Highway 12 From Boulder to Moab

Saturday September 4. Got up early and walked back to the gourment restaurant for breakfast. It's the first time I've gone out for breakfast. Had a short stack of blue corn pancakes with organic maple syrup and fruit. Then back to the Circle Cliffs Motel to knock on the door and meet the owner.

Then I rode east along highway 12 and 24 towards Hanksville. First I had to ride over Boulder Mountain, which is beautiful and covered with aspen and pine trees. Lots of views. Then down the other side and into the high desert again. The highway leads straight into a national park I've never heard, called Capital Reef National Park. It's a huge fault in the earth that stretches three hundred miles from

north to south. I keep thinking about the poor settlers as they tried to cross this country! The park is beautiful and the kind that I love. All kinds of different rock formations and different vegetation. In the park there is a valley when early mormons settled and planted apple and peach orchards. They still grow.

You can drive through most of the park for free along the highway, but there is a scenic drive that they charge $5 for. I took that for ten miles into a long canyon. At the end of if it turns into a dirt road for another three miles as the canyon narrows and the cliffs become even higher. I didn't want to ride in, so I scouted the other drivers in the area who had stopped, and asked a couple if they were going to drive in. When they said yes, I asked if I could tag along in their back seat. They graciously allowed me to. They were from Utah and coming to this park for the first time. Sitting in the back, I realized how much more you see on a motorcycle! Wouldn't trade it for a car. We jumped out of the car repeatedly to take photos. Really nice people.

After riding through the park, I took highway 24 east and drove through a whole variety of different rock formations that might as well have been from the moon! Absolutely amazing. It is impossible to explain the vastness of the areas out here, and how far you can see at times. The enormity is incredible. The subtle colours of the desert are unbelievable.

Finally arrived in Moab, about seven. However, I arrived on the long weekend and the place was booked up everywhere! After checking a bunch of motels and wasting an hour, and beginning to get resigned to riding out of town as dusk approached, I finally found one. From the 50's up to the modern era, I now have another suite. This time with a jacuzzi, a sitting area and three tvs including one in the bathroom to go with the phone by the toilet!

Now I've gone grocery shopping, and had a swim and a hot tub. Goodnight.

Arches National Park tomorrow and maybe Canyonlands too.