Cycle America: Bryce/Zion/Grand Canyon Parks 2001
Background
We decided to rejoin Cycle America for their Bryce/Zion/Grand
Canyon tour in 2001 after a fun Glacier/Waterton
Lakes Park tour with them the previous August. This tour was held
twice in the summer of 2001 and we selected the earliest, which ended
at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The timing was better for us, and
it seemed fitting to finish there. We again selected the camping option,
rather than the motel option, and enjoyed meeting the other campers. The
tour was organized by Cycle America
and Pedal the Peaks, a company based in Cannon Falls, Minnesota.
Itinerary
Day |
Start |
Stop |
Mileage |
Elevation Gain |
June 9 |
Cedar City, UT |
Panguitch |
59 |
5000 |
June 10 |
Panguitch |
Ruby's Inn (Bryce) |
23 |
1000 |
June 11 |
Ruby's Inn (Bryce) |
Glendale |
50 |
|
June 12 |
Glendale |
Springdale (Zion) |
33 |
2200 |
June 13 |
Layover at Zion National Park |
June 14 |
Springdale (Zion) |
Kanab |
43 |
|
June 15 |
Kanab |
North Rim, AZ |
80 |
5300 |
June 16 |
Layover at North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park |
June 17 |
Transportation to the St. George Airport |
Totals
|
288 |
|
Diary
|
Grand Staircase - Escalante National
Monument
|
8 June 2001 (Friday)
Linda and I arrive at Cedar City, Utah, in the early afternoon after traveling
from Lake Powell where we have spent a few days enjoying the desert environment
and jet skis on the lake. We especially enjoyed traveling through the
Dixie National Forest over a pass to Boulder and then through the Grand
Staircase - Escalante National Monument on our way to Panguitch, where
we spent last night. We find the Cycle America campsite at the KOA and
meet our Salem friends John and Joanne as well as many other riders. We
set up our camp, then John and I drive to St. George Airport to leave
our vehicles there and catch the shuttle bus back to Cedar City. It is
hot in St. George, so John and I stop to buy sunshades for our vehicles
since they will be left in the sun for several days.We find Alan, another
friend from Salem, riding the bus after his flight to Las Vegas. We return
to Cedar City, enjoy a pizza dinner with the other riders, and prepare
our bikes for tomorrow's big climb.
|
Cedar Breaks National Monument
|
|
|
Descending towards Panguitch
|
|
9 June (Saturday)
We ride from the KOA into downtown Cedar City for breakfast at Shoney's.
After breakfast we begin our climb to the east along highway 14 into the
Dixie National Forest. The climb is sustained and at times steep (8%)
but Linda and I drop into our "granny" gears and grind away
enjoying a pleasant day and nice scenery. At one pullout near the top
of the long climb we can see Zion in the distance to the south. Soon we
turn left onto highway 148 and ride along rolling meadows and forest into
the Cedar Breaks National Monument. We stop at a viewpoint and enjoy the
view. It is a colorful preview of what to expect at Bryce tomorrow. We
continue on through the forest, turn right on 143E and drop downhill to
our lunch stop. After lunch we continue gradually downhill beside lava
flows, Lake Panguitch, and scenic Panguitch Creek. The drop into Panguitch
is fast and fun and we are soon at the High School where we find our camp.
It was a long day, but everyone seems pleased with how they did and enjoyed
the route.
|
Bryce Canyon Nat. Park from
Bryce Point
|
|
|
Towards Bryce Point from
Sunset Point
|
|
|
|
10 June (Sunday)
Today we anticipate a short and scenic ride. We leave Panguitch on Highway
89 south, then turn east onto Highway 12 and climb into and through Red
Rock Canyon. The canyon is very pretty with the red rock beside and above
us contrasting with the ponderosa pines. Above the canyon we cross grasslands,
then turn south to Ruby's Inn and our campsite at the Campground. After
setting up camp Alan joins us as we take the short walk to catch a shuttle
bus and enter Bryce Canyon National Park. We visit Bryce, Inspiration,
and Sunset Points. Here we take the short Navajo Loop Trail down into
the canyon and back to the rim. After one last stop at Sunrise Point we
return to camp. John and Joanne spend the afternoon bicycling far into
the park and back.
11 June (Monday)
This morning we retrace yesterday's route down through scenic Red Rock
Canyon to Highway 89, stopping at the Red Rock Canyon Visitor's Center
on the way. We turn left and fight a mild headwind through Hatch and climb
to Long Valley Junction. I am feeling strong today and catch some bicyclists
on the climb. We continue through Long Valley to Glendale where we find
camp at the Bauer Canyon Ranch RV Park.
|
Loading bikes for the tunnel
|
|
|
Ready to descend into Zion
Canyon
|
|
12 June (Tuesday)
We anticipate an exciting day. We leave Glendale, continuing south on
Highway 89 to Mount Carmel Junction where we turn onto Highway 9 and climb
towards Zion National Park. Linda, Alan, and I are riding together with
a few others with Linda in the lead. The route is curvy and we accommodate
some traffic by moving onto what we believe to be a pull-out, but discover
it is just sand and Linda goes down. She is scraped, but is otherwise
able to continue, and we continue on to the tunnel. Here the support staff
load our bikes onto vans and shuttle us through the long tunnel. We get
peeks of the Zion cliffs through large tunnel windows, then exit the tunnel
to views of colorful and dramatic cliffs. The staff unload our bikes and
return for more riders and we continue our descent through the park. It
is a fun switchback descent with distracting views and I stop at points
for photos. We regroup at the bottom of the descent and find the bike
path leading to Springdale and our campground there. After setting up
camp Linda, Alan, and I rent inner tubes, arrange for a shuttle, and float
a few miles down the North Fork Virgin River. The river flow is quite
low, but I do manage to sustain my reputation by flipping over in some
minor rapids. After our shuttle back we clean up, visit the Zion Canyon
Visitor Center, and have dinner in Springdale.
|
|
Traverse on Angels Landing
|
|
|
|
13 June (Wednesday)
Today is a layover day so Linda, Alan, and I ride the shuttle bus into
Zion to explore the park. We hike up Angels Landing on an interesting
trail cut through cliffs, a switchback staircase, and then along an exposed
ridge with chainlink handrails and footholds carved in the sandstone.
Angels Landing is well placed to view much of the Zion Canyon and we enjoy
the scenery and watching the buses and pedestrians far below. After descending
the trail back to the road we take a bus further up the canyon to the
Riverside Walk. Here the canyon narrows and the trail eventually disappears
into the creek bed. Linda and Alan return to Springdale while I take one
more short hike from Weeping Rock up to Hidden Canyon before returning
to the Visitor's Center and camp.
|
Zion's Beehives and the
Streaked Wall
|
|
|
Zion view above the tunnel
|
|
14 June (Thursday)
We start the day with a scenic climb back up the Zion - Mount Carmel Highway,
ride the vans through the tunnel, and then continue on out the park back
to Mount Carmel Junction. We turn south, again, on Highway 89 and climb
towards Kanab. Linda and I take a side trip to visit the Best
Friends Animal Sanctuary off of the highway before dropping into Kanab.
Our campsite is at the Crazy Horse Campground. The staff had hoped to
stay at the High School, but a motorcycle convention has already reserved
it, so we search out a grassy spot with minimal thistles. We have a barbeque
dinner with local musical entertainment at camp this evening.
|
Towards Kanab from North
Rim climb
|
|
|
Evening view of Grand Canyon
|
|
15 June (Friday)
Today is the last bicycling day of the tour and it is another long day
with a big climb. From Kanab we continue south into Arizona through highway
construction to Fredonia. We climb a mild grade for many miles, then enter
the Kanab National Forest and begin a steeper ascent for several more
miles. We stop for lunch near Jacob Lake at a rest stop. From there we
continue our climb through the ponderosa pine to our high point. I suggest
to Alan that he continue on to find us a good campsite while I wait for
Linda to catch up. She is tiring from the long ascent and I lead her across
the windy meadows towards the Grand Canyon National Park entrance. The
headwind is very strong and at times we are only making about 5 mph. Linda
is tempted to flag down a SAG van, but fortunately they approach and pass
too quickly for us to recognize them. Eventually we enter the park and
find some protection from the headwind amongst the pines. The Park Ranger
and the entrance says that just a few days before they had snowfall and
very high winds at the park, so we were fortunate to have missed that.
We make the last climb to our campground at the North Rim. We are very
happy and satisfied to have completed the tour. After setting up camp
and showering we walk to the Grand Canyon Lodge were the bicyclists have
dinner and enjoy the beautiful sunset. It seems a very fitting way to
celebrate the completion of the bicycle tour.
|
Grand Canyon from Bright
Angel Point
|
|
16 June (Saturday)
Today is our layover day at North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park. We
take short hikes from camp, including out to Bright Angel Point, and relax
at the Lodge and enjoy the scenery.
17 June (Sunday)
We load buses and ride to St. George Airport, where John, Joanne, Linda
and I find our vehicles. Alan leaves his bike with John and Joanne and
continues on to Las Vegas to catch his flight. Linda and I head for home
by way of Ely, Nevada. We explore a "shortcut" from Highway
278 to Interstate 80 near Emigrant Pass that involves some guesswork and
backtracking on primitive roads before we successfully negotiate a remote
pass and gain I-80.
