Noah felt that I didn’t properly describe the misery of the climb out of Flaming Gorge a few days back.  It was a long slog up the hills, the wind was in our face for much of the day, and it was probably the worst 38 mile stretch of the trip.  It was pretty bad, but we did it.  Once a climb/windy stretch/lousy day is completed, I tend to think “Well, that was miserable but it’s over and I don’t have to do that again.”  Noah tends to take the “Biking is stupid.  I’m going to send my bike home and by a plane/train/bus ticket when we get to town.  This trip is dumb.  Why would anyone do this?” approach.  Both are reasonable views.  Both views are made better with a hot cup of coffee and a cheeseburger.

We spent that night in an open field that was not quite BLM land.  As we lay in our tents after settling in for the night, a strong stench of propane wafted across the field.  Great.  Then there was a crazy lightning show with wind and rain.  Great.  In the middle of the night, a truck drove up to our tents and the driver revved his engine a bunch.  Great.  In the morning we were strangely relieved to be alive.  Lest our parents worry too much, at no point were we in danger; it was just a string of unsettling events.

Just before sunrise.

The next day we biked into Colorado.  We had burgers in the lovely town of Dinosaur.  It took us 4000 miles, but we finally found the perfect burgers.

One pound of beef and onion rings to boot.

The next day was the windiest day of the trip yet.  The day began with a long climb up Douglas Pass into a strong breeze that hurled sand and small stones at us.  There’s nothing like being hit with projectiles to make a bad day worse.  After clearing the pass and descending down and down and down out of the mountains, we ended up camping on a hilltop in the desert, close to the Utah-Colorado border.  It was the nicest campsite of the trip and a good way to end the day.

A beautiful hilltop in the desert.

Yesterday we woke up and pedaled along the Colorado River, down into the canyon, and on to Moab.  A truly beautiful day.

The Colorado River.

Down into the canyon.

We’re in the desert.

Now we’re heading into Arches National Park for some hiking and camping.

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