- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
An opportunity presented itself and I had 4 days away from work. Despite the nagging need to do yard work, I loaded up the dual-sport for a good amount of riding. I had no real plan, just a loose list of general destinations and a whole lot of time on my hands... the perfect combination for a great ride.
Day 1-
I talked to a friend who was working in the oil & gas fields South-East of Vernal, Utah and he invited me to stop by. Destination #1 had been determined! After checking out the map, I decided to follow a similar route out of Fruita, CO over the Baxter Pass as the one in my trip, Exploring The Crookedest Railroad in the West. I would take the 6 & 50 Highway to Mack, up to the old town of Atchee, over Baxter Pass, thru Dragon and Rainbow, then catching the Old Highway 45 thru Bonanza and North up to the drilling rig.
I headed out from home, topping off the 8 gallon tank. It was a short drive to Mack, then North up 4 Road. I stopped at the old Machinist Building in Atchee for a quick picture, then continued on up the old railroad grade towards the 8,422 foot summit of Baxter Pass.
On the North face of Baxter Pass I ran into a couple surprises... plenty of snow and a cow Elk! The snow wasn't that hard to deal with, as someone had driven the road in a 4x4 just before I had ridden it, so I rode in their tracks. I think both the Elk and I were caught off guard at the sight of each other, she was coming down the mountain and I was riding down the road... we missed intersecting each other by about 25-30 feet. With some quick unzipping I pulled my camera out while riding and took a photo as the Elk bailed off the left side of the road.
More incredible finds on the backside of Baxter Pass-
Crossing over the CO/UT border and continuing onto Dragon, UT. The signs were installed since the last time I was up here and they have some great pictures and information.-
The roads beyond Dragon were great, well maintained and ZERO traffic. One after another, the canyons in this area were too cool... at times the road followed the bottom of the canyon, down in a sandy wash. Long, sweeping roads winding their way thru the canyons, the riding was perfect! It was easy to maintain a quick pace and cover many miles, eventually reaching the old Highway 45 and crossing over the White River.
Day 1-
I talked to a friend who was working in the oil & gas fields South-East of Vernal, Utah and he invited me to stop by. Destination #1 had been determined! After checking out the map, I decided to follow a similar route out of Fruita, CO over the Baxter Pass as the one in my trip, Exploring The Crookedest Railroad in the West. I would take the 6 & 50 Highway to Mack, up to the old town of Atchee, over Baxter Pass, thru Dragon and Rainbow, then catching the Old Highway 45 thru Bonanza and North up to the drilling rig.
I headed out from home, topping off the 8 gallon tank. It was a short drive to Mack, then North up 4 Road. I stopped at the old Machinist Building in Atchee for a quick picture, then continued on up the old railroad grade towards the 8,422 foot summit of Baxter Pass.
![878177092_9HaY4-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210001-Medium/878177092_9HaY4-M.jpg)
![878177658_4HzeH-L.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210007-Medium/878177658_4HzeH-L.jpg)
![878178038_rFwQC-L.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210011-Medium/878178038_rFwQC-L.jpg)
On the North face of Baxter Pass I ran into a couple surprises... plenty of snow and a cow Elk! The snow wasn't that hard to deal with, as someone had driven the road in a 4x4 just before I had ridden it, so I rode in their tracks. I think both the Elk and I were caught off guard at the sight of each other, she was coming down the mountain and I was riding down the road... we missed intersecting each other by about 25-30 feet. With some quick unzipping I pulled my camera out while riding and took a photo as the Elk bailed off the left side of the road.
![878178281_7JCkp-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210013-Medium/878178281_7JCkp-M.jpg)
![878178476_op6gq-L.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210014-Medium/878178476_op6gq-L.jpg)
More incredible finds on the backside of Baxter Pass-
![878178639_fVVs2-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210015-Medium/878178639_fVVs2-M.jpg)
![878178855_XcKB5-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210017-Medium/878178855_XcKB5-M.jpg)
Crossing over the CO/UT border and continuing onto Dragon, UT. The signs were installed since the last time I was up here and they have some great pictures and information.-
![878179006_iduT4-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210018-Medium/878179006_iduT4-M.jpg)
![878179114_Thy8Q-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210019-Medium/878179114_Thy8Q-M.jpg)
![878179567_3ijbd-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210023-Medium/878179567_3ijbd-M.jpg)
![878179704_pegas-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210024-Medium/878179704_pegas-M.jpg)
![878180128_CVgpk-L.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210028-Medium/878180128_CVgpk-L.jpg)
![878179912_hwFnw-L.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210026-Medium/878179912_hwFnw-L.jpg)
The roads beyond Dragon were great, well maintained and ZERO traffic. One after another, the canyons in this area were too cool... at times the road followed the bottom of the canyon, down in a sandy wash. Long, sweeping roads winding their way thru the canyons, the riding was perfect! It was easy to maintain a quick pace and cover many miles, eventually reaching the old Highway 45 and crossing over the White River.
![878180590_f89cS-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210033-Medium/878180590_f89cS-M.jpg)
![878180829_w6CJc-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210035-Medium/878180829_w6CJc-M.jpg)
![878181056_vatGc-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210037-Medium/878181056_vatGc-M.jpg)
![878181591_54yLy-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210044-Medium/878181591_54yLy-M.jpg)
![878181768_9dhkv-M.jpg](http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Baxter-Pass-Nine-Mile-Canyon/P5210047-Medium/878181768_9dhkv-M.jpg)