Escalante, Torrey

The last two days have been amazing. The bike trip just keeps getting better. The scenery here in Utah is stunning. I thought it couldn't get any better after riding out of Cedar City. I was wrong. Riding into Escalante, I thought that I had seen it all. Again, I was wrong. Today I climbed about 4000 ft, and saw three different geographic scenes. About 10 miles out of Escalante, I descended into this Canyon, full of layered yellow and red rock formations and desert scrub. After passing through the Calf Creek area, I climbed out of the canyon (a 14% grade for the better part of two miles!) and after riding the "hogback" I rode into Boulder, Utah. The hogback is a section of highway that is surrounded on both sides by about 400 to 900 foot drops. The views are breathtaking, and otherworldly. Boulder is agricultural, lush and green. After Boulder, I continued ascending, maxing out at 9600 ft after ~13 miles. It was a hard climb. After reaching the summit, I looked back, and was surprised to see a sign that indicated that the descent was an 8% grade for five miles. Holy shit. That's nuts. At the top of the hill, I was surrounded by grassy meadows and deciduous trees, like aspen and birch. While the remaining ~25 miles of the ride was mostly descent, I did muscle up some pretty nasty little hills. After getting over the Boulder mountain on highway 12, the landscape transformed again. The earth became red, and in the distance I could see the beginning of the Capitol Reef National Park. Capitol Reef, from what I can see, is full of gigantic red rock formations, shaped randomly and beautifully by erosion. Tomorrow I ride to Hanksville, Utah. We're still uncertain of where we're going to stay, but I figure that it will all work out in the end.

Yesterday was the first day where I got done with the ride and thought that I could do more. I probably could have made it another 30 miles up the line to Boulder. It would have sucked, but I could have done it. Today, however, I'm feeling pretty pooped. The climbs were awesome, but tiring. Below are a few pictures. I find it harder and harder to take pictures.

During the afternoon, Escalante was super hot. Not Abu Dhabi style hot, but so hot that Tom and I hid away in a restaurant and sucked down a couple of beers instead of sitting outside in our unshaded campsite. Once the heat broke, the town transformed in my eyes. Instead of bearing down mercilessly on me, the sun caressed me with its evening rays, while a cool breeze sucked away any left over sweat from the heat of the day. I read in a wrought iron chair by the laundry room, finishing up the Deborah Harkness trilogy before moving onto Mark Vonnegut's Eden Express. Overall a lovely, lazy evening without a care in the world.

Escalante is an interesting place. Most of the establishments appear to be appealing to tourists, either by providing high end outdoor equipment or a comfortable, gourmet dining experience. At the same time, a notice at the local grocery store indicated that the high school would be hosting a meeting to discuss the possibility of closing the local high school due to reduced enrollment. I can't help but wonder what will become of towns like Escalante in the next ten or fifteen years. The RV park in Escalante also had the nicest showers I've used since Abu Dhabi.

The road down into the canyon coming out of Escalante. Lots of fun to go down. Even better going back up.

I broke my stupid sunglasses. I got another pair, thankfully.