DAY 80

Rest Day - Canyonlands National Park

First thing in the morning we meet the people camping in the site next to us (there are only about 6 people staying here, it's unbelievable how quiet everywhere has been for about a month now) and they show us the footprints in the snow (yes, there's a lot of snow lying around up here) and the scratches in the earth made, overnight, by a mountain lion! The couple are retired Park Rangers, so they'd know. Unbelievable to think one came so close to us in the middle of the night. We put it's appearance down to it being threatened by a new kid on the block: the couple have with them a 6 month old male kitten. 

So after tracking it's prints for a bit, we laze the day away eating and reading, then visit a few overlooks of the incredible canyons here. The views are surreal. It looks like the backdrop for an old film, completely fake. We stand about 300 meters above the first plateau, which again drops a similar distance to the Green and Colorado Rivers below, like two massive sets of steps into the sky. What's amazing is that the depth of the Grand Canyon (which, remember, was covered in smoke from fire when we were there) is about 5 times as much as this! 

This whole region is one big awe-inspiring visual lesson in geological history and erosion. We take in the views for hours, reflecting on the trip as we stare vacantly at the chasm below us. At night, we join our few fellow campers around a campfire, telling stories and keeping warm, delaying an early night in the sleeping bags.

DAY 79

Moab to Canyonlands National Park (UTAH)

We ride to our final destination of the trip, the Island In The Sky section of Canyonlands. We're both getting a bit sentimental by this stage. Our journey has flown by, part of us wants to keep it going forever, part of us is eager to get home to family and friends and sink our teeth into all that we want to do. The days ride is all constantly uphill, with standard Utah scenery: Buttes, Mesa's, rock, canyons, although it's all on a smaller, faraway scale. Both of us are lost in thought for the most of it. 

After a late start to the day (to let it warm up a bit to at least over zero degrees), and, now that the winter sun is setting around 5pm, we find ourselves riding pretty hard just to make camp before sunset. There are strangely no facilities in Canyonlands, not because things have seasonally shut down like seemingly everything else America-wide at this time of year, but just because for whatever reason there's no water/food/electricity/lodging available, even the visitor centre's closed. Anyway we make it right on sunset, set up camp, woof down one of Ada's great little cooking creations (re-fried beans and cheese dip with tortillas), and because it's already well below zero we simply get in our sleeping bags and call it a day. It's 6pm.

DAY 78

Daytrip - Arches National Park

Today we leave the panniers at the house and ride blissfully unloaded back to Arches, this time the skies are clear and blue but it's still extremely chilly out. Even with 2 pairs of gloves each and two pairs of socks with shoes and booties, by the time we reach Arches it feels like every finger and toe has been slammed in a car door then left in a freezer, then made to handle a bicycle, just for good measure. 

We ride a little further into the Park this time, our destination is Delicate Arch, the most famous of the arches and the unofficial emblem of Utah. From the trail head we hike for about an hour until we reach the arch, which apart from being precariously balanced and having an incredible backdrop, is well known for making its first appearance to the visitor in an all-of-a-sudden and altogether breathtaking fashion. It certainly delivers on that. Let the photos speak for themselves. We loved it. 

Back in Moab we warm shower with Teri Ann, who turns out to be a legend! She's a mountain bike enthusiast, an artist, she built her home herself (possibly the coolest house we've ever seen, decked out in art and lights and colour and antiques and all-round style), and, to be honest, Teri Ann has a hell of a lot in common with Ada: bikes, costumes, art, chunky boots, everything.  She makes her own faux fur jackets. 'NUFF SAID! To top it off our sleeping quarters are an old school bus complete with electricity, bed and furnishings!

DAY 77

Rest Day - Moab

Possibly our first actual rest day. Every other 'rest day' has included some amount of cycling and/or hiking, so this is nice for a change. We're taking this rest day because today's high temperature is 3, with a low of about -5, and it's still blowing outside and we're not falling for the same trick twice. We don't do much at all, read a bit, watch movies with the gang, go to a thrift store where Ada buys some chunky Harley Davidson boots (?). We also eat heaps of chocolate. The gang that we're staying with are a bunch from all over the world, living together by night and working together by day as interns building a sustainable house around the corner as part of a community project. Good people. Anyway, till tomorrow!

DAY 76

Rest Day - Arches National Park

It's absolutely freezing! The cold-front has well and truly hit, todays Max Temp is 7, a low of -5, but it's blowing an icy gale so it feels more like zero. Arches is great, a bit Monument Valley like, but it's too cold to really take in any of the views and sights for too long, we have to be on the bike and moving to keep warm(ish)! We do make time to see a couple of the bigger arches, which are just eroded rock formations, in the windows section of the Park. There are also a lot of delicately balanced boulders, some monolith sheer rock walls, a petrified sand dune area, all of it with the La Sal Mountains covered in snow for a backdrop. We had planned to camp the night in the Park but abort mission, it's just way too cold. We will come back when the snow storm abates...

On our way back to Moab we, wait for it, get caught in a blizzard!! The snow is falling light, fast and sideways into our faces. Neither of us have even seen snow before, so this is really something else. Back at the Visitor Centre, trying to warm up inside for a minute, we meet Tyler, who offers us a couch to sleep on for the night, which we accept. Back at the house (he lives with 8 others) we pack into the car and head up to the surrounding hills where the snow is full-on dumping! Our first experience of snow is a surreal and freezing one!

A few hours later...

DAY 75

Hanksville, UT to Moab, UT

Did we mention Luke's shredded rear tyre? Well he has one, it's wearing extremely thin. Why, you ask? Because, and we only realized this today, when we changed a flat a week ago we put it on backwards so the tread is being completely chewed up. Dumb idiots. So after fixing this problem the newly inflated and correctly oriented tyre officially karks it! 

So we're stuck in this hell-hole, Hanksville, and the beginning of a fierce cold-snap is rumbling overhead as we try and hitch a ride to Moab. After a while Merril, a Coloradan, gives us a ride in his pick-up truck. He kindly goes out of his way to take us into Moab itself. Onya Merril. 

On the ride there he takes us to the most popular diner in Utah, Ray's of Green River, then we buy some melons from a fruit stand, a fruit for which Green River is famous. Merril is a legend. Dressed in denim overalls, he makes us laugh when answering his mobile phone by yelling "yeah this is me" and later describing the slowness of his old truck as similar to a "terd of hurdles....I mean a herd of turtles". 

In Moab we fix the tyre issue, hang out and explore a bit. Turns out very quickly that Moab is extremely bike-friendly with bike lanes and paths everywhere, cyclists everywhere, and mountain-bikes atop every second car roof. It's also super-friendly. We should fit right in.

DAY 74

Capitol Reef N.P, UT to Hanksville, UT

We start the day with a short walk to a natural bridge (of rock) before getting back on the bike and hitting the road proper. It's windy, very very windy, so much so that we're literally blown off the road 3 times, pretty scary and a little dangerous, but it's only when the road turns side-on to the wind momentarily, otherwise it's a full-blown tailwind, which is a heck of a lot safer, faster and fun. The scenery is just as good as the ride here yesterday, in fact today's white overcast sky possibly makes it even look better. It's one of the best day's rides of the whole trip, constant scenery-wise, despite the cold and the wind. Hanksville, however, is butt-ugly and full of junk in people yards.

Sidenote: Luke has $81 left (LOL he is such a frivolous spender)
#2 We have just about everything matching now, bike, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, high vis cycling tops, black cycling pants, sunglasses, windproof jackets.  We ARE SO CUTE!