Journal Stage 7
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I finally crossed into Arizona
after nearly 1,000 miles in Utah! The trip odometer is now reading at 6,403.9
miles and I am currently in Flagstaff. Please do not let the .9 at the end of my
odometer fool you, 30 mph headwinds yesterday made me earn every revolution of
my wheels. The last 18 days, since my
last update, have been some of the most strenuous and breathtaking terrain I
have yet to encounter on the journey. I
have passed through five National Parks and witnessed inspiring landscapes that
tell stories of unimaginable time and the power between water, wind, and
rock. Traveling between each park
required a self powered passage over steeper than steep climbs, mountain snow,
and gusty winds. The daytime
temperatures might reach 80 degrees, while nighttime temperatures would dive
below 32.
Capitol Reef and the Grand Staircase
Capitol Reef and the Grand Staircase
After leaving Manti, UT, Marie and I were forced to hold up in Salina for 36 hours
because the forecast was calling for 18 inches of snow on the pass that we were
planning to go over the next morning! We
enjoyed a motel room and some pizza and I attempted to explain the rules of
American Football to Marie as we watched LSU play Alabama.
Snow fell outside our room as we prepared our bags for the early
departure, which was required to travel the 90 miles between Salina
and Torrey, a small town just west of Capitol Reef
National Park. With every piece of clothing available to us
on our bodies, we made the trek over the 9,000 ft pass into Torrey the next
day. As we approached Torrey, we got our
first glimpses of the Red Rock Country that we would be riding through for the
next several days and it was AWESOME!
Capitol
Reef National
Park was like nothing I had ever seen before; I
simply could not stop taking pictures.
We decided to camp in the park and do a couple of long day hikes. We hiked to Hickman Bridge,
one of the largest natural bridges in the World, and then biked into the Grand
Wash for another six mile hike. The
Grand Wash is only about eight feet wide at its most narrow point with walls on
both sides towering up over 1,500 feet!
Hiking through the park awarded much better views than those seen from
the scenic road which goes along the edge of the 100-mile Waterpocket Fold, the
geological name given to the horizontal uplifting in the Earth’s crust over
50-million years ago.
I did indeed use my easiest gear climbing over Boulder Mountain and the area known as the Grand Staircase. After Escalante, the road became an engineering marvel as we passed over a section known as the Hell’s Backbone and the Hog’s Back. The road runs along a spine that has 1,000 ft cliffs on both sides before cutting its way through red rock to Calf Creek. After crossing Hell’s Backbone, I saw a sign which could be interpreted as good or bad. It read 14% downhill grade for the next four miles. I pulled to the side of the road and checked my brakes before snaking down to Calf Creek while trying my best not to think about the climb on the other side of the canyon!
As I mentioned earlier, Marie and I did lots of hiking through Capitol Reef. We did the lower falls in the Grand Staircase Park, which was about a nine-mile hike that rewarded us with views of the 120 ft waterfall cascading down beautiful red rock. Our mileage each day was about the same as it had been the entire trip, except now we were hiking 15 miles a day and biking 45. This continued on into Bryce and Zion National Parks until we both woke up one morning in Zion and could barely walk because our muscles were so sore!
Mr. David Collett
In Escalante, Marie and I camped behind the local
outfitter’s store. The owner, Steve, was
generous enough to provide us with showers and a place to pitch our
tents. Steve invited us into his restaurant for some
“real” food and this is where we met Mr. David Collett. David
overheard me telling a couple from Arizona about how I had begun
pedaling in Prudhoe Bay, AK
nearly five months ago. He soon
approached and asked me with his strong South African accent, “Excuse
me, did
you say you started bicycling in Prudhoe Bay
in June.” I replied, “Yes.” He then got all excited and
said, “So did
I.” David had begun riding in Vancouver, rode the ferry up to
Whittier,
AK, and then flew up to Prudhoe Bay. He then started
bicycling south and rode the entire way through Canada taking the same
roads as
Marie and I. His story diverted from
ours after he was riding in Colorado
with five days of solid headwinds crippling him to less than 30 miles a
day…
David, age 53, just recently retired from a successful
career in advertising in Johannesburg,
South Africa. He owned a large business and has owned
several houses, boats, and fast cars. He
has been planning his retirement for several years and it included none of the
above material assets that I just mentioned.
His goal was to sell everything, including his business, and travel the
World on two wheels until he dies.
After riding through the brutal headwinds in Colorado, David was so
frustrated that he stopped pedaling and called the local BMW dealer. He purchased a 600GS motorbike and outfitted
it with all the latest accessories to continue his tour around the World on two
wheels. As we stood in the parking lot
of Escalante Outfitters in freezing temperatures, it was immediately obvious
that David and I had a lot in common! We
talked a while longer and then agreed to meet in Bryce Canyon
the following day. From Bryce we agreed
to meet and camp/hike again in Zion and then
again on the way to the Grand Canyon.
David has traveled to several dozens countries and I enjoyed
hearing his advice each night around the campfire about business, travel, and
adventure. David learned several new
expressions of speech from me and each night he would comment on how great it
is to travel America
with an American! After spending nearly
two weeks with David, we parted ways at the South Rim of the Grand
Canyon yesterday morning.
David was continually trying to get me to go and buy a motorbike and
just keep riding south with him. The
last thing he yelled to me as I left from the campground yesterday morning was,
“see you in Asia next year.” I am sure we will reunite sometime, but I
have no plans of purchasing a motorbike anytime soon!
Bryce Canyon was my favorite National Park in Utah. The landscape is difficult to explain and the
park service calls it hoo-doo country.
These famous spires, called "hoodoos," are formed when ice and
rainwater wear away the weak limestone.
In short, Bryce has enough fascinating geology to fill a textbook. While in the park, Marie, David, and I did
several hikes including the famous figure eight which is a combination of
trails in the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.
I have never hiked a more exciting trail in my life. Natural tunnels, towering spires, and blue
sky all combined to keep the shutter on my camera wide open for most of the
day!
We also attended two park service programs on the night sky
in and around Bryce
Canyon. The talks were fascinating and included
telescope viewings late into the night.
The “dark sky” was the topic the first night and included information on
just how much light pollution there is in the United States. The light pollution (billboards with lights
facing up, street lights without shades on top, and excessive
residential/commercial lighting) is ruining natural darkness for everyone in
the United States. In a typical American
city, a viewer can see about 750 stars in the night sky. In Bryce
Canyon, a visitor is
rewarded with views of the Milky Way from one horizon to the next and the
bright lights of over 7,500 stars! Flagstaff, in addition to being a beautiful city, is the
first International
Night Sky
Friendly City.
After Bryce Canyon, Marie and I rode the 90 miles to Zion National
Park in one day.
Zion’s
massive canyon walls of sandstone create a prism of every color between white
and red under perfect blue skies. Zion is truly the crowing
castle of the desert landscape in the Southwest!
While in Zion,
Marie, David, and I met some great new friends.
Zion has
a tunnel which is to long for bicycles to safely ride through so Marie
and I
had to hitch through. We were standing
at the tunnel entrance and a Chevy van pulled up. The driver,
Mark, is a home inspector from Hawaii. He gladly offered us a
ride and we spent the
next half-hour trying to puzzle our greasy bikes and gear into his nice
van. Mark is incredibly laid back, an
awesome wind surfer, and a great contact to have in one of the few
states I
have yet to set foot in! See you soon
Mark!
The morning after our arrival, the four of us decided to do
the grueling hike called Angel’s Landing that I mentioned above.
On the shuttle bus ride to the trailhead we
met an Aussie couple and we simply “hit it off.” Gill Gregory and
Mic Te Velde are from Melbourne and have been working for the last
eighteen
months in Boston. They will be heading back down under next
month and are spending the next four weeks traveling around the
Southwest! They are both about my age and Mic, like me,
is an accountant with a passion for the outdoors, adventure, and
travel. Bean counting and adventure travel are two
phrases rarely (ok never) used in the same sentence to describe an
individual. Mic and I winded our way up
to Angel’s Landing and talked the entire time about things we shared in
common. He and I felt like best friends
once we reached the summit, even though it had only been three
hours. Gill, his girlfriend, is just awesome and I
will surely visit them down in Australia!
We cooked massive dinners and hiked for the next two days
all through the park including the Narrows,
the area of the park that requires walking in the river up the canyon with
3,000 ft walls on both sides! Our last
dinner together weighed just over 12 pounds in the basting pan that we cooked
it in. The fresh vegetables and over 60
ounces of beef were completed in less than 45 minutes by Marie, Gill, Mic,
David, and I. Although our expressions
were the same, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” was being rattled off
in South African, Australian, Czech, and American accents all night long!
My previous newsletter was read by Jim Manring, a good
family friend from Jackson
County! He saw my location and was quick to contact
Jeanne Kovin, a former co-worker of his and my Father’s at Western Carolina
University. Jeanne lives in Flagstaff,
AZ and just recently moved here from the Oak Forest community in Cullowhee, NC. Jeanne, and her family, lived in the same
neighborhood as my parents, about four houses up the hill in fact. My parents were friends with the Kovins, but
I had only briefly met their family since I have been away for the last few
years.
After riding around the Grand Canyon,
I was happy to give Ms. Kovin a call.
Jeanne and her daughter Melissa provided me with great food, a roof over
my head, hot water, and even my own bed!
They were so generous that I could not help but stay a second
night. I plan to leave this afternoon
before I get to comfortable and move into their spare bedroom!
Pedaling Solo
I will be leaving this afternoon to head south for the BIG State
of Texas. The one thing that will be different, other
than the temperature, is that I will be riding solo for the first time in
nearly five months. Marie and I parted
paths in Grand Canyon
National Park after
riding nearly 6,000 miles together!
Marie has been an excellent riding companion and without a doubt the
strongest female rider I have ever had the pleasure of riding with. Marie has taken care of my arm better than
any nurse in any hospital in the Country and I can’t thank her enough for her
help. She is the best campfire chef
traveling in the United
States right now and I will surely miss her
company.
I hope to be home by Christmas and Marie is not planning on
returning to Europe until February. Therefore, our idea of adequate mileage each
day is starting to vary considerably.
Marie will take her time getting to San Antonio, where her sister lives, and
spend a few weeks. I will hope for
tailwinds and hopefully pull centuries across the pancake no-mans land of West Texas
before stopping for a long weekend in Houston,
TX, home of my sister
Heather! Heather is planning a super big
party upon my arrival and it will be none other than a Why I Ride
Fundraiser. I think she only has a
studio apartment but I am sure we can make room if you care to fly in on the 16th
of November!
I hope to catch up with Marie in Europe
sometime over the next few years. She
has promised me a tour of the Czech countryside by bicycle, something I will
use for motivation as I push across Texas. I am off for El Paso, TX,
some 650 miles off, where I will take a few days break and hang out with my
friend Holly.
Ride On, Right On folks!
