Day 55 – High Desert Heat

Moab, UT to Canyonlands National Park – 45 miles

Woke up early enough to get to the bike shop right when it opened at 8.  I went to Chili Pepper’s Bikes because it was recommended by someone.  They put my rear wheel on the truing stand and there was a slight radial wobble.  Told me it wasn’t critical and I could ride on it, but I figured I rode 55 miles to get it looked at, might as well have them take it out.

I went to grab some breakfast while they worked on my bike.  After breakfast I went to the Visitor’s Center in town to try to figure out how I was going to do Arches and Canyonlands on my bike.  Both parks basically have one entrance and there’s quite a bit of climbing to get in.  Arches is right outside of town and Canyonlands is about a 30 mile ride to the entrance.  Once at the entrance of either park you can ride anywhere from 20-50+ miles to see what you want to see.  All big miles when it’s this hot and you want to avoid being in the sun between 11 am and 6 pm.

After the Visitor’s Center I went back to the shop to pick up my bike then headed back to the hostel to try to formulate a plan for the day.  It was getting to be around 10, so it wasn’t looking like I would ride out until the afternoon.  When I got back to the hostel I saw Achim and he mentioned that he was going to head into Arches and that I could join him if I wanted.  Perfect!

Arches National Park was really cool.  We drove all the way into the back of the park and did an 8 mile loop hike that goes by a number of arches.  It was really hot and made me realize how quickly you can get in a lot of trouble out here if you aren’t careful.  Heat exhaustion, sun burn, and heat stroke are all very real dangers.

On the way out of the park we stopped by the Delicate Arch Viewpoint.  It’s the arch that you see in all the photos and stuff about the park. From this vantage point I couldn’t really see why.  Landscape Arch looked much more impressive and delicate than this one.

After the park we went to Moab Brewery to grab a late lunch / early dinner.  Good beer and good food although I probably would have ate / drank just about anything and thought it was good.  After that we headed back to the hostel.  I chilled out for awhile and got ready to ride out to Canyonlands National Park once it cooled down a bit.  I left some stuff with Achim since he was planning on staying a few more nights and I knew I was basically going to ride in, camp, and then ride back out of the park.  I soaked my under armor and buff and started the ride at around 7 pm.  It was still hot, but the sun was no longer a huge factor.   I was looking forward to trying out riding at night.  Got a photo by the Arches NP sign as I passed it on the way out of town since I didn’t grab one earlier in the day.

The ride out to Canyonlands was fantastic with a paved trail all the way to the state road that goes to the park.  It was uphill most of the way with 6-8% grades, so the ride took significantly longer than I expected.

Riding at night was great except for the temporary blindness caused by the few cars that would pass with their brights on.  I think it will be a good way to travel as long as it’s on a road with little to no traffic.  I got to the park entrance at around 1230.

It took another hour or so until I got to the Willow Flat campground inside the park.  All the spots were taken, but with few other options I set my tent up anyways.  I was exhausted and only wanted to go to sleep, but made some food anyways because I knew it would be critical for my energy biking out the next day.  Made a chicken fettuccine alfredo backpacking meal, set my alarm for 6 am, and was asleep by 2 am.