We got up and retraced our path a mile up to the top of the canyon, and had breakfast at Kiva Coffeehouse.
We took the Burr trail 80 miles through Escalante National Monument, Capital Reef National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and Lake Powell. The trail took us from the bottom of one red rock canyon to another, getting larger each time, and ultimately spilling out onto miles of flat sage brush.
We hit a gravel stretch that was very well maintained. Just as we were coming up on the back side of Capital Reef, we hit a sign that said 12% grade and aired down the tires. We then hit about 6 switchbacks and dropped about 800 feet in about a half a mile. The Burr trail was by far and away the best riding so far; far better than the main roads in the parks.
We hit a gravel stretch that was very well maintained. Just as we were coming up on the back side of Capital Reef, we hit a sign that said 12% grade and aired down the tires. We then hit about 6 switchbacks and dropped about 800 feet in about a half a mile. The Burr trail was by far and away the best riding so far; far better than the main roads in the parks.
We took the Burr trail 80 miles through Escalante National Monument, Capital Reef National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and Lake Powell. The trail took us from the bottom of one red rock canyon to another, getting larger each time, and ultimately spilling out onto miles of flat sage brush.
We hit a gravel stretch that was very well maintained. Just as we were coming up on the back side of Capital Reef, we hit a sign that said 12% grade and aired down the tires. We then hit about 6 switchbacks and dropped about 800 feet in about a half a mile. The Burr trail was by far and away the best riding so far; far better than the main roads in the parks.
We hit a gravel stretch that was very well maintained. Just as we were coming up on the back side of Capital Reef, we hit a sign that said 12% grade and aired down the tires. We then hit about 6 switchbacks and dropped about 800 feet in about a half a mile. The Burr trail was by far and away the best riding so far; far better than the main roads in the parks.
The mouth of the last canyon into Lake Powell was enormous, and we were no longer able to hide from the sun in the shade of cliffs. We stayed in Lake Powell for as short a time as we could manage, but our assessment of that area is that it is basically a hellish waterworld where everyone has to stay on boats to escape the heat. It is unbelievable that people choose to vacation there.
We didn't have much water or dinner-making materials, and we hadn't seen anything resembling civilization since the morning in Boulder, so we pointed ourselves towards the closest "town" on the map for a motel and dinner. Blanding, UT fit the bill. Another town largely set up around tourism, since it's located in the midst of lots of national parks, but Blanding, like many of the other towns in the area, doesn't offer much to the tourist other than lots of motels. Only two or three restaurants (always at least one of them a steakhouse).
We went to this steakhouse where Mike got a Navajo Taco. It sounds more interesting than it was: it was just standard taco filling (chili, beans, iceberg lettuce, onion, tomato) served on Navajo frybread.
We didn't have much water or dinner-making materials, and we hadn't seen anything resembling civilization since the morning in Boulder, so we pointed ourselves towards the closest "town" on the map for a motel and dinner. Blanding, UT fit the bill. Another town largely set up around tourism, since it's located in the midst of lots of national parks, but Blanding, like many of the other towns in the area, doesn't offer much to the tourist other than lots of motels. Only two or three restaurants (always at least one of them a steakhouse).
We went to this steakhouse where Mike got a Navajo Taco. It sounds more interesting than it was: it was just standard taco filling (chili, beans, iceberg lettuce, onion, tomato) served on Navajo frybread.