Always Take Candy from Strangers

Wow! This past week or so has been quite an amazing experience, taking me through the most beautiful and unique country I've ever seen, predominantly along Scenic Byway 12. This route cuts across southern Utah, providing access to some of the most remote wild areas in the US, including the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Dixie National Forest. I spent my first night on Route 12 at the Red Canyon red rock area on the route's eastern end. These bright red formations emerge from the landscape and act as a marker of your passage into a whole landscape of special natural wonders that lay ahead. The campground hosts here, Barb and Steve, were fellow east coasters from Boston who shared with me an array of their own interesting travel experiences over a hot breakfast (mmm!) before I set on towards Bryce Canyon National Park.

They informed me about a somewhat sneaky way of entering the park and getting a feeling for the canyon without actually going all the way in. About a quarter mile after the entrance sign (but before the fee station) there is an unmarked road bringing you to the "Fairyland" overlook and trail head. I opted to dart in and out of Bryce via this loophole, in part not feeling up to the long distances, crowded campgrounds (if there happen to be any spaces left), and heavily trafficked roads I've encountered in the National Parks this time of year (prime, it appears). The lookout I visited was pretty neat, giving me a sense of the "hoodoo" rock formations rising up out of the canyon like freestanding columns of various shape, size and coloring. Then I rejoined 12 and rode through some very grassy, pastoral country to the turnoff for the Kodachrome State Park. This park is named after my hometown Eastman Kodak company, in honor of the photograph worthy range of different colors afforded in the multiple layers of rock- a vertical show of times passing over hundreds of thousands of years. The park is also known for the petrified geyser formations unique to the area.

The next day I rode on to Escalante, enjoying an awesome downhill cost for about 18 miles leading me into the outskirts of the Grand Staircase Monument. I spent a night in the center of the small town and started the climb up onto some higher elevation. With views of the Staircase behind me, its scope and grandeur increasing with my vantage point as I climbed, I finally reached the summit of my climb. What I saw as I began the descent was the most incredible vista I've ever seen. Looking across over a hundred miles of the monument, with views stretching over slickrock, canyons, and mountains into New Mexico and Arizona. I guess I need to start abbreviating here, it's been such a neat week. I spent that night at the Calf Creek Recreation Area where I was able to hike to the vantage of some ancient pictographs. That night it rained, and rained, and thundered! I made friends with a great group of Latter Day Saints boy scouts out on a canyoneering trip. They shared their dinner, campfire, s'mores, and energetic senses of humor with me, which made the rain less potent. The next day I waited for clear skies, finally embracing the elements after an hour or so, and rode on up out of the canyon towards the famous "hog's back" section of the highway (cliff on either side of a narrow road). Instead of diminishing my experience of the landscape, being in the rain brought the desert to life in a way that helped me to really see it for the first time. The water brought tiny springs into existence in every crevasse and crack, painted every layer of rock a deeper, richer hue and filled the air with the smell of rainclouds and sagebrush. It was one of my most memorable mornings of riding--plodding along, as drenched as I was.

Things cleared up as I passed through the phenomenally beautiful village of Boulder, lush green valley surrounded by snow peaked mountains in the distance, but were quite unseasonable by the time I set up camp on Boulder Mountain (about 10,000 feet). It was one cold, wet night and the descent the following day made sure I was thoroughly soaked and hailed on before spewing me out into the quaint little town of Torrey where I finally had mercy on myself and dried out my gear and myself in a cheap motel for the night. The next day I Pressed on towards Hanksville, the end of Route 12, and stopped for lunch at the Mesa Farm Market-recommended to me for their fresh hearth baked bread and organic salads. After a visit to Capitol Reef National Park, and a near entire loaf of delicious bread I motioned to finish my day and move on, but a flat tire at the farm held me up. I'll have to write more about the following few days at my next opportunity, but I ended up staying on the farm and helping out-while learning an entire host of new things. It was one of the absolute highlights of my trip. From there I spent a night in Green River, UT, and arrived yesterday in Moab.

While debating where to camp, and finding only crowded RV lot style campgrounds nearby (I was pretty tired to go far) I met a great group of folks from Wisconsin who took me back to their site in Arches National Park for the evening. This was a great opportunity because these sites are booked months in advance and the bike ride up into the park alone would have taken me hours before setting foot on a trail towards an arch. For my benefit they stopped for a twilight hike up to "Double Arch"--a very special formation we were able to see silhouetted against the night sky just as Venus became visible through the farther arch. After a great night's rest, far from the traffic and noise of town, Neil, Tara and Bill treated me to a great  breakfast (ginger pancakes with Danish apple butter...mmm) before dropping me off in town again. I think I must be the luckiest gal around! So many kind people have shown me so much support and generosity, I can't wait to pass it along whenever I have the opportunity. Until next time!