Day One: Price to Bryce Bicycle Ride

The 235 mile trip between Price, Utah and Bryce Canyon National Park traverses two National Forests, one National Monument, mountain passes, deserts and canyons.  The drive can be completed by car in four to five hours.  To transform this excursion from a 65 mph express ride into an unhurried expedition my husband Tim crafted a plan:  how about a five-day bicycle trek—carving the distance into manageable chunks, eating in fine dining establishments, and lodging in comfort every night?  Sounds like fun.

And so, in January of 2012 Tim started training for the first annual(?) Price to Bryce bicycle ride.  By August he was ready to go.  Tim’s friend Mark flew from New York to accompany him on the ride and I drove the support vehicle, stocked with water and energy drinks, rain jackets and spare tires.

The map below shows the total route and elevation changes for the journey.

Elevation change per mile graph—X-axis:  starts at 0 miles, each hatch mark equals 100 miles.
Y-axis: starts at 5000 ft. elevation, each hatch mark equals 1000 ft.

          Day 1:  Sunday, August 26.  From Price, south on Highway 10 to Interstate 70.  This 70 mile stretch rolls through Utah’s Castle Country, known for high desert sagebrush meadows and red-rock mesas and buttes.

Map (top) and elevation change per mile graph (bottom) for day 1.
Elevation change per mile graph— X-axis: starts at 0 miles, each hatch mark equals 10 miles.
Y-axis: starts at 5000 ft., each hatch mark equals 1000  ft. 

           Tim and Mark completed the ride in 6 hours.  Scenes from Day One can be found below.   

Tim (front) and Mark begin their ride south on Highway 10
in Central Utah.

Mark and Tim pose in Emery County, Utah.
Our new puppy, "Annie" (resting behind Mark) rode in the support vehicle with me.

With apologies to Montana, Utah's Castle Country
boasts Big Sky views too.

Tim rides under the I-70 overpass—
Day One's destination—none the worse for wear.

            Interstate 70 intersects Highway 10 in a remote and desolate region of Utah—no restaurants or lodging to be found—so I picked up Tim, Mark and the bikes and returned them to Price for a dinner of Greek meatballs and sauce, Greek salad, homemade wheat bread and baklava, cooked and generously provided by our neighbors Deano and Shelley.  Thanks guys!

                                                            ****

This is the first in a five part series, detailing the highlights of the Price to Bryce trek each day.  Stay tuned for part two...

To view the next four days of this adventure, click on the links below:
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

September in Lake City, Colorado

             Ahhh... September in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

           
             While I'm savoring the visual feast of golden aspens and elms this week, treat yourself to these scenes of Autumn in the Colorado Rockies.

             Click on any picture to enlarge.

An early September morning—looking south
on Lake City's Silver Street.

Historic cabin in Capitol City, Colorado.  During the silver mining boom
this mountain town, (now practically a ghost town),
had hopes of becoming Colorado's State Capitol.

Aspen-framed peak.

Autumn fishing on the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River.

View of two 14,000 ft. peaks near Lake City.
Uncompaghre is on the right, Wetterhorn is the
tall jagged peak on the left.

Lake San Cristobel near Lake City, Colorado.

To view more autumn photos from the Colorado Rockies, please visit this post:

http://onedayinamerica.blogspot.com/2011/09/autumn-in-colorado-rockies.html

24 hours at Grace Note Farm in Pascoag, Rhode Island

         The Grace Note.  In music it’s a small addition or embellishment, connected to greater things.  In Rhode Island it’s Grace Note Farm—a Bed and Breakfast Inn in Pascoag connected to state forest land and enhancing guest’s experiences in pastoral living.

I visited Grace Note Farm in October of 2011.  Owner Virginia Sindelar met me at the door, then showed me to my room at one end of the sprawling farmhouse while relaying this story:  18 years ago Virginia quit her job as a musician and moved from an oceanfront house in Massachusetts to northwestern Rhode Island in order to “get away from the uncertainty of hurricanes” and start a new hobby: horses.  This 1730 farmhouse and its 94 acres seemed the perfect place to pursue her dreams. Virginia lives here with her mother “Nan”, her dog, several horses, chickens, “Eyeore” the donkey and “Peanut” the pony.  

The bucolic setting of Grace Note Farm in northwestern Rhode Island.

Guests may choose to relax or to indulge in a variety of activities on the farm.  After moving into my suite I met Edna Kent, the local historian who led me on a tour through farm and forest.  We walked the wooded trails in filtered sunlight with American Chestnut trees and Red and White Pines towering overhead.  Edna picked a sprig of soapwood, a plant that always blooms during blueberry season.  After gathering blueberries a person would rub the blooms of sapwood in their hands; the friction caused the blooms to lather, cleansing blueberry stains from the skin.  Nature, in all its elegance.  We continued our tour past an old cranberry bog, hints of fall color appearing in the landscape. 

Old Cranberry Bog on the property.  Autumn's brilliance arrived late
to Rhode Island last year.

Edna and I returned to the farmhouse where Virginia had dinner waiting.  The three of us sat down to a candlelight home-cooked meal of baked chicken with stuffing, garden vegetables, and for dessert—almond cake.  After dinner, while Edna built a fire to warm the great room I met Nan, a delightful lady with a sharp wit.  Nan retired to her room and Edna pulled me aside to tell me that Nan has a birthday coming up on October 23rd.  What’s so special about that?  Well, Nan will be 101 years old!  This is a woman who was buying groceries when I arrived at the farm today.  She helped with dinner and with the dishes.  Tomorrow morning she’ll be feeding the horses and cooking breakfast.  Nan, what’s your secret?

Nan poses after finishing the breakfast dishes.
Her secret to living past 100?  Keep busy and don't think
about aging!

                                                          ****

A stay at Grace Note Farm is a 24 hour affair and Virginia had plenty of activities to fill my second morning and afternoon at the B&B.  In the morning I met horse trainer Leslie Lucas who gave me a 90 minute lesson with “Charlie” a small Morgan.  I’m a novice on horseback but Charlie was a sweetheart; after my lesson I was tempted to make Virginia an offer to buy him.  But I didn’t.

Rita and Charlie.  You can tell he's a great horse just by
looking at him.

Horse barn at Grace Note Farm.  Charlie is peering out
from the far door.

         Nan put lunch on the table—butternut squash soup and apple-walnut salad.  After the nourishing repast I met Virginia’s friend Polly who brought her pony “Popcorn” to the farm to be shoed.  Traveling with Polly was a macaw named “Barkley”, who likes to ride on Popcorn’s back.  Polly demonstrated Barkley’s riding abilities while her little terrier watched from the sidelines.  I asked Polly:  “What’s your little dog’s name?”  “Toto”.  Of course.  Polly is a regular one-woman dog and pony show.

Toto and Barkley wait patiently while Popcorn
is with the farrier.

Barkley mounts his custom saddle and he's
ready to ride.

         My stay at Grace Note Farm ended with a massage given by therapist Lisa Ivens, a perfect end to this incomparable 24 hour get-away.  Interested in experiencing Grace Note Farm for yourself?  Visit this site:  http://gracenotefarmweb.com/

Peek-A-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons in Dry Fork Gulch, Utah

       “This is a blast—the most fun I’ve have in ages!”  Mark’s words echo through the twists and turns of Peek-A-Boo slot canyon in Utah’s Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

My husband Tim and his friend Mark are in the middle of a 250 mile bicycle ride through southern Utah.  I’m driving the support vehicle.  (More about the bike ride in future blog posts...)  

An early start in Boulder allows the bikers to arrive in Escalante by late morning.  I pick them up in our SUV and soon we’re bouncing over Hole-In-The-Rock road’s washboarded dirt surface.  It’s a sweltering August afternoon when we reach the trailhead where we discover vehicles from Washington, Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada and New York.

Descending from the trailhead to Dry Fork canyon we pick our way across slickrock and sand.  Peek-A-Boo’s entrance is a quarter mile along the wash, 12 feet above our heads.  Using hand and foot holds to scale the wall we enter the hanging canyon and are transformed into kids on a playground. 

Mark and Tim descend into Dry Fork wash.

Tim steadies himself for the climb into Peek-A-Boo
while Mark waits to lend a hand.

  

          With flexibility we thought lost with age, we drop through an arch passageway, climb hands-and-feet over protruding rock walls and slither through sinuous turns until we leave the slot and emerge in a wide, sandy wash.  Then we turn around and do it all over again.

Tim emerges from the donut hole near the
entrance to Peek-A-Boo slot.

Rita and Tim playing peek-a-boo.
See how this slot got its name?

Tim snakes his way through the canyon.

There are rattlers in here!  We saw a dead snake but no
live ones during our hike.

            A half mile away the entrance to Spooky slot canyon calls our names.  Mark enters the canyon and walks through passages so narrow he has to inhale to navigate them.  Three-quarters of the way through the canyon a fallen boulder prevents him from completing the trek.  But Mark is still beaming when he exits the canyon.  The most fun we’ve had in ages?  We’d all have to agree.

Mark in the dark, narrow confines of Spooky.

                                                           ****

Leaving the National Monument we return to the town of Escalante and check into The Slot Canyons Inn.  After showering the red dirt from our sweat-soaked bodies we meet at the Inn’s outdoor restaurant—North Creek Grill.  Local, grass-fed beef is the signature dish and it’s melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Dessert arrives as sunset bakes the surrounding rocks with an orange glow.  From the adventures of biking and hiking to the luxuries of The Slot Canyons Inn, it’s been a most gratifying day.

The Slot Canyons Inn, Escalante Utah.

Al Fresco dining at the North Creek Grill.

                                                    ****

How did Peek-A-Boo and Spooky receive their unusual appellations?  Josette-Marie Rex, proprietress of The Slot Canyons Inn, relayed the story:  Josette-Marie recently attended a town potluck dinner where she met two women whose father—a sheep rancher—discovered the slot canyons while tending his flock over 60 years ago.  The rancher took his little girls to the two canyons to play; in the dark, narrow passageway they proclaimed “Oooh, this one’s spooky!”  And in the other corridor they played peek-a-boo behind the serpentine corners, shouting “Peek-a-boo, I see you!”  The women are now in their 70’s and the names they gave the canyons many years ago are perfect depictions of these two spine-tingling playgrounds.  

Want to experience the fun of Spooky and Peek-A-Boo?  Visit this site:   http://www.utah.com/escalante/boulder_mountain.htm

Pamper yourself after hiking the slot canyons and enjoy the hospitality of Josette-Marie by staying at The Slot Canyons Inn.

Wildlife Sightings in Southeastern Utah

         A billion prairie dogs scurrying through dry-grass meadows; forty million antelope thundering across the plains; two million desert bighorn sheep prancing from boulder to boulder in the red rock desert.  What a sight to behold . . .  in the year 1812.  But it’s 2012, two hundred years later, and I consider myself fortunate to have seen the two prairie dogs, ten pronghorn antelope and two bighorn sheep my family and I spotted on a recent trip to southern Utah.   

      The above species are now all-but-gone from the deserts, mountains and meadows of the southwestern United States, victims of America’s westward expansion and—for the prairie dog—of federally funded extermination programs.

      Enough sermonizing; I suppose we should be happy that any wildlife exists at all in the midst of our settled and developed world.  For examples of the species we encountered in southern Utah in July, see the photos below.  Then picture yourself in the west as it existed in 1812 . . .

Two pronghorn antelope near Goblin Valley State Park.
They blend in well with their surroundings; it's habitat loss—not hunting—
which has greatly reduced their numbers.

A kit fox steals away from our Goblin Valley campsite
in the early morning light.

Sagebrush Lizard.  As far as we can tell, lizards are
still abundant in the desert.

A prairie dog peeks out from the rocks.  I believe this may be a
highly threatened Gunnison Prairie Dog—its numbers
have declined over 98% in the last 100 years.

This desert bighorn sheep was foraging near Grand Wash Trail
 in Capitol Reef National Park.
We were delighted to see she had a tiny lamb with her!

        In addition to the animals shown in the photos above we spotted a desert cottontail, a jackrabbit, several other species of lizard, and Johnny Depp—on the outskirts of Moab while filming The Lone Ranger.  (That counts as a wildlife sighting, doesn't it?)

        For more information on the wildlife of southern Utah (minus Johnny Depp), visit this website:  http://www.utah.com/wildlife/southern.htm

Little Wildhorse Canyon in Southeastern Utah

         For a sensational side trip while camped in Goblin Valley State Park, travel five miles to Little Wildhorse Canyon.  This slot canyon is an ideal destination for a canyoneering novice or for those seeking an unconventional experience in red rock country.  Classified as "non-technical", the canyon requires no ropes or other specialized climbing gear.

       The following description of the hike through Little Wildhorse piqued my interest during a 2003 exploratory trip to places “off-the-beaten-path” in southeastern Utah: 

 “Little Wildhorse Canyon is a high-walled, tight-narrows canyon, spectacular at every twist, turn and corner.  Colors and textures run rampant here—a photographer’s delight.”  

        After reading the above portrayal I knew I had to experience the canyon for myself.  I did —and I’ve returned three times over the past 9 years.

       Little Wildhorse Canyon may be hiked out and back or combined with nearby Bell Canyon for an 8 mile long loop trek.  When introducing first-timers to the canyon I prefer retracing our steps; it’s great fun traversing the same obstacles and serpentine canyon walls in both directions, and less strenuous than the longer hike.

The photos below were taken on two separate occasions.   The popular slot canyon was filled with other hikers in October of 2003; however in July of 2012 we encountered only a few other brave souls.  Could it be the 101 degree temperatures kept the tourists away?

Create your own memories in Little Wildhorse Canyon.  Start by visiting this website for a description of this hike, and of other slot canyons in the American southwest: http://www.americansouthwest.net/slot_canyons/little_wild_horse_canyon/

There I am (in white), peaking out from between the labyrinthine
canyon walls of Little Wildhorse.

This faded midget rattlesnake slithers up the canyon wall.
The faded midget has a highly toxic venom but
is typically non-aggressive.
(More southern Utah wildlife photos coming in
my next post.)

Bob "chimneys" over a small boulder on the trail.

"Let's see if we can remove this giant boulder that fell
over the trail."  (Our attempt was unsuccessful.)

Not for the claustrophobic: the walls of the canyon narrow
as they reach toward the sky.

The undulating, water-sculpted rocks of Little Wildhorse Canyon.

Goblin Valley: Another World on Planet Earth

          Last week a starship traveled to Goblin Valley and its crew encountered hostile aliens.  This week a red pickup truck travels to Goblin Valley and the family inside encounters hostile weather conditions.

          My sisters and nephews are probably wondering why I’ve brought them to this desolate desert on a 104 degree day in July.  I admit to asking the same question as we bounce across the parched sagebrush landscape.  The 11 mile drive from the highway to the park entrance yields no clues as to the hidden treasures within Goblin Valley State Park.

One of Goblin Valley's treasures:  a double rainbow decorates
our campsite during a brief shower.

          We pile out of the truck and into the blast-furnace heat of the campground.  Blistering winds create next-to-impossible conditions for erecting the tents and cooking dinner.  As the sun slips into the western sky and the gale finally subsides, dinner dishes are washed and the tents secured on their sandy pads.

The winds have abated and our tents are safe... for now.

          “Let’s go to the goblins!”  Bob and Alan are ready to explore the eroded sandstone formations which give this park its name.  On the valley floor we discover an out-of-this-world playground, the setting sun casting an eerie glow over the luminous rocks.  By now temperatures have dipped into the 90's and we all enjoy an hour of entertainment among the goblins.

Bob, Karen and Alan scramble over the rocks.  The sandstone formations
in Goblin Valley present an endless variety of sizes and shapes
but they all display the same reddish-brown coloration.

Bob relaxes atop one of the goblins.

Alan and Rita take a break in the sandstone maze.

Bob walks in the shadows of the goblins.

          The next day a dust storm flips one of our tents and scatters picnic supplies across the sand.  We respond to the wind and heat by transferring our belongings to one of the two yurts in the campground.  The yurts, new to the park in December of 2011, are a welcome addition to this campground and compared with our tents they are palatial.  We eat and sleep in air-conditioned comfort.  Refreshed by a night in the yurt our third morning finds us ready for the next adventure—hiking a nearby slot canyon.  

One of two yurts available for rent in Goblin Valley State Park.

Alan watches the moonrise as the sun sets on a day
of fun in the valley of the goblins.

        Travel along with us next week as we visit Little Wildhorse Canyon.  We’ll also spot wildlife in and around Goblin Valley.

Want to learn more about Goblin Valley State Park?  Visit this website:  http://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/goblin_valley/state_park.html