Travel Writer Homage - George R. Stewart

The Phoenix Book Store in San Luis Obispo is a treasure mine, the source for this book. The work is "The first major portrait of a modern U.S. highway". Here is a segment about the Heber Valley which was my neighborhood over the last few days:

"The Heber Valley is somewhat more than a mile above sea level. Provo Peak, to the left twenty-five miles diistance, rises 11,054. Mount Timpanogos, to the right, reaches a height of 12,008."

Just north of US 40 as it passes through Heber City is Wolf Creek Pass which is east of the tiny town of Francis, a place where my family recently went to Labor Day rodeos (surprisingly cold):

A few miles north of that lies the Mirror Lake Highway (+++). I spent an afternoon hiking up Norway Flat Forest Road and took the picture below. The Provo River flows down from the Uintas. Glistening snow throughout and enough of a vertical climb to remind me to do it again soon.

A few miles further north from US 40 is the Road Island Diner in Oakley, a town clearly proud of its rodeo heritage. The diner sits on the corner of the road that travels east to the end of the Weber River valley. The Thousand Peaks Ranch at road's end offers Snow Cat rides in deep snow depending on the year. The family, a few years ago now, took a sled dog ride up to the Smith and Morehouse Reservoir.