Green River - Hanksville, UT - Big Mountains, Small Towns.

July 10, 2022

Green River - Hanksville, UT

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Today we enjoyed a hospitable day in an often hostile land.

Sunday AM's is the perfect time to ride on this interstate. Oren commented that it felt like a country backroad. The traffic was nonexistent.

At mile 14, we turned onto Highway 24, and continued to enjoy a quiet ride. Not all was perfect. A pesky headwind kept my average speed to 7-8 mph for a good portion of the day. I told myself all I had to do was get to the top of the climb at mile 41.5, then gravity would help me pick up speed.

Overall, I think we were lucky. This is wide open country. It would be a sad story to get caught in a sand storm here.

I expected more Lake Powell traffic. Indeed, a majority of the vehicles were trucks pulling boats, but there weren't many vehicles in general.

We had cloud cover most of the day. It was 97 degrees when we got in. I finished two ice cold bottles, and one warm bottle. Oren had a tone of bemusement in his voice that he had to stop and drink during the ride. Yes! I stopped a few times myself.

It's interesting to ride a route the opposite direction. In 2019, we rode into Green River. I didn't really recognize anything until we got close to Hanksville. There was the boat junkyard. I saw the Whispering Sands Motel - where we stayed last time with the very grouchy manager (who wouldn't let us in the room until exactly check in time, despite the fact that the rooms were clean and they were very empty). This time we are at the cabins next to Duke's Grill.

I had stopped a few times along the way with hot foot. My left foot is still a little sore now. Jacinto has that problem regularly. I always tell him he should stop right when it begins to hurt. Did I follow my own advice? No - I wanted to get to the top of the climb, and get started on the downhill.

Hanksville is a cross roads. That's it. Several advertising signs said: Turn left at the intersection, or turn right. That was totally correct - you can go one way or the other. No more streets.

I stopped at the first gas station. It didn't look like it had much of a store, because it's built into the side of a big rock. When I went inside they had all sorts of choices. Even kombucha! Oren went back later to get breakfast items. He said they had a good selection. I chatted with the clerk, enjoying the air conditioning. He said the hazy sky was from forest fires around. Then a state trooper came in. I asked if he had passed us during the day. Yes, several times. His territory covers 400 miles of roads. He had two Monster drinks and two bags of chips for his drive back to Green River. I made no comment about his diet!

Oren and I went around the corner to the cabins. I was more than ready to be there. Today was only five miles longer than yesterday, and similar climbing. The headwind made the difference. I was thankful for the cloud cover. We have nice, new cabins. It was worth the splurge over a motel room. It appears that Duke's now owns, or is at least managing the motel also.

Jacinto got in about an hour later. He also felt that the day was very long. We've been to dinner at Duke's. I ordered a ribeye steak as a treat. It was a disappointment. It was very grisly. We ordered pie and ice cream for dessert. It was medium good. That was not the indulgence I was hoping for after a long day.

Tomorrow we are heading back up into the mountains. We are climbing all day. Oren says there are seven distinct peaks. It will be cooler, once we arrive. I will have to be sure and stop if my foot starts feeling numb. My bike has been working well.