An excellent romp.

After looking around for a while on Google Earth, I finally decided on riding around the area past Wallsburg, Utah. It just felt like the place to be. And it was. If all rides were this good, I probably wouldn't have a job. Or a motorcycle. I guess it's a good thing all rides aren't this good.

The animals in this pic are... 4 legged. I don't know what they are, because I'm not much of a sportsman. They were right there in the middle of Wallsburg, though, and didn't really seemed to concerned about what was going on. They did keep their eye on me, though.

Most of the trees on this circuitous route are aspen or various flavors of pine. Again, it's a great time of year to be out riding in the Uintas, the changing colors are quite a sight. This trip was no exception. Some of the canopies formed by the trees over the road was quite breathtaking. But, I didn't stop and take nearly enough pictures. When I ride this late in the day, I kinda feel an urgency to get where I'm going. I don't want to be out on unfamiliar trails after dark.

Now, it's been a while since I've seen one, but I'd swear this is a beaver dam. We had a few of these periodically on the Little Colorado River in Arizona growing up. The beavers were mostly a nuisance, damaging the few trees that grew along the banks in the high desert where we lived. Up here in the mountains, though, I'm guessing there's ample wood to keep beavers busy for a very long time.

At the mouth of the canyon at Wallsburg, there's a sign warning that the road is impassible due to snow & other treacheries. There's no snow yet, but the road was a bit rough in spots. For the most part, though, it was pretty nice. It's not really scenery you just want to blow through, though. My average speed through the mountains was only 16mph. Take it easy. That's what you're out here for, isn't it?

If you're following with GPS software, you'll see "Good Eats" as a waypoint. This is at Daniel's Pass, where some small-town folk will make you feel right at home.

There's not much AT Daniel's Pass. A general store, cafe, and hotel are about all you'll find. Still, the service is great, the people are friendly, the food is terrific. Oh, and the soup is hot. You've been warned.

It's a perfect little rustic getaway. My first experience with this place was after riding a portion of the "Adventure Highway" east of Heber, Utah. The lady I talked to at the time indicated that she'd been there for some time. And, she liked being there because she felt like good service and a friendly face to talk to were two important things in life. She made an impression on me with her sincerity, and I make it a point to stop by Daniel's Summit every time I'm out there. In today's case, I even made it a point to end up there after I had finshed tromping through the mountains.

It's not as out-of-the-way as some would like, but it's definitely small, and you'll get that feeling as you take in the area. If you're in the area, it's well worth the time to stop by and say "howdy." It's also convenient in that Daniel's Summit is central to a good many mountain trails, only one of which I had time to explore today. This can be your "base camp" as you go tromping off through the wilderness. (Treading lightly, of course.)

All-in-all, an outstanding short ride. Full round trip from the Provo/Orem area is only about 2 hours, I'd guess. If you take the time to really run around and explore the different trails, I'm sure you could spend a lot more time up here than that. Beautiful area, though. It's making me seriously consider coming up here for my next day-trip. There would definitely be worse places to go.

GPX File
Google Earth

Wooo!

Decided it would be fun to post ride logs of my rides, even the short, dumb ones. These posts made possible by my new Garmin 60Cx GPS. It rules. I highly recommend it, as well as Topo 2008. Normally I'd throw in a rant right now about how stupid it is for GPS makers to not include real maps with their GPS receivers. BUT, that's not what this blog's for... I have other blogs to piss and moan on.

Ended up picking up some supplies today. Snagged a Fox chest protector, Shift waterproof/insulated gloves, and a Klim Wind Stopper balaclava. Gotta love products made by Gore. Also have a pair of Shift Assault pants on order. Hopefully they'll get here before too long.
But, I decided that I needed to try out my new stuff this afternoon. Well, "try out" is used loosely. I hope I don't ever really need to "try out" my safety gear.

So, today took me up the Squaw Peak road. I've ridden this dirt road between Provo Canyon and Hobble Creek Canyon a good few times now. It's good for a short, few hour jaunt.

Didn't get any pics (my bad) but the trip was beautiful. The trees are changing, so it was very colorful. The air smelled just great after the rain/snow that fell over the weekend. Most of the snow had melted at altitude, but there were still some patches that the sun had missed. The air was fresh and smelled great.

Parts of the road were a little precarious. The melting snow had left some extremely slick mud spots, I thought I was going to turf a couple times on them. Definitely need to get better tires. That'll have to wait. I find it tough to replace perfectly good rubber anyway. Even if the rubber is awful. Still have at least 1000 on the factory rides. Probably longer. We'll see how the finances hold out.

When I left for the ride, it was around ~55 degrees or so at "ground" level. It did get much colder as I went up into the snow level. One of these days I'll have to take a thermometer and see how much difference there is. Fortunately, my new gloves kept me (mostly) comfortable. It'll be nice once I get some grip heaters installed. My legs did get pretty cold where the wind was hitting them. It's thermal time, if you're riding high.

I didn't double check that my GPS was recording my track until about halfway through the ride. It wasn't! So, all I'll have to post for today is the second half. It's not really hard to get to the path though, it's a pretty common area. Still, great fun.

GPX File
Google Earth Version