What I Did Last Summer (Hwy 12 Reprise Part Four: Capital Reef and Cafe Diabolo)

In my eternal race to beat the setting sun, I declined a kind invitation for coffee by the Ducati Instigator to head to my next destination.  Even though it was too early in the season to harvest apples, plums, pears, quince, and cherries, wouldn't it be a lovely "Eating of Two Wheels" activity to camp beside an orchard of heritage fruit trees? I must have not been the only one to think so, because there was no vacancy at Capital Reef National Park.  Nada. Still, I couldn’t leave without a short tour of a that glorious place.

This orchard is right next to the campground.  Self serve!

Although just on the other end of Highway 12 from Bryce Canyon  and its hoodoos that remind me of the muddy sand castles I made as a child, Capital Reef looks entirely different. Surely these cliffs are the product of God's giant chisel? And Zion National Park, also just a short ride away, with its swirling waves frozen in time - how is it that these three parks be so close on the map, yet so utterly unique?

I set up an alternative camp at Sunglow Campground,  not far from Cafe Diabolo in Torrey, UT, kitchen of Honda riding chef Gary Pankow, and home of some seriously tall food.

I pilfered this shot from across the dining patio.  A towering skyscraper of... lamb?

 

Rattlesnake cakes with three sauces?  Delicious!

The pumpkin seed trout had entirely too much going on for one plate.  If you could eat plaid, this was it.

Next time I’m in the neighborhood, I look forward to trying  Hell’s Backbone Grill, delightfully located on Highway 12 in Boulder, UT.  I’ve ridden by it at least four times over the years and have been mysteriously oblivious to its existence each time.  I only recently just heard of it, and it looks very promising.   My “Next Year, Next Year" list continues to grow faster than my backlog of blog posts.

Back to camp, where I chatted with quirky postcard photographer Mark Smith, and on home the next morning.

What I Did Last Summer (Utah Scenic Highway 12 Reprise Part Three: A Fateful Meeting at Calf Creek Falls)

Now that the dust has cleared from the meteor called August* that smashed into my life, I can continue with this little series on Summer 2010.  (Actually, September is a meteor of another sort, but one of my own design, so at least I could prepare for it. Which isn't meant to imply I was ready for it.)

ANYWAY…

June in Utah can be… cold.  It was so cold the night before in Bryce Canyon I couldn’t sleep.  And while I can usually count on the wrestling, struggling, swearing and panting required to get my sleeping bag into its dry bag to warm me up, it was too cold even for that to be effective.  I was nearly beaten by that daily athletic event, yet my teeth were still chattering.  Breaking camp and loading up that shivery morning wasn’t the highlight of my trip, but even so, as I rode out of the park, I wasn’t sure if the tears stinging my eyes were solely from the weather.  How lucky I am to be here, in these wonderful places, doing what I love to do!

Good morning, Highway 12!  Special Bonus: I had time for the short hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls. This would serve me well, as you will soon see.

I love these stripey rock walls.

Not quite three miles in and Lo!  Lower Calf Creek Falls appear!

The falls in all their glory.  Next year, next year… the upper falls, from a shorter but more difficult trail.

A friendly hiker at the falls noticed my awkward attempts at a self portrait and offered to take my photo.  We hiked back to the parking area together, and I learned that he too, was a motorcyclist.  Do you remember, back in 2009, the day I fell in love with the Ducati 696?  Not only faster than my Kawi, but lower and lighter, too.  Sadly, I never did find that extra $10,000+ under the couch cushions, and had ruled it out as an impossibility.  But fate, in her mysterious ways, would put this unsuspecting starving artist in the saddle of shiny new bike before summer's end.  A few weeks later, this friendly hiker (who would later become my Most Excellent Tour Guide)** would search for and post a Craig’s List ad for a practically brand new Ducati (but, remarkably, in the same solar system as my budget - Pluto to be sure, but still the same solar system) on my Facebook Wall.  Thanks to this chance meeting on the trail, in little over a month’s time I’d be the proud owner of my “little pony.”  Who knew?

*Pack and move home from UT, dead car leaves me stranded in UT, ridiculous alternate transport home to Tucson, job goes wonky, find affordable reliable new-to-me-used car (Hah!), beloved doggie moves on to greener pastures… I think that’s plenty for one month!
** My METG took me on a most unexpected tour last week, the description of which is approximately fifth in the line of blogposts held up on the runway.

What I Did Last Summer - Part One (Utah Scenic Highway 12)

I bought a computer last summer. Which means, for most of the summer, I did not HAVE a computer. Which is why I never told you what I did. Sooo... before THIS summer begins, I'll quickly recap Summer 2009. It began with my realization upon my arrival to Logan, UT, that I had dropped my moto keys over 200 miles back, and was not able to unload it from my trailer without driving an extra 450 miles. Applaud my excellence!

Then I went to Bryce Canyon. Via Bear Lake and the Uintas. (Excellent for real!)


First gas stop near Bear Lake. Cool clouds!



Lots of people think driving across Wyoming is boring. Maybe it's because I'm from CT, but this landscape never fails to amaze me.





Approaching the Unitas! Super-cool, since they have evaded me for a few years in a row, thanks to scheduling snafus and a leaky fuel valve. (Thank you, Steve, for putting together my trailer and driving my car waaaay out to Evanston, WY, to rescue me and my fuel-spewing motorcycle that time... you earned your paella "thank you" dinner many times over!)



Hello Mirror Lake Scenic Byway! Here I am at the top - Bald Mountain Pass. I thought I'd spend the night in the Unitas, but it's not even lunchtime, so I enjoy this fun road and continue on my way. (Plus there's still way too much snow for camping, although this picture doesn't really demonstrate that fact.)



I go. And I go. And I look at the threatening sky and skirt this storm. And that one. Almost 450 miles later, I find myself at Red Canyon campground, right next to Bryce Canyon National Park. Yay! For those not in the know, 435 miles on moto in one day is nothing to sneeze at. It was a record for me, actually. There's no way you can compare it to 435 miles in a car.
No. Way. At. All.

Here's a little walk on the Birdseye Trail at Red Canyon Campground.









The next morning - Bryce Canyon (Natural Bridge and Bryce Point shown here). I've never seen anything like it! Extraordinary! I can't believe I didn't make the time to hike it, but I had more important plans for this trip...






...specifically speaking, the wondrous Highway 12, mecca for motorcyclists the world over. I've been a passenger there before, but this time it was MY turn at the helm. At the other end? Cafe Diablo, fancy, fancy, yummy, yummy food. I have fond memories of their Rattlesnake Cakes, and I was eager for a repeat performance from them.

It rained. A lot. The whole way. Accompanied by the boom and flash of exciting (terrifying?) storms.


Cafe Diabolo was closed.


Sigh. So much for testing my "sport" skills. But my uber-cool rain suit passed with flying colors! So did my until now un-tested riding-in-scary-weather skills! (There'd be more of that in my future, oh yes.) Not so for my makeshift tank bag cover, a.k.a. hotel shower cap. That blew off in, oh, 45 seconds. The fine folks at the Capitol Reef Inn and Cafe supplied me with some satisfying fish and chips and peach pie, along with some replacement hefty bags, which was my keep-the-luggage-dry method at that point. You'll find out why I don't do that any more during "What I Did Last Summer Part Five."

I reach Utah Lake State Park and the skies cleared up to at least let me set up camp in dry weather. The campground host says "Do you have insect repellent? You're going to need it." He wasn't kidding. I did, except the bottle was empty. Again, you may applaud my excellence!

Next stop, Mt. Timpanogos!

Except...

It looked like this:



What's that? You can't see it? My point exactly. The road up Mt. Timpanogos looks like it was made by and for a pack of Shriners. You know, the guys that ride those teeeny tricycles wearing fezes? The road is reeeallly narrow. And reeeallly twisty. Which is, of course, exactly why I wanted to ride it. But not in that weather, no thank you, I'll pass. I'm only so stupid. Or so I thought. I did, basically, just that, on another trip which I'll tell you about later.

Time to head home...

...in the hail.

Hail hurts!

(Part Two coming soon.)


Update: Timpanogos wasn't completely lost to me. I made it there, on a lovely day, about a month later. Here I am!