Mile 956.6 - Crossing the Wasach

Day 13 began cold, yet again. Adding to my woes, the 20-30mph wind blowing out of the northeast. The main directions I was going today and will be going between now and Wisconsin: north and east. My goal for the day when I woke up was to make Coalville, leaving about 18 miles of Utah left for tomorrow. Between Provo and Coalville was only the bulk of the Wasatch Range, made famous, among other things, for hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics. These mountains don't mess around, but I'll get back to that in a moment.

Mile 900 happened in front of the Brigham Young football stadium named for the famous mormon football coach LaVell Edwards. I somehow failed to get a picture. I could see why Brigham Young would have chosen the base of the Wasatch as the site for his institution, it's just the rest of his notions that somewhat baffle me. Even with a thick blanket of clouds covering everything 400' above me and up, it is still a beautiful location. Then, I entered Provo Canyon.

Part of the reason for doing this trip is to see some of the great natural treasures of our my country. I'm only my third state through, but what I saw this morning ranks among the most beautiful landscapes I've encountered anywhere in my travels. Though I can't say much for the city of Provo, I have to encourage everyone to go along Provo Canyon from Provo up to at least Heber City. I'd take a bike, but I understand if you'd want to drive it instead; just make sure to get out of the car often.

Only a few miles into the canyon, you come to the Bridal Veil Falls. My favorite waterfall I've ever seen is still the Waimoku Falls on the east side of Maui. Bridal Veil is now my second favorite. The 607' falls comes down in two main sections before draining into the stream that runs along the bottom of the canyon. I'm reminded of how much the forces of water and gravity shape our world. I'll post some pictures, but really, you should try to see it for yourself.

I continued up the valley, past the road that winds uphill to Sundance. There were several minor climbs getting between Provo and Heber City, but the bigger issue was the headwind. The couple downhills I had were all facing right into the wind, so I never was able to break 28mph. Coming into Heber City, I could see what awaited me, Highway 40/189 climbing up towards Park City. Since I was around mile 27 for the day anyway, I took a lunch break in Heber City, sitting so I could look out the window at my bike and the climb we were about to take.

The road to Park City climbs in two parts. From the city at 5600', there's a 6.5 mile grind to 6326'. After that, it sinks a little while going along the Jordanelle Reservoir. Then, in just over 3 miles, it climbs up to 6856'. Basically, from Heber City to the top there's a climb of over 1300' spread over 22 miles. Add in the aforementioned 20-30mph wind that seemed to get stronger near the summits, and that's a pretty hard ride.

Thankfully, 2.5 miles after the the summit, I got to the Union Pacific Rail Trail. They've taken about 24 miles of abandoned rail line from Park City up to the Echo Damn and turned it into a multipurpose recreational trail. Most of it is unpaved, which makes it slower, and clearly in the time between all the rain the area got yesterday and last night and when I rode over it, there were several horses that used the path, making sure they left very few flat, even stretches. Also they left copious piles to dodge on the trail.

Even so, the trail was nice. After spending the morning with highway traffic over my left shoulder, I was mostly alone on the path. In the 20 miles I rode on the trail, there was one other cyclist and a jogger. Other than that I was attended by horses, cows and even a ranch of alpaca. After a couple miles on the trail, I met up with an old friend, I-80. 80, ol' buddy, haven't seen you since California's central valley. For several miles, the trail goes between the two sides of the expressway. I looked up smugly at the motor traffic zooming along at 70+ mph, completely missing the idyllic stream that flowed not 40 feet away below them. One less happy part of the trail was that within only a few miles, I saw four deer carcasses in various states of decomposition. But there were also lots of horses along the trail. When I got to the alpaca farm, the dozen of them all started running along the fence with me as I rode by. When they got to the end of their enclosure, they all gathered at the side of the fence looking at me, as if expecting a treat from me or something. Silly alpaca.

Alas, 40 miles of climbing against the wind followed by a 20 mile unpaved path is hard on ones knees. I got to Coalville and found a room at the hotel with a hot tub. Between the fact that I had been cold all day riding and it was only going to get colder after the sun set and that my knees could really use a little pampering after the hell I've put them through over the last nearly 1000 miles, I chose to get a room. But, I also know that most of the way through wyoming and south dakota I will be camping.

Despite the hills and wind, today was my favorite day of riding in Utah. Growing up in such a flat place, looming snow-capped mountains still capture my wonder and imagination. Even as I was straining to pass over it, I would think of the impossible weight of just one of these mountains. So ends week two of my adventure. Tomorrow I enter Wyoming, knowing the highest climbs of my trip are now behind me. I'm still ahead of schedule, and after the next couple days, I'm going to hit the easiest part of my ride home.

Day 13, Provo, UT - Coalville, UT
Today 60.7 miles spread over 6:23:54. Trip totals are now 956.6 miles after 76:19:07. My top speed today was a mediocre 27.9 mph.