Bryce and Zion – Day 2

Bryce-Zion Day 2, September 6th – Snow Canyon Park

Our 2 hour drive yesterday from Las Vegas to St. George, Utah took us through the very northwest corner of Arizona. St. George reminds me of Sedona, Arizona, and is evidently quickly growing in population. It has been discovered. 

This part of Utah makes up the southwest corner of the Colorado plateau covering an area of 130,000 square miles and encompasses western Colorado, northeastern New Mexico, southern Utah, and northern Arizona. It has the highest concentration of National Park Service sites, other than Washington D.C., including the Grande Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, and Petrified Forest. It was created with the same geological movements as the Rocky Mountain range, but because this block of rock was so large and stable, it did not fracture like the Rocky Mountain range. Hence, this resulted in a high plateau ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 feet. Because of faults in the rock, a series of “stairs” were created, with Bryce Canyon as the highest, Zion as the second, and Grand Canyon the lowest. Created somewhere between 15 to 60 million years ago, it is made up mostly of high desert.  (Yes, the age is evidently hotly debated among geologists), The Colorado River, which carved the Grand Canyon, started its work 6 million years ago.

While having coffee at dawn on my terrace this morning, I had about a hundred bats flying around me. Oddly, watching the bats flutter and zip around me during their communal breakfast was soothing as I soaked in the brightening eastern sky over the red rock mountain. Later that morning, Pete and I had a wonderful breakfast with the sun rising over the golf driving range and a beautiful red ridge. We then met our Backroads leaders and fellow travelers, who numbered 18, and are from California, Utah, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia (Smithfield), North Carolina, and Florida.

We started our late morning 21 mile ride at an elevation of 4,000 feet and had some uphill, but mostly downhill, and ended at just under 3,000 feet. The scenery during the last 4 miles though Snow Canyon Park was stunning. During a picnic lunch that included your choice of some local beers, we introduced ourselves.

After lunch, Some of us, including me, were foolish enough to bike 8.5 miles in record setting heat, with the temperature teaching 110 degrees by the end of our ride. By the way, 110 degrees today is a record for St. George. Although the ride was only 8.5 miles, some people did not finish because of the heat. Although I too became overheated, I managed to get my body temperature down quickly With a cold shower when I got to my room. The ride was flat though beautiful lava flows. After resting in our rooms and enjoying the resort amenities, we will have dinner this evening in St George.

We ended the night with a five course meal that included cheese and fruit, pita and homemade hummus, a Green leaf-beet-nut-date salad, and a milk curry chicken dish served with seared Brussels sprouts and mushrooms. We were even entertained by a roadrunner running atop the walls surrounding our outside seating area. I will include that photo tomorrow. Yes, and it was 98 degrees at 9:15 pm on our way home after dinner! Supposedly, when we shuttle to the top of Bryce Canyon tomorrow, it will be less than 50 degrees when we start our rides.

Cheers!