Utah/Arizona Canyons with Backroads

July 21-31, 2000

www.snackroads.com?

            I must admit that, after my experience on the “solo” trip to Ireland with Backroads back in 1995, I was somewhat apprehensive about doing another one of these singles-type trips with anyone.  Once again, my vacation time schedule and the fact that I wanted to do a camping trip conspired to send me off on another Backroads Solo Vacation.  Little did I expect that this would turn out to be one of the best cycling tours I’ve ever been on!

            When I got the information about Cycle Oregon XIII way back in March, I was discouraged at the logistics and the cost of the trip.  The route was a great one, but getting there, getting back, bus rides, packing up the bike, and all the other related tasks sounded like a hassle.  When I added up the cost of the tour, bus rides, parking, and motel stays, it came to nearly $900.  When a quick calculation showed that I could do a Backroads camping tour for only $200 more, this was a true no-brainer J.  (Let’s see now: camp in cow pastures with 2000 people and marginal eats or stay in real campgrounds with maybe 20 folks and gourmet cooking … not too difficult to decide.)  I also talked to my friends Diann and Emily who had done the same trip.  They said that the trip was excellent, so I got on the phone to Backroads the next day and made my reservation.

            I should mention that most of this trip was not new territory for me.  Except for Zion National Park and the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, I have visited all of the places along the tour.  I saw a lot of the towns while backpacking a few years ago and while mountain biking last July.  Every time I thought to myself, “This would sure make some great road biking!”  I was finally going to get the chance to do it.

Friday, July 21 – Reno to St. George

            There’s no way to avoid a long trip to St. George, Utah.  Unless you want to try four-wheeling it across the Nevada desert, there are two basic routes: follow highway 50 through Austin and Eureka or follow highway 95 through Tonopah and then take the Extraterrestrial Highway.  Either way offers plenty of solitude, either way is approximately the same distance, and either way takes about 10 hours of driving time.  At this time of the year it is also quite hot.  I can’t imagine doing this trip without the AC in my car working at peak efficiency!

For the trip over, I headed through Fallon and then south on highway 95 to Tonopah.  Once past Fallon, the traffic was minimal, and there were periods of time when I didn’t see another vehicle for 30 minutes or more.  I stopped in Tonopah for fuel and to eat lunch.  What is the purpose of Tonopah?  If it wasn’t roughly halfway between Reno and Las Vegas would it be there at all?  It certainly is a depressing town, and I pity anyone who has to live there.  Once I turned off of highway 95 onto SR6, traffic got even sparser than before, and by the time I hit SR375 (The Extraterrestrial Highway) it was practically nonexistent!  I wondered about things, like how many hours or days it would take for someone to find me if the vehicle broke down.  Eventually I got to highway 93 and went south through Alamo and Moapa, eventually getting to I-15, which went right to St. George.  There was a huge fire burning on the peak right east of Mesquite in the Paiute Wilderness Area.

The designated meeting place and recommended motel, the Fairfield Inn, was easy to find right off the freeway.  It was a nice place – pretty new and very clean.  I ventured downtown to have dinner and fuel-up my Subaru, then came back to the motel to rest.  It was very hot in St. George; the temperature “cooled” into the 90s during the early evening hours.

Saturday, July 22 – St. George to Panguitch Lake

            Meeting day.  I actually got up fairly early to repack everything and to give my recently-outfitted bicycle a short test ride.  The Backroads crew started to arrive around 11:30, and I got to meet the leaders:  Bill, who could best be described as a Backroads “temp”, Kristin, a new hire on her first trip, Emily, and Blake.  Some of the guests had arrived yesterday and the remainder arrived on the St. George Shuttle from Las Vegas.  There were only 15 of us: Celeste, Barbra, Jerry, Ann, Barri, Lynn, Steve, Bill, Esteban, Linda, Mike, Mark, Marie, Lisa, and Tim (that’s me).  I was surprised that, given the difficulty of the riding on this trip, only four of us brought our own bicycles: Barbra, Esteban, Lynn, and I.

            We did some quick introductions and then loaded into the two vans for a trip to Cedar City and lunch in the park.  This was the same park that I visited last July while on a mountain biking trip with Kaibab Outfitters.  It was nice to see that all the improvements were completed or nearly so.  Lunch was up to Backroads’ usual high standards.  Even better news was the group of people on the trip.  Even though the basic demographics were similar to the ill-fated trip to Ireland (mostly east coast, a fair number of lawyers, some rather inexperienced cyclists), I could tell right away that this was a lot different group.  People were more at ease with each other.  The best way that I can describe the difference between inn trips and camping trips is that the inn trips seem to have a higher level of tension among the guests and leaders – maybe this is because expectations of a perfect vacation are much higher?  Nevertheless, it looked like it would be an excellent trip.

            Next stop after Cedar City was the overlook at Cedar Breaks.  This was the official starting point for today’s ride.  It was the same overlook in the shadow of Brianhead that I saw during the off-road ride a year ago, but the columbines had all but disappeared this year.  While people hiked around looking at the hoodoos, the Backroads leaders prepared the rental bikes.  My bike was already set to go, so I rode down the road to the town of Brianhead and then back up the road in time for the official ride start.  I found myself gasping for breath by the time I got back to the viewpoint and had to remind myself that we were starting at 10,400’ elevation. 

            If only all rides could be this easy – 14 miles with a 2,150’ descent!  I got to practice my off-road skills for a bit when entering the campground; there was a fairly deep collection of gravel on the road.  I wonder if Utah hired someone from Reno to redo the campground streets?  The campground at Panguitch Lake was very nice.  Since I brought my “instant” tent along, I was camped in no time and got to help folks set up the Backroads tents.  I’ll be kind and just say that the tents were both roomy and sturdy J.

Sunday, July 23 – Panguitch Lake to Bryce Canyon National Park

            This was the first “real” day of cycling, at least by my definition.  We were up relatively early and were soon on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park.  Once again I found myself retracing my journey of last July, including the stop at Buffalo Java in Panguitch.  All I can say about this place is that it’s a Must See if you’re ever in Panguitch!  They serve excellent espresso and are great people.  Then I was off down the road past Panguitch, up Red Canyon, and into Bryce.  We cycled past the turnoff to Losee and Casto canyons (great mountain biking if you're ever in the area), and I made a quick stop for water at the Red Canyon visitors’ center.  It was a hot climb up the canyon and still warm for the rest of the ride.  We had a little thundershower activity, but I didn’t get wet.  It didn’t seem to cool things down any, either!

At 44 miles I turned off the main road into our campground and refilled water and snacks before heading off again for the optional route out to Rainbow Point.  This was a nasty little climb of over 1000’, especially after riding in the heat all day.  The reward was the view from the point.  There were many other viewpoints along the way as well: Farview Point, Natural Bridge overlook, and Ponderosa Point.

Once again, the campground was nice.  We had showers available near the general store, and a set of roomy sites to place our tents.  The problem was finding a place to actually put the tents that would also please the camp host.  This guy actually came out there to insure that every tent was within the specified distance from the fire pit.  I heard rumors that he actually used a tape measure on a previous trip.  Some people definitely need a life.

I trekked over to the showers and cleaned up and then washed my cycling clothing.  Apparently it was OK to string a laundry line between two trees because its installation didn’t bring the camp host scurrying over in his golf cart.  We had an excellent dinner and a fairly impressive sunset due to the clouds.

I should mention here that Backroads, undoubtedly after my many complaints about the route sheets (yeah, right!), included a short version of the daily rides complete with elevation charts.  It all fit on one piece of paper and was much easier to take along each day; it basically listed the mileage, the turns, and a brief description of the terrain until the next point.  Way to go Backroads!  Now, if I can just get them to include an actual map of the route on this sheet…

Monday, July 24 – A day among the hoodoos

            Today was a “rest” day.  Anyone who was feeling bad about not riding the optional route yesterday could do it today.  If you wanted to be a camp potato and not go anyplace, that was OK,  too.  Most of the group opted to take a hike with Kristin and Emily.

            Bryce Canyon is often called the most colorful national park in the world. The canyon was named after two of its original homesteaders, Ebenezer and Mary Bryce.  When they left in 1880 Ebenezer commented that, "It's a hell of a place to lose a cow."  The native Paiutes call the place unka-timpe-wa-wince-pock-ich which translates to “red rocks standing like men in a bowl-shaped canyon.” Paiute legend explains that these rocks were really people who started worshiping other gods and painting their surroundings with decorations.  The god of Bryce, Coyote, got mad, turned them to stone, and spilled their paint pots all over them. One look at this place will convince you that this is an entirely plausible explanation.  Geologically, Bryce is the largest of a group of huge ampitheaters carved from the Paunsaugunt Plateau by wind and water.  The many different sediment layers were deposited by rivers and lakes over millions of years, and the many shades of red and orange are caused by oxidation of the minerals contained in the sediment.

            Bryce definitely has an edge when it comes to interesting hoodoos.  We started off down the Navajo Trail at Sunset Point, through a narrow canyon of nearly vertical sandstone called Wall Street, and on to the Peekaboo Trail loop.  Although I was soon suffering from red rock overload, the shapes of the formations were something else.  We spotted a lady that looked like she was playing an organ, a rock that looked amazingly like Ronald Regan, and several people reported that they had seen Elvis. Someone worked overtime to come up with all the names for the various rock formations: Wall Street, Thor's Hammer, The Cathedral, Wall of Windows, The Alligator, and the Fairy Castle.  As we hiked along Peekaboo trail towards the Queen's Garden, we got caught in a short cloudburst - the cool rain sure felt good!  Finally we made a short detour through Queen's Garden, featuring a queen, some of her retainers, and a castle.  Then it was up along the trail to Sunrise Point and back to camp. 

            There was still plenty of time left in the day to do laundry, some writing, and visit the main visitors' center for a good trail/topo map.  Bryce is just starting to experiment with a shuttle system to handle the load of tourists, and it was very convenient to ride the buses.  I did my only bike maintenance for the trip – chain lube and slight derailleur adjustments due to cable stretch.  I’m very impressed with the operation of the Chorus components.

Tuesday, July 25 – Bryce to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

            First of all, they really are coral pink!  Much like Sand Mountain near Fallon, these dunes are formed and reformed by a fortuitous combination of the eroding red sandstone of the area and the wind.  More about the wind later.

            After the usual excellent Backroads breakfast and packing a lunch, we were off out of Bryce Canyon and retracing our route through Red Canyon in the start of a 77-mile ride to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.  In some weird bit of humor by the Utah DOT, the sign marking the summit near the top of Red Canyon is not at the top of the hill but quite a ways before it.  The 7-mile descent through Red Canyon didn't take very long.  This time, though, instead of heading right to Panguitch, we turned left on Route 89 (a road we would become very familiar with over the next few days) and headed south. 

            A mere 8 miles down the road brought us to Hatch.  This dreary-looking town had a dusty motel with the best advertisement I'd ever seen for Hawaii, "Who needs Hawaii, stay in Hatch!"  A bit outside of town was a forlorn tourist information center and the climbing started.  I soon found myself riding alone through the farmlands along the Sevier River, rolling but consistently uphill.  The road got gradually steeper until it hit about 7% to Long Valley Junction.  After a brief stop for water I headed downhill towards Carmel Junction.  I caught the support van for the first and only time today at the Glendale rest area, got some food and water and took a brief stop for lunch.  Then it was off downhill again through Glendale and Orderville to Carmel Junction.

            By now it was getting hot - really hot! The wind started blowing.  I started up the 6% grade; the 3 miles to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes turnoff seemed like it was 30. I think that there was a downhill in there someplace, but the wind pretty much negated it.  The last 10 miles or so to the campground was brutal: uphill, and into a stiff, hot headwind. 

            The campground itself was rather remote, but very nice.  It was small, so we didn't encounter the throngs of people that we did in the national parks.  New showers had just been installed.  Backroads had cold drinks and snacks waiting for us at the finish.  It stayed hot but once off the bike the wind helped somewhat.

            This evening the group hiked barefoot out to the dunes to watch the sun set.  Smoke from the many wildfires in the west combined with clouds to make a spectacular site.  We encountered a group of cyclists from Holland who were doing almost the same tour that we were.  The difference was that they were taking weeks to do it and not riding the high mileage.

            This evening it stayed very warm long after sundown.  I set my pad and sleeping bag outside the tent and covered-up in my liner.  The best thing about the desert is the stargazing.  With no light pollution from nearby cities the number of stars is astounding; the disk of our Milky Way galaxy is clearly visible.  If I stared at one spot for a few minutes I would be rewarded by one or more shooting stars and the slowly-moving bright speck of a satellite.  Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy the view for very long because I needed the rest.  Tomorrow was a big day.

Wednesday, July 26 – Coral Pink Dunes to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Uphill Century

            This was not the hardest century ride I’ve ever done (a brutally hilly one out of Folsom gets the dubious nod for that) but it was a close second.  For many people on the trip this would be their first century ride, and there was a bit of apprehension about that.  (Nothing like starting-out with a hard one; any one done after this would seem easy!)

            We were awakened very early by our singing guides.  It was still pitch dark as we packed our gear, fixed a lunch, and ate a hasty breakfast.  Everyone was on the road by 6:30 AM as the sky started to turn pink in the east.  We climbed out of the Coral Pink Sand Dunes and headed towards Route 89 again.  We had about 8 miles of downhill into the town of Kanab and then most folks made a stop at Willow Creek, a combination backpacking/espresso store.  I had a double-shot latte to fuel me across the desert and up the Kaibab Plateau to the Grand Canyon.  Other than Buffalo Java in Panguitch, this was the only decent espresso joint that I encountered on the entire trip.  Kanab also boasted the only stoplight we encountered on the entire ride, and yes, I made the light.  It was nearly all uphill from here!

            After the stop at Willow Creek I was pretty much on my own again.  Just a few miles past Kanab I crossed into Arizona and the dismal town of Fredonia.  Man, what a pit.  It made Hatch look inviting.  If the United States was still fighting the Cold War with the Soviet Union, I would have risked arrest as a Communist sympathizer to send the Russians the coordinates for Fredonia, along with a faked photograph of a nuclear missile assembly plant or something equally enticing.

            A short distance from town I encountered the most daunting view I've seen in many years.  The road stretched off into the distance across a vast expanse that our guides called The Desert.  Fifteen miles away I could barely make out the nearly vertical cliffs marking the edge of the Kaibab Plateau.  We were told that there was only one bit of shade on the whole stretch.  I could easily see that it was nearly all uphill.  Fortunately it was still relatively cool, so I headed onwards.  The scale of the landscape and lack of any reference point made it appear that I was riding on the flat, but my legs and speed betrayed that illusion.  It started to warm up.  I passed the Broccoli Tree (this beat-up old juniper was the shade!), and shortly before the end of the desert area was caught by Bill driving the support van.  I got some much-needed water and food and started the serious climbing. 

            Twelve hundred feet in 3 miles to get to an overlook.  I stopped to check out the view of the Grand Staircase; a couple on their way to the Grand Canyon were amazed that I had ridden a bicycle up this road, and even more amazed that I had started near Kanab this morning.  I left the overlook and continued uphill.  There were a few level spots and a few rolling areas, but the climb continued up another 1200' to Jacob Lake.  I made a brief stop at the visitors' center and waited for the support van for water and snacks.  Nobody showed so I made do with the supplies I was carrying and then continued up another 1000' to the summit; at this point I still had 30 miles to go!  Bill caught me again near the top with a squirt from his water gun and a welcome refill for my bottles.

            The forest gave way to broad meadows and the hills were replaced with a hot headwind.  Already tired from the climbing, the wind was tough to deal with both physically and mentally.  Grinding along into the wind at 11-12 mph, the North Rim entrance station never seemed to get any closer.  Kristin and Emily passed me in one of the meadows and I got a bit to eat.  Finally, I was there!  The next 11 miles of downhill were the most welcome rest that I’d had in hours. I had to stop one time for a group of wild turkeys crossing the road.  If you ever get a chance to see these critters walk, you’ll know where the computer animators got the gait for the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.  When I rolled into camp at 2:00 PM, I couldn’t have ridden another mile.

            I had time to set up camp and go down to the showers and clean up before anyone else arrived.  Most people did the full 101+ miles and were rightly proud of such an accomplishment!

            Our campsite was right on the rim of Transept Canyon and a short walk from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the beautiful lodge.  The updraft from the canyon walls kept the site relatively warm at night and cool during the day from the breezes.

Thursday, July 27 – A peek over the edge

            After the difficult ride yesterday, a day off was not only nice but almost a necessity.  I took things very easily as did most of the other riders.  Our guides hauled us out to Point Royal in the morning for a spectacular view of the Grand Canyon.  We could see the Colorado River miles distant; some folks commented about doing a raft trip at some time in the future.

            When I got back from the leisurely hike, I packed up my writing materials and walked over to the North Rim Lodge.  There were plenty of seats available on the observation decks and in the main overlook room.  I picked a nice soft chair and wrote letters and postcards and updated my journals.  I took a nap (these chairs were really comfortable).  I watched Linda paint watercolors of the Canyon.  I ate my lunch.  I took another nap.

There was a bit of excitement when a hummingbird flew into one of the huge windows and was knocked senseless.  It made quite a loud “thump”.  Two kids surrounded it while a third ran for the ranger.  The ranger told them to wait for a bit, and sure enough, the bird eventually awoke and flew off making many angry comments about the situation.

For a lot of the day I kept eating.  I did not feel very hungry, but I knew that my reserves were way down from the ride yesterday.  As usual, Backroads delivered on the food!  Excellent breakfast, lots of goodies for lunch, great lasagna for dinner.

Friday, July 28 – Grand Canyon to Zion National Park

            A century was tough, and 120 miles is tougher, but it was nice to get even with all of Wednesday’s uphill on the ride today.  The route today backtracked from the North Rim, through Jacob Lake, across the desert to Kanab and back to Carmel Junction.  This time we would turn in Carmel Junction to go to Zion National Park.

            Everyone was up really early again to begin the ride to Zion with an 11-mile climb back out from the campground into the meadows.  The temperature dropped steadily from “nice” near camp to “cold” once we started to climb.  It took a few miles to warm up and then I was off the front again and on my way.  In the early morning, the traffic was virtually nonexistent and the meadows occasionally contained wild turkeys, deer, and coyotes.  I saw the last of the Backroads riders near the entrance station and climbed out of the meadows area towards Jacob Lake.

            Downhill at last!  I made a quick stop in Jacob Lake for water and food and headed out and down all the climbing that I’d done on Wednesday.  Even though it was warming quickly, I made it through the desert at a good pace.  Unfortunately the route took us through Fredonia again.  I rode through town as fast as possible, only encountering one hostile driver, and into nearby Kanab for another stop at Willow Creek and a nice espresso.  I got my lunch from the support vans; this was the last time I would see them on the road today.

            Fueled-up once again, I started the 12-mile climb out of Kanab.  It was hot, it was windy, and it was steep.  I went through one big water bottle on the climb and half of the other on the descent.  I filled-up again at the bottom of the hill in Carmel Junction and turned onto Route 9 and headed into Zion.  Only 23 miles to go!  I don’t know what the temperature was at this point, but it had to be near 100°F.

            About half of the remaining distance was uphill again, parts of it were fairly steep, and the road wasn’t all that good.  Fortunately, traffic was very light.  I got to the top of the hill and the (in)famous Buffalo Bistro.  We were warned about this place (cruddy food) but told that you could sometimes see the buffaloes before they were made into burgers.  No buffaloes were in sight so I continued to the entrance station.  After checking-in with the ranger, the road turned red and got very narrow.  Cars and RVs appeared as if by magic.  The route was still mostly downhill and the view was spectacular. 

            The further I got into Zion, the hotter it got.  It had to be over 100°F by now and the wind was still blowing up the canyon.  I finally halted at the entrance to the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel.  This tunnel is off-limits to cyclists and the Backroads folks promised a ride through in the vans.  Unfortunately I was way ahead of the support vans.  The ranger directing traffic knew we were coming (just not this soon!) and flagged-down a couple in a truck.  They were nice enough to take me and my bike through to the other end of the mile-long tunnel. 

            Once out the other side and back on the road, it was even hotter than before!  If someone opened the gates of Hell for cyclists, this must be what it feels like.  The last two steep miles down to the valley floor were pretty intense with loose gravel, a narrow road, and many switchbacks.  Then it was only a couple of miles to the Visitors’ Center and the Watchman campground.  The folks at the entrance station to the campground didn’t know anything about Backroads or what campground site we were supposed to use, so I headed back to the Visitors’ Center, found a picnic bench in the shade, and laid down for a nap. 

            The Backroads crew arrived over an hour later.  Our two group sites were not adjacent to each other, so I picked the spot away from the van location.  No showers were located in the campground; I had to pack my gear and catch the park shuttle into the nearby town of Springdale to an RV park.  It was very hot in the valley (turned out to have set a temperature record of 108°F), so even after cleaning up the sweat made me feel like I hadn’t accomplished much!  Back at camp, riders were starting to arrive and the pre-dinner snacks were out.  The guides ordered pizza from town; I think this was the only meal that they didn’t completely prepare from scratch.

            It was warm well into the late evening and didn’t cool off until early in the morning.  We were surrounded by several groups of kids who were very noisy until the camp hosts came to warn them (it didn’t help for long).  Overall, though, I was not as tired from this 120-mile ride as I was from the 100-mile one two days previously.

Saturday, July 29 – Where angels fear to tread!

            As it turned-out, so did a few of our intrepid crew.  It sure felt nice to “sleep-in” to 7:00AM.  We had some excellent blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then packed lunches for the day.  The recommended hike for the day was up to Angels Landing.  The Zion Map and Guide describes it as “strenuous” and our Backroads leaders described it as “tough” and not for those who are scared of heights.

            We got on the shuttle into Zion Canyon (no cars are permitted in the canyon) and got off at the Grotto stop.  A paved trail started along the Virgin River and then quickly started to climb, following numerous switchbacks to Refrigerator Canyon.  Once in the canyon, which actually was nice and cool, we went up more switchbacks to Scout Lookout.  From the lookout, I could see down either side of the ridge.  It was nearly 1500’ above the valley floor.  The walk out to Angels Landing is more of a scramble along a ridge than a hike.  In many places, chains have been bolted to the rock to keep people from slipping off and to provide some sort of assistance in getting up and over obstacles.  With the chains and occasional foot/hand hold, it really isn’t too dangerous, but the route is very exposed.  If you look down, it’s pretty much straight down to the bottom!  On a topo map, the lines are so close together that they look like one solid big line.  Some of our group got pretty queasy just looking over the edge at Scout Lookout and opted to wait instead of go out to the point.  The view from Angels Landing is nothing short of spectacular.  I could see all the way up and down Zion Canyon and spot many of the landmark peaks: The Great White Throne, Mountain of the Sun, and Twin Brothers.

            The trip back down was much faster than the trip up, and the group quickly divided into the “Over-40s” and the “Kids”.  The Kids certainly got back faster, but our Over-40s found an excellent swimming hole right along the trail next to the Virgin River!  The cold water felt excellent on another temperature-record-setting hot day in Zion.

            This afternoon some of us took the time to venture into Springdale and look around.  It's easy to catch a park shuttle into town.  The high point of the jaunt was a visit to the Fatali Gallery.  Michael Fatali has pretty much dedicated his career to capturing the stark beauty of the landscape and canyons of the Colorado Plateau in photographs.  I even saw one image taken in Coyote Gulch (somehow it came out much more impressive when done with an 8x10 view camera…).  It was one of those times that I wished I had thousands of dollars in disposable income.  The junk collection in front of one gift shop was also unique.

            Zion has a new Visitors' Center as well as the shuttle system.  The center uses state-of-the-art solar heating and cooling systems and has a nice gift shop.  Outside there is a great interpretive tour that explains the geology and ecology of Zion.

            Tonight was Mexican Night – fajitas and margaritas!  We all got together for a group photo and then said our goodbyes to the Backroads leaders early.  A great idea from Jerry; things are not as rushed as they are on the last day of the tour.  The leaders handed out their trip awards, and I received the coveted (?) Hammerhead Award. 

            It stayed very warm all night.  I had a hard time getting any decent sleep.

Sunday, July 30 - The Narrows

            We certainly didn't get much time to sleep-in today: we were up in the dark at 5:00AM to catch the first shuttle to The Narrows. We were definitely the first group to start hiking up this well-known slot canyon. Although we started on the paved River Walk, The Narrows soon became a water trudge, in many places waist-deep. One big difference between this place and, say, Coyote Gulch, is the scale. While Coyote is several hundred feet deep in spots, The Narrows approaches 2000' from bottom to top. It is truely spectacular!

            We didn't have time to go very far up the canyon, but we did take a side trip a short distance up Orderville Canyon. After that our guides called us to begin the return trip to civilization.

            After quickly packing our gear we met again at the Cliffrose Lodge where we had access to real showers in a lodge room.  It felt pretty good to scrub off the remainder of 9 days of accumulated grime and not have to worry about the water shutting off in 2-3 minutes!  We had lunch and then packed into the vans for the last time for the quick trip back to Saint George and the Fairfield Inn.   It was a quick trip, but we arrived just as the shuttle to Las Vegas was loading-up.  The people catching this first shuttle really had to rush to get their gear unpacked and then repacked into the shuttle trailer!

            When the dust cleared, Barbra, Celeste, Mark, and I were left at the motel.  We rested for a while and then headed out for dinner at a Chinese place.  The next mission was to find some ice cream for dessert.  You’d think that this would not be a daunting task in a place like Saint George, but after cruising a couple of huge shopping malls, the only thing we could come up with was Baskin-Robbins!  I guess lame ice cream is better than no ice cream …

Monday, July 31 – Back to Reno

            It was a long, boring drive out to Saint George and a long, boring drive back home.  I got up fairly early, had a quick breakfast, checked-out, and then began a mission to find a decent espresso joint before starting home.  At 7:00AM, everything was closed.  Somebody needs to clue this town in on the fact that coffee houses open early!

            I took the northern route home, over to Highway 50 and then across the state through Ely, Eureka, and Austin.  Once I left the Saint George area, there was even less traffic than on the trip over.  The only real delays in the trip were for a couple of road resurfacing projects between Pioche and Major’s Place.  At one stop, I was the only vehicle waiting and only three came from the opposite direction.  It took me slightly less than 10 hours to get home.

Observations and Comments

            Camping is definitely the way to go.  It’s unfortunate that Backroads’ trend is towards less camping and more inn trips, but that’s undoubtedly where the money and the demand exists these days.  As I discovered on a trip with Bicycle Adventures in 1997, a camping trip attracts a much more “kicked-back” group of people.  I am still amazed at how well everyone got along on this tour.

            The Backroads leaders on this trip were fantastic.  Blake was a true Renaissance Man; I don’t think that there was anything he didn’t know something about.  He and Thomas Jefferson would have got along well.  Our “temp,” Bill, was a little quiet, but had a great sense of humor.  Kristin did a fantastic job as a newbie Backroads leader.  If Emily tried to contain any more enthusiasm about anything, I believe she would have exploded J.  Everyone worked their butts off on this trip. They were all very knowledgeable about the area.  I don’t know what Backroads’ policy is on keeping teams together, but this is one that they should give serious consideration to keeping intact as much as possible.  Backroads’ standards for their leaders are very high.  I have never been on a trip where they exhibited anything less than the highest level of professionalism, but this team worked together in a manner much above and beyond that!

            You can’t beat southern Utah for scenery.  It is an area of many contrasts and wild geology.  In a 15-minute walk you can go from pine forest to bare red sandstone.  If I had to pick a favorite stop on this tour, I think I'd choose the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  This was easily the most scenic campsite and probably the least crowded of the parks we visited.  The views from the Rim were spectacular, and the lodge was very nice.

            As on every Backroads tour that I've gone on, the food was excellent and abundant.  You would rather expect this on an inn tour, but the camping trip was no different.  Except for the one evening in Zion when we had pizza, each meal was made from scratch.  Looks like it's time to order a new Backroads cookbook!

            If I had one small complaint about the trip, it was the fact that Backroads didn't supply the tokens or quarters for the showers.  Like, give me a break!  It's not like we were doing this trip on a tight budget.

            The people on the tour can make it or break it, and even our tour leaders agreed that this was one of the best group of guests that they had worked with.  I firmly believe that a camping venue results in a more cohesive group.  Everyone had their theories, and here's mine.  When you're out camping, you can't just get off your bike and go to your inn room - you have to interact with the other folks on the tour.  Next, people realize that camping is not the same as staying in a five-star bed and breakfast - stuff happens!  The weather might not be perfect, you might see bugs, you can get dirty, the ground might have lumps, the wind could blow your tent down.  Most of the people that I've met on my inn trips with Backroads likely wouldn't be caught dead in a tent.  I believe that a natural selection process goes on when folks choose their trips and a camping trip draws a much more tolerant and hardy crowd.  This trip was a perfect example of the process and we ended up with a fantastic bunch of people.  Even at this writing we've been staying in touch and have been posting pictures on a web site:  http://www.snackroads.com (which may or may not be there by the time you read this).

            After this tour, I'm definitely looking forward to my next camping trip with Backroads!

Happy campers can return to the trips menu here.