In Manila, we again had to stay at a KOA, free camping was becoming more unattractive as the early nights drew in and with it the cold. We had experienced head winds and side winds all day and as we set up camp the wind became much worse. We managed to put the tents right by a fence and under some trees for some shelter but the wind was so strong and so cold. When we checked in at the campground the manager told us that the forecast was for snow, combined with the wind, it could be interesting to say the least. That evening Axel and I retired to the toilets, set up our cooking stoves and ate our evening meal there, not too hygienic or scenic but who cares when you’re freezing! Lying in bed, listening to the wind, I just hoped that the trees that we were under, would stand up to this incredible wind. This was one of the stormiest nights I had experienced in a tent. Even through the noise of the wind against the nylon tent, I could hear the snow as well as the wind, hitting the tent and could imagine the raging blizzard outside my tiny refuge.

In the morning we woke up to two or three inches of snow but luckily because of the wind, most of it had drifted, leaving the roads mostly clear. Our other problem was that our route would take us much higher today and there was no alternative. I didn’t want to stay there another day, I needed a cheaper place to be stranded. The wind had eased from last nights storm but it was still very strong for cycling, hopefully it might help us. Once we had thawed out the bikes, we set off climbing about 3,000 feet in two climbs mostly against the wind but luckily once we reached the top and turned south, we had a good tailwind. We were skirting the High Uintas mountains, climbing out of Manila, staying high in the mountains for about 30 miles and then hitting the top and descending down to Vernal for another 35 miles. Due to the weather and altitude, it was freezing cold all day, at lunch I was so cold, I ate food while walking back and forth along the road. Towards Vernal the sun came out, warming us slightly and we had a fantastic ride on a section of road with 10 hairpin bends, these were big hairpins that could be taken at speed without braking into them. I hit my record speed for the whole trip on this road, 48.3 mph, I tried so hard for 50 mph but my legs just wouldn’t go round any faster! I needed a bigger gear. It was a beautiful ride. Axel could not match my speed, he just didn't have the weight or the desire!

Vernal is in ‘Dinosaur Land’ there are lots of signs at the side of the road approaching Vernal from the north, some informative and some amusing.
"Tyrannosaurus bones found here", one sign proclaimed.
"No evidence of life ever found here", another sign indicated!
Funnily enough, in the grass, right beneath this sign, I spotted a large animal skeleton of some sort. I held it up.
"What’s this then?"
"Evidence of life, I would suggest", replied Axel, rather dryly.
"Just hold it there, I’ll take a photo!
I hung the rib cage over the sign and we cycled off, highly amused. We camped at Camp Dina for 6$ and had a shelter to cook and eat in, the sky was clear and again it was cold but the wind had eased and it was not too bad.

Leaving Vernal the next morning we ran into another cycle tourist in the supermarket. His name was Michael Schrama and he was from Germany, I’m not sure where he had started from but he was heading for Venezuela! After the supermarket he was going to the dinosaur museum and as we were having an easy day today, we told him where we were planning to camp that night, in case he caught up with us. The weather was quite warm and we had an easy day. We didn’t see Michael again that evening. We camped on a municipal campground at Rangeley. We had now crossed into Colorado. Utah had been a brief visit but my route would take me back into Utah further south.