Wandering through the red rock canyons of UT

On June 26, Art and Ben rode from Milford to Cedar City, where they spent a rest day. It proved to be a very civilized stay. For one thing, they managed to snag two tickets to King Lear at the Utah Shakespearean Festival that had just opened at Southern Utah University. Art didn't know what to think of it since he had never seen Shakespeare performed live before, but Ben rated it as quite good. Art also stopped at Staples to buy a card reader for a Compact Flash. Yes folks, we now have photos from the road!

The next day, Art e-mailed this update from the local library in Panguitch, UT.

"Ben and I made the big climb to Cedar Breaks National Monument today, all the way from Cedar City at 5840 ft to 10350 ft!


We are now in Panguitch. We have found a new bargain in motel accommodations -- $39 including tax to stay in a second story motel room above a 24-hour truckstop convenience store. Got a yen for some beef jerky at 3 a.m.? No problem! Just walk down the stairs that empty right into the store. No elevator so we carried all our stuff up the stairs!"

On Saturday, Art and Ben rode to Escalante, where they stayed at the same Econolodge as when they drove from Denver to Palo Alto back in 2005 after my Mom's last big family reunion. During the ride up to Escalante, Art used his lowest gear for the first time. The climb is known as "coming through the blues" and Art guesses that it was a 14% grade in stretches.

Between Escalante and the next town, Art and Ben met up with three Englishmen. These three guys had used the farmhouse between Baker and Milford as an overnight stop and are following roughly the same transcontinental route as Art and Ben. However, they are 64, 65, and 72 years old and do not have an eight-week time limit. They are also apparently more fully equipped and weighted down than our boys. In addition to camping gear, one man is carrying not one but two tripods, a camera, and a camcorder!

Anyway, Art and Ben got to know them a bit in Escalante, and agreed to meet them for lunch at the Burr Trail Cafe in Boulder, UT which had such good coffee and such a nice hammock in back that, well, before you knew it, they had managed to while away an hour and a half! Consequently they got a rather late start after lunch, that resulted in a steep ascent from the Escalante River Canyon during the heat of the day (upwards of 100 degrees). They also had to stop during the ride up to adjust a kink that had developed due to a tight link in Ben's chain. After riding 68 miles, they finally arrived in Torrey, UT at 4 p.m. When the manager of the motel saw them pull in, she told her desk clerk to give them a good rate.

From Torrey, they rode to Hanksville where it was, in Art's words, "soooo hot!" It reportedly reached a high of 115 degrees on the day before they arrived. So the next morning, they got up at 4:20 a.m. to leave by 6 a.m. This was one long day of riding! They rode 44 miles up Hwy 24, 38 miles over I-70, and 30 miles down Hwy 191 for a total of 112 miles to their next destination, Moab.

The reason they decided to ride so far in one day was because the only services along the entire ride were at the Green River Rest Stop. It was located 55 miles from Hanksville along I-70, and did not have overnight accommodations. When Art and Ben arrived there at 12:30 p.m., it was already 96 degrees. So they lingered for a couple hours -- drinking gallons of water, looking at maps, and talking to our friend Jean on a cell phone. Jean lives in Durango, CO and they plan to ride through her area on or about July 6.

Sprint PCS - Analog Roaming. For cell phone coverage in remote regions, Art swears that it's the only way to go!

July 4th should be a fairly easy ride to Monticello, UT (pop 1800) where they might even catch some fireworks. Then the next day, they will leave UT and move on to CO. Their first overnight stop in CO will be at either Delores or Stoner.