Start Location: Nephi, UT
Ending Location: Gunnison, CO
Miles Today: 419
Trip Miles: 1374
States Visited: 5
National Parks Visited: 1
Low Temp: 62.9° F
High Temp: 102.2° F
Min Elevation: 4031'
Max Elevation: 8729'
Route Map:
LA or Bust-Day03
Today was pretty amazing. We started out to warm temperatures
and it only got better from there. The first leg of the trip was
a 52 mile stretch down Route 28 from Nephi to I-70/US 50 at Salina. There was virtually no traffic and the ride was very pleasant.
The
next stretch was about 175 miles from Salina to the Utah/Colorado
border. Although this was all Interstate, it was great riding.
Lots of long sweeping curves and beautiful scenery in all
directions. Utah is truly an amazing state. Again there was
very light traffic and no problems.
We stopped about 20
miles into Colorado for lunch. The stop was a combination Rest
Area, Tourist Infromation Center, and Vietnam Memorial - go figure.
Shortly after lunch I-70 and US 50 split and we followed US 50
through Grand Junction and Montrose. About 5 miles outside of
Montrose was the entrance to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
We paid $10 for our lifetime America the Beautiful Senior Pass
which entitles us to entrance to all National Parks for the rest of our
lives - very cool.
There is a seven mile drive along the
south rim of the canyon with about 8 or 10 places to stop and view the
canyon. We stopped at about half of the stops and each stop was
better than the last. It was getting late by this time and the
park was closing soon so we felt like stereotypical Japanese tourists.
We'd hop off the bike, sometimes even leaving our helmets on, zip
over to the observation point, take some pictures, and then back on the
bike and off to the next stop. It wasn't really as bad as it
sounds and we got some great pictures but pictures don't really do it
justice. Like most National Parks, they have to be experienced in
person. Add this one to your list.
Finally we drove on
to Gunnison, CO and got in about 6:30. We thought we might get
wet on this last leg because there were lots of black clouds and wet
roads where it had been raining recently, but we managed to dodge the
rain and get in dry.
We weren't able to decide on a route
from Gunnison tomorrow so we left it up to Google. Tomorrow we
head east on US 50 to Pueblo, then south on I-25 to Raton, NM and
finally east on 87/64. Hopefully we will have another dry day and
more great scenery.
