Day 15 - Logan, UT to Vernal, UT

This morning we slept in a bit. Rob started packing the bike for the day’s trip at 7:30 and breakfast was served to our room at 7:45am. We finished and were on our way by 8:45am.

We made our way north east along US-89. We immediately ascended from Logan’s elevation of 4,700 feet to between 6,500 and 7,800 feet. US-89 follows the Logan River and then Beaver creek through the Cache National Forest. As with any good road that follows a river it has plenty of twists and turns.

The rocky cliff scenery greeted us right away.

The landscape continued to change as the elevation increased.

As we crossed over the Bear River Mountains we were able to see Bear Lake.

This lake serves as a resort and recreation area. We saw several new homes being built. Take a look at the entry for this neighborhood. It has a water fall--swanky!

We turned south and rode along the south western shore of Bear Lake turning south along UT16.

Riding along UT16 we were in an agricultural area that looked to be hay. It is amazing how these farmers have turned an arid desert landscape into hay-producing land.

It looks like making hay can be good business. This house was fancy.

When the flat landscape began to give way to hills the landscape of the high desert returned.

We turned to the west along UT39 to cross back over the Bear Mountains towards Ogden. More twisties.

And more mountain views.

We also had our share of Utah DOT’s tar and chip surfacing. Sometimes they actually had a signing warning us of loose gravel BEFORE we got to it. This made for some exciting moments.

The scenery for the first 200 miles today was constant.

We passed by Snow Basin ski resort sans snow, of course.

We reach Huntsville and made our way over to I84. Even the interstate was scenic.

We quickly made our way to the I84/I80 split and turned east on I80. The scenery continued.

We then crossed over into Wyoming.

Just out of frame of the above photo was a “lady” squatting on the shoulder of the Interstate, in plain sight, relieving herself. Upon seeing this Rob said “Well, welcome to Wyoming! I thought Missouri was the 'Show Me State'?"

Shortly after that comical sight we stopped for lunch still laughing about that woman, imagining what possible decision-making could lead to that situation.

After lunch we were back on I-80 heading east when we came upon a wind farm. These large turbines were moving quickly. Notice the direction they are pointing. That’s right away from our direction of travel. That meant that the wind the we have so often battled head-on or from the side was now at out backs! Tailwind!

With that wind there was also considerable cloudiness. Storms were looming all around us.

With the wind at our backs and the weather closing in on us, Rob punched up the speed to 85mph (speed limit was 80mph).

Michele commented how the rock color of Utah never disappoints. Upon which Rob quickly corrected "But we're in Wyoming." Hey, give a gal a break!

We reached exit 91 for the Flaming Gorge and decided to make a quick stop at the local Harley Davidson shop so Rob could get yet another t-shirt. When we pulled in there were a bunch of Harleys in the parking lot. When we departed, most had gone. I guess they didn’t like the Wing parked in front of the store?

We set out south to follow the Green River through the Flaming Gorge. The clouds continued to look ominous but we soaked in the scenery.

We crossed back into Utah. (What’s the fun in going from one point to another in a direct manner?) (This is why Michele was confused today.)

We entered the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

Bizarrely, this Harley rider passed us in the flat straight section and then proceeded to do the speed limit entering the more twisty mountain road. Perhaps he thought a fully loaded Wing with two people on board would slow him down in the mountains?

No matter. The scenery was beautiful.

Well, the road began to point upward and started to get twisty and wouldn’t you know that darn Harley just got slow....real slow...and in the way. So Rob quickly dispatched that underpowered bike and continued at a more civil pace in the hills. (Michele was happy to be going at a more normal speed.)

We stopped at an overlook for these views of the Flaming Gorge.

While taking these pictures we heard the rumble of thunder. Uh-oh! The angry skies were talking to us. Rob looked at the radar image on the Wing and the rain was still behind us, so we opted not to put on the rain gear and instead quickly remounted the bike and continued on.

The views from up here at 8,500 feet were great!

The weather was closing in on us.

About five minutes later, the rain started to fall. Rob toggled over to the weather screen and it informed us that we were not being rained on. So we continued onward. Ten minutes later the rain went from a slight sprinkle to a full downpour. We rode through several curves before we found the first non-gravel and flat pull off. We quickly unpacked our raingear and suited up. This may have been the fastest raingear suit-up we’ve ever done. We were also at a high elevation so it was a COLD rain. A few other bikers roared in behind us and did the same


For the next 35 miles we rode in a moderate to heavy rain. Even though the rain was falling the scenery was awesome. We got stuck behind a tractor trailer low-boy carrying a pavement grinder, so traffic backed up a bit. There were a group of bikers ahead of us, a slow camper, an impatient mini van and a dodo-lady in an orange Subaru. Each tried to pass this trailer at points making for “a circus” as Rob described it. We had on our gear so we were dry and had no reason to rush around. The rain stopped in time for us to visit an overlook about 5 miles from our final destination and took in these views.

With only a few miles left and the skies still ominous, we kept our gear on and pushed along into Vernal, Utah for the night.

We walked over to the local auto parts store and got replacement rear brake bulbs for the Wing, then got dinner next door at a Mexican restaurant.