WordCamp - Day 8

I slept well in the tent set up the night before in Great Basin National Park. It had rained during the night but my tent was dry and made packing my gear on the bike easy. The following details some of my travels for the day.

Great Basin National Park

I needed to cover a lot of ground in order to make it into Colorado Springs by nightfall but could not resist traveling up the mountainside to get a glimpse of Wheeler Peak (13 miles of switchbacks from my campsite). The following captures some of the surrounding area, including Wheeler Peak and some shots of rain falling on the distant plains below:

After leaving Great Basin National Park, it was roughly another hundred miles before I reached Beaver, Utah. The roads were desolate but beautiful as the landscape still maintained the Nevada starkness except covered in golden grass. It was not until I reached Milford, Utah where I found a semblance of civilization. The following map will help put things in perspective:

From Beaver, Utah I connected to Interstate 70 and headed East.

Salt Wash

I try to stay away from interstate highways as much as possible but, as it turns out, Interstate 70 had a lot of offer. I enjoyed the high altitude driving near the Fishlake National Forest and the lower canyons found in Manti-La Sal National Forest.

There are several vista points worth checking out while in the Manti-La Sal National Forest. Here are pictures taken while stopping at the Salt Wash vista point:

Devils Canyon

Not far from the Salt Wash is the Devils Canyon vista point. The landscape looks very familiar to what can be found at Hell’s Backbone near Escalante, Utah (as noted on Day 2).

Ghost Rock

Apparently, if I can recall from memory correctly, the story says that two cowboys saw these rocks in the fog and thought them to be ghosts:

I missed the chance to see one last vista point called “Spotted Wolf”, I think, where the interstate descended through jagged redrock to plains. From there the road flattened and warmed up as I traveled towards Moab and Arches National Park. I did not stop to visit Arches or the nearby Colorado Canyons National Recreation Area but would have liked to.

Independence Pass

I think it was near Grand Junction, Colorado where I caught up to the Colorado River and followed it for quite a ways before reaching Glenwood Springs, finally leaving Interstate 70. I then headed South on Highway 82 to Aspen, Colorado. The drive from Glenwood Springs, through Aspen, and over Independence Pass is really spectacular and something that everyone should experience. I have to admit that the road through this region is really slow, however. There is a lot of residential housing, businesses, and stop lights in this area so be warned. I should also mention that the road over Independence Pass is somewhat treacherous as it is covered in loose rock and narrows to a single lane at certain points. Do not let that deter you. It is worth it.

Aspen, Colorado blew me away. First time there. I have been to resort cities before (like Tremblant and Telluride) but nothing quite like this. I would have taken pictures but I plan to explore this more intimately in the future since it is not that far away. Anyway, here are some shots outside of Aspen via Independence Pass:

Twin Lakes

On the other side of Independence Pass are the Twin Lakes where I caught the last of the fading sunlight:

For the next couple of hours I would travel in the dark. Punishment, I suppose, for too much lally-gagging around earlier day. I reached home around 10:30pm.

Trips Stats

Alas, this concludes my road trip to and from WordCamp. I’ll end this post with a few travel stats:

• Total Length: 8 days
• Total Mileage: 2,861
• Total Gas Purchases (premium gas): $233

Tags: WordCamp

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