June 2008 Issue - Cycling Utah

22 cycling utah.com JUNE 2008TouringBike Touring in Southern UtahAbove: Lou traveling on route 12 in Red Canyon (west of Bryce). Ridingon the road on this part of route 12 is illegal as bikes must use the biketrail. At this time of the year there was snow on the bike trail .Right: Lou on state road 62 north of Koosharem with Fishlake NationalForest in the background. Photos: Julie MeliniBy Lou MeliniA few people that have read mybike touring articles have asked ifJulie and I stop for other activitiesduring our tours. Our recent tourshave averaged 70 miles/day so perhapsthis conjures up thoughts oflong days in the saddle with littletime to “smell the roses”. My usualresponse is “being on a bike issmelling the roses”. Our most recentbike tour was in reality a “hiking”vacation in Southern Utah. Wesimply used our bikes to transportourselves to the various venues tohike. Our bike days ranged from 19miles to 55 miles. We rode a total of333 miles. In addition we hiked for36 miles at 4 different places alongour bike route.The route I chose was a loop,primarily involving Highway 12,described as one of the 10 mostscenic highways in the UnitedStates. I had ridden this sectionas part of a commercial bike touracross Southern Utah in 2004. I wasunable to stop and hike the numerousNational and State Parks alongthe route during that tour in order tostay with the group. I thought thatthis section would make for a greatself-supported bike tour that wouldallow me to take time for hiking.My first task was to find a placeto leave our car for the 9-10 daytrip. I received a positive yes fromthe Wayne Co. Sheriff’s Departmenton my first call. So the trip startedin Loa.Day one was simply a 27-mileride into Capitol Reef National park,most of it downhill. We carried inenough food for 2 days, as we werenot sure how long we would staythere. We had such a good time, wedecided to spend the entire 2nd dayat Capitol Reef hiking and tryingto avoid sunburn. That is the natureof bike touring, be flexible, and beprepared for a variety of options thatare presented to you. On day 3 weplanned on riding to Boulder, withhopes of riding all the way to CalfCreek.I had warned my wife thatBoulder Mountain was a summitthat deserved respect. It is not aclimb for the uninitiated bike rider.It is challenging. It is a beast of aclimb with a grade that rises forapproximately 8% for perhaps 8miles. She ignored my warnings.The ride started pleasantly, thoughuphill out of Capitol Reef. We thenrode through a scenic valley for acouple of hours to the base of thereal climbing. Within 2 miles of theclimb I had to strap Julie’s frontpanniers to my rear rack. There wereseveral “false summits” along thescenic climb. She rejoiced upon seeingthe summit sign, and graciouslyaccepted the reason for her struggle:“Summit 9400 ft.”. Needless to say,we pulled into Boulder ready to staythere. The only campground “open”was a primitive campground 6 milesdown the Burr Trail. The only “grocery”store consisted of a one-aislestand of food at in-town gas station.Perfect!We left on this tour on March24th and finished on April 1st. Ishould have scheduled this trip forlate April or September, not only forpotentially better weather but alsofor a larger selection of services. Inaddition, my wife could ignore mynagging about Boulder Mountain forone more month. However, all ofthe commercial campgrounds wereclosed in Boulder, 1 of the 2 campgroundsin Torrey was closed and 2of the 3 campgrounds in Panguitchwere closed. Red Canyon campgroundwas also closed. Fortunatelyfor us, the weather for late Marchwas great for camping, biking, andhiking.We picked up a few provisionsfor dinner at a gas station/natural food store on the way outof Boulder. My wife thoroughlyenjoyed the views along the scenicbut narrow Highway 12 en route toCalf Creek. Traffic was very lightgiven the time of the year, whichallowed us to enjoy the scenery andnot worry about rubber neckingtourists in big RV’s. After arrival atCalf Creek we spent the afternoonhiking to the Lower Falls.Calf Creek has limited camping.We obtained one of the last few sitesavailable upon arrival in the earlyafternoon. We were given assuranceby the campground host, if theregular campsites were full, thattouring cyclists would be accommodatedin the overflow picnic area.He was speaking for himself, andnot for future hosts. In our limitedtouring experiences totaling nearly 2months during the past 3 years, Julieand I have only had one privatecampground hint of turning us awaybefore offering a spot in the “overflow”area.Day 5 had us climb out of CalfCreek and ride over several falsesummits before the long descent intoEscalante for breakfast. We try totake advantage of cafés if they areavailable ≈15 miles from camp orsooner depending on the weather.Most days we simply cook oatmealor make omelets on our campstove. We also were “thrilled” toshop in a real grocery store while inEscalante. Despite another 35 milesto reach our next campground wedecided to load up on provisionsnot knowing what groceries wereavailable in Cannonville. Escalanteseemed like a town that knows howto treat and appreciate guests. Thewaitress at the café as well as thegrocery clerk was outstandinglyfriendly.We spent 2 nights at the KOAin Cannonville, a short 10-mile rideto Kodachrome State Park. Hotshowers, Laundromat and a smallpavilion next to our campsite withstove top burners for our use madethis place luxurious. We spent day6 visiting Kodachrome State Park.Ranger Mike was most helpful withour planned day of hiking in thepark. Near Bryce National Park,Kodachrome is a gem for those notwanting to deal with the crowdsof Bryce, or for those in want ofwarmer temperatures. It turned outthat Kodachrome also had showersand would have been a scenic campingarea.Be warned that the loop thatwe rode is not flat. The BoulderMountain summit is the highest, butyou will encounter two summits of7600 ft., and two at 8300 ft. This ishigh desert country. Escalante andCapitol Reef National Park are thelow spots at 5300’ and 5500’ respectively.The ride out of Cannonvilleto Bryce on day 7 was one of theseclimbs. Before the steep sectionwe stopped at a pullout that said“Mossy Cave - 0.4 miles”. Wewould have missed this in a car. Theshort hike featured a small cave withice stalactites spanning the cave. Wepassed Bryce and moved onto RedCanyon for some hiking and shelterfrom a cold wind. We spent thenight in Panquitch, aided the last 7miles by a strong tailwind.We camped at the only campgroundopen in Panguitch, foundout that on Sunday the only grocerystore is closed and then ran out ofluck with the weather as a snow/sleet storm blew in shortly aftersetting up our tent. Fortunately anearby Subway and a café helpedwith our food needs. The nightwas tolerable but I had to wrap myarm warmers around my glovesfor added protection as we exitedPanquitch the next morning.The day finally warmed up whenwe turned onto route 62 for OtterCreek State Park. We nearly had theflat valley road to ourselves. OtterCreek State Park exists because ofa large reservoir for fishing. Likemost of the government run campgrounds,one needs to put cash ina pay envelope, though CapitolReef would accept checks. Alsoone needs to remember to have $1bills handy, as the fees for our variouscampgrounds were $4, $7, $10and $16. The $16 state park feesdid include showers. That night thetemperature plunged. We woke up tofind everything frozen, including ourliquid soap. As I was heating waterfor breakfast, our stove clogged. Ihad brought a second stove along onthis trip, the first time I have donethis, so not a problem. I easily fixedthe clogged stove later, but I wasnot interested in doing it in the subfreezingtemperatures. The sky wasclear and within an hour we werepeeling off layers of clothes.We had another pleasant valleyride with little elevation gainon route 22. We again nearly hadthe road to ourselves save for one