KRATZMC

3 June 2008 Monday

We left Monticello at 0600 hrs Monday morning, as we had a lot to see and a lot of road to cover. This ended up being my favorite ride day. The game plan was to visit the Cliff Dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park, Four Corners and a ride through Glen Canyon to the Grand Escalante Staircase, then to join scenic Hwy 12 to Torrey.

We headed east of Highway 491 taking us to Cortez Co and it was brisk in the low 60’s. This section of 491 is also known as US-666. The hour ride was peaceful and scenic past ranches and farms as we headed into the rising sun. A quick cup of Joe got us going until we could have breakfast in Cortez. I found a great place to eat, called the Ute Coffee shop.

Ute Coffee shop, Cortez Co. It ain’t pretty but good grub. Located in town on US-491 where it becomes US-160.

After breakfast, we got back on the road and headed east on US-160 for about 10 miles until we reached the road to entrance of Mesa Verde. There is a gas station at the same exit along the north side of the Highway. I recommend you top off your tank there if you have less than a third. Rides within the park can be long, depending how much you are going to see.

View of the Mesa from the park entrance.

From the entrance it’s a great ride for about 26 miles to the Visitors Center with the curvaceous road hugging the perimeter of the massive formation. Views are excellent the whole way but expect slow downs with the RV and cage driver traffic.

After a brief obligatory visit to the Visitors Center, we took the park roads to the various Cliff Dwellings.

Cliff House Dwelling

Gary Cooper took some great pictures of the whole PD ride, so here is a link to his album. Cooper’s Pics

I find the Park is one of my favorite and it is amazing to think that folks us to live in such a unique area and conditions. It is always cool, except for the short hikes to the Dwellings and you can easily spend several days there. We had to keep moving and if you looked at Gary’s Flickr album, you’ll get a flavor of what we saw.

We headed out of the park and fueled up once more in Cortez and headed to Four Corners Monument, where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and N.M. meet. Back through Cortez and south on US-160 for another hours ride. Be prepared as there is literally nothing within 50 radial miles of Four Corners. Rule of thumb in Southern Utah is not to pass up fuel stops, unless you are well versed on where all the gas stations are.

After another hour of riding, we reached Four Corners. There is a $4 entry fee charged by the Navajo’s who care take the site. I had been to Four Corners before, so while the guys did the Touristy stuff I decided to have a Navajo Burger and get out of the sun.

This is the place 4 Corners Monument

Barney the Hat in 4 states at one time

Left to right:  Dennis “Milky” Madsen, Antonio “Tony Zega” Delgado, Gary “Larry” Cooper, Mark “Zeke” Kratz, Mike Reeves, John “Flynnstone” Flynn and Bob Hole.

The Navajo Burger. A great burger with drink for $7 bucks and it will fill you up. Note: Only commercial food available near the corners. There are three or four independent food stands at the Corners monument.

After the guys got all their pictures and our obligatory group photo, we started working our way back into Utah and the road to Torrey, where we would spend the night. We had to cover almost 400 miles for the day, so we had to keep moving to make it to Torrey in time for dinner.

The days route, roughly 398 miles

After another hour and a half ride we fueled and hydrated ourselves near Blanding. Now came my favorite part of the ride, US-95.

US-95 to the view point above the Colorado River. One of my favorite stretches of road in the Southwest.

This 80 mile stretch of road was covered in about 55 minutes. I will let you figure out the rate of travel. With little traffic, good road surface, undulating terrain, wide sweeping turns and unobstructed straight-a-ways with spectacular views, it don’t get much better than this. You can really blow out those carbon deposits and cover a lot of ground fast.

US-95 approaching the bridge over the Colorado River from Canyon Lands

Over the Colorado River

Spectacular view area

Barney checks out the view

Well the rest of the ride to Torrey was without saying scenic, as we left the Grand Staircase and into Capitol Reef National Park. The scenery in some spots changes from the brilliant red hues into gray, leaving you feeling like you are riding on an Alien landscape.

I watched as a Dust Devil devoured a car ahead of us and we got a lite sprinkling of rain. We ended our ride day in Torrey for our stay at the Best Western Capitol Reef, a great staging point for your expeditions to all the surrounding parks. There are also three restaurants within walking distance and we opted for pizza, right across the highway. After a few beer and reflecting upon the day, we retired for the night and prepared for out last day together as a group.

Check Cooper’s Flickr photo album, link above to get a flavor of what we saw through out the entire ride.

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