Whitehall, MT to Park City, UT: 465.1 miles
The forecast was for it to be hot in Utah - hot hot. I wanted as early a start as possible to minimize the brutality. I was out the door an hour before sunrise.
Temperatures started out between comfortably cool and cold, but it was a nice morning. Only a couple miles from the AirBNB home a doe ran out in front of me, reminding me that I had to keep my act together in the dark. The steel grey eastern sky was pretty to watch lighten.
There were a couple cars on the road, but it was very quiet.
I continued south on the smaller roads for the first few hours of the morning. Temperatures plummeted during this time. I saw temperatures of 41F, but I'm sure it was in the 30's for a while. I had to try not to shiver and my nose started running. I should have stopped and put on more clothes, but I kept telling myself that it will get hot fast.
The area I was going through appeared to be thick with high-end fishing lodges, and I could see why. Every river or stream I went near looked very inviting even though I've never been a fly fisherman - too much pageantry.
Eventually the sun did start to rise over the mountains, but it only helped the temperatures a little bit since there were so many hills and mountains. At one point I stopped at one of the nicest and most well-thought-out rest areas I have ever been to (I guess high end fisherman are expecting something the proletariat can't have). This allowed me to warm up for a minute, which ultimately made it worse once running down the road again.
But I was absolutely enjoying the morning ride in the cold. I felt great and wished it didn't have to end. As expected, temperatures did start to rise, making the morning just a little bit better.
The area around Yellowstone and the national forests was really busy with vacationers. It was still early so other than the pokey coffee getters it wasn't too bad. I was still glad I went by the two-lane route in the morning.
All good things must come to an end and I jumped in I-15. I was happy with the time I was making. At some point the mileage of my bike broke the 70K mark. Given all the trips this Goldwing has taken me on, it seems like it should have way more than that.
Temperatures stayed comfortable until near the Idaho/Utah border at which point it was like someone flipped a switch on the heater. It became imperative that I stop and remove the jacket liner even though I wasn't desperate for fuel yet. The rest of the drive south was various levels of the brutal heat that I knew was coming.
Garmin routed me around Salt Lake City which was probably a good idea - too often Garmin is stupid. Making my way to Park City, I got off the interstate and had more traffic in 10 minutes than I have had in the last five days. Not only that, but I also got to see jack-wads in Audis fight with dick-weeds in Porsches to see who could be the biggest ass-wipe. Maybe it wasn't that bad (it was).
I found my way to my sister's condo and turned on my phone. Family were in the area and were eating, but I wasn't going back into the asphalt jungle that is Park City just for a meal. I still have trail mix left. I made myself at home in the condo instead.
Once everyone was back we all caught up a little bit. After five days basically alone on the bike the condo seemed a bit cacophonous.
Older Sis and I went up to the Olympic Village - we had tickets to the Flying Ace Olympic Park Show. We walked around a bit trying to figure out what to do before deciding to climb up to the top of the Olympic ski jump. It was straight up, but didn't really take that long. The view from the top was quite nice even if the area was a bit hazy from the heat. Making our way to the ski jump, it looked more "mechanical" than I thought it would. In the heat of July, it looked too plastic. But I am still not ready to strap on some skis and run down it.
We played the role of active stow-aways and took the ski lift back down. Just act natural and like we are where we are supposed to be.
The Flying Aces are athletes ranging from beginners to Olympic caliber that use the ski jumps and land in a pool of water. This is also how they train in the off-season. The five of us met for the show - finding a place to sit in the shade (good) on some of the most painful rocks in Utah (not so good).
The show was entertaining. I could appreciate the ability of the athletes to make what they were doing look relatively easy to the point where it wasn't terribly impressive.
There were also divers who demonstrated diving from heights up to 27 meters. This is apparently the first official high diving platform in the US.
My older Sis and I went back to her house in Salt Lake City, leaving my bike in Park City. I'll have to get it at some point in the future but it should be fine.
It is good to see the family again. Its nice that we can get together in a way that is both independent and together. We have some more activities planned for a few days and younger Sis should be joining us shortly.
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