Day 12 - Paguitch, UT to Escalante, UT

70 miles / Day 12 of 54 / Paguitch, UT to Escalante, UT

As beautiful as yesterday was, today had to have topped it. Our prettiest day yet.

After hiding behind gravel for the night, hoping not to have some overly-ambitious farmer coming after us with a shotgun, we made quick haste this morning and got out of Dodge (well, Paguitch). I was specifically excited about today, as we would be biking through a national park and biking through a national monument as well.

After 25 miles of hilly roads, we were in Red Canyon with absolutely gorgeous views of red painted bluffs, spires, columns and down thrusts. It set us up nicely for what was to come with Bryce Canyon National Park.

We decided to take a few hours off of the bike and tool around the National Park for a little bit. The canyon is named after farmer Ebenezer Bryce, the first inhabitant of the area who exclaimed "this would be the toughest spot to lose a cow" and the rest was history.

We took the shuttle to two different vistas where we got out and took pictures. It was nice to get away from the bikes for a few hours and refresh.

Lesson #34: Don't be overly ambitious. Take a little bit at a time, rest and renew yourself for the journey ahead.

Two random thoughts I had while at Bryce Canyon:

1. The influx of Asian and European tourists at the national park. After thinking for a while, I was really glad that these visitors chose a national park of all places to spend their time while in America. Much better than shopping in New York City, South Beach or Hollywood in Los Angeles. Getting to see America in its truest and most beautiful form.

2. I met a touring group of older adults who were from Ohio (!) and taking a bus around the West to visit many national parks. The majority were 70+, many with canes, wheelchairs or oxygen tanks. I started to reflect on being at the same spot as these older adults at the same time. It really made me appreciate my health and ability to continuously pedal across the country. Extremely thankful for this opportunity, and despite sore legs at the end of the day, fantastic health. And I hope when I'm older, I'll still be able to scoot around like they did and appreciate nature.

I loved Bryce Canyon, and it was amazing to see God's beauty and majesty spread out before us. From Bryce Canyon, we continued east and biked the rest of our 40 miles through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Talk about beauty... The newest of the national park monuments, Bill Clinton signed into law that the area would be preserved as such, and I'm sure glad he did. We had a terrific climb back up to 7500+ and saw painted mountains and spires set out before us for the duration of our ride. Simply gorgeous. Also, we reached a point that was the last discovered point in the continental United States back in the 1870's thanks to our good buddy Major John Wesley Powell, who was also the first to raft down the Colorado (Lance). It was literally the last place to be drawn on the map of the U.S. It was just a hole in the map before.

Great day riding and we ended up in Escalante, a cool little mountain town where we get a shower (two in the last five days?!?  Crazy talk. And a laundromat...now we're living too comfortably.

Blessed by another beautiful day and ready to climb again to 11000+. Whew!