Northern Utah Mirror Lake Highway Loop with pictures (comp write up)

[Frulk_imp]

Rode 244 miles today on Utah's famous Mirror Lake Scenic Byway with a friend that recently picked up a BMW ADV 800. This road consistently ranks in the top 10 rides in the lower 48. Had a blast. Not much traffic. Temps were mild. The map isn't the best but the red outline shows the route. We went counterclockwise. After breakfast at my house we left at 0900hrs and hit the road.



This pic was taken 60 miles into the trip. That's Mt Timpanogos in the distance. Tops out around 11,200 feet. on the other side to the right of the ridge is Salt Lake City


Next stop was a small country store in Samak. These folks are known for their smoked trout


Shown here is Slate Gorge. Been meaning to bring a rod and climb down to the water and fly fish it. There are miles of streams like this in the area.


This is towards the top of Bald Mt. Pass. We started the ride at 4,400 feet at my house and we're close to 10,000+ feet at this point


Pano is close to the top of the pass


On the Continental Divide looking north towards Hayden Peak and the High Uintas wilderness


We're on the north slope of the Uintas heading north towards Evanston, Wy.


Looking south back towards the High Uintas Wilderness where we came from


After refueling in Evanston, Wyoming my riding partner decided he wanted to cross another pass and took off and I needed to get on the freeway and make time as my family was waiting for me at the Snow Basin Ski Resort for their weekend Music festival

This pic was taken looking south into Echo Canyon from the rest area there. In the distance I'll be making a hard right and then head west towards Mt Green, Ut. and Snow Basin Resort.


Not sure if East of the Mississippi there are many of these...we even have some stretches posted at 85MPH


Behind the bike is Snow Basin, home of the 2002 Winter Olympics downhill (15 miles from my house). This road is shown on the map as the red loop just before the end of the trip.


Entrance to Snow Basin


Base Lodge and the music festival
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b492...amitqo.jpg

Must have been 45 HD's in the bike parking area. somehow two cafe'd bikes ended up on either side of of me...a Thruxton and an older Suzuki with some nice engine mods.


Descending from approx. 8300 feet at the Snow Basin parking lot to almost 4600 feet as I make for the home stretch down Trappers Loop was a hoot.

Some thoughts on the bike.

1) The café seat IS more comfortable than the stock but does not allow for the fore and aft movement and after a couple hundred miles I can feel that limitation in my knees.

2) I detected some buzziness in the grips. It does not appear to affect my hands with tingling unless I have a death grip on the bars while cornering hard at speed.

3) Altitude doesn't really affect the power delivery. There is enough torque present at over 10,000+ that I don't remember having to shift more on the climbs

4) As a naked tourer this bike is exemplary. I had a constant side wind for about 35 miles until I turned west on one stretch. No fairing to catch the wind, and a 540 pound bike (more or less) add up to some confidence inspiring handling at freeway speeds in strong crosswinds.

[HikerToo_imp]

Loved our trip to Utah a few years back( Bryce & Zion), saw Utah made top 10 states to retire on a few lists....
That BMW looks like a monster compared to the CB1100.....hope it did not bully you around!

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Looks good. The scenery that you have shown is beautiful. What are the riding conditions like? Good surface? Tight? Sweepers? Some dirt? A mixture of all?

Cheers.

[redbirds_imp]

Utah is such a lovely, picturesque place. Thanks for the great pics.

[Pterodactyl_imp]

I just noticed. 10000feet! Much higher and you need to go on oxygen.

Cheers

[Frulk_imp]

Loved our trip to Utah a few years back( Bryce & Zion), saw Utah made top 10 states to retire on a few lists....
That BMW looks like a monster compared to the CB1100.....hope it did not bully you around!

The BMW 800 is a nice bike and most folks on one wouldn't be able to stay with me in the corners but the owner is a very talented rider that can put me to shame if he really wanted to (in part due to the fact he's about 100 pounds lighter than me and as stated, he is a better rider). From a mechanical standpoint (considering the dissimilar categories the bikes are in) the Honda didn't give up anything to the Beemer otherwise.

Looks good. The scenery that you have shown is beautiful. What are the riding conditions like? Good surface? Tight? Sweepers? Some dirt? A mixture of all?

Cheers.

A mix. We chose to stay on pavement but there are miles and miles of well maintained dirt roads if you want to leave the tarmac. The road was in surprisingly good condition. No wet areas. No potholes and most surprisingly no salt/sand residue from the winter. Considering it's still somewhat early in the year around that area the road was remarkably well maintained. Climbing the pass the lower portions are fairly straight but the curves become tighter at the top. Heading north into Wyoming the road straightens out and there are 2-3 mile stretches that if you're so inclined, will allow you to hit the governed speed (disclaimer, I do not advocate that type of behavior)

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Thanks Frulk, you are a lucky man.

Cheers.
And of course I understand. Some may ride within the "law", but if, inadvertently, we don't, then it should be.

[Elipten_imp]

10,000ft for O2 is weak pilots. My desk was at 4,300 meters and my bed at 4,000m. I worked there for 9.5 years. The Antamina mine in Peru.


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[Pterodactyl_imp]

10,000ft for O2 is weak pilots. My desk was at 4,300 meters and my bed at 4,000m. I worked there for 9.5 years. The Antamina mine in Peru.


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True, but acclimatisation is the key. I once, to avoid some Cumulogranite, went to 16,000 without oxygen, and I would have to say that my thought processes became a little questionable. I've also done some runs in a decompression chamber that produced some amusing results that are probably best left for another discussion (can't for the life of me work CB1100, or even Other Bikes, into it).

Cheers
Also your post could lead to some interesting after-dinner discussion. Antamina? What the?

[redbirds_imp]

I once drove to the top of Mt. Evans in Colorado, around 14,000 ft I believe. Just walking about at that altitude was tiring. My old Fiat wasn't happy either, running rich and sputtering the whole time. Glad our bikes are fuel injected now.