Gunnison - Nephi, UT - Big Mountains, Small Towns.

July 14, 2022

Gunnison - Nephi, UT

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Oren and I were out the door early-ish, to beat the heat. Plus, there's no reason to hang around our cramped little room. Jacinto had plotted out a longer, 57 mile route. We went west, he went east. I think perhaps Jacinto had the more interesting route, through several small towns.

Oren said we had a big hill to start the day. I thought he was joking, because we were riding through the flat valley. He wasn't joking. There really was a climb out of town, 120 feet. That's nothing, compared to what we've been doing, but I'm sure it's significant if you live here.

One advantage to riding early is beating the traffic. We had a wide shoulder, cloud cover, and no cars. What's not to like? Our miles passed quickly, it was a short day.

We first smelled, and then saw a couple of large dairies. There also appeared to be a veal calf operation, with a lot of small fiberglass houses with calves. That was sad. Real life, but, still sad.

Chuck, from the motel last night, said that he no longer had an ice machine because fishermen would put their fish inside. I asked where did they go fishing. He said Yuba Lake was now dried up. He wasn't kidding. Looking at the map, we should have been riding along a lake for miles. There was nothing but pale green where the lake should have been.

At mile 30, we passed the town of Levan. This is where we lost our riding shoulder and seemed to gain a lot of truck traffic. There were several signs announcing 10 miles to Interstate 15. I supposition that all of those trucks are headed to the interstate. I'm not used to seeing so many double trucks. In Colorado, trucks aren't able to pull doubles over the mountain passes, just singles.

We arrived in Nephi early, and stopped at a convenient Subway. Eventually we meandered over to the Best Western. It wasn't even noon. I got in my room straight away. Oren had to wait a half hour. My room is spacious, clean, lots of pillows, fluffy towels. This is the life!

I have family in the area. My mother grew up near here. An aunt is coming to collect me, then we are going to visit another aunt.

Oren and I are continuing our reward rides down the valley. Jacinto has happily been able to find longer, climbing routes. Tomorrow he has a doozy that Ben Meyerson pointed out to him. Jacinto is going to ride up the hard side of Payson Canyon - Komoot has some of it marked as 15%! The downside is almost as steep. Jacinto is riding 11 more miles than us, but climbing almost 5,000 feet more! I don't feel even a little bad for missing that climbing. I will enjoy the photos. My Aunt Bunny is going to take Jacinto's extra panniers to Payson. He will be able to climb with minimal extra weight. In 2019, at the end of our Grand Canyon tour, we stayed an extra day in Moab. I did the cruising 40 mile ride along the river. Jacinto rode the tough La Sal Loop, without panniers. He thought it would be easy, without weight, but was surprised how difficult the ride was. Let's see what his opinion is of Payson Canyon, even without weight!

Twinkies and coffee. The breakfast of champions?

There is supposed to be a huge lake right here. Yuba Lake.

The black stuff in the front of the photo is manure. Lots and lots of odiferous manure. We saw a couple of big daries along here.

I love windmills. We’ve only seen a couple this trip.

Mt Nebo dominated our view today. This is my only photo. That’s a shame. Notice Oren to the right.

He took the climbing route and got a summit sign!

This doesn’t look like a movie theatre, but the sign says it is.

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,548 miles (2,491 km)

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Jeff Lee"There also appeared to be a veal calf operation, with a lot of small fiberglass houses with calves. That was sad. Real life, but, still sad. "

I became a vegetarian after observing this kind of thing on bike tours (the cramped feed lots, disgustingly stinking and crowded industrial chicken and turkey operations, etc.)

Most people don't get close enough to observe the ugly reality of what it takes to provide their food in antiseptic packaging in supermarkets.

Sorry for the mini-rant ;)

I'm enjoying your journal.
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2 years ago

Benjamin MeyersonKudos to Jacinto for taking on the Mt. Nebo Scenic Loop climb, it was used in the Tour of Utah several times and it's Epic! Steeper climb from the South the way he is doing it but that makes the 10 rolling miles on the ridgetop between 8-9,000 feet mostly fast and fun and the descent from Payson Lakes into Payson is an all timer. With a southerly aspect and no shade for pretty much the entire climb even Jacinto might benefit from a relatively early start?
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2 years ago