I found out at the hotel in Ely that the route I'd wanted to take through Utah and into Wyoming was still buried in snow. Oops. So today's route planning was a bit of an exercise in improvisation.

Just east of Ely, NV

Crossing the border into Utah

Hwy 6 through central Utah managed to be both interesting and boring. Pretty but repetitive. In fact, it caught my eye when the brush lining the road got just a little bit taller. Funny, I can ride in the Nevada desert for days and not get bored, but central Utah was just too unvarying. I should have gotten off the bike to take more photos, but for whatever reason, I didn't. As I went north, storm clouds started appearing on the horizon; then I stayed on the bike to try to beat the weather. It started raining as I headed towards northern Utah. Provo seemed like a nice city, and Provo Canyon Rd (Hwy 189) was pretty despite the weather. It cleared up towards the end and I got a couple of photos. Too cold for many photos, though, brr.

Hwy 6 in western Utah

Hwy 189 (Provo Canyon Road)

From Heber City, I decided to get onto the freeways instead of continuing on back roads -- the weather wasn't improving and Vernal (near Flaming Gorge, where I'd hoped to go) forecasted hail and wind. So onto I-80 I went.

I remembered Echo Reservoir from driving cross-country in my car during and after college. It was the first place I really saw those flaming red rocks, right out there along the freeway. It was absolutely striking, coming from a land as flat and as green as southeastern Wisconsin. And all those Little America billboards once you get into Wyoming....it felt like 1998 again, driving my Saturn back to college with Peter, once again heading east towards Wisconsin.

Echo Reservoir, off I-80

By the time I got into Wyoming, it was raining again and cold. Rock Springs was a balmy 45F and pouring, and I was pretty out of it for the last 60 miles of the day. I was happy to hole up in the brand-new Best Western with split pea soup and a Snake River Lager out of Jackson Hole.

Crossing into Wyoming

446 miles today; 1029 miles total.

Next Day --> May 31: Rock Springs, WY - Sundance, WY