Another day that breaks nicely into equal segments - 17 miles out to Rainbow Point at the southern end of the park; 17 miles back to the lodge, where we'll break for lunch; and then 17 miles to Cannonville, over two thousand feet below. We have another beautiful day, weatherwise. The winds are expected to pick up significantly in the afternoon, but they'll be in our favor.
Rainbow Point, at 9,100' elevation, is a bit over a thousand feet higher than the lodge. For no sensible reason I'd pictured the morning as a gradual climb out and a leisurely coast back. My only real concern was whether the altitude would still affect us (it does, a bit, but nor really badly - we seem to be pretty well acclimatized by now). The ride isn't really like this though - it has enough rollers along the way that we climbed 1700' on the way out and another 700' on the return.
It certainly is a beautiful ride though, passing through beautiful meadows and pine forests, with red limestone cliffs ahead urging you on. Every few miles you come to a pullout to stop and admire another stunning viewpoint, and chat with someone who can't quite believe we got here on a bicycle. Traffic was quite light when we started, a bit heavier on the return, but unvaryingly considerate.
The Bryce Canyon Lodge has an interesting history. It was designed by Gilbert Underwood and built in 1925 under commission by Union Pacific Railroad. They commissioned other great lodges - Grand Canyon, Zion, Cedar Breaks - to encourage tourism in the southwest. This is the only one of Underwood's park lodges to avoid fire damage and survive intact.
I have Rachael to thank for this, for spotting this pronghorn lazily grazing near the road. This is the first time I've seen one close enough (and not high tailing it) to get a good portrait. Really an elegant animal.
We took our time on the ride out to Rainbow Point, pulling off at several vista points to admire the views. This is the natural bridge in the canyon below Fairview Point.
On the final ascent to Rainbow Point. We were glad to reach the end. We've been rolling up and down at around 8,800' for the last five miles, seeming like we were nearing the top and then sinking again.
The view across Bryce Canyon from its southern extreme, at Rainbow Point. Aquarius Plateau is far in the distance. This photo illustrates the scale of the park - compare this with the shot of Aquarius from Sunset Point in yesterday's entry.
The view east from Rainbow Point. I think the nearest green swath must be the Paria valley, and the green hills near Tropic that we'll bike past this afternoon.
Back on Highway 12 again, beginning the descent into the Paria valley. The next several miles are astonishing, as we whiz down an eight percent grade through the red limestone formations of Bryce and enter the valley. It is also much quieter on the road. We must have left 90 per cent of the traffic behind at the junction to Bryce.
Our timing for the morning was perfect. We made it back to the lodge just before two, locked up our bikes, put on clean shirts, and headed to the restaurant. We've planned this as our main meal for the day, because tiny Cannondale doesn't have a restaurant. The motel there has a convenience store, we were happy to realize this morning, but that's it. With a 17 mile coast ahead of us, we figure we can afford to eat a full meal for lunch and then roll downhill.
Lunch was great. We both had rainbow trout, and I took a chance and had a beer with lunch, assuming I'd stilll be able to steer straight afterwards. Who knows what we'll find at the store in Cannonville - a beer in hand is worth two in the bush.
After lunch we sit around outside the lodge in the shade for a bit, and finally bet rolling a bit before four. We follow the bike path back to the highway, and then turn east. Almost immediately, traffic dies down to a trickle - nearly everyone on the road has been heading to Bryce. Within a few hundred yards we come to an inflection point in the road and start dropping into the Paria Valley, descending through millions of years of sedimentary deposits in a mere minutes. It is an indescribable ride, zipping through the red Bryce limestones and below it into a gorgeous layer of grey/white sandstone that borders the valley.
We stop at a store in little Tropic, four miles from Cannonville, to pick up sandwiches for dinner. While Rachael is inside foraging for the team, I lazily stand guard watching the corral watching for any bike rustlers. No rustlers, but a grizzled older guy passes by and comments that he saw our bikes up at Bryce. We exchange pleasantries, and he passes by. He circles back, and I comment on the fine weather, and he agrees, and walks on. Eventually he circles by a third time, and plops down next to me. It feels like I passed some sort of tes, in a language I've never really understood.
We have quite an interesting conversation. He's a maintenance worker at the lodge, on a seasonal job. He filled me in on the history of the lodge, and then moved on to his former life on the road as a long haul trucker, and how much different life on the road was back in the day. He griped about last week's big snowstorm, which came the day we flew in - it spoiled his day off since he was trapped at the lodge.
Rachael comes out, we chat a bit more, and then roll off down the road. A few miles later we come to tiny Cannonville, our home for the night.
Approaching the small town of Tropic, which is just around the corner on the valley floor.
These beautiful greyish cliffs line the east side of the valley, just north of Tropic. They're a nice change after our visit to Bryce - we've been experiencing red overload.
These beautiful greyish cliffs line the east side of the valley, just north of Tropic. They're a nice change after our visit to Bryce - we've been experiencing red overload.
After checking in to our third floor room we left our bikes in a ground floor storage room and schlepped our gear upstairs. In the room, Rachael puzzled over where her second water bottle went and assumed she must have left it on the bike.
After our tasty feast of premade deli sandwiches and chips that we'd picked up in Tropic, we went outside again to see what the cliffs looked like at sundown. As soon as Rachael stepped foot into the quiet highway, she looked down, exclaimed 'Oh, here it is!', and picked up the missing water bottle. She must have dropped it when we unloaded, and left it behind to roll into the highway.
Elevation gain: today, 2700'; for the tour, 20,300'.
Highway 12 climbs out of the Paria valley on the route to Escalante, crossing a corner of the vast Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. This will be our route tomorrow. Looks fairly inviting.
