Day 11: Woo hooo!

June 22, 2013

Todays the day I imagined when I thought of Aimless.

After a 6:00am start I made it to Dead Horse state park early in the day. When I rolled up to the visitors center the view was spectacular, overlooking the canyon down to the Colorado River.

After a nice rest on the deck, and a snack of two bananas and an ice cream cone, I set off for my campsite. Despite Stink-Eye's warning to me that the campsites were all booked (and that "there are no showers, you know!!") I managed to get a cancelation in space 17. This campground is fabulous, btw, but I will get to that in a minute...

I had originally planned to try and get to Canyonlands National Park, but it would have had to be this afternoon or tomorrow morning, which means a LOT of riding or hitching a ride or something. But when i got here it was so nice I decided to stay, and skip Canyonlands. This will have to be my Canyonland experience, and that is just fine with me.

The state park is on a peninsula overlooking the Colorado river canyon. It got its name from cowboys who would herd horses to the point and coral them inside. Except that one time horses got in and the cowboys didn't let them out so the horses all died of thirst. Maybe the cowboys didn't know they were there, I don't know, but its sad, and they seem like assholes to me for doing that, the cowboys, not the horses.

But as I was saying, this place is beautiful, and just the kind of place where i can hike, or sit and read a book, or listen...

When its quiet in the desert, with no man-made noise, the sounds are amazing. There is nothing like a gentle wind rushing through junipers, with the occasional sounds of birds singing in the background. There seems to be a bird that lives in the tree next to my campsite. He (or she) is gray with a soft plume of feathers that come to a point on the top of his head. Elsewhere on my site, I have seen lizards with the longest tails I have ever seen, for their body size, investigating The Trucker, and/or making improvements on their homes in the sand. I love it, and could listen and watch it all day.

Dead Horse Overlook is fabulous, and I plan to go back after dinner in the evening, before and at sunset. There are other overlooks to hike to, remote places with no human noises. And my campsite is excellent; quiet, private, with a shaded table, and even little cabinets to store my gear, and flush toilets! Earlier I rode around to site see, did a hike, took a nap and read some of Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. As a bonus, i stocked up on food yesterday, after falling short on calories in Arches NP. I'm set. And the best is yet to come...sunset in the canyon!

P.S. You might be thinking, Karen is an idiot, why doesn't she just ride to Canyonlands NP on Sunday, or Monday?. And I can't fault you for thinking that, it is logical, me being and idiot. Except I cant. I have plans on Sunday. What plans, you ask? Well, you will just have to wait and see for yourself. Those of you who are on my Death Ray might be able to figure it out, based on the geography, but the rest of you will just have to wait for the movie to come out, or in lew thereof, the journal update. In the mean time, it may be a little while before my next entry.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it is time to make a cup of tea, and listen to the birds and trees...

See. Look at this campground shelving system! Just what a touring cyclist needs.

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 490 miles (789 km)

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