Here is a map of my travels for the day. This is an actual GPS track log of my route. Don't forget you can click on it for a larger view.
I headed down interstate about 35 miles and turned off at Toquerville onto route 17 and then rt 9 eastbound for the parks.
It was a beautiful morning drive down the interstate and I was excited to see the picturesque terrain after suffering through the entire state of Nevada the day before.
This is somewhere on Rt 9 getting close to Zion NP.
When I got to Zion I discovered that you can't drive up the valley that is the national park, you have to take a tour bus, and it takes about 90 minutes round trip. I debated skipping it to save time and keep going, but then I thought THIS is what a came here for, so take some time out of the saddle and just relax.
So I parked at the visitor center and waited for a bus. As I learned they started this bus system in about 2001 or -2 after the park got so crowded with RVs, cars, minivans, and tourists that it was almost gridlocked. So they banned private vehicles and started this bus system, and I have to admit I think it works very well. I did relax and listened to the very informative recording talking about the history of the park and each of the 7 stops. I got off a couple of times and walked around it was really quiet and peaceful. I tried to imagine what it would be like with hundreds of cars and RVs poking around and this was much better.
Here are some pics of the park:
Here is what the tour buses look like. Very clean, modern, quiet (powered by natural gas).
I finally got back to the visitor's center and headed up the highway. Then I discovered there was construction on the road for about 15 miles. It was hard-packed dirt, which is tricky on my heavy bike but manageable if I stay in the ruts. But it was heating up and there was a tunnel with one-way traffic, so I had to sit and wait for 15 to 20 minutes in the 95 degree sun with absolutely no air moving.
I finally got through all the construction and traffic and continued east on highway 9 about 25 miles to highway 89. Then headed north on 89 about 60 miles up to Bryce Canyon National Park. It was a beautiful ride through awesome country.
As I was approaching Bryce Canyon on highway 12 I saw large, dark veil of rain falling in front me. As I got closer I began to see quite a bit of lightening coming down around it. Now I can ride through rain but I really don't want to get into that much lightening. So I pulled off into a roadside hotel and gas station and watched the storm for a while. It got larger, darker, and with much heavier rain. So I went inside the little restaurant and got an iced tea and sat for an hour or so.
Finally the rain seemed to move off to the north but it was ever more dark and menacing. But the entrance to the park was only a few miles ahead and the park drive went to the south, so I motored up there and got some gas and drove on into the park.
I got some advice from a friend to drive all the way down the 17 miles into the park and then stop at all the pulloffs on the way back, since they are all on the right side and you won't be cutting across traffic.
I got down to the end and then started taking pictures of the viewpoints - just amazing!
Look at the black storms lurking in every direction around me.
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After I left the canyon park I headed east and south on rt 12. It was about 110 miles to Torrey. As I traveled down from the higher ground I noticed the normally dry creek bed was swollen with raging muddy water, and in several places it had washed over the road and left mud and rocks. I had to slow down and crawl across and dodge the rocks. As I went further down the highway I saw coming up a number of cars parked on either side of a long concrete bridge. I guessed what was going on and pulled over myself, then walked up to the edge with my camera. Here are a few pics I took.
The river was roaring and people had stopped to look and take pictures. It was incredible to see the violence hear the thunder of the water rushing down the river. I see now why they talk about the danger of flash floods.
I continued along highway 12 and saw a bunch of cows in a field, then noticed something else that was different. I slowed and then stopped to take a few pictures of the llamas that were playing and then stopped to look at me.
As I continued up hwy 12 the terrain changed colors from the reddish eroded look to a more gray and white sedimentary look, and as I climbed up on higher terrain I could see farther and farther till I got some incredible views. Here are some samples...
This is kind of interesting. The picture below is from a scenic overlook and it is looking over where the highway crosses the Escalante River below. The next picture below is a few miles later of me actually crossing at the point you see. See the light colored section of the road in the trees? That is the concrete bridge you see in the following picture. And then the next picture after that is making that right hand turn and going up that canyon valley you see below.
After crossing the river this is the canyon going up the other side.
After riding a while further I got up on top of the ridge and there was a scenic overlook. Here is a good view from there of the surrounding terrain.
That is the Escalante River down in that valley. Here is another view (below) looking to the northwest.
That is the same storm or storm system that I had to wait for several hours ago back at Bryce Canyon. Either I just saw a small part of it or it turned into the monster that you see here. I continued to worry that the route I was on would lead me into it, and I was in no mood to tangle with the heavy rains I saw before.
I was traveling north now on highway 12 and got into the Dixie National Forest and some more beautiful views. I climbed up into the forested road and got up to 8 or 9000 feet and it turned cold. The roads were still wet from the recent rain.
Another thing I noticed that made me keep my speed down was cattle loose in the surrounding fields and in a few instances right along the road. This was open range country!
I thought I would try a picture of my GPS to show where I was when I took many of these pictures.
Those coordinates read: N38 10.042 W111 20.325 and you can view this in Google Maps using this link.
Here is a nice scene that I just had to stop for to get the shot. Note that the sprinkler is HUGE, but it is not spraying on the horses, they are just out of its range further back.
Finally I reached Torrey and cruised through looking for a place to camp and have some dinner. The sky was still dark and menacing and I didn't like the idea of being in my tent when that monster storm system rolled over so I decided to look for a cabin. One of the local recommended an RV park just on the west end of town so I headed that direction.
On the way I saw the sign to the restaurant I read about in a motorcycle forum that came highly recommended, so I pulled in there. It was a nice looking place, pretty rustic inside but very clean and upscale. The waitress seated me and I ordered a beer. It felt great to get off the bike and have something stable to look at with my eyeballs. I just wanted peace and quiet and this place had it.
Then I looked at the menu - oops! OMG! All the entrees were $25 to $30! I asked the waitress and she pointed me to a smaller fare page. I told her they all looked great but I want my wife there to share the experience if I am going to pay prices like that.
So I ordered some kind of salad and a salmon plate. Well, OMG! The salad came and it was a delicious selection of various kinds of veggies and whole plants, marinated and cold. I munched on each one and really enjoyed them.
Then my dinner came and again I was amazed. I wish I had taken a picture of it. Words just can't do it justice but it was an amazing piece of art and tasted better than anything I have had in a long time.
I asked the waitress who the cook was and she said he had come to the restaurant from the east coast about 17 years ago and had graduated from the CIA - the Culinary Institute of America. That explains the presentation and the prices! She also told me that the cafe was listed in the book "1000 Places to See Before You Die".
Sure enough, I looked it up and that's what they say on their web site. What an experience! I had no idea what I was walking into but gradually I came to appreciate that this was a 5 star restaurant way out in the middle of nowhere in Utah. Just amazing!
So I found my way down to the RV park and checked in a got a cabin. There were some other guys there also on BMW motorcycles and they had also come from the rally in Redmond. We chatted for a while and then I went to bed, looking forward to my next day of riding.
It had been an awesome day of sights and scenery. Now I understand when people talk about Utah and especially southwestern Utah. If you haven't been there you just can't appreciate the scale and grandeur of the mountains and sculpted terrain.
It was a day of lots of stops and sightseeing so my total mileage for the day was only about 250 miles. But it was a major goal accomplished that I had looked forward to for many months.
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