Day 2: Hurricane to Colorado City

May 9, 2022

I got on the road at 8:30, knowing this will be a long day. It's uphill nearly all day, and I plan to do a canyon hike.

First I stopped at Pioneer Park to see it in more flattering morning light.

Pioneer Monument in Pioneer Park in Hurricane.

Then I turned onto UT 59 and started climbing steeply. The first 500 feet of climbing is 6 percent grade. About halfway up that pitch I stopped to look down on Hurricane and La Verkin. The auto junkyard is barely visible from below but it really stands out when viewed from above.

Looking down on Hurricane (left), La Verkin (right) and the Virgin river canyon that separates them.

Riding on UT 59 is not a pleasant experience. Continuous uphill. Heavy traffic. With a narrow rumble stripped shoulder that typically has 8 inches (20 cm) of pavement to the right of the rumble strip. Riding to the left of the rumble strip was not practical because of the nearly constant traffic. I suppose staying in the 8 inch wide "lane" would be even more difficult when going downhill instead of uphill at 4-5 mph.

To my left (east) are imposing cliffs, but the colors didn't really show up until afternoon.

I stopped at a park in the large unincorporated community of Apple Valley. The community does not have a staffed post office. Instead they have a shelter in the park that houses hundreds of PO Boxes. I had never before seen so many outdoor PO Boxes in one place.

Hundreds of PO boxes in an alcove in a park.

Main street in the middle of nowhere. 3 miles north of Hilldale.

The photo below shows the 8 inch rideable shoulder but doesn't show the typical nonstop traffic. I would characterize UT 59 as the only unsafe road of this tour.

UT 59 approaching Hilldale/Colorado City.

On the edge of Hilldale I turned left to Water Canyon, climbing much higher than the highway. Happy to escape the traffic and rumble strip of UT 59.

The last 2 miles of Water Canyon road is unpaved. It's continuous uphill but the grade isn't super steep. But I was already tired from climbing all day on UT 59.

Water Canyon is a popular "glamping" area. Glamping seems to be popular in Mormon country.

I suspect that some glampsites are fancier than this.

Water Canyon road climbing to Water Canyon.

The climbing continued after I parked the bike and began hiking the Water Canyon trail. A bit more than a mile from the trailhead to the beginning of the slot canyon, climbing 500 feet.

The best part of the trail is near my turnaround point, as the canyon keeps getting narrower and narrower. Eventually it gets so narrow that significant climbing is required to continue. I could do it, but don't have the energy for it now and don't want to get hurt by climbing while exhausted. Other people were climbing through the narrows, but they didn't pedal here from Hurricane.

My turnaround point, where the slot canyon begins.

The descent to Colorado City was fun and scenic. On the trail and on the 2 mile gravel road.

Leaving Water Canyon at nearly 6000 feet elevation.

Water Canyon road descending to Colorado City.

Water Canyon road took me back to Hilldale, Utah where I turned south on Hilldale road towards Colorado City, Arizona. There is no state line sign on this back road.

I wonder how many wives and children live in this house?

Tonight's destination is Zion's Backyard Bed and Breakfast in the famous polygamist community of Colorado City, Arizona. It was a good place for polygamists to hide from Utah authorities, just across the line in a remote corner of Arizona that was pretty much inaccessible to Arizona authorities on the opposite side of the Grand Canyon.

For dinner I pedaled to the brewery in downtown Colorado City. A few years ago this town had guards preventing outsiders from driving on their streets. Now they want to attract tourists. The polygamist community is collapsing now that their prophet Warren Jeffs is in prison, convicted of sex-trafficking teenage wives. Colorado City is reverting to a regular Mormon town. There's even a tourism campaign promoting the area as "Uzona". To me the name is even less appealing than "Florabama".

In my room is this National Geographic magazine about the Colorado City polygamist community.

Twilight at Zion's Backyard Bed and Breakfast.

Today had a high of 68F. Not bad when going uphill all day. Colorado City is 4977 feet elevation, 2200 feet higher than St. George. Definitely high desert. The wind was steady from the west, but not as strong as yesterday. No blowing sand.

The B&B proprietor really wanted to talk but I was too tired for a long conversation. Overall I felt decent. That's good because tomorrow also has a lot of climbing.

I forgot to charge my flashers because the bike was parked outside.

Distance: 35.1 mi. (56 km)
Average Speed: 7.3 mph
Ascent/Descent: +2390/-729 ft. (+729/-222 m)
Miles 31-63 on the route map
Hiking: 2.5 mi. (4 km)

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 75 miles (121 km)

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Scott AndersonI agree, Uzona sounds like a ridiculous name.

This is all so different when I biked this road 35 years ago. It makes me a bit sad, really. There’s no mention of traffic in my journal, and I remember the climb out of Hurricane being on a nearly empty road. And it’s startling to hear that you can go out for a beer in Colorado City now.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauYour trip is off to a great start. Man, that is some incredible cycling scenery and the hike into the slot canyon was a big bonus.

P.S. I have a feeling that every time I see the word "hurricane" in the future, I'm going to be thinking "hurra-ken." That's what happened to me after biking through Cairo, IL. Now I think of the ancient Egyptian city as "Cay-ro."
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2 years ago