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Preliminary Map for Summer 2008 Trek

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Change in Route from St. George, UT to Lee Vining, CA

I've decided it's not wise to travel into the center of Nevada without knowing with certainty that places exist for food and water. There's the Lil"A'le'Inn smack in the middle of the Extraterrestrial Highway. But what else? Nothing shows up on a map, or a town on one map is missing from another. Maybe UFOs have beamed everyone and everything up! Thus, I'll be leaving St. George toward Las Vegas, and then biking up western Nevada along the California state line, squeezing between Death Valley and an Air Force bombing range, where maybe there'll be one or two stragglers stumbling from Death Valley toward the Air Force range and million dollar bombs, and finally passing through Bishop toward Lee Vining and the eastern entrance to Yosemite. The good news, and it's worth an extra 21 miles, is that there are several towns are along the route with water and food.

Total Miles = 429 Miles

Detailed Directions

Beyond Yosemite, the Valley, Carmel, Tor House!

By the time I enter Yosemite National Park I'll have biked just over 2000 miles and 300 more miles separate me from Tor House in Carmel. Though Tor House is the end of the trek and in a way the siren pulling me west--Jeffers' voice always out there--it's the ride through Yosemite that I'm really looking forward to. I hope my cell phone's still working so I can take pictures. Or maybe I'll pick up a cheap digital along the way.

from Benton, CA
to Lee Vining, CA	050.9 mi
to El Portal, CA	073.6 mi
to Merced, CA	065.8 mi
to Los Banos, CA	035.8 mi
to Hollister, CA	045.6 mi
to Carmel, CA	044.9 mi
Total Distance	317.0 mi

Detailed Directions

Beam Me Up, Nevada!

Stretching between the comfort of the Red Mountain Spa in St. George, Utah; and the ardorous ascent of Tioga Pass in Lee Vining, California; there's Nevada: state of deserts, Sin City, Air Force bombing ranges, the Extraterrestrial Highway, a wildlife refuge, the Little A'Le'Inn, towns on one map but not another, and a long dusty road to Area 51.

from St. George, UT
to Enterpirse UT	040.0 mi
to Caliente, NV	071.1 mi
to Alamo, NV	055.4 mi
to Tonopah, NV	161.0 mi
to Benton, CA	089.9 mi
Total Distance	408.0 mi

Detailed Directions

Through the Four Corners, Across the Northern Arizona Strip, to Ann in St. George, Utah

This section of the trek from the Arch to Tor House is interesting, taking me through the four corners, where I'll have to stop for a picture, through northern Arizona, then into Utah, next to Arizona again, and finally to St. George, Utah. I've thought about taking a side trip to the Grand Canyon, which I've never seen, and I might do that if time allows. As of now, however, the plan is to meet Ann in St. George, Utah, home of the Red Mountain Spa and Resort, where she'll be expecting me for a day or two. As a result, the side trip to the Grand Canyon is a question mark.

What's interesting about this leg is the segment that will take me through the Northern Arizona Strip, a section of the state defined by the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. The strip is supposedly a remote section of the state and home to fundamentalist Mormons. I recently read Under the Banner of God, an interesting history of Mormon fundamentalism, those Mormons who continue to practice polygamy, and it's here in Arizona where many of them came to continue this peculiar belief.

from Cortez, CO

to Four Corners	039.8 mi
to Kayenta, AZ	079.5 mi
to Kaibito, AZ	065.0 mi
to Page, AZ	038.6 mi
to Kanab, UT	074.5 mi
to Colorado City, AZ	038.9 mi
to St. George, UT	043.0 mi
Total Distance	379.0 mi

Detailed Directions

Into Colorado, Over the Rockies, Past Durango, to Cortez

When I leave Syracuse in Kansas and pass over into Colorado, the road will still be flat. That's what people tell me. They say eastern Colorado is as flat as anywhere else and the hills, then the mountains, don't lift into the skyline until almost the center of the state. Sounds good to me! Looking at my maps and Google Earth, I don't see mountains until Alamosa (almost 8000 feet). They they climb to 10,000 feet. My hope is that by then my bike is still in one piece and the previous miles have whipped me into shape! In any case, Durango is on the other side of the mountains, and I hear one of Oprah's favorite chefs is in Durango. By the time I get there I ought to be hungry and I'll rest a day or two before pushing on to Cortez, my last stop before the Northern Arizona Strip.

from Syracuse, KS
to Lamar, CO	048.0 mi
to La Junta, CO	056.6 mi
to Wasenburg, CO	076.0 mi
to Alamosa, CO	072.3 mi
to South Fork, CO	046.9 mi
to Pagosa Springs, CO	042.4 mi
to Durango, CO	060.1 mi
to Cortez, CO	045.5 mi
Total Distance	448.0 mi
Detailed Directions

Crossing Kansas

When crossing Kansas in the middle of May, I expect I'll see lots of fresh growing corn. That's okay, as long as houses, cows, Dorothy, and Toto all keep from falling from the sky. Isn't Kansas in Tornado Alley? Hopefully there'll be a ditch to leap into along the way.

From Drexel, MO
to Emporia, KS	102.0 mi
to McPherson, KS	082.6 mi
to Great Bend, KS	063.4 mi
to Jetmore, KS	068.3 mi
to Syracuse, KS	106.0 mi
Total Distance	422.0 mi

Detailed Directions

The Route Across Missouri

Here's the map of my route from the Arch in St. Louis, to Drexel Missouri. My plan is to bike late one afternoon from the Arch to home on Drexel Avenue in University City, then set out the next day for Drexel, Missouri. Thus, in a way, this is the Drexel to Drexel leg of the trek from the Arch to Tor House.


From the Arch, St. Louis, MO

to Washington, MO	052.0 mi
to Hermann, MO	031.3 mi
to Jefferson City, MO	059.4 mi
to Tipton, MO	035.6 mi
to Sedalia, MO	025.4 mi
to Clinton, MO	046.4 mi
to Drexel, MO	053.3 mi

Total Distance

301.0 mi

Detailed Directions

Route Finalized

Below is a map of the route for the trek next summer from the Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, to Tor House in Carmel, California.




A. St. Louis Missouri -> B. Jefferson City, Missouri -> C. Drexel, Missouri -> D. La Junta, Colorado -> E. Durango, Colorado -> F. Tuba City, Arizona -> G. St. George, Utah -> H. Caliente, Nevada -> I. Basalt, Nevada -> J. Carmel, California

Estimated Distance: 2234.10 miles

Over the next few weeks I'll be adding detailed maps of each section of the trek.

The Route--Sort of

Below is a map that closely parallels the route I'll take next summer from the Arch to Tor House. The distance below is 2101 miles, but since I'll actually be following roads south of the line on the map, the distance might be somewhat shorter.

Rather than following I70 alla the way to Denver, I'll bike instead along the Katie Trail from St. Louis to Kansas City, and follow US HWY 50 to Pueblo, Colorado, where I'll abandon the bike and start walking through the Rockies and Utah until I reach I15, where I'll finally follow parallel roads from Utah through Nevada to California, where I think my route will take me through Yellowstone National Park. That would be cool.