Wednesday - Flaming Gorge (512 Miles)
We began the day by heading south again down WY28. We had noticed a little pull off that had an historical marker about South Pass about half way between the South Pass City turn-off and Farson. We stopped to read the markers and view the former wagon train route of the Oregon settlers (KMZ). Once in Farson we turned left this time and headed south on US191. Once in Rock Springs we stopped for breakfast. Rock Springs is a rather unattractive place, and rather large by Wyoming standards. We jumped on I-80 west for a few exits before picking up WY530 on the west side of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. In hindsight we should have gone down the east of the reservoir as the road on the west was dead straight and the view of the reservoir was mostly blocked by the foothills around the reservoir. WY530 turns into U43 at the border and shortly dumps into the town of Manila Utah. We caught U44 that runs the south side of the reservoir. The scenery improved dramatically. The road leads through the Sheep Creek Geological Area, an area of twisted rock, a massive fault, towering crags, a large spring, a cave, and other sights. We stopped at the Navajo Cliffs (KMZ) area for a break and to look around. The deep red color of the canyon along the river led to the recreation area's name, first given by explorer John Wesley Powell on May 26, 1869. The famous expedition was the first group of white men to float through the canyon. We found a campground that led to a perfect spot overlooking the reservoir. After soaking up the scenery for awhile we continued around the lake. We came upon the dam and the Mustang Bridge (KMZ) that passes over it.
We rode around to Dutch John Utah and stopped to gas up. We needed to go back the same way in order to cover the western side of the state and go into Idaho. So we picked up a sandwich, and headed back to the spot overlooking the reservoir (KMZ). After lunch we covered our tracks back to Manila. There, we turned left in U43 and back into Wyoming. The road turned to into WY414. We continued north on WY412, picked up US189 and rode into Kemmerer WY. Once there we picked up US30 and headed west for Idaho where we planned on spending the night. We stopped at Fossil Butte along US30 to see what was there. There was not much to see, so we walked around a little and decided to ride on. As we started to leave I realized my bike's clutch would not engage. Imagine the frustration, we were out in the middle of nowhere, our cell phones had no signal and my bike was totally inoperative. We discussed our options, I tinkered with the clutch but to no avail. After further tinkering it began to engage, and our prospects looked a little more promising. Within another few minutes it seemed to be functioning perfectly. Now we had another dilemma; should we continue or try to make it back to Lander. We decided if it happened once it would probably happen again. So we decided to go back to Lander. We headed back on US30 east back into Kemmerer, and then north on US189. We turned right heading east on WY372 and then caught WY28 which would take us back to Lander. My bike was running fine, so we decided to stop at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge along side the Green River for a break. Not much was there to see, and after a quick bike check we continued on. As we rode darkness was quickly falling so we increased our speed to make the Red Canyon around the final sunset. We stopped where we had been the day before and snapped some pictures at sunset. Back into Lander we did our usual routine; wash the dust off of the bikes and enjoy some adult beverages.
