Day 7 Monticello - Moab

The morning started off cool and downhill. But as I rode along, I started getting warmer and warmer until I had to take off my warm layer. The scenery was beautiful and varied.









Wilson arch. I heard we'd be passing it today. It's right on the side of the road so you can't miss it. I had just pulled up and parked my bike so I could hike up to it when a couple from an RV came over to talk to me. One of their daughters had crossed the country by bike years ago. They were impressed and the husband said, "Take a picture of the crazy girl next to her bike." So she had me stand behind my bike and took a picture. I then hiked up to the arch and actually stood in it.


I came back down and the couple told me that if they had known I was going all the way up, they would have come up with me. She took my picture for me with the arch in the background. They offered me water, a sandwich and use of their bathroom. I declined all the offers but thanked them. I got back on my bike and kept moving. It was about a mile up the road that I remembered the man from yesterday. I wished that I had asked them to be sure to stop and offer him water if they saw him. I thought about turning around and catching them before they left to ask them but I figure they were probably already gone and surely would be before I got back there so I didn't do it. And then it was all I could think of for the next hour or so. Again, I was too selfish to go a little out of my way to help someone else out. I need to change.






I stopped at Hole In the Rock. It started out as a stop for stage coaches, then became a restaurant and the owners began carving out a home in the rock. Now there's a huge home inside the rock and a bunch of tourist trap kind of things. The owners are dead and you can pay money to tour the house. I didn't bother. But I did buy an ice cream there and browsed the shops.


After that, I stopped at the rest are and ate my lunch under some giant shade trees. Mark was there as well. He had gotten a flat and was repairing it. We left at the same time. We didn't get very far before it went flat again. He stopped to replace it again and told me to tell Rob to come get him if he wasn't in by an hour after I got in.





The ride just kept getting prettier and prettier. I can see why people like Moab.




I got to Moab and stopped at a bike store to see if they though my rim had one more day in it or if I needed to replace it. They finally said they thought it would make it. As I was biking down the road to the campground, Mark was walking his bike in front of me. I was amazed. The third tube went flat so he was walking when a German couple in an RV offered to drive him to town. They dropped him off right at the intersection. He spent the evening getting everything out of the tire so it wouldn't happen again (he got it).

I had gotten to camp early enough that after eating, I wandered down the street and found a thrift store. I looked for a certain something for Sheri that she's been looking for...but didn't find one. Not that I had extra straps to strap it down with anyway...but I would have figured out a way. Instead, I found a book. I debated but in the end, I bought it.

Back at camp, Cheryl had bought a cheesecake to celebrate Rod's birthday and mine. Everyone got a piece. Yummy!

There was a party going on in the yard next to the campground. I laid in my tent and read until my eyes kept closing. I fell asleep with the music blaring and slept very well.

Day 6 Blanding - Monticello

Today was a short day so we could all go to the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum with Indian artifacts and ruins. It was a really neat thing to do. They had a recipe card sitting out for some native American soup. I took it even though I didn't know what sumac berries were or where to find them...just in case.

The room of pots found in the Southeastern Utah area.


Ruins with a restored Kiva that you can actually go into.


Inside the Kiva.


After visiting the park, I got on my bike and headed to the day's route. But I was stopped by Rob. He let me know that he was not feeling right and was going home. I was sad to see him go home because he was my riding buddy...well we didn't really ride together but I would see him and ride with him in short spurts most days and it was nice. But he needed to see a doctor and I certainly didn't want him having to be taken out by an ambulance.

Recapture Reservoir. That was only the second body of water we saw on the trip (besides some little flowing rivers in the canyon).


Still on the hunt for more ruins, I was searching every nook and cranny I rode past for anything. Finally, I spotted a small granary! I parked my bike and took a short hike, trying to get up to it. I never could get close enough to see inside. Bummer, I wanted to see if any baskets or pottery were left inside...probably not but maybe. As I was coming down off the rocks, one of the guys behind me was waiting for me. He wanted to know what I was doing. I pointed it out to him. We were the only two to see it. The little black rectangle in about the center (but to the left) of the picture is the opening to the granary.


We passed through a forest of tall pines. It didn't last for long but it sure was pretty.


On the other side of the forest was farmland but with no houses...I guess they all drove in.


I was biking down a hill, coasting really. I spotted a man pushing a bike and asked him if he had enough water. He told me he was low so I stopped. I gave him what was left in my water bladder which didn't amount to much. I talked to him for a few minutes. He was carrying an old, but large, backpacker's backpack with things strapped all over it. He had a second, smaller backpack attached to his handlebars along with some grocery bags with food and juice. But he only had one water bottle. He told me he was going to Phoenix. Knowing he was going to be going through some LONG stretches without access to water I made him take a water bladder. He was still looking for a place to put it as I rode away.

Here was a man who was struggling to make it to the next town, still some 17 miles away, or so. He looked to be carrying everything he owned in the world. He had only one bottle of water and a bottle of juice (I don't know how big the juice bottle was). There were no houses to stop at and ask for water along the rest of the day's route for him. The sun was shining and it was quite warm. He was moving a lot slower than I was because there was no room on his bike for a person, just all his stuff. And it was mostly uphill to Blanding.

I am so ashamed to say that I withheld a 20 oz. bottle of water from him when I could have spared it. I was being selfish and only thinking of myself (in the off chance that something went wrong between here and there). I still had a little water in my main bottle and only had about 5 miles to town where I could refill. If I had to, I could have gone without the rest of the way. I don't know who he is, his story, his name, his background...nothing, but I have thought about that man everyday since. I feel so guilty for my selfishness and pray for him that all the kindness that strangers showed to me (and I withheld) is also offered to him despite his bedraggled appearance...an offer of water, juice or a sandwich.

It kind of reminds me of an activity we did for seminary one day. The class was broken up into 6 groups. Each group went out one at a time. We had to do certain things like skip ten steps, run around a tree 3 times, that kind of thing all the way around the building. We were all timed and the winner was going to get a reward. Some groups came back pretty quickly while others seemed to take a long time compared. When it was our turn, we went out and saw someone working on their car in the parking lot. Some people that knew him said hi and continued on. Then there was the woman walking down the walkway toward the building carrying a tall stack of something. She stumbled and managed to drop them all over the ground. Some people passed and others stopped to help so everyone had to wait. Then we passed by a girl (our age) sitting on the curb crying. I don't remember if anyone stopped to ask if she was ok or not...I know I didn't. We made it back in to class and got our time. After all the groups had gone, the three people who I mentioned came into the room. They had been working with the teacher. The activity was not about making it back to class the fastest but about helping those around you. My group didn't win that day...and I failed the test this time as well.

As I got into town, I had to go to the bathroom SO bad! But I passed a pioneer memorial park and you know me, I love pioneers and had to stop! I took a walk through the park looking at all the buildings and trying to see inside them as well. It was pretty cool. I wanted to go find the temple but suddenly, I was distracted by the need to go find a bathroom pronto...then food, that I completely forgot until the next day. It wasn't visible from the main road though or I would have noticed and went to see it.


The campground was actually 8 miles North of town so after I stopped for a shake and ate my lunch, I continued on.


The campground was all by itself out there. It was pretty neat. The first thing you see when you get past the trees is an old log cabin. Then, to the left, is the "old town". It's a restaurant, saloon and 4 rooms upstairs that they rent out. There were cars parked there every time I went up there to get a picture so I finally just took it with cars ruining the shot.


I went exploring and found two old outhouse, the owners' house, a dump yard and a large boulder with a rope dangling from it. I tried climbing it but the fibers splintered off and dug into my fingers. There wouldn't have been a view up there anyway because it wasn't big enough so it wasn't worth it to me.

Rob and his wife stopped by the campsite and said goodbye to everyone. We tried to figure out a way to get me and my bike back to Orem but everyone had come down with full cars so in the end, Rob left his keys with me so I could drive back to Orem and they would come get the car from there.

I made some pudding and tried to give some of it away to people but everyone (except Robert, the driver) was already full so he took some but I still ate way more pudding than I should have.

Day 5 Natural Bridges - Blanding

I woke up rested and feeling much better than the day before. I woke up at 5:45 and one of the guys was already pulling out of camp. Crazy! I came on this tour to see things, not bike in the dark.

Before long, I came to the highest summit of the trip. 2500 feet lower than last year but with a better view (even if you can't see it in this pic).




There was a ruin on the side of the road that I stopped at. But there was a better one further down the road, about a mile on a gravel road and then a mile hike. I was really excited to see it...but by this point in the ride, I had a total of four cracks in my rear rim and the first one was getting worse. I started down the road to the ruin but decided against it, hoping to keep my rim intact as long as possible. That was a bummer but I quickly got over it.



We went down a REALLY nice downhill. But then it turned a corner and I saw this:

It doesn't look as scary in the picture as it does in person, trust me. It looks a lot like the road in Snake River Gorge I took when I went touring with Jasmine. It took us over an hour of huffing, pushing up that hill to get to the top...not to mention all my water. But my fears weren't realized. It only took about 20-30 minutes and while hard, it wasn't bad enough to have to get off and walk. In fact, I never did have to walk this trip.

After getting over the cock's comb there was another opportunity to see some ruins. These are the Butler Wash Ruins. There were 3 different alcoves with ruins in them in various states of disrepair. It was about a mile long hike (round trip) to see the ruins and well worth it.








Cock's comb from behind.


As the day wore on, the hills began to get steeper and steeper until we were regularly doing 10%.


There were only about 5-8 miles left but a woman stopped her truck to give me water. She filled up all my water bottles. I had enough to get me to Blanding but she didn't feel comfortable leaving me without something. She stopped and offered the guys ahead of me water as well. Very nice lady.

The vast majority of the next three days were spent on the road we turned onto to get to Blanding. It was busy (especially when compared to the desolation of the last 4 days) but the shoulder was ample.

I stopped at Subway and ate lunch and spent a long time there before finding the motel we stayed in. It was only $13 a room and it was clean and didn't smell like smoke. I got a shower and washed my clothes in the sink and hung them to dry on the railing before heading over to a restaurant where everyone was having dinner. I just had dessert since I had eaten not too long before that.

I slept ok...but not as well as I was expecting.

Day 4 rest day at Natural Bridges

All I can say is it's a good thing that this was a rest day because I may have boycotted the day. I was hoping to sleep in but by 8, the sun was shining on my tent and was baking inside my own skin. I reluctantly got out of bed. I ate some breakfast then went up to the visitor's center to use the restroom and plug in my gadgets for a recharge. I stuck around there for a couple of hours sitting in the padded chairs and looking at their small selection of books. I also did my laundry in the bathroom sink. They had a sign on the door of the restroom saying that they didn't want you using the sinks for dishwashing or showering. No problem, I just filled up a water bottle and went into one of the stalls and gave myself the best sponge bath I could. A woman was in the stall next to me when I bumped my opened water bottle and it fell to the floor with a big splash. The woman gasped in surprise when the cool water hit her feet. I apologized and quickly picked up the bottle and wiped up what I could on my side. I was afraid she was going to tell on me so I finished quickly and went back to camp. At camp, I put a water bladder in the sun and let it heat up for a good hair washing which I needed. That felt really good and I think contributed to my feeling better.

I sat around until 4 talking (listening really) and eating until I felt normal again and had some energy. My real food was in Robert's car and he was gone for the day so since I had to wait for him to get back and I had some energy, I decided to tackle the 10 mile scenic loop. It takes you past three natural bridges and an Indian ruin. There's as much or as little hiking as you want.



View of Sipapu Bridge from the overlook (no hiking required).


I decided to do a portion of the hike to Sipapu to a lower overlook. Looks of neat rocks and a wooden, Indian looking ladder and a long metal stair case.







The next stop was to see Horse Collar Ruins. This one requires a short 20 minute hike to see the ruins on the far canyon wall. You do not get very close at all but they were still pretty neat to see.


The better of the two alcoves of ruins.


The next bridge, Kachina, is a lot harder to see. I didn't bother with this hike.


Then, one more stop at the Owachomo bridge. I took the hike to the bottom.



Then just a couple more miles to camp. When I got back, my food had arrived so I got busy cooking. Then chatted for a while before going to my tent where I read for a while.

Day 3 Hog Springs - Natural Bridges

Someone said that it was almost all downhill for 17 miles until the turn off for Hite. Hite is a little Marina town that has one store that has a few microwave meals, ice cream, drinks and snacks. You have to take a little road for a mile to get to the store. It was slightly chilly when I started out but I quickly took off the warm clothes when the road started climbing. Pretty soon, I began to realize that whoever told me it was a downhill run was lying. There were some downhill portions but it was predominately uphill and very steep in parts at that.



Coming close to Lake Powell.




There was a scenic turn off that I took because the view was amazing...but the turn off climbed up a very steep hill. Only two of us made that climb but the view was worth it.




This downhill section was a lot of fun. It had me screaming in joy.


Lake Powell. The view of Lake Powell was very brief but we followed the river for a while.










I passed up the turn to Hite because it was about 10:30 at that point and already super hot. I wanted an ice cream and ice water and air conditioning like you wouldn't believe but it would have been one more mile of uphill that I just couldn't make myself do. You see, I was having cramps and feeling like I would throw up with every pedal turn. I wanted the day to be over as quickly as possible...it was very bad timing. Not only was this the day with the most climbing, the most miles, the hottest weather, I was also sick to boot. I thought I might die alone in the desert. It was about this point that I saw a black dot in the distance moving at about the same speed as me...another cyclist. For about an hour, I chased that black dot as if my life depended on it. Every time it would turn a corner or go over a hill, I felt like I was all alone in the world and a little distraught even though he was no further than he was before her disappeared. It was a tough day, mentally as well as physically.






This is how dry it was out there.




Eventually, I caught up to Rob, the small black dot I had been chasing. It really lifted my spirits to be able to talk to someone when I was feeling so awful. We rode together about 10 minutes before I sped up and slowly, he faded behind me.


The road continued to climb and the sun was beating down. I was feeling quite demoralized and while I was passing some BEAUTIFUL country, I couldn't concentrate on it long enough through the total misery of the day to take as many pictures as the landscape deserved.


I found a little shade and sat in it for a bit. As I was walking back to my bike, my bike fell over and dumped a couple bags as well as the contents of my handlebar bag since it was open. One of the things that fell out was my thermometer. Here's the proof of the heat.


It was at about this time that I started on my last bottle of water. It was super hot and I was exhausted. I heard some birds tweeting and I began talking to them, asking them to bring me water. I was scanning the horizon for any sign of Robert's car. He came along so we could have water on these long, waterless days. He would park his car somewhere on the route with a 5 gallon water jug sitting next to it so we could have access to it. I was afraid I was going to run out of water before I came across his car. I was on my last 1/4 of the last bottle when I saw a gleaming red car. Of all the wonderful, beautiful things I saw that day, this was suddenly, the most amazing thing I ever beheld. The promise of life giving water. My spirits were lifted and instead of crying to the birds, I was singing with them and found a reserve of energy that I used to pedal faster to the water.

I dumped some water on my head, filled up my bottles, grabbed some food for lunch and pulled my sleeping pad off the bike. I went under a large, shady juniper tree and ate my lunch. Rob came in while I was still eating and joined me. I just couldn't find the energy to get back on my bike when Rob left. I laid on the pad for a bit until I decided I just needed to bite the bullet and get it over with.



After some more climbing, I was in a juniper and pinon forest. It was SO green, like a wall to wall carpet. I had never expected to see such a thing in the Utah desert.




The sun was sinking lower and lower and by now, Rob and I were thinking about dinner. He was saying that if he was out much longer he may resort to stopping to cook dinner on the side of the road. That got me to thinking about food. There were two problems with that for me. One, all my dinner food was in Robert's car and 2, my stove decided it didn't want to work that morning and would need some TLC before I could get it to work again, which would require oil from Robert's oil dip stick.




But we finally made it to the turn to the park. Just 4 more miles. The sun was touching the horizon and blinding us. I was watching my mirror for any cars because I knew there was no way they could see me. No cars passed me. I stopped at the park office to use the restroom and filled up my water bottles before going down to camp where there was no running water.

Robert had just started his car up to come look for us when I pulled up.

It was a race to get my tent set up before the light faded. I was trying to do that when I started getting really shaky and weak. Tricia noticed and got my food from me and cooked my dinner for me. Rob Jones, not the same Rob I had been riding with, cooked up some noodles and gave me half. I needed that food so badly (and a lot more).

I slipped into my tent and fell asleep.