Day 31: Dixie National Forest to Capitol Reef National Park

May 29, 2010

It got down to 44F in the tent overnight. I got up at 8 when the sun hit the tent. But even then it was cold and windy at the campsite. I got on the road at 9:45, continuing the climb. It turned out that the gate I went through was the last gate before forest begins. But the slope is extremely steep with no decent place to camp for the next couple miles of steep climbing. The road climbs through pine forest for a while, then climbs into a more open area with meadows, pines, and aspens. It's May 29 and most of the aspens still haven't budded yet! There is a good view to the south while climbing to the summit.

Climbing in Dixie National Forest. Aspen trees haven't visibly budded yet.

Looking to the south towards the Escalante river and Colorado river. Navajo mountain in the distance.

The highest point on my route in Utah. Maps say it's 9800 feet.

I arrived at the summit at 1 PM and stopped for a long time to rest and enjoy the view. The sun was shining but I stayed bundled up because of the wind. Matt arrived at the summit a few minutes after me. I assumed he was ahead of me by now.

After the summit is a very long descent with a few small climbs thrown in. The views to the east are excellent in the afternoon sun. To the east I could see Waterpocket Fold, the large escarpment that is the main feature of Capitol Reef National Park. Behind that is the Henry mountains. Interestingly, the Aspens were starting to bud on the north slope of the mountain.

Looking down to the southeast at the Waterpocket Fold.

I was surprised to see a large creek so high in the mountains.

The descent made the usual progression from aspen/pine to juniper/pinyon, and eventually to sagebrush during the final descent to Torrey. Torrey is a small farming and tourist town. I stopped there for a very late lunch.

At Torrey I turned right on highway 24 east, towards Capitol Reef National Park. The road climbs for a few hundred feet, then has a long descent to Capitol Reef. It looked great in the afternoon sun.

Approaching Capitol Reef National Park on highway 24 east of Torrey.

Inside the park the road hugs the southwest side of the giant escarpment, past several interesting and colorful rock formations.

I turned onto the park road to the Fruita campground. The road follows the Frement river through a lush canyon. I arrived at the campground at 4:15 PM and wasn't surprised that the campground was already full. It's the Memorial day weekend now. I had a conversation with the ranger at the campground, explaining that this is on a popular cross-country bike route, and that there SHOULD be a hiker/biker campsite. He said that the walk-in camping area is the hiker/biker site. I explained to him that a hiker/biker site would NOT have a parking lot with a reserved (car) parking space for every campsite, and it would NOT be filled by motorists early in the day, long before cyclists arrive. He was one of several rangers that I spoke to during this tour who didn't understand what a hiker/biker site is, and why it is important to a cyclist.

I managed to share a campsite in the walk-in camping area. It was a warm pleasant evening at 5500 feet elevation. Much warmer than last night, and much warmer than at the 9800 foot summit. The campground had a large number of noisy children. Until now there have been almost no children at the campgrounds. I'll have to get used to it...

In the evening I went to a "ranger talk" by an Indiana University astronomer who showed a slideshow of images from the Hubble space telescope.

Today was an easy day of cycling. The scenery was awesome and had great variety ranging from high alpine to desert canyon. High temperature of 80F at the campground, but much cooler for most of the day.

Distance: 46.9 mi. (75 km)

Climbing: 3088 ft. (935 m)

Average Speed: 9.9 mph (15.8 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 35 mph (56 km/h)

Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 1,407 miles (2,264 km)

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