Boulder – Escalante – Bryce NP – Mt. Carmel Junction – Zion NP – St. George

383 kilometers

That morning we wait out the rain. It doesn’t rain so often in summer here, so we have good hopes that it won’t last too long. And indeed it stops soon and we are on our way. Today we are once again treated with gorgeous views. We cycle along the Scenic Highway 12 and it does not disappoint. A unique stretch of road runs along the top of a steep ridge, with the ground dropping drastically on each side of the road. Driving your car here is probably beautiful, but driving your bike here is breathtaking. We dive into a red canyon with steep cliffs on all sides. A vulture is sitting on the road nibbling on a snake road kill and flies off when I come flying around the corner.

It seems like I’m in the middle of the movie set of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. After we climb out of the red canyon we face a terrible headwind and we loose morale. We decide to take half a rest day in Escalante. We haggle at an RV park for a cheap overnight stay. Apparently today is some kind of holiday which means there’s gonna be a rodeo show in town tonight! Everybody in town seems to be going. We have burgers from the barbecue, everybody is wearing their best jeans and wearing their nicest cowboy hats. In the arena many cowboys are showing their best horse-riding techniques.

The next day we drive further along the highway 12 towards Bryce. It’s funny that, of all places, it starts raining in a little town called “Tropical”. The white and orange stalagmites that mark the uniqueness of Bryce Canyon NP are already waiting for us in the distance. After the remoteness of Capitol Reef NP we are a bit shocked by the amount of (Dutch) tourists that are present in Bryce Canyon. All campgrounds in Bryce are paid and thus we try our trick of just asking people of we can join their camp spot.

Normally this always hits the spot right away, but this time we’re having trouble. The European tourists are less hospitable than we’re used to and also we get told that the campground is very strict about extra tents. We try a different campsite and meet Tyler, a guy younger than us that’s undertaking a road trip to his first ever job in Oregon. We can pitch our tent on his spot. At night I go for a small hike to see the sun set over Bryce canyon.

In the morning we pay a last visit to the crimson-colored, spire-shaped rock formations of Bryce Canyon and after taking in those views we are setting off. We descend through a beautiful area called Red Canyon. However, if it were up to me you could start calling all of Southern Utah “Red Canyon”. At three quarters of the day it starts pouring rain and I have to get my rain coat all the way from the bottom of my bag.

We decide to wait it out, but it keeps pouring. Hours pass. We don’t really know what to do because it starts getting dark already. We decide to put on our rain coats and just go for it. Just as we start pedaling it stops raining. We make it to a dispersed campsite in the vicinity of some caves. Too bad the floors of the caves are wet otherwise it would have been a nice camp spot.

It feels like we are being spoiled in Southern Utah. Beautiful National Parks follow up rapidly and its hard to digest everything. Today it’s gonna be Zion National Park. I’ve been here two times before already and it remains my favorite park in the US. At the entrance booth of the park we ‘smile and wave’ and again we don’t need to get our wallets out. The canyon we cycle through is amazing, with steep cliffs and rock formations everywhere we look. At the Mt. Carmel – Zion tunnel we are told that we cannot cycle through. We find a very enthusiastic and helpful Jeep with a bike carrier on the back so we load up our bikes and get dropped off at the other end of the tunnel.

We drop our bags at one of the campgrounds in the park and cycle along the Scenic Drive. We rope swing into the Virgin river and drink a beer at the Zion Brewery. At around 6pm it suddenly starts to get very dark outside, I’m on the phone with a friend and suddenly it starts dripping. I hang up, down my beer and sprint towards the campground. I thought it would be a good idea to put up my tent without my outer tent, because it was still wet from yesterday. While I’m pedaling as fast as possible towards my tent the clouds burst and I’m already soaked when I get to my tent. I put on my outer tent in record time, but the inside of my tent is already wet.

I didn’t sleep well because everything was wet. Also, the last week I’ve not been feeling too well: little energy, no appetite, nagging belly. On top of all this we have to pack up our tent dirty and wet. I’m super cranky. The downhill road out of Zion luckily makes my mood better.

Somewhere on top of a mountain a man waves at us, we see that he just loaded his road bike in his truck. Half an hour later in town we see him again, he shouts and waves at us. He bought cold water and Gatorade for us. We talk and he decides to join our ride for a bit.


Cycling Stats

I love stats! So here are some stats for you when it comes to covering distance.

Average per dayPortugal & SpainCanada United States
Distance [km] excluding rest-days73.977.481.1
Distance [km] including “0km” rest-days66.561.169.1
Elevation gain [m] excluding rest-days1014804769
Elevation gain [m] including “0hm” rest-days913635655

When we were in Jackson, Wyoming we met a couple. We got their phone numbers and we promised to drop by when we were in the vicinity of their hometown Saint George. We messaged them a couple days ago if their offer still stands: “Of course! You guys have to drop by!”. So we do. They seem to be living the American Dream: an RV, cars, a boat and a buggy flood the driveway. A Jacuzzi in the back yard. Two guest bedrooms so we both get our own room. The TV is a size that I didn’t think would exist. Todd is a former surfer, born in San Diego, now runs a construction company. Sherrie works in real estate and is from St. George. They’re both very relaxed and we feel at home right away. The next day we don’t do anything but chill, write and use the WiFi.

In the evening we eat together. Todd suddenly says: “So, you guys wanna go visit the Grand Canyon tomorrow with the buggy?” Hell yeah! We are thrilled, because we had to scrap the Grand Canyon out of our own itinerary, but now suddenly we are going to see it anyway. Jacko dears to ask if they own guns and they replie that they have many (I don’t remember exactly, but double digits). “Can we take the guns tomorrow?”. “Yeah sure, we’ll take the 9mm and a rifle for you to play with”. We couldn’t be more excited. We absolutely don’t like guns and we hate the ‘second amendment’ to bear arms and the gun culture here in the US, but we do like to undergo the full American experience.

The next day we wake up early. The 140km road to the north rim of the Grand Canyon is completely off road. The All Terrain Vehicle that we take can handle it easily. Todd drives up to the Grand Canyon. We just sit and take in the views. We make pictures at the Grand Canyon and have lunch. Todd asks if we want to drive back and 5 minutes later I’m behind the wheel and revving the buggy over rock beds. We drink beer while driving. Completely ecstatic we start shouting “USA! USA! USA!”. Todd and Sherrie love it. Then it’s time to get out the guns.

Todd chooses a sideroad, puts some empty beer cans as a target on the road. He explains how the safety lever works and how we put the ammo in. We are nervous when we get a deadly 9mm in our hands. We shoot at the cans and mostly miss. The sound is deafening and the backlash vigorous. A pick-up truck drives by and everybody acts like it’s the most normal thing in the world that 4 people are shooting guns and drinking beer in the middle of a dirt road. We drive back to the house and we digest the most American day we’ve had so far. At night we drink beer in the jacuzzi to top it all off.

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One Reply to “Utah part III: Drinking Beer & Shooting Guns in the Desert”

  1. Heerlijk, eigen kamertje, bedje!, jacizzi! Mooi man krijg je weer positieve energie van! Moeten jullie vaker doen.
    Hoop dat jij je snel weer wat fitter wordt en anders even een pauze hè!
    De verhalen blijven mooi man!

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