Trip Report Day 4 - Ely, Great Basin and Home

I got up early again this morning and went outside into the cool morning air. The Bristlecone does not offer any breakfast so I wandered across the street to the Copper Queen Motel and Casino. A neon arrow sign pointed me upstairs to Evah's restaurant so I made my way to a table. The main room of this hotel is quite unusual. Evah's is basically in a balcony that overlooks the small casino and an indoor swimming pool. There is also a bar and the check-in desk. Pretty much everything in one big room. Anyway, the hotel was serving a continental breakfast which I quickly realized was intended for hotel guests. Well I was hungry and anxious to get going, plus there was a whole pile of waffles and stuff, so I helped myself and made a fast exit back across the street.

The ride out of town was cool and peaceful. I had the road to myself. The scenery outside of Ely is nice - rolling hills covered in scrub oak with the road carved into numerous canyons. Great riding.

I turned off Hwy 6 onto Hwy 487 and headed towards the town of Baker and the entrance to Great Basin National Park. Admittedly, I didn't know much about GBNP and it never occurs to me that it is a 4 hour drive from Salt Lake City, so I was eager to check it out. The main attraction is the Lehman caves, a limestone cave full of amazing formations. I didn't do that. Instead, I took the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive - a narrow twisting road that climbs to over 10,000 feet. The views were great and I was amazed at how quickly the road climbed above the Great Basin valley floor. GBNP is considered to be one of the darkest locations in the country and is perfect for stargazing so I'll have to return sometime to camp and use my ridiculously large telescope.

The park was uncrowded so the drive up and down the scenic road was enjoyable and I was able to ride at my own pace.

After leaving the park, I headed into the town of Baker to stop by a local store and look for gas. Unfortunately the Silver Jack Inn/Lectrolux Cafe were closed so I went a bit further to find some gas.

The only gas pump in town is a freestanding, unattended gas pump that is available 24/7. You just pull up, open the wooden credit card reader door, stick in your card and fill her up. Nothing fancy but exactly what I was looking for.

Departing Barker, I hopped back onto Hwy 6 and headed towards Delta. About 20 minutes into that stretch I noticed a fleet of police cars, lights flashing, heading towards me on the highway. A van about a mile in front of me quickly pulled to the side of the road. The first police car passed me and the officer gave me a "pull over" finger pointing and then made a fist. What the hell does that mean? Pull over but live strong? What could this be? I speculated that I was witnessing a high speed police pursuit and these officers were riding ahead of the fugitive to warn traffic to get off the road. Cool!

As I sat off to the side of the road, on the 9 inch wide paved shoulder, a second police car came by but slowed to speak with me. He said "We gotta really wide load comin' and it's taking up more than the whole road. You're gonna wanna pull over some more". I nodded, but then looked to my right at the 4 foot dropoff next to my tire. Hmmm....I'll just lean over. Besides, how does something take up 'more than the whole road'? Is it knocking over mile marker signs and taking out bridges? Who lets someone drive down a road with something that large? All these questions....

Well here it came and the driver was hauling ass. It was simply the largest piece of completely unidentifiable industrial equipment (in requisite mustard yellow) I had ever seen. I have no idea what its purpose was. And sure enough, it spanned just slightly more than both lanes. The driver passed me doing about 60 with this load and as if it mattered, I leaned as far as I could to the right. Since you are reading this, you know it didn't hit me in the head. A fugitive would have been so much cooler.

I pushed hard into Delta on what was labeled as a scenic byway, which unless there is some other definition of scenic I'm not familiar with, was in fact - not. I was starting to get hungry and my lowlands needed a break, so as I arrived in Delta I looked for the oldest looking cafe I could find in town. Seemed appropriate for my last day on the road. Like a beacon in the night, the Rancher Motel-Cafe appeared on my right. I pulled in, un-geared and went inside.

The Rancher was one of those places where when you walk in with nerd glasses, a Porsche Turbo t-shirt, riding pants and jacket and you have bathed that week - everyone looks up at you when the bell jingles as the door closes behind you. Perfect. I sat down and ordered and iced tea and a BLT. It was out in a flash and truly hit the spot. I gassed up again and decided to make a run for Eureka, UT - about 50 miles north.

Eureka still feels like a mining town. Remnants of its mining past are literally all over the place. I found a nice shade tree under which I could park and get a quick drink of water. Everyone that passed me waved, not so much to be friendly but rather to let me know that they knew I was there.

The final stretch home was up Hwy 68 behind Utah Lake, across town and back to my house in Sandy. As I ran up 68, I could start to see Mount Timpanogos near Provo - a signal that I was nearing home and that my road trip would be ending soon.

As I got nearer to Salt Lake County, the traffic picked up and the road construction signs appeared everywhere. It was 4:00pm and about 105 degrees. I turned onto 126th South and headed east - deciding to take it all the way to Wasatch Blvd and down to Sandy. Traffic was nasty. I pulled up to light after light and sweltered in my riding gear. At one light a Harley rider pulled up next to me - helmetless, in a t-shirt and shorts, with flip flops - and looked at me as if to say "Hey dumbass, ski season is 6 months away". It was a shocking transition back to city life after 3 days soaking up the solitude that the Western US offers.

I rode along Wasatch, turned onto Little Cottonwood Canyon road and drove into my neighborhood. As I turned the corner onto my street, I heard my dogs bark. I pulled into the garage, shut off the bike and my wife opened the garage door and smiled.

Home.