June 2, 2022
Onward to Zion!
Onward to Zion through winding, dusty, rocky, sandy dirt roads descending about 4,000 feet. Culminating in a ride through Zion National Park winding down to the entrance through towering rocks and petrified sand dunes.
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Our guides cooked breakfast again this morning. Today the menu included hash browns, scrambled eggs, toast and cinnamon rolls.
Our riding day started near Navajo Lake where we started our descent toward Zion National Park. The ride was on dirt country roads that wound around mountains, going ever lower. This dirty, rocky, sandy road took us down 3,400 feet in 15 miles.
We jumped in the van before the uphill climb started and shuttled to our lunch stop at Applecross Mountain Bike Trails.
Then we drove on into Zion marveling at the towering sandstone and red stone mountains. The sandstone mountains were originally the tallest sand dunes in the world and over time compressed into rock.
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After we went through the long tunnel, 1.9 miles (bikes aren’t allowed to ride through the tunnel), we pulled off the road and got on our bikes again to ride the last 6 miles through the park to our hotel in Springdale. The ride was amazing, gorgeous scenery everywhere you looked, smooth downhill riding, very few cars, and only two park busses to yield to.
Springdale is a little town sandwiched in between the towering rocky mountains. When walking through town, or eating outside, the mountains are always in view no matter where you look.
We had several wildlife sitings today. We almost got too up close and personal with a deer that ran out in front of the van. Fortunately our guide took evasive maneuvers and missed the deer but it was a close call. The most exciting siting was seeing a big horned sheep, we have been looking for one this whole trip. We also saw a horny toad, hawks circling us, a Marmot, a rattlesnake coiled in the road, and a deer in town grazing in a park.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_short-horned_lizard
2 years ago
Today's ride: 21 miles (34 km)
Total: 436 miles (702 km)
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