We departed our slightly seedy motel in Milford, Utah without much motivation to bike after the long ride the previous day. But we departed nonetheless and were treated to a wonderful shorter ride. There was only one climb between us and Cedar City but it was by no means an easy climb. The grade was gradual but the climb just went on and on and on. But we made it to the top and had a long descent into the outskirts of Cedar City.
We wandered around the outskirts of town looking for a cheap campground but in the end opted to stay in town at a cheap motel (once again) because we wanted to ask questions about the best bike routes for the upcoming days (and the shops were already closed). We spend the rest of the evening walking around Cedar City, admiring the beautiful surrounding cliffs and eating pizza and lots of ice cream and sampling some Utah beer. It was a very pleasurable day.
The next day we awoke and sought out some directions for the best way to get to Zion National Park. We waited for a bike shop to open and were advised that the fastest (and only direct route) would be to follow frontage roads along the interstate and then to hop on the interstate itself for 15 miles. So off we rode, slightly downhill with the wind at our back. We picked up some shoes for Chantale and then continued riding down toward Zion. The time came for us to hop on the freeway and it was exhilarating. Fortunately the Road was mostly downhill and the Saturday traffic wasn't too heavy. The shoulder on the road was wide so it wasn't that dangerous and all the cars zooming along by us created some nice drafts that pushed us along.
We got off the highway and immediately the heat of our desert surroundings hit us like a wall. We hadn't had any oppressively hot days so far. We rode along a little bit longer until the intersection of the road that would take us all the way to Zion. We stopped for a big lunch and filled ourselves up on some peanut butter, granola bar and banana sandwiches, washed down with a small tub of frozen yogurt. We should have looked at a topographic map before our lunch stop because immediately as we resumed our biking we hit a climb accompanied with heat and no breeze to speak of. We felt our full stomachs with every petal but pressed on toward our destination. With only 3 miles to go, we were completely drained. We stopped in a small town and looked for some water at the church and post office, but to no avail. Determined to find some refreshment, we rounded the corner and stumbled upon a beautiful grassy, shaded oasis with some wonderful water fountains. We recharged for a little while and then biked the rest of the way past the town of Springdale and into Zion. This week is "National Parks Week" which means that there is free admission to all the national parks throughout the country. This came as a pleasant surprise because it would have cost us 26 dollars to enter (interestingly, more than the cost of a vehicle).
There are two campgrounds at the southern entrance of the park but both of them were completely booked for that Saturday night because of Earth Day and Parks Week. We were considering turning back around and heading back to BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land to camp off road somewhere but Chantale mustered up the courage to ask some people if we could set up the tent in the corner of their site. They kindly obliged so we set up the tent and explored the town a bit to pick up some food. We ate beside a bubbling brook, admired the outskirts of the beautiful canyon and planned our next few days.
We decided to stay in the park 3 nights so that we would have plenty of time to explore. The next morning we got our own site, set up the tent, and then moved our tent from out under the tree because of a crazy caterpillar infestation. The whole lower park of the canyon is completely overrun by forest tent caterpillars. Apparently it happens every year but practically every surface beneath a cottonwood tree is covered with these caterpillars. In some spots it is impossible to walk without crunching a few of them with every step. I'm not one to enjoy killing bugs for no reason, but after a short while you start to not care anymore.
After we set up camp we headed out on the park shuttle into the canyon. We randomly chose a hike called Observation Point that took us winding through a beautiful side canyon, up the canyon walls and all the way to the rim. We were treated with some spectacular views at the top. We headed back down into the canyon, soaked in some more sun and headed back into town for some more food. It is such a luxury being situated in one place with food readily available so that we can go out and shop for whatever type of food we are craving. We opted for some pasta with sauce, avocados, and cookies with milk for dessert. We walked around a bit more, went to a ranger program on birds in the park and then retired for the night.
Our plan for today was to wake up really early at 4 am, eat some quick breakfast and then head off on a ride to the trailhead for Angel's Landing (the most popular hike in the park) where we would hike up and arrive in time for a sunrise in the middle of the canyon. We managed the first two tasks, waking up early and eating breakfast but then we decided to head back to sleep for a couple hours. Instead, we caught the first shuttle at 7 am and then hiked to the top, still able to admire the first rays of sun on the canyon walls. It was a gorgeous, short hike with some really narrow paths with cliffs on either side that drop off a couple thousand feet--absolutely stunning but not good for those wary of heights. Surprisingly, despite our later start, we were the first ones at the top and enjoyed a few minutes of amazing solitude admiring the canyon as it filled with light and colors. We headed back down just as the crowds of people starting coming up -- perfect timing!
It has been another beautiful day, we ate a second breakfast when we got back to camp, picked up a little more food in town and biked back into the canyon by the main lodge, where we are currently hanging around outside on the lawn. Tomorrow we pack up camp and exit out the east side of the park toward Lake Powell and the Arizona border. It should be a tough day but hopefully we will be well rested and ready to go!
i am friends with Lynette. I would like to see a map of where all you've ridden so far. marking your route in MS paint would be more than adequate.
ReplyDeleteMapping our route is something that we have wanted to do so we will definetly post something (we'll try to do it sooner than later) :)
ReplyDelete