Crossing the Escalante River and starting the first climb of the day
Already tossing the jacket
The climb was fun and the locals were all super friendly. I passed by some guys working on utility lines and they fist-pumped me as I went by. Once at the top, I turned around and took in the twisting descent, hopping cattle grates as I flew down through the desert. It's all free range cattle out here so grates are all over the road. You have to keep your head up even more than usual. The Tour of Utah passed through here a few years ago when they raced a stage from Zion National Park all the way through Hwy 12 to Torrey. I would have hated to encounter some of those grates in a peloton.
I'm the tiny speck coming up this stretch of the climb on Hwy 12
Big rocks surrounded the road. They were very smooth on the surface. It made me want to take off from the top of the hill on my mountain bike and ride it like a giant downhill skate park.
Nearing the top
Plenty warm now
Going back down
Shannon cruising behind me as I near one of my favorite road signs.
I descended back to Calf Creek Campground and that was most of the fast part of my day. It was tough climbing after that as I made my way up onto the plateau above Calf Creek on my way towards the town of Boulder. Some of the sections were really steep and there was minimal relief in between those steep areas. Once I got on top of the plateau, the wind turned straight into my face and the road continued false-flat climbing toward the ridge known as The Hogback. There are massive canyons on either side of the narrow strip of land that makes up the Hogback ridge. It makes for some great photos though as the road twists and turns as it goes along the ridge.
Back in the shady canyon near Calf Creek
Suffering a bit more on this climb
Looking down from The Hogback
Any guess where the creek goes in the canyon below?
The Hogback
I crossed Hogback a few times just for fun. The curves were nice when I had a tailwind.
Riding Hogback
It was about five more miles of headwind and false flats before I finally got a small descent into Boulder and had to climb off for the sake of time. I had climbed over 3,200 feet in 23 miles into the wind so my average speed was just over 12 mph, meaning it was taking way more time than expected. Our plan for the day was to see Capitol Reef National Park on our way to the far east of Utah to stay in Blanding. We wanted to do as much of the drive east as possible during daylight so we could see the landscape.
Looking down into Boulder. More color over here.
I had my GoPro filming from my handlebar the whole ride. Highlights of my ride can be seen below.
Video: Highlights of my road ride on scenic Hwy 12
After I climbed into the car and we knocked off a few boring miles outside of Boulder, the road turned up again, climbing up over Boulder Mountain. The mountain brought a landscape shift from desert rocks to high-mountain forest. We had some incredible views of leaves changing color and far-off views of the colored desert rocks. You can see the canyons and rock formations of Capitol Reef from the top of Boulder Mountain. It made me wish I was still riding as this was a really awesome part of the highway and a climb that looked more fun than what I had just ridden up to Hogback.
Fall colors as we start up Boulder Mountain
Some of those free range cattle
Hwy 12 on Boulder Mountain
Bright yellows along a gravel side road
I'm being watched...
Cattle grazing on Boulder Mountain
View from the top of Boulder Mountain
Capitol Reef national Park in the distance
Lower Browns Reservoir
Hwy 12 then descends Boulder Mountain back into the desert and takes you to the end of the highway in Torrey where you link up with another scenic road, Utah Highway 24. We hung a right on Hwy 24 and immediately entered Capitol Reef National Park and began another national park adventure. More on that in the next post.
Going down the north side of Boulder Mountain toward Torrey
Capitol Reef National Park just ahead
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