Boulder, UT. (May 22 -

Left Monticello Utah after a continental breakfast at the Day’s Inn. Headed south to Blanding then west on 95. The weather is perfect at about 75 degrees. We rode through Natural Bridges area and Fry canyon, beautiful country!
The Colorado River Bridge
other crossings are difficult.. .
Springtime Green!
we planned the tour dates perfectly

Ancient Indian Glyphs
we are not alone!

Capital Reef Area
a National Park area near Hanksville

Your Mental Health Exam
It a good pic of springtime in the canyons, but let your mind wander and what do you see?

As we sat there, a fellow rode up to us on a Harley dresser. We all exchanged greeting, and as we talked his story emerged. Seems he was south of here and was looking at the map. You had to go way out around to get on 95 to cross the Colorado River, but on the map there was a small road going basically straight across. He talked to a local and asked if the road went thru. The man told him sure; he went that way all the time with his jeep.

So our new friend starts out down this road that soon turns to gravel. Not too bad so far, but up in the distance he could see a cliff face across his path. Closer and closer he rode w ith still no indication of how he was going to get through the cliff face. When he got to the face he saw the road. A narrow single lane dirt track that ran back and fourth up the cliff face. He said the switchbacks were so tight that he had to stop the bike and jockey it around to make the corners. He said it was then he remembered that the man said he drove it all the time in his JEEP.

He said his biggest worry was that when he made the top, he would have to go back down the other side. As awful as it was going up, he said there was no way he could come back down with a big bike like his. Dirt bike yes, but not a Harley dresser! When he made the top, he was very happy to see that the road leveled off into a big plain and didn’t have to try to get back down! He was still pumped when he told us the story. He put that on his list of things that he never wanted to do again.

Came to Glen Canyon and the Colorado River. Ron said he had an urge and always wanted to do this.
The Pause The Refreshes
don't drink the local water!

Gentle Twistys
small curves, lots of
time to take in the view (Now I understand why it’s always said, “don’t drink the local water!”) Crossed the river and hit some more fantastic curvy mountain roads.

Turned west on 24 at Hanksville. We rode along the Fremont River for many miles. What a beautiful valley. This is the third week of May and our timing seems to be prefect. Everything is green in this desert country. I suspect the bushes will all be brown in a very short time. We stopped and saw the Indian petroglyphs at Capitol Reef area, then crossed over mountain.

Turned south on 12 at Torrey. The mountain roads changed from rocky to wooded, then back to rocky again at Boulder, Utah. Stayed at Boulder Mountain Lodge, the most expensive place we stayed on our trip. You had to make reservations to eat at the restaurant at the Inn, even if they were not busy. We didn’t eat there.

We did eat at Boulder Mesa Restaurant. The owners there, Brenda and Randy Catmull, were very nice. They told us about the Burr Trail. An old settler by the name of Burr opened up a trail into a canyon to keep his cattle in. The trail runs down between cliffs on each side of the road. We said, "Why not!"

Wow! Access into the canyon was along switchbacks across the face of the cliff. The road is about a lane and a half wide with blind corners. It was worth it though, as the valley was beautiful with cliffs rising on each side of the road. The further you rode, the more the cliffs closed in on the road. Mickey and I walked into a cut in the canyon wall. It went back a couple of hundred feet then stopped. Pretty awesome! Coming back out of the canyon in the twilight was a bit white knuckled. This time we were riding on the cliff side of the road instead of the mountainside.

Ah, another good night’s sleep!

-LC