Leaving Escalante we followed Highway 24E to Torrey. What a road! Twists and turns climbs
and drops and gorgeous scenery for the pillion to enjoy. We didn’t ride The Devil’s Backbone as it was gravel and the threat of a percussion puncture on these remote roads was too real to ignore. We stopped in Torrey for lunch and met local identity Terry on our arrival. He had already had a few bevies, was very chatty and could not contain his enthusiasm because we had turned up on a BMW not a Harley. He spent quite a lengthy period telling us what a heap of s…t he thought these were
before moving onto his experience with the release of two Golden Eagles a couple of weeks earlier. He proudly told us that he was the first person to have kissed and stroked the head of a wild bald eagle and there were now pictures of the deed on the internet. He was about to give us the details when a pickup arrived carrying a Harley rider we had passed on our way into town. He was one of a group from Italy and he had crashed his bike, splitting the crankcases and the bike was bleeding to death back up the mountain. Terry forgetting his dislike of Harleys now had a new crusade, and we were free to go and get our lunch.
We made a quick visit to the information centre
before leaving town and were told that we 
should visit Capitol Reef National Park. Its claim to fame is the Waterpocket Fold described in the brochure as a giant, sinuous wrinkle in the earth’s crust that stretches for 100 miles across Utah. It is impressive, especially as you travel out of the park. The park also contains 2 deep twisting water carved, sheer walled canyons called Capitol Reef Gorge and Grand Wash. I thought capitol Gorge was more spectacular.
We followed the 24 for a wee while longer and then turned onto the 95 which is another stunningly scenic desert road. The landscape was continually changing from coloured mountains to green flats to grey mountains to flat wilderness. It was like being in the Louvre and you felt like you couldn’t absorb anymore but it just kept coming at you.
We stopped for a ice cream break in a little place called Hanksville. The gas station sales and office area is hollowed out of the hill hence the stations name I guess.
Another hour of travelling and we stopped on the side of the road to stretch our legs and rest our bums. We were out in the middle of nowhere so it was comforting when a couple of people passing us slowed and asked if we were ok. We’d only seen a dozen cars all day.
A 
A short while later we pulled into Natural Bridges Park. This is a small park that has a 9 mile loop road showing off three natural bridges. Pretty spectacular. 
The last stretch of road that would take us towards the town of Mexican Hat was magic. There is a 3 mile stretch of gravel that has a gradient of 10%; several switch back curves and views that were out of this world. And of course the usual idiot car drivers. One we came across had stopped in the middle of the road with both front and back passenger doors wide open and was completely oblivious to any other travellers’ on the road. We had to stop and wait for him as did a car coming the other way. Unbelievable.
We found a motel in Mexican Hat and then went in search of dinner. The steak house had been recommended but as I am not that partial to steak that is still running around the paddock when it arrives on the plate and Marty wasn’t craving blood we went to a little Indian grill instead. He ordered the Navajo Beef Stew and fried bread and I ordered the Navajo Taco. That was so huge I gave half to Marty and we shared his fried bread with honey as desert. A huge meal for $24.
We covered nearly 300 miles today through some of America’s most scenic desert areas with little or no traffic. It was awesome and we still have Monument Valley and The Grand Canyon to come.
and drops and gorgeous scenery for the pillion to enjoy. We didn’t ride The Devil’s Backbone as it was gravel and the threat of a percussion puncture on these remote roads was too real to ignore. We stopped in Torrey for lunch and met local identity Terry on our arrival. He had already had a few bevies, was very chatty and could not contain his enthusiasm because we had turned up on a BMW not a Harley. He spent quite a lengthy period telling us what a heap of s…t he thought these were
before moving onto his experience with the release of two Golden Eagles a couple of weeks earlier. He proudly told us that he was the first person to have kissed and stroked the head of a wild bald eagle and there were now pictures of the deed on the internet. He was about to give us the details when a pickup arrived carrying a Harley rider we had passed on our way into town. He was one of a group from Italy and he had crashed his bike, splitting the crankcases and the bike was bleeding to death back up the mountain. Terry forgetting his dislike of Harleys now had a new crusade, and we were free to go and get our lunch.We made a quick visit to the information centre
before leaving town and were told that we 
should visit Capitol Reef National Park. Its claim to fame is the Waterpocket Fold described in the brochure as a giant, sinuous wrinkle in the earth’s crust that stretches for 100 miles across Utah. It is impressive, especially as you travel out of the park. The park also contains 2 deep twisting water carved, sheer walled canyons called Capitol Reef Gorge and Grand Wash. I thought capitol Gorge was more spectacular.We followed the 24 for a wee while longer and then turned onto the 95 which is another stunningly scenic desert road. The landscape was continually changing from coloured mountains to green flats to grey mountains to flat wilderness. It was like being in the Louvre and you felt like you couldn’t absorb anymore but it just kept coming at you.
We stopped for a ice cream break in a little place called Hanksville. The gas station sales and office area is hollowed out of the hill hence the stations name I guess.
Another hour of travelling and we stopped on the side of the road to stretch our legs and rest our bums. We were out in the middle of nowhere so it was comforting when a couple of people passing us slowed and asked if we were ok. We’d only seen a dozen cars all day.
A 
A short while later we pulled into Natural Bridges Park. This is a small park that has a 9 mile loop road showing off three natural bridges. Pretty spectacular. 
The last stretch of road that would take us towards the town of Mexican Hat was magic. There is a 3 mile stretch of gravel that has a gradient of 10%; several switch back curves and views that were out of this world. And of course the usual idiot car drivers. One we came across had stopped in the middle of the road with both front and back passenger doors wide open and was completely oblivious to any other travellers’ on the road. We had to stop and wait for him as did a car coming the other way. Unbelievable.
We found a motel in Mexican Hat and then went in search of dinner. The steak house had been recommended but as I am not that partial to steak that is still running around the paddock when it arrives on the plate and Marty wasn’t craving blood we went to a little Indian grill instead. He ordered the Navajo Beef Stew and fried bread and I ordered the Navajo Taco. That was so huge I gave half to Marty and we shared his fried bread with honey as desert. A huge meal for $24.We covered nearly 300 miles today through some of America’s most scenic desert areas with little or no traffic. It was awesome and we still have Monument Valley and The Grand Canyon to come.
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