Wednesday October 15th , 2014
Total Miles: 200

Well, 40’s might have been a little optimist.  It dropped to the upper 20’s.  Pretty sure that is the coldest I have ever camped.  When Galen got up at 7am and it was just 30 degrees.  Yes, that is ice on the bike. My sleeping bag says it is rated to 10 degrees, never thought I would be testing the limits.  My feet did get cold.  I wrapped my riding jacket around the bottom of my bag to give a another layer between me and the tent wall.

Took a little longer to pack and get on the road because we warmed up by the fire with our coffee.  We finally got on the road at 9:45am.  After making our way through La Sal (fuel here looks a little sketchy, if you are a big bike fill up in Moab) we had a pretty aggressive downhill with loose rocks.  The road was completely washed out.  Super lose rocks.  Front end was questionable at best.  Galen was grateful he didn’t have to go up it with a fully loaded bike.  We went by an old mine.  I found it very odd that their gas lines are run above ground. 

We hit blacktop and jetted back North.  Most of the day was big bike friendly and pretty easy.  We went off route to see Newspaper Rock.

Leaving Newspaper Rock the views were beautiful.

Was a little bummed that the novice route was blacktop into Monticello.  Galen would have loved to have tried Lockhart Basin if we would have one more companion bike for spotting help. We headed into Monticello stopped by the visitor’s center which had very clean restrooms. Had lunch at Peace Tree Cafe, we did take our headsets in to charge while we ate since we camped the night prior.  We found a table on the back wall of the dining room with an outlet underneath that worked perfect.  The Conoco Station across the street had non blender pumps so we filled up with fuel.  We headed back outside of town and joined back up with the route.I just love being surrounded by Ponderosa Pines.  These trails were all big bike friendly and were pretty straight forward.  Galen was sitting down for most of the day. Which is one way I can gauge the difficulty of the road.  I enjoyed the great views during section 3.

The Causeway on Trail 95

Little bit of wash outs and washboards near the end of section 2 but nothing we couldn’t handle two up. So the day was going pretty smooth and then we turned onto Comb Wash Road in Section 1.  First part was fine nothing to worry about.  Most of the day had been overcast but as we entered Section 1 the sun came out the temperature started rising.  Comb Wash Road quickly turned into wash outs and silt sand.  Doable two up on a big bike but not the most enjoyable road we have been on.  Of course this was nothing in caparison to the wash outs of Day 3. That being said the views were amazing and well worth the jarring on our bodies.  Poor Galen was so busy keeping his eyes on the road that he couldn’t enjoy the scenery as much as I could from the backseat.

With just 2 miles to go until Blacktop we pulled off and took some fantastic photos as the sun started to set.

We continued on and I was more than happy to jump off and open the gate which was the only thing left between us and the blacktop.  We headed into Mexican Hat.  Coming into Mexican Hat at sunset we saw views of Valley Of The Gods that were breath taking.

Since it was getting late and we were losing day light we decided to drive through Valley of the Gods in the next day.  We opted not to do the Northern Loop of the Utah Back Country Discovery Route which includes Snow Flat Road.  The tracks on that map actually have a red box that says deep silt sand.  Two up loaded that just didn’t sound appealing.  We were both wiped out and decided a shower and a bed would be the best option for tonight.  We struck out.  We decided to eat and stay at the San Juan Inn and Trading Post.  Big mistake, dinner was not good, lodging was the worst we have stayed in in years.  The sink’s drain didn’t work.  When we reported that to the front desk they pulled out a notebook which listed every room.  He went to log our complaint about our room but it was already reported in the book.  I suggest you stay at either of the other two places and not this one.  Yes, this was the cheapest room but in this case it wasn’t a deal.  Also don’t eat here. Worst meal we had on the entire trip.  I am usually better at picking out a place.  I think we were so exhausted we just wanted dinner and a bed and having both within walking distance was appealing.  I clearly wasn’t reading the reviews very well.

So this concludes the Utah Back Country Discovery Route for us.  I love the whole concept of these Back Country Discovery Routes.  If you are on smaller bikes you could breeze through in a much shorter time as long as the roads are dry.  Galen and I rode the Washington Back Country Discovery Route in 2013.  The Utah Route is more technical then Washington.  If you are thinking about doing just one of the BDR’s two up I would suggest doing Washington.  Weather won’t play such a large factor in Washington as it does in Utah.  I am delighted that we added on a few more days to see southern Utah since I had never been to this part of the country before.  I hope you enjoy the rest of our ride report.