April 17-19, 2018
After our amazing tour of Antelope Canyon we set off North to check out Zion and Bryce Canyon. Full on tourist mode!
What happened…
Amanda writes: As we finished our cycling day in Jacob Lake, Andrew said to me; I love our life. Some days its good to be reminded how great it can be.
Andrew writes:What’s not to love? I mean the scenery in this part of Utah is pretty spectacular. We started off passing by the very touristy, Horseshoe Bend. Then we cycled past the Vermillion Cliffs for a day and a half, with lots of wide-open BLM land for wild camping. It was a bit of a slog to get up to Jacob Lake, but once there we found the campground closed (yay, free camping!) and the Jacob Lake Lodge had some really tasty cookies.
After Jacob Lake we were rewarded with a decent downhill descent, but the weather gods were against us at the bottom as it got really dark and foreboding, and super-windy. We ended up changing our route and finding a motel to stay in for the night. My first impressions of Utah? There are a lot of Jeeps.
Today’s Flickr Photographs
[flickr_tags user_id=”17145280@N00″ tags=”041718,041818,041918″]The aerial view of cycling days:
Cycling Stats
April 17, 2018
Start Point: Page, Arizona, USA
Destination: WC past Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona, USA
77.8 km trip, 15.28 km/h average speed, 54.6 km/h maximum speed, 5:05 time on the bike
April 18, 2018
Start Point: WC past Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona, USA
Destination: Jacob Lake, Arizona, USA
57.95 km trip, 11.17 km/h average speed, 55.9 km/h maximum speed, 5:11 time on the bike
April 19, 2018
Start Point: Jacob Lake, Arizona, USA
Destination: Kanab, Utah, USA
63.21 km trip, 20.8 km/h average speed, 59.4 km/h maximum speed, 3:02 time on the bike
Route Description:
April 17, 2018 As you leave town on 89 the entrance for Horseshoe Bend is on your right. It’s worth the 1-mile hike and it’s free. You then continue on a paved road with a shitty shoulder with rumble strips. You climb for 35K and then descend into a beautiful valley with massive canyons. We then turned right on 89A. At the Bitter Springs bridge you start uphill again. Then it’s 10K down the road to Vermillion Cliffs which is a small community with a Chevron for water, restaurants and motels. There are no campgrounds. 89A is a quieter road and still paved with no shoulder. 5K past the Chevron we stopped and camped. If you continue another 5K there is a motel and more water.
April 18, 2018 Today was up, up and up. The first part is a gradual climb for 35K toward the steeper climb of 22K you can see up ahead. It’s again a paved road with no shoulder. It took us 3 hours to do the 22K steep climb. As you near the top there are lots of places to wild camp as it is BLM land. 10K before the top at mile marker 205 on the left it looks like a rec site. At the top there is a store, gas station, motel and massive campground. The State campground was officially closed for winter but we set up with no problem. You can also camp anywhere outside the campground as it is BLM land.
April 19, 2018 We left and went past more of the massive campground. You ride downhill the entire way. The road is paved with no shoulder and light traffic. It was very windy. We were going to head West to Colorado City but changed our route to avoid the direct head wind. There is a small store at Fredonia along the way at about the 50K mark.
Accommodations:
April 17, 2018 We wild camped 5K past Bitter Springs. There is a motel in Bitter Springs and another one 10K past.
April 18, 2018 We camped at the beautiful Jacob Lake State Park campground. As it was off season it was closed and we didn’t pay. Not sure what it costs. It’s massive! There are loads of wild camping opportunities before and after the campground.
April 19, 2018 We stayed in Kanab in a hotel. There are plenty of motels, hotels in the area.