Day 1; Park City heading WestJul 15, 2012
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Fu-Fu Room. Our Nicest Campsite this trip
View from balcony
| Mack Update: The Montage I picked Charlie up at the Salt Lake airport in a rented Tahoe. He said, "Hi Bro, Deadhorse???? Really???" "Hey if the shoe fits Dude" The Montage Resort at Deer Valley can be eloquently described with two words: "Doesn't Suck." I'm here for a Honda dealer meeting and this place is spectacular. It's located above Park City in the middle of the Deer Valley Ski Area. I told Charlie not to get use to this foo foo palace because we're about to spend the next two weeks in tents. He said, "Ok, I better set up my spa appointment fast then." You go Boy..... Last night we decided to make a route adjustment for the trip due to the heavy rain that has fallen in central Utah in the last two days. The high mountain route we had planned is most likely become a "mud fest" and very treacherous for big bikes so we are going to take one of the "Plan B" tracks we've designed into the GPS route. The weather is going to clear this week so we need to buy about 3 days to let things dry out to the north. We'll head west today for a 500 mile, off road loop around the Great Salt Lake. I had taken this out of the main route due to the usual temperatures in the desert that exceed 100F on a regular basis. The next few days will have below average desert temps in the mid to high 80s which is perfectly fine for us. The long loop will travel along the historic Pony Express route which ran from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861. It's strange to me that something so famous to us was only in existence for less than a year and a half. Then somebody built a railroad....... We'll continue over the Nevada border, tear around the Bonneville Salt Flats, (Charlie will go for a new dirt bike speed record) and turn back to the east following a 150 mile stretch of the old Trans-Continental Railroad bed. We'll try to visit the Golden Spike National Historic Park where on May 10, 1869 the Union and Central Pacific Railroads joined their rails at Promontory Summit. The "Golden Spike" was driven and America had the first complete railway across the continent. (Ok.... I love history...... Charlie will say, "Hey, this is a long dirt road...") We'll finish our detour by turning north and continuing on our planned route into the Idaho high country. Smithtour 2012 Leaves today. Mark and Charlie |
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