. Didn't I say something about having an aversion to gravel. It was like finding those missing 15 miles of gravel from HWY 35.

Pictures from the top of the pass on HWY 10

At Huntington it was time to head north to home. We turned north on HWy 3, then jumped onto 264, then north on 89, then north on 180 onto 40 back into Park City. I am not sure of the actual mileage but I think its over 350.

Highway department oddities:
On Hwy 248 there is a highway sign that read 'Deer Crossing Test Area Next 7 Miles'. Within a few feet of the sign are 2 dead deer. Now this struck me funny because I figured these 2 deer failed the test (LOL). The highway department is trying to direct the deer to specific spots on the road; Deer Crosswalks.

When traveling on 4 lane city roads, I try to stay to the right unless I want to pass someone. So I am traveling down the road and all of a sudden the lane is being used for right turn only. No sign or indication that you have to merge left.

Come back tomorrow!