Day 11 - Cedar City, Utah to Panguitch, Utah

58 miles / Day 11 of 54 / Cedar City, Utah to Panguitch, Utah

Lesson #32: Make the most out of balling on a budget.

We wanted to get every penny out of our $40 splurge for our motel room so we slept in, showered (twice), grabbed the extra TP for the road, and checked out 1 minute before our check out time.

Hard to tell, but take our word for it, this was a crazy climb.

We had a big big climb ahead of us. Today was our biggest climb in Utah in one day. We started at 6,000 feet and were going to be above 10,500 for first time all trip!

Feeling a little intimidated by the climb ahead we distracted ourselves and loaded up with sandwiches and cookies at local bread shop before heading out of town.

Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Lesson #33: There are a lot of honkeys in Utah.

Well, we need to check that last lesson but there were white people crawling all over Cedar City. It felt very different. Everyone looked so happy. Kids on kids everywhere.

Started from the bottom...now we're tired and trying to catch our breathe, stuck somewhere in the middle.

After drinking as many cups of free ice cold water we could we left Cedar City and ventured east towards the looming canyon ahead. Today was by far the prettiest Day. It took us 4 to 5 hours to climb the 26 miles to the top of the canyon wall. Most of our riding was on narrow roads with a minimal shoulder. The cars, trucks and semis passing were more than patient with us on the steep mountain climbs and switchbacks. Jack and I stopped often to grub on some granola and catch our breathe.

At the top of the pass was Cedar Breaks National Monument. Below was a gorgeous valley or orange and red rock that had been eroded for the past few million years. Quite breathe taking.

Our reward for the day was the ride down other side. Had our first crash of the trip, took a turn way to hard and fast and landed bike and all in the shoulder as a result. Thankfully I fell into sand and the bike and I were fine.

Jack and I stretched the final few miles longer than we planned so we could enjoy the extra sunlight on this summer solstice.

We pitched camp in what looked to be the start of a roadside construction zone. We pitched the tent behind the cover of a fresh gravel pile, out of the view of the main road and fell asleep to shotgun shots off in the distance that seemed to come from the ominous road behind the gravel pile.

Bryce Cannon and Grand Staircase National Monument on deck for tomorrow. Excited.