Day 8 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Panguitch to Ogden 287 Miles)

Day 8 Route Pahguitch to Ogden

North of Panguitch on US-89

Today is day 8 of my 5000+ mile, 17 day motorcycle ride…  Larry T., Larry A. and myself have been riding together for 8 days seeing some of the most scenic parts of the western US. On day 5 we turned onto US-89 just north of Prescott, AZ. Today we continue riding up US-89 to Ogden, UT via Salt Lake City and Temple Square. This part of the ride is virgin territory for me. I’ve wanted to explore this route for some time and today is the day…

Riding North on US-89

The ride up US-89 is a scenic ride through picturesque Mormon farm and ranch country. Today is another beautiful riding day, cool with beautiful blue skies and thin clouds.

Piute Reservoir

As we continued north, the valley narrowed significantly before opening out near the town of Circleville. We rode past Piute Reservoir. As we rode past the reservoir the sun sparkled off the water making for a nice scenic view.  The reservoir was created when the Sevier River was dammed. Riding North of Marysvale, the Piute County Seat, the valley narrows again giving us nice views of the surrounding mountains. North of Sevier, US-89 and I-70 merge for the next 35 miles. At the town of Salina we left I-70 behind and continued up US-89 for 128 miles to the town of Lehi. Along this section of US-89 there are several small cities: Manti, Ephraim, Mount Pleasant, and Fairview. Beyond Fairview US-89 climbs out of the valley, reaches the summit at Hill Top (elevation of 6400 feet). The next leg of our ride descends through a canyon near the ghost town of Thistle. I really liked the small towns, well-kept farms and ranches all along our route.

One of the many farms/ranches on US-89

At Lehi US-89 and I-15 merge. Riding up I-15/US-89 it is more populated and traffic increases a lot as we made our way to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  Riding a multi-lane freeway with a lot of traffic and pavement, contributed to the temperature starting to climb. By the time we reached Temple square we were ready for a break and some lunch.

Mormon Temple Salt Lake City

Mormon Tabernacle

We spent time touring parts of the Temple Square, sight seeing, taking pictures and being greeted by Mormon missionaries at every turn. The missionaries were ever eager to talk and answer questions. There was a lot to see at Temple Square and so little time to see it. The Temple is an amazing piece of architecture. I would have liked to take a tour, but the interior is only seen by the most perfect (for lack of a better word) Mormon members who are deemed worthy… The Tabernacle is another impressive piece of architecture and you can enter and tour the Tabernacle. The most impressive thing about the Tabernacle is the acoustics and the large pipe organ. It is also the home of the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Tabernacle was built between 1864 and 1867 when there weren’t any micro-phones, amplifiers or speakers. The seating capacity is about 7000, which includes the choir and balcony areas. Even though it is a very large room, we heard a pin dropped on the pulpit by a missionary to demonstrate the acoustics, while we stood at the very rear of the room.

Lion House: Brigham Young’s former home.

We asked about a good place to eat and were directed to Brigham Young’s former home (The Lion House). Brigham Young was the second Prophet (leader) of the Mormon Church. The basement of his home is now a cafeteria. The food was good and was a welcomed break to cool off and relax. The cafeteria served many Mormon missionaries in training and their visiting families. The families were visiting before their sons and daughters were being sent out to their mission assignments.

Salt Lake City near Temple Square

Temple Square

After lunch we made our way back to our bikes and headed up a hot I-15/US-89 riding 37 miles to Ogden our home away from home for the night.

Tomorrow we ride to Jackson, WY up US-89. Come follow along and enjoy the ride over the next 9 days… I hope we see you down the road somewhere. Ride safe…

If you liked this ride post, you may checkout the other post from this ride below…

• Introduction to our Motorcycle Ride (5000+ Miles In 17 Days)
• Day 1 of 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Georgetown, TX to Canyon, TX 458 Miles)
• Day 2 of 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Canyon, TX to Ft. Sumner, NM 173 Miles)
• Day 3 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Ft. Sumner to Eagar, NM 343 Miles)
• Day 4 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Eagar to Payson 231 Miles)
• Day 5 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Payson to Cameron 222 Miles)
• Day 6 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Cameron to Grand Canyon to Cameron 130 Miles)
• Day 7 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Cameron to Panguitch 287 Miles)
• Day 9 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Ogden to Jackson 235 Miles)
• Day 10 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Jackson to Gardiner 203 Miles)
• Day 11 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Gardiner to Great Falls 226 Miles)
• Day 12 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride
• Day 13 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Great Falls to Billings 402 miles)
• Day 14 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Billings to Spearfish 332 miles)
• Day 15 of My 5000+ Mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Spearfish to Alliance)
• Days 16 & 17 of My 5000+ mile, 17 Day Motorcycle Ride (Alliance to Home)

Hera are other rides you may like too…

• National Park Motorcycle Ride – 5542 Miles in 16 Days 2013
• Blue Ridge Parkway Motorcycle Ride June 2014
• Big Bend & Carlsbad Caverns National Parks Motorcycle Trip September 09
• Our First Big Bend Motorcycle Ride
• Big Bend National Park Motorcycle Ride April 2007

I hope we see you down the road somewhere… Ride safe…