Tropic, to Panguitch. The sky was a clear blue, with big, cottonball
clouds hung throughout it. It was a great backdrop to the red cliffs
of Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Red Canyon as well as to the
array of colors in Bryce Canyon - whites, pale yellows, peaches, pinks
and pastel oranges.
The day was lovely and relatively uneventful, except for a fully
separated bike route through the Red Canyon. I had forgotten how
delightful it is to ride without having to worry about motor vehicles.
We had our own little steep grade signs and stop signs, and I rode the
little ribbon of infrastructure all the way down from the Panguitch
Plateau for about 7 miles. Up until then, Utah had a very low rating
for bike infrastructure (in my personal rating system), my having
passed no share-the-road signs or bike lanes of any sort, but this
pretty path earned it quadruple bonus points.
My dad and I took an extra drive back to Bryce Canyon, which I had
just grazed the northern border of on my ride. We watched the sun set
over a multicolored amphitheatre of spires, hoodoos, slot canyons and
rock windows. It was spectacular.
1 comment:
I have another correction: I wasn't on the Panguitch Plateau, I was on the Paunsagaunt Plateau. Another name out here that I can't pronounce.
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