Will try not to ramble on too much but the past few days have been so busy! Have been all over the place, and loving every minute. Mountain biking has proved to be an excellent way to explore off the beaten track and get away from the crowds (I knew there was a reason why we did it) – have done some awesome rides lately that have delved in to the heart of this canyon country :-) And got away from the holidaying masses.
After Zion, we headed south towards the North Rim of Grand Canyon.
Yup, it is as impressive as they all say – but it's really hard to fully appreciate the scale of it – I think it's 217 miles long and 1 mile deep. That's big. The Colorado River has spent a long time crafting this masterpiece. We camped in the middle of nowhere and explored the North Rim on our bikes, on a very fun and scenic 3 hour ride. Think we were riding at about 2500 metres altitude. That hurt the old lungs.
Just 1 night there along with about a thousand chipmunks, and then started heading upwards to Brian Head at 3000m altitude. A beautiful alpine ski resort in winter, but during summer it markets itself as a mountain bike mecca. Sounds sort of like the kind of place we'd be in to, right? :-) Shacked up in a luxurious hotel which cost us peanuts really (low season hehe) and tried to ride their famous downhill trails. Unfortunately thanks to a very late snow season (there was still lots of pockets of snow around – we thought they were light coloured rocks at first! Seems weird having snow around on 25 degree days..hmm..)...they had closed the mountain to bikers, so we couldn't take our bikes up on the chairlift. Darn. I was all up for lazy uphills on a chairlift. We still found some trails lower down though (Scout Camp loop – fun apart from the 20 down trees we had to clamber over), so we had our cheap entertainment sorted :-)
Then back to reality and checked out of our luxurious hotel (bye bye bathtub and fridge) and back in to sleeping in Alby. Drove east to a free camping spot in Red Canyon State Park. Neat spot with just a table, and fire ring. And the biggest ants ever - perhaps the size of my little fingernails? Checked out a trail which was recommended to us by our newfound friends in San Fran – Thunder Mountain. AWESOME track. Has to be my fave so far. Weaved its way in and out of these red rock formations called 'hoodoos'. Fast and flowy and rocky, and a little technical in places. Brent got maybe his 6th flat tyre of the trip? What the!! (tres rocky - not good for his lightweight, fast tyres)
OK, off again – to Bryce National Park – just a stone's throw from where we were the night before. Had heard great things about this park, so was bubbling with anticipation ! Went for a walk today through the Bryce Amphitheatre. It really is quite an odd place, and unlike anything that either of us have seen before. Red rock spires, arches, 'fins' and hoodoos. Got away from the tourist track by trying to scramble up one of the many 'canyons' but got a bit out of my scrambling comfort zone,
and had to backtrack. No injuries on this trip please!4th July today so we're celebrating Independence Day. Rodeo tonight at Bryce township, and fireworks later on. Might even have ourselves a few beers. I seem to get lightheaded after 1 beer at the moment. I swear it's the altitude!! Haha.
Thinking we will leave our campground tomorrow and head east – not sure where yet (we tend to make it up as we go along). Then hopefully Moab not long after that. Be in touch again soon! Ta-ta for now.
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