We departed Death Valley, and planned about 5 days to get to Moab, with a shopping list of things to check out.
Our
first point of interest, not long after departing the park was a
surprise drive-by of
Area 51, of UFO folklore fame (but not too much fame, since it had eluded Karen's radar) (
map). Our first clue came from Tom's eagle eye catching a glimpse of the Area 51 Alien Center in Armagosa Valley, NV (i.e., at the highway intersection in the middle of absolutely nowhere!). No, we didn't stop, but it got us to thinking (and researching). And sure enough, the Air Force has a huge ( > 4000 sq. mi.)
Nevada Test and Training Range just east of Route 95, of which Area 51 is a remote piece. So, Area 51 is "in the middle of nowhere" squared!
After passing through the outskirts of Las Vegas, and spending the night in St. George, we headed east towards Bryce Canyon National Park. A little ways west of Bryce, the rocks start turning red, and hoodoos start popping up. This is an awesome, visually striking area called Red Canyon. Apparently, there's a really great mountain bike ride there (Thunder Mountain Trail), but not being highly confident of either our skills or of the local calibration of the difficulty ratings, we opted for the more low key option of Losee Canyon. The ride up was via a winding canyon, through open Ponderosa pine forest and red cliffs, crossing the stream countless times. The ~7500' elevation had us sucking some serious wind! After reaching the top of the trail, we contemplated a bit, and opted to try our hand at the more difficult Cassidy trail that connected there ... and just see how it went ... possibly making the trip into a loop via the Casto Canyon trail.
Cassidy was significantly harder, but one stretch lead to another to another, and after much uncertainty, we committed to finishing the loop. And what a great choice it was! The mostly double-track descent down Casto was glorious ... not so much for the biking, but for the surrounding cliffs, outcroppings, and hoodoos! And moving through them at a bicycle pace gave a much more 3-dimensional perspective than either walking or standing. The scenery was such a distraction, though, that we each almost wiped out into the stream multiple times. Tom did have a momentary lapse of concentration when crossing an odd little cattle-proof bridge at the very end of Casto Canyon, and his front wheel drove straight down and he did his best bird imitation over the handlebars. A couple of bruises, but basically no harm done. Another mile back to the car via a dirt road and all was good.
 |
| Losee Canyon |
 |
| Casto Canyon Descent |
 |
| Casto Canyon |
 |
| Casto Canyon |
 |
| The Cattle-Proof Bridge |
After stopping by Bryce village (a short drive below Bryce Canyon National Park) to check into our hotel, grab a shower and have a quick dinner, we headed up into the park for some evening light on the canyon. Despite having been here with the kids 12 years ago, we couldn't resist a quick visit to this awe-inspiring place. Not enough time to venture down
into the canyon, but the rim would have to do. The crowds had thinned, and we had a very relaxing time just soaking it all up and taking some photos.
 |
| Bryce Canyon |
 |
| Bryce Canyon |
 |
| Bryce Canyon |
 |
| Bryce Canyon |
Back at the motel, we realized that there was a big winter storm headed for most of Utah ... with 24" expected in the mountains near Salt Lake City! This didn't sound like just a little bit of bad weather, but something to seriously consider! Being fair-weather inclined people, we weren't excited about driving and/or camping in the cold and nasty. Should we go further south to Zion for a few days? Perhaps further east to Monument Valley? Or maybe blast straight through to Moab before the storm hits? These negative thoughts and countless options led to a restless night, and another round of thinking in the morning, and no clear winner. So, we made a few minor adjustments to our basic plan, (skip the camping and wait out the weather in Escalante), and hustled along our way.
Activities
- Biking: Red Canyon (Losee > Cassidy > Casto)
- Sight Seeing: Bryce Canyon overlooks
5-Star Moments
- Biking through the Red Canyon hoodoos
- Evening light at Bryce Canyon
Tom's Daily Stress Points
- Can we navigate the full biking loop with only a partial, notional map without getting lost? Are we good enough to ride the trail? Do we have enough energy to finish the loop? Can we finish before dark?
- Are we really going to stay the course, and head into a big winter storm?
Sleeps
- St. George: Best Western Plus - Abbey Inn (fine)
- Bryce: Ruby Inn Best Western (sprawling complex, but fine)
Eats
- St. George: Pancho and Lefty's (serviceable Mexican)
- Bryce: Cowboy Ranch (mediocre burgers, and bad daytime-TV reruns)
Comments
Post a Comment