As I gazed across the lake, Mt. Nebo beckoned me, so I decided to ride the "Nebo Loop."
While in route on a rather uninteresting stretch of straight road, I had to stop and take a few pictures of some horses with the mountains in the background. We had horses the entire time I was growing up in Kentucky and I think riding them and various dirtbikes contributed to my current love of riding roadbikes.
At about this time, the 20% chance of rain forcast by the weather channel website turned out to be more like 100%, so I had to mount up and drive further south and east to outrun a rainstorm that was fast approaching. Instead of wearing my Olympia onepiece, I had decided to wear a mesh jacket and my BMW Summer2 pants. They are great riding pants, by the way and I highly recommend them.
I turned west on US HWY 6 for a few miles then went south on State Route 41(I think, I wasn't paying too much attention to the road signs at this point.) When I arrived in Nephi, Utah, I turned east once more onto State Route 132, which leads to the "Nebo Loop." The Canyon Lands of Utah are famous for their geological formations and the Mt. Nebo area provides a sample of what is available further south in the larger national parks like Zion and Brice Canyon.
The entrace to the "Nebo Loop" tantalizes the traveler with a spectacular formation.
Amile or so futher down the road more and more incredible vistas present themselves.
Realizing that I would probably share these pictures with you all, I figured I had better include a photo or two that included the bike. The ground and trees are blackened from last summers wildfires.
At about 8,000 feet, the views were overwhelming.
The road still needed to be cleared of the gravel that had accumulated over winter. After encountering this small group of stones in the blind side of a curve, I decided to slow down a little. Yes, it puckered so tight that it left a print on my seat. No damage to the pants--Now you know why I recommed them so highly!
I believe this photo overlooks "Bear Canyon" and leads up to "Devil's Kitchen"
and another shot of the same area with the "Roc."
Nearing the summit of Mt. Nebo, a look back shows the road winding along the canyon.
These rock formations hint at what lies ahead--
"Devil's Kitchen" was much closer than I ever imagined.
The highway past this area was closed. If the numerous rock and deadfalls in route to this point were any indication of the condition of the highway ahead, I can understand why. Additionally, I was now into the snowline and many of the pass roads have not yet melted enough to be cleared. Somewhat unhappy with the idea of backtracking, I headed back down the mountain.
I HAD to take the obligitory "curvy road sign" photo with the "Roc."
I was fortunate enough to see four mule deer cross the road ahead of me. They are able feed at higher elevations as the snow melts and the vegetation begins to grow again. If you look closely, you can see them moving up the slope on the left of the highway.
On the way back down, I decided to get a quick shot of "Red Creek" in "Red Creek Flats." I dunno who decided to call this the "Flats," because the creek bisects a switchback curve that is so steep that the bike it was nearly impossible to hold the bike and snap this photo.
With space for only one more picture on my rather ancient digital camera, I chose to take a photo of the hottest piece of local stone-age real-estate.
Round trip, I traveled approximately 250 miles, but several of those retraced my route. The last few weeks of June I will have some time off, so I promise to buy a better camera and to take some pictures of the national parks located in the southern part of the state.
Best wishes-
Bruno
