Pinnacle Peak to Consumers Loop
I went for a 66-mile ride yesterday in the cold and snow. It was 21 degrees when I began the ride just outside of Price at around 9:00AM, and it was 24 degrees when I stopped for lunch in Bob Wright Canyon after 1:00PM. I was wearing many, many layers of clothing.
http://castlecountry.org/geo/Pinnacl...sumersLoop.kmz
I started at the county fairgrounds and rode west past Pinnacle Peak until I entered the Manti-La Sal National Forest, then I began exploring side roads (most of which dead-ended) up a few different canyons. I saw a moose in First Water Canyon, which is only the second moose I've seen in person. I also saw a lot of deer throughout the day.
Pinnacle Peak
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9743.JPG
Pinnacle Peak
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9751.JPG
Porphyry Bench
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9756.JPG
Near Haley Canyon
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9759.JPG
Power lines on Wiregrass Bench
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9770.JPG
Mud Water Canyon
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9775.JPG
A buck bedded down in the scrub oak
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9784.JPG
Moose in First Water Canyon
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9787.JPG
First Water Canyon
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9795.JPG
I ate lunch in Bob Wright Canyon, and started a small fire and warmed up, then I checked out a couple more side roads. The first was near some property owned by the Division of Wildlife Resources, where they plant and irrigate during the summer months so that deer and other wildlife have some forage during the winter. There's an old log cabin and some old farming equipment there, most of which I couldn't even begin to guess what they were used for. The second road I explored led to the top of Telephone Bench, and it had a nice view down lower Bob Wright Canyon.
Bob Wright Canyon
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9808.JPG
Cabin at the Gordon Creek Wildlife Management Area
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9824.JPG
Old farming equipment
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9826.JPG
Old farming equipment
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9839.JPG
View into Bob Wright Canyon from Telephone Bench
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9866.JPG
Panorama from Telephone Bench
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...869_stitch.jpg
Parked at the overlook on Telephone Bench
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9874.JPG
Once I hit Consumers Road, I was growing weary of the cold and the snow. I pulled my hat down low and my coat up over the lower part of my face and hauled ass down the six-mile stretch of pavement. I hit my next turn at the Wildcat coal loadout and got back on dirt roads leading south to where the truck was parked. I passed under the Gordon Creek railroad trestle, and crossed Gordon Creek through the broken ice.
Deer on Consumers Road
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9877.JPG
Deer on Consumers Road
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9879.JPG
Wildcat coal loadout
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9883.JPG
Crossing Gordon Creek
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9885.JPG
Gordon Creek railroad trestle
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9889.JPG
Another buck
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9894.JPG
Tunnel under the railroad grade in Haley Canyon
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9896.JPG
The setting sun shining on the Book Cliffs back in town
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TP...0/IMG_9909.JPG
http://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis.U...ConsumersLoop#
