We were on the road by 09:30 after a morning coffee. We did not have breakfast. We stopped at the Lyman rest area, just off the I-80 in Wyoming, for a comfort break and to put jumpers on as it was quite cold. I talked to an old couple who were dressed in American Indian period dress. They were attending a big gathering in Fort Bridger.
Wyoming appears to be a green, grassy state with rolling hills. The parts we have seen have not been terribly interesting. I saw deer grazing by the highway and have seen many birds of prey hovering throughout our holiday. I'd like to think they were eagles but I'm no ornithologist.
The I-80 became a little tedious and I started looking out for other routes to take, away from the interstate. Luckily, I soon saw the signs for the Flaming Gorge. We turned off into Green River to get some fuel and followed the 530 South into Manila, which is just back over the state line in Utah. We stopped for a while to buy a drink and to remove jumpers. The temperature had risen to over 80 degrees. By sheer coincidence, this was the very same road that Dick Heynes and I used on our way back to Wendover in 2008. I didn't think that I could forget the views along that road but it was only when we crossed the state line and got to Manila that I realised this.
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| Flaming Gorge |
From Manila we took the 44 South towards the Flaming Gorge dam. It was along this road that we encountered some fantastic views and roads (a sports bike would have been good though). Viewpoints over the reservoir were accompanied by gorgeous (pun unintended) red cliff faces. We stopped to take photographs at various points as the road ascended. At one point I noticed a sign giving the elevation as 8560 feet. The 191 North took us to the dam, where we stopped for photos, from both the high and low sides. It was interesting to see the small concrete plinths, which are used to support dam measurement devices, to determine whether the dam is moving and by how much. |
| Flaming Gorge |
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| Flaming Gorge Dam |
Leaving the dam, we continued North for 3 or so miles, ignoring the satnav which told us that it was quicker to get to Denver in the other direction. I remembered that we had turned North on the 191 so started trusting the satnav again. We turned around and followed the 191 South through the Ashley Forest towards Vernal. We didn't see any bears but there were cows wandering around, which meant we had to be somewhat careful round the bends in the road. As the 191 descended into Vernal it provided some more brilliant views and some great hairpin turns. Both footboards seem to have thinned out somewhat along this piece of road. The descent was steep and each turn exposed more of the beautiful
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| Flaming Gorge Dam |
landscape: lots of red rock and mountainous terrain. I had the go-pro recording for most of the descent. I really hope I managed to capture the scenery for later viewing (edit: captured footage but it just does not show the colours, scale or detail; sadly).We stopped at a garage in Vernal for fuel and decided to find somewhere to get a drink and decide where to go from there. Cafes and any other kind of eating house seemed in short supply compared to other areas that we have visited but we found a garage, on the way out of Vernal, that had a Quiznos attached. By this time, it was 16:42 and the Mesquite Chicken roll was the first thing I had eaten all day.
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| Through The Ashley National Forest |
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| Rangely |
I used the wifi to upload pictures of our Flaming Gorge visit to Facebook and wrote the diary. Saving Private Ryan and The Outlaw Josey Wales were on the TV. I am up to song 183 (Bee Gees - Staying Alive) on the Rolling Stones Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs on the iPhone. The bike mileage is now 46088, which means we have travelled 271 miles this day.
