Hanksville - Green River, Utah - I've never been so ill prepared or so determined to tour

June 24, 2019

Hanksville - Green River, Utah

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Elevation gain 1,744. Elevation loss 1,873.

There was a Facebook touring group suggestion of calling the Canadian border patrol and asking about my passport name misspelling issue. I called first thing this morning. The answer is that by land, I can use my driver's license and a birth certificate and I don't need a passport at all. I said I wasn't sure about the location of my birth certificate. She replied that another form of photo government ID is acceptable. I hung up. Thought about where my birth certificate should be, but I'm not home to check. I called back again and got a different agent. I explained the situation. This agent asked how bad was the misspelling. I replied the G/Q part. She said it wouldn't be an issue at all, come visit Canada! But maybe to be sure, I will look for my birth certificate when I get home late this week.

I called the American side. After explaining my problem, the agent said bring my birth certificate. I replied that I’m not positive I can put my hands on it. “Ay, yi, yi, he replied” He did not agree that my school photo ID is good. I guess I will hope the birth certificate is where it should be when I get home. That or I have a friendly agent . . . he did say as an American citizen I cannot be denied entry . . .which perhaps is a backdoor way of saying no problem?

Between thinking about that and having a silly tiff with Oren over dinner last night, I didn’t sleep at all. We were talking about how much he LOVES this area. Previously he had mentioned wanting to retire to Moab or Grand Junction. I suggested that perhaps they could have an extended visit in the winter. My view being that it’s a warm location (relatively) and going somewhere warm in the winter is great (Tucson!). He immediately rejected the idea. I restated that *I* would love to go someplace warm in the winter and as much as he loves this area, etc. We ended up all crosswise. It was the beginning of dinner and dinner wasn’t much fun . . . I ended up sending him an apology text, which he accepted . . . it would be a shame to finish our tour on such a note after being good companions for so long.

So - I'm hoping the day goes well. We are eating breakfast in the room. I have the usual oatmeal. Jacinto has two breakfast sandwiches and a bag of Chili Cheese Fritos. That's the breakfast of champions, isn't it?

Oren and I departed at 7:30. Wind was non existent. I don't remember the temperature - I will guess 60 degrees. Perfect riding weather for me. Oren had his coat on and who knows how many layers.

Today ended up being a great day! The scenery was much better than I anticipated. The first 17 miles was such a long gradual climb that I wondered what was wrong with our legs. Then I looked at the elevation profile and realized we were climbing! That changed my thought pattern. I decided my legs were getting crazy strong because we had done all of that climbing and I was feeling slow rather than whiny or tired. Especially considering we've ridden eight days in a row without a day off.

I have been savoring all of the blue sky and sunshine. I surely hope that Canada treats us as well. It was slightly chilly when we started, but warmed up nicely. I made a few photo stops at the beginning and had to catch back up to Oren.

A rumble strip appeared out of nowhere today. We had a nice wide shoulder, but it had a rough chip and seal surface. The driving lane was much nicer to ride in, but whenever we moved over, we had to navigate the rumble strip. Traffic continued to be very light. For a Monday, I was surprised at how many trucks pulling boats we saw headed to Lake Powell. You would think that would be more of a Friday thing?

Utah has been great for low traffic and good road surfaces. I thought today would be a get down the road type day, but I enjoyed it. We had some excitement when we took Old Highway 24 at mile 40.4. It's directly after the San Rafael River. I was hoping we would turn before the climb, but of course, we had to climb and then take the turn. At first the surface was hopeful. Grass growing into the pavement on the sides. But there was still pavement and a center yellow line. We passed a couple of collapsed/washed out areas that were easily navigated by bicycle. Dirt and gravel covered the road in areas. We picked our way around.

While researching, I could take the google guy on all but ten miles of this road. I had read Scott Anderson's account of riding it in 2017. Scott included a number of photos. RWGPS's recommended route says to take a right 2.5 miles down the road. Oren and I stopped and consulted the map. I love the live tracking feature, yes, there we were right at the intersection. We were on the paved road (paved being a loose term). RWGPS wanted us to go down a narrow, sandy track. I will ride dirt, but I don't do sand. We agreed to stay on the pavement. Oren said he had looked at how Komoot was sending Jacinto and the routes deviated slightly. Off we continued on the pavement. Bertha kept beeping at me for being off route. We had a downhill trend with one nice uphill. I noted that Oren and I were both riding on the left side of the yellow line on a climb. What if someone came over the hill? That would not be good. We did not see another vehicle the entire road, thankfully. Of course, if someone needed help on this road - there would be none.

We got to a turn in the road. The interstate was enticingly close. We talked about going straight. That was obviously not the most used road. I told Oren that yes I thought it led to the interstate, but I'm sure there wasn't an on ramp and what if there were a fence? How would we get our bikes onto the interstate. Better to take the all dirt road that led us slightly out of the way, but would hook up to RWGPS's route. We rode the dirt road past the airport. It had a brand new, very black runway with bright white markings. I found that ironic. The nice paved runway with a dirt road to the airport. We did see a wind sock and what appeared to be a solar display around it. But not a single airplane.

Finally we got to the intersection of RWGPS's plotted route and the route we took. We agreed we did not know what was actually down that road, but having looked at both ends, we were glad we stayed on Old Highway 24. The Airport Road was still dirt at this piece, but we were headed downhill and soon enough it turned into pavement. We could see the green of Green River below us and we were hungry. We agreed to eat a little something to tide us over until 5 PM. I remembered a fast food taco place. We found one, a taco truck. We sat down in the shade. It felt SO good. Drinks were serve yourself out of the cooler. I scooped up ice for my water bottle. I dismissed the thought of how many hands had rooted around through that ice looking for drinks. Oren's phone said 90 degrees at 2 PM. I think we've done quite well with beating the heat this trip.

I checked Strava to see where Jacinto was. He was closing in on us. I used Oren's phone to call. I told Jacinto we were only 15 minutes away and I would save him a couple of tacos. When he arrived he asked if I thought he was driving a car. Jacinto said getting close to town, but still on the airport road, that there were people up high on the hill rolling car tires down and the tires crossed the road in front of him, startling him. Luckily nothing connected!

We were about another mile down the road to our motel. I'm a sucker for a good name - we are at the Robber's Roost. Probably don't pick this one. The price is only $70. total - but it is old and simple inside. A big one for me is that they don't furnish ice. There is a fridge and microwave. The wi-fi is good. Jacinto is hoping he can watch the Rockies baseball tonight. There are more expensive chain motels out by the interstate, but there is only one restaurant. We've eaten there before and I didn't like it. So we are in town, at an old motel, close to mom and pop restaurants. As far as in town lodging, we've stayed at the Sleepy Hollow before and it was a better choice.

Hanksville is close to the Bullfrog Marina at Lake Powell. There are a number of boat related businesses here.

We aren't out of the pretty stuff yet! Jacinto ran a half marathon at Goblin State Park, which is just a few miles down the road. You would never know, unless you know what to visit.

Bill says this is some sort of a primrose, maybe a pale evening primrose.

One of the big pleasures of the trip is riding up close and personal to rock formations.

Bill says this is some sort of a lupine.

I could just imagine the wind blowing that sand into my face and mixing with my sunscreen. It would be a free facial!

These are round rocks, not jagged. Was it all originally one giant piece many years ago?

This is at the beginning of RWGPS's route on old Highway 24. It was an experience.

Notice that the road has a center line and we are climbing on the wrong side of that line. We did not see a vehicle the entire road.

This is at the intersection of the airport road. Enticingly close in front of us was the Interstate - but I told Oren I was sure we wouldn't have an on ramp and I would place a bet that there would be a fence and how would we get our bikes over the fence. We took the long way around.

We had stayed on the paved road. RWGPS wanted us to take this road. This is where the two roads merged again. We don't know what the actual road surface was, but looking at this piece, we might have been walking the bikes.

I like the portico on this old house right in town.

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 954 miles (1,535 km)

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