Ups and Downs

September 1st/09 - Herber City, Utah
Swiss Alps Motel
Mileage: 107.76 km
Total mileage: 1720 km
Ride time: 5:36 hrs

We started from the campground south and west still on Hwy 150. Beautiful mountains and forest, however the pine beetles have had their fill in here.

The climbing began immediately and we climbed for approximately 25 km before reaching the summit of Bald Mountain pass. The summit is 10,760 ft. I have seen people under extreme exertion get altitude sickness at these heights. Believe me, we were under extreme exertion, but we managed to top out.

Whoever built this road must have had a warped sense of humor because it is loaded with false summits and at many times is very discouraging as a result. The Princess was getting a little grouchy as we climbed, so I stayed well ahead. There was some bad mojo going on behind me. (No comment!)

Passed by Fehr Lake prior to reaching the Bald Mountain summit. I'm hoping the lake was named after a noble guy and not some horse thief a posse strung up there.

The reward for the climb, you guessed it, approximately 50 kms downhill into Kamas, Utah. At Kamas we recooped and headed for Heber City.

Just out of Kamas we went west from a town called Frances and were treated to a 10% downhill grade. We followed a canyon with all kinds of crazy rock formations. The peddling was easy but only for a time. Turns out there are some exceptional climbs on the way to Herber City.

The vistas enroute are absolutely incredible and the mountains to the west which we were approaching were huge. The views down the valleys from the heights we attained were endless. Having done all that climbing, we coasted 8 kms downhill into Heber City. A beautiful city too.