It wouldn't be a stay in Moab without hitting the world famous trails and slickrock. We were lucky enough to have some local mtb guides in Nancy and Rachel who took us on an epic ride from the slickrock trail, up the hill nine miles to the Porcupine Rim trail. It was some of the most technical climbing we have ever done, stepping up rock ledges on technical double track but rewarded with awesome views of the red rock pillars of Castle Valley. The descent off the rim was brutal, ranging from rock gardens of red stone angled towards us, sand, fast flowing singletrack, rock drops and 'hike-a-bike' sections more akin to tough hiking trails than mountain biking. Needless to say Nancy and Rachel rode these, while we hiked them. The trail finished by hugging the hillside over technical rocky singletrack overhanging the Colorado River far below us, no room for error, and required a good head for heights.
The crew at the 'guide house' in Moab was extremely kind to us, having us camp out in the backyard for nearly a week, sharing a Halloween party, coffee, good food and some quality 'couch time' movie sessions. It felt like a real break at a comfortable share house, could have been with some friends at home.
After weeks of following their path, in Moab we finally caught up with the Vogels, a family from Idaho with two ten year old boys who are also riding from Alaska to Argentina. We joined John, Nancy, Daryl and Davey for a day trip into Arches NP just out of Moab to explore some of the red rock formations, petrified sand dunes, balancing rocks and of course rock arches. We made it as far into the park as 'the Windows', a series of arches; Turret Arch, Double Arch and the North and South Windows with the La Sal mountains as a backdrop as well as stopping at Park Avenue, Courthouse Towers and the Garden of Eden. It was also a day to share stories, ideas and plans with the Vogels, hearing how they travel with the two boys and some of the challenges they have faced. They are 'home' schooling the boys from the bike which means a pannier full of books, and stops at historical and natural significant places on their journey. It was great to finally meet the family after hearing so many people tell us stories about them.
Leaving Moab we made it as far as Newspaper Rock in an afternoons riding on the busy 191 highway. It has been our least favourite section of road and we had several close calls with vehicles overtaking other vehicles coming towards us, once even forcing us off the road. In the United States, everyone seems to be in a real hurry, with no patience on the road, for slowing down to pass us, or overtaking on blind corners. Not to make anyone at home worry, it just means that we have to be really alert to things happening in front of us and get out of there quickly if we need to. We ended up riding into the dark (with our Niteflux lights on of course!) as the days were getting shorter and we underestimated the hills. After dodging cows in the open range and an hour in the dark we arrived at Newspaper Rock recreation site marked for camping on our maps. In the dark we couldn't find any sign of a campground and ended up wild pitching off the road. In the morning we discovered that camping is not allowed along the river any longer due to a flash flood in 2004. Lucky we didn't know that the night before! But we had felt completely safe there and so sign of storms or rain.
It was still 22 miles into the Needles area of Canyonlands NP from Newspaper Rock so decided to try and hitch into the park to do a day hike. We were extremely lucky and met a group of Germans on a work team-building trip who were happy to give us a ride into the park and to the trailhead of the Chesler Park hike. We walked through red sandstone canyons, through cracks in rock slabs, past cactus, yuccas, gnarled Juniper trees and in between red and pink coloured sandstone hoodoos which are called 'the needles'. We walked a section of trail known as the 'Joint trail', a large crack in the rock just wide enough to walk through and with 20 to 30 feet walls surrounding us. It is an amazing desert landscape with these huge pillars of layered rock all around us and we had one of our best hikes of the trip so far.
Several days later we had ridden from Natural Bridges National Monument deep into canyon country, past large red cliffs of rock, buttes and towers dominated the landscape and we rejoined the Colorado river where it flows into the dammed Lake Powell. This is one of the most vast and desolate landscapes we have ever seen, no trees, just red rock as far as the eye can see and some dark storm clouds were brewing above.
Camped at Dirty Devil river in Glen Canyon on an exposed sandstone ledge, a storm buffeted our tent with strong waves of wind and rain meaning a rather sleepless night. By morning it seemed the storm had passed as we climbed a 10 per cent grade hill cut into the red canyon wall we thought that would be the hardest part of the day. We climbed through the wind tunnel of the north grand wash canyon, winds gusting through the side canyons rustled the golden leaves of the Cottonwoods. As soon as we climbed out of the canyon the winds just got stronger in our faces. With views of the snow dusted Henry mountains in the distance, orange-red sandstone formations in the foreground and strong headwinds, Anna shed a tear. What started out as a great day in amazing scenery quickly turned into a painful and testing day both physically and mentally. As we climbed our average speed into the wind ranged from 3 – 4 miles per hour with the mile posts moving by every 15 to 20 minutes, 24, 23, 22.... The winds got worse, slowing our speed to below 3 mph, and blowing sand off the desert dunes into our eyes and teeth. Strong gusts blasted our bikes sideways, and we ended up on the side of the road. 'This is hopeless' I thought and started walking my bike along the edge of the ride for half a mile, unable to ride on. I turned around and Anna was walking her bike as well.
At milepost 16 I did the maths, 'its 3pm now so thats at least three more hours if we keep pedalling and no more breaks...mmm'. I was determined, or too stubborn to not concede to the elements. At milepost 15 I stopped and Anna caught up. I could see she was broken by the relentless 20 – 30 mph winds. She was close to tears and expressed the feelings I was experiencing but not wanting to show. She said ' the next pick-up, I am going to try and hitch a ride!'. This time I didn't object at all, I was broken too, I just didn't want to admit it. Just like that a white pick-up truck appeared on the horizon and then stopped for us. George agreed to give us a lift the last fifteen miles to Hanksville. 'Sick of riding into the wind today?' he asked. 'Yep' we both reply, ' this is the first lift we have accepted in over 5,000 miles, if that tells you how bad the wind was'. We loaded our bikes into the back, and before we knew it we were in Hanksville, a dodgy motel out of the wind, even worse deep fried food, but very happy that the day was over and no regrets about accepting a ride. It's all part of the journey to recognise our own limits and to know the time to give into ego and respect what the elements throw at us.
After the winds of the previous day we were extremely happy with a pleasant day of riding up the Fremont River valley towards Capitol Reef NP. Out of Hanksville, grey sandy buttes (flat topped hills) gave way to the waterpocket fold of Capitol Reef with large sandstone domes, red and white cliffs, ancient Fremont petroglyphs in the valley walls (carvings of bighorn sheep and mythical human figures) and historical orchards, schoolhouses and buildings from the early Mormon pioneers. We met up with Adrian, a Swiss man we had met hiking previously at the Needles in Canyonlands NP. He is extremely enthusiastic about all of the parks in Utah and takes us to viewpoints, joins us on a hike and drives us to the Capitol Gorge scenic drive and gorge hike.
Leaving Capitol Reef we had a big climb ahead of us over Boulder mountain pass at 9,600 feet our highest pass of the trip so far. It took us the best part of a day to climb the 4,000 feet over 35 miles up into Ponderosa Pines, Quaking Aspens and meadows and creeks of the mountain forests in Dixie National Forest to the summit. It was such a contrast up there in the higher elevations of Utah among tall trees after coming from the lower elevation desert country where the trees are short and stunted and cactus and grasses rule the drier country. In Utah they don't believe in gentle grades, our hardest hills have all been here. So after all that climbing, it was then a 45 minute steep downhill to Boulder for 15 miles, large sweeping corners, wild turkeys off the road, back into the Juniper and Pinyon Pines. We were freezing by the time we reached the bottom. We ended up camping in an apple orchard out the back of a small motel thanks to the friendly owner, with mule deer feeding on the fallen apples through the night.'The best camping in Boulder is right here in the orchard' he claimed. We agreed. Once again grateful for the generosity so many people have shown us.
From Boulder we entered the vast Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, a series of creek carved canyons and rock layers from different geological timeframes exposed as cliffs that roll down to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. The 'Hog's back', is a narrow winding road following a ridgeline with drops either side down into canyons carved into sandstone. It was an amazing descent deep into the Escalante river valley with the cliffs of the Grand Staircase on the horizon. After some more switchback climbs back out of the valley we made it to Escalante by lunchtime with an ominous looking storm coming towards us from the mountains. With the storm outlook for the next two days we decided to put the feet up for some rest in Escalante in some cabins at Escalante Outfitters. Dennis and Dena our hosts fed us good coffee and great eggs. Once again we are on the very edge of the shoulder season, campgrounds are closed, cafes are closed, and in fact the cabins will be closed in a few days for the winter. Just scraped in!
Today the sun is shining and wind barely blowing...a perfect day for cycling really and we can't help but feel like we are missing a window of opportunity to get to Bryce Canyon, but we also need rest, laundry, and bike maintenance. So we enjoy the sun, get greasy hands, eat plenty and prepare for the climb to Bryce.
Enjoy
Alister and Anna
The Fuego Project
