Life Elevated – Days 5 & 6

Joanne had a hearty breakfast for us early Tuesday morning prior to our hitting the road.  For me this was the worst start of the journey because the very bright sun was right in my eyes for miles.  I had caches in Washington County from a previous visit but we wanted a couple for Yancey.  I usually do the navigation because I use a GPSr which gives turn by turn directions whereas Yancey uses a phone which doesn’t.  However, the phone does have a map and works fairly well if the cache is not too far off your path.  So when Yancey passed me and turned off to the right I assumed he had decided to take the lead.  As it turns out he had no idea where the cache was but had just stopped to don his sunglasses.  As it so happened the cache was just across the street and this is after we had traveled 7 or 8 miles.  What are the chances of that happening?

These next two days presented us with the most fantastic views imaginable.  Much of it was like being on another planet.  After leaving the St. George area we entered Zion National Park on Highway 9.  Kathy and I had been through Zion and Bryce a few years back but it was just amazing as then.  After passing through Zion we hit Highway 89 and proceeded north to Highway 12 which took us east to Bryce Canyon National Park which truly is like noting you would expect to see on this planet.  We had lunch there and hiked around a bit.  Kathy and I had hiked down into the canyon on our trip there but we didn’t have time to spare for that on this trip.

After leaving Bryce, Highway 12 turned north taking us by Escalante State Park and through Anasazai Indian State Park on the way to Torrey where Highway 12 intersects Highway 24.  We needed to get a cache in Torrey for Wayne County but we could see a big thunderstorm fast approaching from the west.  We hurriedly found a cache in Torrey and blasted out of there toward our evening destination of Hanksville.   

Between Torrey and Hanksville lies the Capital Reef National Park which was totally unknown to me.  It was fantastic (I may overuse this word).  We went through a canyon that reminded me of the old Roadrunner cartoons where Wiley Coyote goes over the cliff.  It was a narrow canyon with towering sheer cliffs on each side and a stream at the very bottom.  We picked up a couple more caches in Hanksville to add to Wayne County.

Hanksville should be called Dukesville because Duke owned almost every business.  Hanksville’s population is listed as less than 200 but Duke has a nice motel, a couple of restaurants (actually one belongs to his son) a service station and convenience store that I know of.  The motel had once been pretty small but he had added a series of what looked like large storage sheds made into motel units.  It had free WiFi and a guest computer in the office that I used to upload my accumulated caches.  I was very interested in this display of entrepreneurship so I questioned one of his employees.  She claimed that Duke was only 42, employed 51 people and was always researching the latest and greatest to incorporate into his businesses.  There was a sign in the employees’ section of the restaurant and said “Work hard and be nice”.  Hanksville is isolated in the middle of the desert but it’s located at the intersection of Highways 24 and 95.  There is also a lake or reservoir just north of there that receives a lot of traffic.  Apparently Duke recognized this business potential and made the most of it.  All his businesses seemed clean, well maintained and thriving.

The next morning Duke furnished our breakfast at his (son’s) restaurant next door.  Soon afterward we headed south toward San Juan County and some fantastic motorcycle riding through Glen Canyon Recreation Area.  There was virtually no traffic.  After picking up a couple of caches we entered Natural Bridges National Monument where we practically had the place to ourselves.  There was one older couple who seemed to accompany us at all the stops and the old gentleman was very friendly and jovial.

After leaving Natural Bridges we turned east and then north before making a side trip into Canyonlands National Park.  More fantastic scenery and a lot of it was before we even reached the park.  However, it was really hot.  We took a break at the cool visitors center and then rode around the park a bit.  Then we backtracked to Highway 191 and headed toward Moab.  I had another opportunity to don my rain gear but the shower didn’t last long.

We arrived at Moab during the afternoon rush traffic and in the midst of a lot of road construction which was especially unpleasant in the heat.  We checked into the Riverside Inn and after I lubed the bike chains we took a welcome dip in the pool.  Not being ones to miss anything, after dinner we took a moonlight tour of Arches National Park.  Actually it was still light when we entered but dark when we left.  There was lots of traffic here even at night.  After an extremely full day with sensory overload from all we’d seen we had a good night’s sleep.  (To be continued)  M/W