4 Corners Trip (USA)

by Gary Wilson

Day 3 - April 7th 2007

We stopped at the Colorado River Bridge for some rest and pictures. This bride is a massive steel arch that spans the Colorado River; I walked around for a while taking pictures while Olav talked to some German tourist. I still amazed how someone can speak English one minute and then flip the record over and start speaking another language. After playing around the Colorado Bridge we headed to Hanksville for breakfast.

Stopping for gas in Torry Utah we turned left on Highway 12 which passes through Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and over Boulder Mountain in the Dixie National Forest to its conclusion near the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park

One mile west of the town of Escalante is Petrified Forest State Park. The town itself borders the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The road continues through the Escalante canyons with panoramic views over miles of colorful slickrock. After crossing the Escalante River,

Nearing the town of Boulder, Highway 12 twists and turns through the Hogback, a section of the road where cliffs drop steeply into narrow canyons on both sides of the highway. Following the summit of Boulder Mountain, the byway travels a spectacular forested course where views of colorful Capitol Reef National Park, the Circle Cliffs and the Henry Mountains are framed by the trees of the Dixie National Forest.

For me the right ratio of camping and motels is two nights camping to one night motel, so a room was looking good, especially with the dark skies, spiting rain and strong winds we had been riding through this afternoon. Entering the town of Panguitch, which was settled in 1864, we stopped for the night at the Purple Sage Motel. Asking the clerk were the best meal in town was? We were told of a steak place just around the corner on Main Street. Riding our now unladed bike over there we walked in and sat down and ordered a couple of warm juicy-grilled steak. This was a nice change from the fast foods and “Just Add Hot Water” meal of the past few days. The building that housed the restaurant I guess was about a hundred years old, with its metal stamped ceiling and cowboy paraphernalia hanging on the wall. After dinner we returned back to the room were a nice hot shower awaited, the first in many days, I felt sorry for Olav who had spent the past two days behind me.