234 miles, 6 hours.

It was a little cold as I woke up, but not nearly as bad as the previous night. I bundled up and rode about an hour south to Boulder, Utah to eat at the Hell's Backbone Grill. There was an Ayres Adventures R1200GS in the motel parking lot, but I wasn't there to sleep- I was there for the fantastic food. The restaurant is known for their regional, organic food and it was great- I actually had two entrees and was completely stuffed by the time I left.

Just southwest of town on the main highway is the Hell's Backbone, a hogback ridge topped by the highway. The highway drops along the ridge, ending down in the canyon. It's a fairly steep drop- it feels like you are riding along a diving board- you can't see most of the road ahead of you. The drop is up to 14% grade in some points- which is certainly the steepest highway I think I've ever been on. (I've been on steeper hills and roads, but not on a steeper highway).

I took the connecting highways down to Zion National Park. I've been in Zion with Tamara before, and wasn't terribly interested in stopping much. The traffic was heavy, especially waiting to go through the big tunnel, but I still stopped for photos in several places.

I finally arrived at my parents' house in St. George around 1:30pm. They were just getting home. I got to spend the afternoon with my parents and their friends Larry and Sherrie, then the five of us went to Tuacahn for the evening to see Les Miserables. It was a great setting- a 2000-person amphitheater set into the canyon, right against the walls. Since it is outdoors, the stage was large, and they used the entire thing as well as some trails up the side of the canyon. I thought the acoustics were good, the production was good, and it was amazing to be outdoors under the moon and stars.