我们错过了毒道，但霍茨巴克弥补了这一点。

“英国和美国是由一种共同语言分开的两个国家。”—萧伯纳（attrib.）

You can add Australia to that,and make it three nations.How was I to know that the word ‘summit',which indicates the top of a mountain where I come from,can mean ‘the highest point along a road' to our American cousins?

Had I known the American definition when I consulted my map in the bar in Torrey,犹他州气温明显下降，降雪威胁着云层的形成，I might have chosen a different route.As it was,I assumed that the notation ‘Summit 9400ft' referred to the nearby Lion Mountain and not Utah Scenic Byway 12.

Nearly three kilometres up and enveloped by steadily falling snow,I discovered my mistake.Fortunately my riding companions didn't hold my misapprehension against me;for Australians,riding through snow is more a novelty than an imposition.And despite the fact that the ride up into Dixie National Forest had been a blast so far,we were still looking forward to the best part of Utah 12: the Hogsback.This is much of the reason why Utah 12 is not only a Scenic Byway but one of the much rarer All-American Roads.

A little history here.Until the 1930s,Boulder,a town just a little way along from our trial by snow,was the last settlement in the United States to get its supplies by muleback.In 1933,when Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC),博尔德和Escalante的好人，further south and the starting point for the mules,petitioned the President for a road to link the two settlements.他们有两个，both of which exist to this day.

首先要完成的是FR 153，它现在被称为魔鬼的主干道。It pretty much follows the contours,需要较少的土方工程和其他工程工作，although it includes a wonderful bridge over Sand Creek and Death Hollow.Its 60 kilometres run through the Grand Staircase,它从工人们那里得到了“毒路”的称号，who were all too conscious of the steep drops it navigated.

但那与另一条路无关，现在犹他12。大概是因为FR 135一年四季都无法通行——它的砾石表面在冬天一直关闭到今天——它需要更多的工程工作。Some of it is standard road construction,用插条来平衡高度变化。But some of the engineering is far more adventurous.

The chosen route ran over huge outcrops of Desert Slickrock.I haven't been able to find out exactly how the CCC engineers dealt with this,but the road looks as if they just dumped a kind of dyke of soil and rock on top of the slickrock,a little wider than the road.When that reached the height they needed for the road surface,they just tarred the top and painted on some lines.The result is a road that seems to balance precariously on top of a long,high and steep mound of rubble with no runoff – indeed,with no room of any kind on either side of the tar.Leave the road and you'd be well advised to say your prayers on the way down into one of the rough,dry gulches.

This is the Hogsback,an apt description if I ever saw one.  How did the CCC get the rubble to stick on top of the appropriately-named slickrock?Perhaps I'd rather not know.

At any rate,it's wonderful how the lack of runoff or protective fencing concentrates the mind when you're traversing the Hogsback.Here's hoping you don't get a flat tyre.The road continues to be exciting on the way to Escalante,although it doesn't offer another experience like that.

Escalante不是一个只有一匹马的城镇，我相信它仍然拥有骡子的份额，但是它的居民还不到一千人。考虑到这一点，we were pleasantly surprised by the Cowboy Blues Restaurant (since renamed the Devil's Garden Grill,我认为）这不仅提供了很好的食物——我在当地捕到的熏鳟鱼非常好——而且在一个轻松愉快、价格合理的环境中吃。The beer,as advertised,was cold and the service was efficient while remaining relaxed in line with the atmosphere.

And you know,we didn't find ourselves separated by our common language at all.