Oof…yesterday was a tough one. We got on the road at around 5 am to beat the heat and watch the spectacular sunrise over the rock formations. The night before, it probably only got down to like 75 degrees. We had an awesome ride in the (relatively) cool morning air, a great second breakfast 15 miles in (they make a killer breakfast burrito in Cliff Dwellers, AZ), and discovered that the little tunnels under the road for washes make great spots to take a cool break. But we were pretty much climbing the whole day. The first 2000 feet were fine. The next thousand was didn’t seem bad because of the amazing views from the switchbacks. it was really the last two thousand ferry of climbing that did us in. that’s right, we went from 3100 feet to 7900 yesterday. It took us about 12 hours. Thankfully, the air got cooler as we climbed, transitioning from barren rock, to spotty cactus, to scrubs, to juniper pine, and ending in a ponderosa pine forest. Also thankfully, there is a resort lodge restaurant across the street from the campground. Overall, a beautiful day of riding, but pretty challenging.
Today, we head back down the hill and into Utah!