Picto Diary - 27, 28 September 2020 - Pando Aspen Clone

Above: Ducs in a row. Noor Hotel, Torrey, UT. 27 September 2020
In Search of Authenticity Tour
Out and about on the Duc

Yesterday, I left, riding the Duc, Park City at 4;15 PM and arrived in Torrey at 8:30 PM. I took the east routing... Wolf Creek Pass, Indian Canyon, UT SR 10 through Emery County, and SR 72 into Wayne County. I made a pit stop at the Helper Shell.

It was dark for the hour I rode SR 72 and, then, SR 24 into Torrey. I slowed my average speed by ten miles per hour and watched carefully for animals on the road. I didn't see any... but, I knew they were nearby.

I knew Cafe Diablo in Torrey had changed ownership and I stopped there hoping to get something to eat. The hostess said, "sorry, we hate to turn people away, but, the chef says we're running out of food." There was a good attendance at the restaurant finishing up their meals. The restaurant is open only six months of the year. Torrey more or less shuts down in the winter. It is elevated at 7200 feet, cold... and doesn't receive many national park visitors in winter. I was looking forward to the rattlesnake cakes... which, of course, taste like chicken.

I should have known that the town would be busy. I had called earlier in the day for a reservation at my traditional staying place, Capitol Reef Resort, but, they were booked out. They referred me to the Noor Hotel, up the road where I was able to secure one of their last three available rooms.

The Capitol Reef Inn and Cafe, was open until nine. It was 8:45 PM, so I was admitted to a half full dining room. I ordered an IPA and stir fry veggies over brown rice and was sated for the day.

The other Duc in the image belongs to the owner/manager of the Noor Hotel. He's a Los Angeles resident who spends his summers in Torrey. Lots of great motorcycle rides nearby. UT SR 12, which links Torrey over one hundred twenty miles with Bryce Canyon, is on most lists of top ten scenic roads in America.

"The land is the appointed remedy for whatever is false and fantastic in our culture. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Above: Chimney Rock Trail. Capital Reef National Park, Torrey, UT. 27 September 2020.

I hiked this trail when I rode down here in late April, and have hiked it a dozen times or so in the last twenty years. Its a loop, round trip four miles, and covers 600 vertical feet, most of that during the first third of the hike. I came across several parties of early morning hikers, including some who were wearing face masks. On my approach, the face mask wearers would step off the trail, which ordinarily accommodates two way hiking, and wait for me to pass. More often than not, when passing hikers on a trail, I would stop for a chit chat... but, not with the mask wearers, who clearly were uncomfortable in the proximity of a stranger.

Back in March I penned an essay about masks, saying that I would not go to places where masks were required or where mask shaming was rife. I noted that the social interaction implications of mask wearing would lead to unintended consequences far more serious than any disease transmission arising from conditions where masks weren't worn.... particularly when the efficacy of mask wearing was a matter of controversy between experts on both sides of the issue. Each of these strange trail interactions, to me, proves my point. There is little or no evidence of disease transmission outdoors, especially when social distancing is maintained, but the behavior that causes otherwise friendly hikers to jump off the trail and avoid friendly chit chat has more widespread, potentially adverse, implications on how people relate to one another.

I'm not militant when it comes to mask wearing. I have been going out to restaurants since they opened in April. I'll put the mask on before I enter the restaurant and take it off when I'm seated. But, in general, I stay away from other places... retail establishments etc., where masks are required. I've become a big user of Amazon.com.

At the summit, there is a level walk on top of a plateau and then a slow decline down into a spectacular red rock canyon. From the plateau you can look to the south east and see the silhouettes of the Henry Mountains and the Waterpocket fold, back-lit by the sun rising in the eastern sky.

As I walked this easy part of the hike, I took a call from a friend who lamented that he was being abandoned by friends for his outing of his voting preference for Donald Trump. I told him, "well, E, those really aren't friends, then, are they? If they can't like you intrinsically for who you are, then you don't want them around anyway." It is amazing to me how people base their votes on personality of the candidate... like an election for student body president in high school. Trump and Biden are each imperfect symbols of two radically different ideologies... ideologies which will lead to two radically different outcomes. One is for low taxes... the, other for high taxes. One picks constructionist judges, the other picks judicial activists. One is for global trade agreements... the other is a free trader. One is for deregulation... the other is for reregulation... and so many other differences. Would you vote against your ideological beliefs just because you don't like the personality of the standard bearer? Go figure.

Above: Aquarius Plateau. Garfield County, Utah. 27 September 2020.
In Search of Authenticity Tour
Out and about on the Duc.

Well after the dawning of the Age of Aquarius we, nonetheless, live with its pernicious consequences: family breakdown, broken school systems, universities steeped in Marxism, growing numbers of useful idiots and takers, and rampant, government sanctioned murder of pre born children. Still. What can I say? It was good living at the apex, in any case. Oh! And, did I mention? Hunker down. It ain't over yet!

I had anticipated stopping at the Burr Trail Cafe in Boulder, UT for lunch. Its a fast casual place and the lines to ordering were too long and the prevalence of large numbers of walking mask people suggested to me that disease was rife in and around the restaurant. I rode on to Escalante, bought a sandwich, chips and a drink at a Sinclair convenience store, and crossed the street where there was a closed down coffee shop with some outdoor tables. I ate alone... outdoors, likely a safer option (hopefully, knock on wood) than the disease ridden Burr Trail Cafe in Boulder.

"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Above: Kodachrome Basin State Park. Garfield County, UT. 27 September 2020.

In Search of Authenticity Program.
Out and about on the Duc.

If Kodachrome were in Kansas, it would be a National Park. Utah has an overabundance of scenery...even with five National Parks, you could enjoy a scenic feast in the state without visiting any one of them.

"The land is the appointed remedy to all that is false and fantastic in our culture." Ralph Waldo Emersonl

Above: Tropic Ditch. Bryce Canyon National Park. 27 September 2020.

In Search of Authenticity Tour.
Out and about on the Duc.

In 1890 Tropic settlers diverted part of the west fork of the Sevier River to this formerly dry arroyo. . The diverted stream has assured the citizens of Tropic Valley a source of year round water for one hundred thirty years except for 2002 when the area was undergoing severe drought.

"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Above: Rainbow Point. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah 27 September 2020.

Late in the day the oblique sunlight coming from the west creates shadows that render the landscape in sharp relief.

Rainbow point is almost twenty miles beyond the Park entrance. Today was my first visit to this part of the Park. The unanticipated forty mile ride through the park (round trip) caused me to be thirty minutes late for my dinner rendezvous with Hippo and Survival at Mt. Carmel Junction.

"The land is the appointed remedy to all that is false and fantastic in our culture." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Above: Bishop, Survival, and Hippo. The Thunderbird Restaurant. Mt. Carmel Junction, UT. 27 September 2020.

I told friends Survival and Hippo that they were the luckiest people in the world living on their isolated thirty acres atop the Markagunt Plateau. Lots of outdoors... minimal walking mask people. Both have been active outdoors during the era of Coronavirus, but, they have missed the visits of their children and grandchildren.

Above: Thunderbird Restaurant. Mt. Carmel Junction, UT. 27 September 2020.

In Search of Authenticity Tour.
Out and about on the Duc.

When the restaurant was founded in the 1940's, the owners didn't have enough room on the sign for "home made" pies. So, they abbreviated... "Ho-made pies." On a flyer on each restaurant table, the owners, grandchildren of the founders, acknowledge that word usage has changed, causing some to be offended by the sign. They doubled down, however, saying that their loyalty to tradition, trumped concerns about modern usage. The sign stays where it is.

I couldn't get a room here (Mt. Carmel Junction) last night. So after dining with Survival and Hippo, I rode in the dark twenty miles south to Kanab where there was an available room at the Best Western. I say again... Utah color country is getting a lot of visitors right now. The weather is sunny, crispy cool... a great time to travel to see some of the world's most famous natural wonders.

"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Above: Antimony, UT. Piute County, UT. 28 September 2020

It may be gorse in Cork. But, it's Rabbit Brush in Antimony!

Only the second time I have ridden this county road... 40 miles... from Bryce Canyon to Antimony.

"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Above: Pando Aspen Clone. Fish Lake, Sevier County, UT. 28 September 2020.

In Search of Authenticity Tour
Out and About on the Duc

Pando Aspen Clone, here enhanced with fall colors, is the world's largest living organism.

"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean - Jacques Rousseau.

Above: Gooseberry Road. Sevier County, UT. 28 September 2020.

In Search of Authenticity Tour
Out and about on the Duc.

Its hard to find a higher elevation paved road anyplace in the State of Utah.

Its crispy up here... 48 degrees and sunny. I'm probably a bit underdressed wearing only a fleece and a t shirt under my Klim outer armored jacket. I only have about thirty minutes of riding here to descend down a wonderful switch backed road to near 5000 feet of elevation on I-70... where the temperature should be 68 degrees or so... just right for what I'm wearing. The heated grips on the Duc keep my hands toasty and the effect of toasty hands seems to penetrate into my core... if only in my imagination.

The Monk's ranch is on the way down Gooseberry road, but, I was unable to reach him by phone... and his ranch gate is locked... so I rode on, stopping in Salina to have a couple of cheese enchiladas at La Mexicana Restaurant, and to buy a couple of pounds (wrapped in a bag containing dry ice) of the incredible pork sausage at Barretts.

"The land is the appointed remedy for all that is false and fantastic in our culture." Ralph Waldo Emerson