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FALL 2019 ISSUE 02 / VOL . 04
U . S . Route 191 passes over Flaming Gorge Dam , which stores water from the Green River to provide hydroelectric power and create the Flaming Gorge Reservoir .
44 , which runs up the west side of the gorge and the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area . Major John Wesley Powell ( of Grand Canyon fame ) led an expedition down the Green River and marveled at the wildly striped red cliffs . I stay on top of the cliff walls , cruising along perfect tarmac and deciding which overlooks require photo ops and which are best passed at speed . This area is sparsely traveled as it ’ s simply too far and out of the way . In other words , just right for two-wheelers looking to get away .
You can make a big loop up into Wyoming and back down the east side , but I plan to escape Utah that way tomorrow , so I stop in Manila just shy of the state border . Refueled with a tasty burger , fries and a banana milkshake , I retrace my way back down Route 44 . It ’ s a casual day , so I follow a forest side road up and through a massive aspen grove , where I find a clearing just begging for a silent , contemplative rest stop .
The next morning it is time to leave Vernal , even though I am leaving some sites untouched such as the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum , which I can at least report has some great dinosaur statues all around the building . This time