Boulder – Escalante – Bryce Canyon – Mount Carmel Junction – Zion: 298 km

The beauty of South Utah just doesn’t stop. After the dessert of Capitol Reef, Marijn and I are riding from Boulder to Escalante over the locally famous highway 12. The people in Boulder claim it’s the most beautiful highway in America. We heard that a couple of times before about other roads too. The road weaves up and down on an elevated cliff between two ravines. Views over the red sand and the canyons below as far as the eye can see. It is stunning. We understand the local’s giddy enthusiasm for this piece of asphalt now. After depleting our bodies over the last couple of days, today is an easy one. In Escalante we decide to set up camp and rest. We go to an actual campground. The showers wash away the sand in our hair. They feel incredible. That night there’s a rodeo in town. It is the quintessential American experience. We watch it from a stand that could collapse at any moment by the looks of it. It is a small town but quite some people have showed up. Next to the stance onlookers barbecue from the back of their pick-up trucks. People where cowboy hats and boots, children included. To blend in, and because we’re hungry, we eat hot dogs and drink Mountain Dew.

The highlights follow up in quick procession. Today we ride into Bryce Canyon, another national park. Two hard climbs to get there, but totally worth it I keep thinking as the lactate acid builds up in my legs. And yes, it is beautiful. The view over the orange and white spire shaped rocks is majestic. But Marijn and I are cyclists, not really hikers. Especially not me. And for them this park seems especially suitable. The steep climb down we skip and just enjoy the view for a while. We don’t have the same experience as we had in Capitol Reef, where we were immersed in the park, but I’m still happy we went. It’s now checked off the list, and in two days we’ll be in Zion. Marijn’s favourite national park.

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Before we get to Zion we ride to Mount Carmel Junction. And that’s pretty much what it is, a junction. We take a nap at a resting place for truckers when the rain gets too bad. Finally, some rain in an otherwise scorching hot red and sandy Utah. I won’t say we get bothered during our wait, but man Americans do love to talk. Basically, every car that stops wants to have a little chat. Marijn and I take turns explaining our story, while the other tries to catch up on sleep. After a couple of hours we push on, find a deserted campout. That night we have dinner from a bag. It was given to us by a couple of sweet Dutchies. It’s the freeze-dried kind of power food that only real adventurers and gram hunters carry. We have our slush, that is surprisingly tasty, while we wonder if the mountain peaks we see in the distance are those of Zion.

When the highlights are so rapidly coming at us, I have no time to think of home anymore. The feeling that has been nagging and nibbling for a while disappears. Not completely, but it is tucked away in a place somewhere far away. I’m just excited about every new day. It’s great to have that feeling back again.

Pretty, pretty, prettiest. Zion is insane. Next level. We ride into the park via an incredible descent. It seems like it’s there to prepare us for an even more stunning ride into the actual canyon. Rocks sharply stick out on both sides of the river. It’s an otherworldly scenery. The surroundings just don’t make sense to me. This is not supposed to exist, is it? How? We cycle up and down canyon, mouths open, eyes upward. What a place! We sleep on one of the campgrounds, and actually pay for it this time. Normally we ask other visitors if we can join them, but we arrive early and nobody’s home. At dusk the rain starts. And it starts seriously. We get multiple alerts in various languages on our phones about flash flooding. It binds us to our tent. We find a little shelter where we cook. That night a car full of French people find the camping fully booked. Now it’s our turn to invite others to join our pitch.

We have our breakfast wet and muddy. Today we ride to Saint George, where we’ll be meeting Todd and Sherry, who we met a couple of weeks ago. We don’t know it now, but it will turn out to be an unimaginable stay.