I'm Zion over these views!

October 19, 2021

Zion NP ride

Finally! A day with NO wind! But it was in the 30's when we got up. That was a bit nippy. So it didn't really warm up until nearly noon.

We decided to do our ride in Zion NP today so loaded up and drove to Springdale where we found a place to park along the highway. FYI - the town requires you to pay for parking even along this road. $15 for all day.

The bike path began near here and we took it through the busy town up to the walk-in access to the park. My senior access pass again paid for itself when we got in for free.

The trail continued a little further and then we had to get onto the road going up the canyon along the Virgin River. That wasn't a problem except for all of the shuttle buses.

The park requires cyclists to pull over and stop every time a bus passes "for safety reasons". It was quite annoying as it's hard work to get the tandem going again, especially when it was a slightly uphill.

There was plenty of room for the buses to go around us, but Don said it was probably safer with all of rental e-bikes on the road, many of which had newbie riders that didn't know how ride with traffic. Some were even wobbling all over the pavement. I still wish the park had just widened the road to have bike lanes!

The views in this canyon were just stunningly beautiful! Incredibly tall, majestic rock cliffs lined either side - all different shades of red and white.

The road followed the Virgin River as it wound gradually uphill. Some of the trees were just changing color and in a few weeks it would be even prettier with all the yellow leaves highlighting the rocks. We saw a few deer along with a flock of wild turkeys.

When we reached the end of the road, we took a break and watched the mass of tourists exiting the buses. We didn't do any hiking today as leaving our expensive tandem unattended would not be wise. Even locked, it could be a temptation. So we just enjoyed the area from the bike.

Don has wanted to take a helicopter ride into the park, but it was expensive and we would have had to share the cramped cabin with other people. With Covid right now, that didn't sound safe, even if we did all wear masks. Oh well, another year.

We took a helicopter ride in Bryce NP a few years ago. It was also pricey but we ended up having a private flight and saw some views of the canyons that were just incredible.

Back on the bike, we returned to the truck and headed back to camp.

By now it was nearly 5 pm and time for dinner. At least it was a lot warmer with NO wind!!

Enjoy the pics from Zion............

I spotted this 'love locks' ring near the entrance to Zion.

Garfield enjoyed the views as well today and appreciated not struggling with the wind!

I had noticed that most of the rental e-bikes had these pvc pipes installed on the back. But it wasn't until I saw these bikes that I realized what they were for: storing your hiking sticks while biking! These 2 bikes were extended out to allow a kid to sit on the back, and the poles were a long adult size and a shorter child's size.

Gobble, gobble. This flock of turkeys allowed me to walk right up on them to take this picture.

These monoliths were called the 'Court of the Patriarchs'. Quite majestic.

There was a lot of water in the Virgin River but notices warned you to stay out due to harmful algae.

In Springdale, one home owner had a young apple orchard.

Today's ride: 25 miles (40 km)
Total: 487 miles (784 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0