September 6, 2023
Marble Canyon (AZ) to Hilldale (UT)
The Kaibab
Updates have been delayed due to long days and spotty call service. Below is the entry from 9/6/23.
Last evening(9/5/23), I stepped off the stoop from my room and turned my ankle. A shot of pain went through me and I hobbled to the chair to get off my feet. A sick feeling hit me as thoughts of having ruined my trip flooded my mind.
I decided to walk around to see how badly injured it might have been. So I walked (hobbled) over to trading post and then to the convenience store before returning to my room. By the time I got back, the ankle had loosened up and it felt pretty good. My greatest fears were allayed, thankfully. As the evening wore on, it stiffend-up a bit. This morning, the stiffness and a little pain are there but I am sure I can ride.
So, I set off from Marble Canyon with the Vermilion Cliffs illuminated by the recently risen sun. The early start proved to be crucial to finishing this long day. The majestic cliffs stayed on my right for the entire 28 miles to the base of the Kaibab Plateau.
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Making time was not as effortless during the first part of today because the road was constantly climbing. At times it was like a rail trail, riding to a tunnel, with grades from 2-4%. At other times, the long grades were more challenging. My goal was to get up and over the plateau and to Fredonia. Once there, if I was feeling alright, I might go further.
Along the way to the plateau, I took some photos of a cliff dwelling area and talked briefly with a rancher. He was going to drag the gravel road leading back to his property, 11 miles away. The road had been damaged by all of the recent rain in the area. He told me there is a Buffalo ranch 22 miles back on that same gravel road. He also said that 89A is scary because the shoulders are minimal. He’s right.
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When I finally made it to the plateau, the real climbing began and went on for 13 miles. Shoulders were not usable even if they did exist. Speeding traffic was intermittent becoming more frequent as the day wore on. Most gave me room but there are always a few who make it “interesting.”
I came around a curve and saw a couple of highway workers patching potholes. Then I noticed a group of vehicles coming up fast from behind. They ignored my signals to slow down. The two workers hurriedly trotted off to the side of the road with their shovels as the motorists bore down on them.
When I reached them we had a brief debriefing. One fellow said, “they don’t know how to slow down.” It’s true and made all the more of a problem due to the narrow winding road and the size of some of the vehicles. The road surface can be poor in some spots as well. The area is so scenic that you would think people would want to slow down and actually see it. I guess not.
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Eventually, I made it to the top where AZ-67 goes left and to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The area is called Jacob Lake and it has a cafe. I went in and ended up taking a 90-minute break. This was at the 40-mile mark, after all that climbing, and I was hungry. The food was good, as was the service. Chatting with two fellows adjacent to me enhanced the stop. One of them had hiked there from Cedar City, Utah. It had taken him 9 days to get this far. The other fellow was a birder who came from Idaho. He was doing some birdwatching and camping way back on some Forest Service roads.
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After achieving satiety, I got back on the bike and hopefully headed downhill. Initially, I went down at first, but the plateau isn’t exactly flat on top. It rolls up and down for a few miles before the big drop.
The plateau is considered to be a sky island. This is a term for elevated land with nothing of similar elevation attached to it. The Kaibab rises out of the desert floor, reaching an elevation of nearly 8000 feet. As such it can trap more moisture than the desert floor below. There is much more greenery on the plateau than can be found in the desert. It’s cooler up there also.
When the big downhill came, I rolled along nicely to Fredonia, arriving at approximately 5:00 pm. There was less traffic but 89-A became very rough for significant stretches during the descent. At one point, the whole road was like a giant rumble strip. I couldn’t find a smooth spot. It seems to me that since this road has to accommodate so many people coming to see the Grand Canyon, it should be in better repair and the shoulders be widened for safety.
At Fredonia, I took a short break, still felt pretty good, and then decided to take on the 34-mile ride to the border with Utah. It would turn out to be a "race" against the setting sun. The road to get there, AZ-389, was in much better condition than was US-89A. It was smoother and had much better shoulders. It also had speeding traffic… not all the time but frequently enough to not allow for complacency.
The Lion’s share of the road passes through the Kaibab-Paiute Indian Reservation. For most of that distance, there were very few signs of civilization. Wherever they are, the reservation inhabitants are well hidden.
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The sun started to set and I still had some ground to cover. Thankfully we have good lighting options for our bikes today. Mine were switched on. Traffic had lessened but the flickering of high beams let me know they all saw me. The temperatures started to cool also, which was nice because that sun at 6:00 pm was very hot. With my lights, I could see the road ahead very well.
I made it to Colorado City, Arizona in the dark. From there it was about 3.5 miles on city streets to my lodging in Hilldale, Utah. These are sister cities separated unceremoniously by a cross street called Uzona Avenue. I made it to Utah!
I checked into a small hotel, took care of a few chores, got cleaned up, and then slept like a log.
Today's ride: 104 miles (167 km)
Total: 282 miles (454 km)
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