Northwestern Colorado, Utah and Idaho
45 miles West of Steamboat Springs I stopped in Craig, CO where Suzanne had connected me with the local paper for a duplicate article from Steamboat, but with new photos of me riding into Craig. After taking the pictures, I was introduced to Dave DeRosa who used to be the mayor of the little town and he bought me lunch. As I was about to head out of Craig and onto Maybell, an even tinier town 35 miles West where Suzanne had hooked me up with a family to stay with, I checked my voicemail and received a message from Lisa Balstad (my hostess) saying she and her husband worked in Craig and wouldn't be home until later so I should stick around and have dinner with them in Craig. With time to kill I went to a coffee shop till my host was able take me to dinner. After eating a spicy chicken sandwhich and spicy fries, I had to ride out of town at 6:30 for a two hour ride on a full stomach...mmmm. I actually beat the Balstad's back to their house because their daughter had horse riding lessons. After a much appreciated shower, I sat around the table with Lisa and Nate and their two young daughters talking about Niger, and my bike trip.
The next morning I packed and headed across the rest of Colorado and into Utah. It was a 90+ mile day and soon after Maybell, Northwestern Colorado turns into a very arid, desert like climate. A couple things that surprised me along my way was a random seagull, extremely far from any significant body of water flying around the desert as well as giant antelope that I did not know existed in this region of the world. I saw several females, but it was a huge male with stocky horns on the left side of the road who watched me approach, that really gave me a sense of awe. There are very few people around this area and when I got close he began bounding back into the field, but not before leaping over, with complete effortlessness, a tall barbed-wire fence. He bounded along a ridge keeping pace with me for a good quarter mile before stopping atop the highest point and watching me pedal on. This animal was solid muscle and pure beauty. It's a shame some undeserving person will probably have his head on their wall one day. I saw lots of cool rock and mountain formations in those 90 miles, but the extreme heat and flat tire I got made me only wish to be at the days end. I eventually made it to Vernal, UT where, again, Steamboat Springs folk had arranged a place for me to stay. I was hosted by a woman named Connie, who was very nice and quite unique. Her husband and daughters were in Salt Lake City for the night, and she had the most wild home. She took complete advantage of her land with gardens and fruit trees as well as run-off water catchment systems. But she also raised & showed rabbits. I blame ignorance, but I had no idea rabbits could be so big. She called them Flemmish Giants, and boy were they. They were bigger than her entire upper body. But I was just happy to have a shower, a nice dinner and a place to sleep.
My next day was a short distance (70+ miles) to an aptly named desert state park around a damned reservoir: Starvation State Park. When I got there all the camp sites had been taken, and I was getting a little worried. But as I cycled around looking for an open site, a man and woman with a camper approached me and asked if I needed a space. They had two sites, and were expecting their children to arrive that day, but when they heard it wouldn't be till tomorrow they offered me the free tent site. I was, yet again, appreciative and blown away by the kindness of strangers. My good luck continued in the morning, when as I was packing, a man from a different camper came over and asked about my trip. He and his family happened to be from Heber, UT, the city I was headed toward that night, and he offered me dinner and their back yard to camp in for the night. This was just awesome. I cycled all day, passing from desert climate to national forest and mountains again. It was another really hot day and the first 50 miles were really tough to stay hydrated. But I eventually made it to Heber and waited for the my hosts to return from their day at the lake. So I found a nice cafe with good food, good beer, and free internet and I rested. After a couple hours Doug and Hayley Smith and their three young blond daughters made it home and I cycled over to meet them. Once again, it was great to be able to shower and have a home cooked meal. When planning this trip, I never expected to be so lucky so many times when it came to sheltering and feeding myself. I showed the family my website and pictures from Niger, telling them stories from my time in the Peace Corps. The little girls were totally cute and interested, especially when I showed them photos of the children over in West Africa.
From Heber, I made my way to Salt Lake City, which was only 45 miles away. So,that afternoon I stopped for several hours in Park City, UT, a beautiful little ski town in the mountains. There was a neat little art and farmers market going on in the streets with booths and tons of people. So I walked around checking out the area, had some lunch, and eventually made it to a coffee shop where I waited around to hear from my Peace Corps friend, Alison Walls, who lived in Salt Lake City. After getting in touch with Alison I got back onto the bike and back out onto the road. I had been told it was legal to bicycle on the interstate in Utah, and it cut twenty miles off my days ride so I decided to follow I-80 into Salt Lake City (SLC). After a short climb there was around a 15 mile decent through a canyon into SLC which was a pretty hairy ride. Struggling to keep myself down around 30 mph I also had to dodge tons of gravel and debris from the 18-wheelers. I turned my music up and had fun the whole way down. Somehow, miraculously, I didn't get a flat tire or wipe out, and safely pedaled into Alison's neighborhood. I spent four or five days in SLC resting and relaxing. I was able to speak to two Rotary clubs in town and was shown a great reception by the Rotarians, especially the Sugar House Rotary club. Alison and her friend took me on an awesome hike up to a glacial lake in the mountains and up to a ridge above the lake that overlooked the entire valley on the backside all the way back to Park City where I had just cycled from earlier that week. It was a great view, especially seeing where I had come from. On the hike we also walked right past a momma moose with her baby moose and they were only 15 feet from us. It was both scary and exhilarating at the same time. Moose are a lot larger than one would think. Usually I only see their heads on walls. It was good to catch up with Alison and retell each other a bunch of our memories from Niger. I definitely needed a rest after crossing half of Colorado and most of Utah in a week.
Leaving SLC, I went 82 miles up to Logan, UT through mostly urban settings. With a little extra money in my pocket from the Rotary club meetings in SLC, and a lack of camping sites in a city I decided to get myself a cheap Super 8 motel room, especially cause I was sleeping on the floor in Alison's apartment and I hadn't had a bed in a while. Unfortunately, I slept terribly that night. Montpelier, Idaho was my next destination, 74 miles away and through some mountains. Half the day was completely still and the sun beamed down harshly, and the other half, once into the mountains climbing slowly and very sweaty, was cold and windy straight into my face. It was a tough day, and when I arrived in Montpelier one of the first things I saw was a really low budget looking motel. I told the lady my story and she knocked the price way down so I accepted and got another room. This night, I slept like a baby. I left Idaho the next morning and made my way into Wyoming. Through one of the canyons entering Wyoming I had to stop and take a couple pictures of something I didn't quite understand, but was excited to see. With steep hills on each side of the road and very little space there was a couple hundred head of sheep being herded by either two native Americans or Hispanics, I couldn't tell. But what really made me smile, was the fluffy sheep dog on the shoulder of the highway keeping all the flock off the road while the trucks sped by. This dog was completely unfrightened by the passing cars and casually walked the herd's line keeping them back. Once through the canyons I came into the Star Valley which was truly beautiful. High, green mountains on both sides of a wide expanse of farm lands made for a gorgeous afternoon ride. I stopped in Afton for a little diner lunch and got to see a very impressive "elkhorn arch" that stretches over the main street. It's made of over 3,000 elk antlers and weighs over 15 tons. Craziness. I finished out the day up in Alpine, WY, 81 miles later. I found a campsite behind a biker bar and set up my tent. Jackson, WY (a.k.a. Jackson Hole) was my next destination and a mere 36 miles away.
The next morning I packed and headed across the rest of Colorado and into Utah. It was a 90+ mile day and soon after Maybell, Northwestern Colorado turns into a very arid, desert like climate. A couple things that surprised me along my way was a random seagull, extremely far from any significant body of water flying around the desert as well as giant antelope that I did not know existed in this region of the world. I saw several females, but it was a huge male with stocky horns on the left side of the road who watched me approach, that really gave me a sense of awe. There are very few people around this area and when I got close he began bounding back into the field, but not before leaping over, with complete effortlessness, a tall barbed-wire fence. He bounded along a ridge keeping pace with me for a good quarter mile before stopping atop the highest point and watching me pedal on. This animal was solid muscle and pure beauty. It's a shame some undeserving person will probably have his head on their wall one day. I saw lots of cool rock and mountain formations in those 90 miles, but the extreme heat and flat tire I got made me only wish to be at the days end. I eventually made it to Vernal, UT where, again, Steamboat Springs folk had arranged a place for me to stay. I was hosted by a woman named Connie, who was very nice and quite unique. Her husband and daughters were in Salt Lake City for the night, and she had the most wild home. She took complete advantage of her land with gardens and fruit trees as well as run-off water catchment systems. But she also raised & showed rabbits. I blame ignorance, but I had no idea rabbits could be so big. She called them Flemmish Giants, and boy were they. They were bigger than her entire upper body. But I was just happy to have a shower, a nice dinner and a place to sleep.
My next day was a short distance (70+ miles) to an aptly named desert state park around a damned reservoir: Starvation State Park. When I got there all the camp sites had been taken, and I was getting a little worried. But as I cycled around looking for an open site, a man and woman with a camper approached me and asked if I needed a space. They had two sites, and were expecting their children to arrive that day, but when they heard it wouldn't be till tomorrow they offered me the free tent site. I was, yet again, appreciative and blown away by the kindness of strangers. My good luck continued in the morning, when as I was packing, a man from a different camper came over and asked about my trip. He and his family happened to be from Heber, UT, the city I was headed toward that night, and he offered me dinner and their back yard to camp in for the night. This was just awesome. I cycled all day, passing from desert climate to national forest and mountains again. It was another really hot day and the first 50 miles were really tough to stay hydrated. But I eventually made it to Heber and waited for the my hosts to return from their day at the lake. So I found a nice cafe with good food, good beer, and free internet and I rested. After a couple hours Doug and Hayley Smith and their three young blond daughters made it home and I cycled over to meet them. Once again, it was great to be able to shower and have a home cooked meal. When planning this trip, I never expected to be so lucky so many times when it came to sheltering and feeding myself. I showed the family my website and pictures from Niger, telling them stories from my time in the Peace Corps. The little girls were totally cute and interested, especially when I showed them photos of the children over in West Africa.
From Heber, I made my way to Salt Lake City, which was only 45 miles away. So,that afternoon I stopped for several hours in Park City, UT, a beautiful little ski town in the mountains. There was a neat little art and farmers market going on in the streets with booths and tons of people. So I walked around checking out the area, had some lunch, and eventually made it to a coffee shop where I waited around to hear from my Peace Corps friend, Alison Walls, who lived in Salt Lake City. After getting in touch with Alison I got back onto the bike and back out onto the road. I had been told it was legal to bicycle on the interstate in Utah, and it cut twenty miles off my days ride so I decided to follow I-80 into Salt Lake City (SLC). After a short climb there was around a 15 mile decent through a canyon into SLC which was a pretty hairy ride. Struggling to keep myself down around 30 mph I also had to dodge tons of gravel and debris from the 18-wheelers. I turned my music up and had fun the whole way down. Somehow, miraculously, I didn't get a flat tire or wipe out, and safely pedaled into Alison's neighborhood. I spent four or five days in SLC resting and relaxing. I was able to speak to two Rotary clubs in town and was shown a great reception by the Rotarians, especially the Sugar House Rotary club. Alison and her friend took me on an awesome hike up to a glacial lake in the mountains and up to a ridge above the lake that overlooked the entire valley on the backside all the way back to Park City where I had just cycled from earlier that week. It was a great view, especially seeing where I had come from. On the hike we also walked right past a momma moose with her baby moose and they were only 15 feet from us. It was both scary and exhilarating at the same time. Moose are a lot larger than one would think. Usually I only see their heads on walls. It was good to catch up with Alison and retell each other a bunch of our memories from Niger. I definitely needed a rest after crossing half of Colorado and most of Utah in a week.
Leaving SLC, I went 82 miles up to Logan, UT through mostly urban settings. With a little extra money in my pocket from the Rotary club meetings in SLC, and a lack of camping sites in a city I decided to get myself a cheap Super 8 motel room, especially cause I was sleeping on the floor in Alison's apartment and I hadn't had a bed in a while. Unfortunately, I slept terribly that night. Montpelier, Idaho was my next destination, 74 miles away and through some mountains. Half the day was completely still and the sun beamed down harshly, and the other half, once into the mountains climbing slowly and very sweaty, was cold and windy straight into my face. It was a tough day, and when I arrived in Montpelier one of the first things I saw was a really low budget looking motel. I told the lady my story and she knocked the price way down so I accepted and got another room. This night, I slept like a baby. I left Idaho the next morning and made my way into Wyoming. Through one of the canyons entering Wyoming I had to stop and take a couple pictures of something I didn't quite understand, but was excited to see. With steep hills on each side of the road and very little space there was a couple hundred head of sheep being herded by either two native Americans or Hispanics, I couldn't tell. But what really made me smile, was the fluffy sheep dog on the shoulder of the highway keeping all the flock off the road while the trucks sped by. This dog was completely unfrightened by the passing cars and casually walked the herd's line keeping them back. Once through the canyons I came into the Star Valley which was truly beautiful. High, green mountains on both sides of a wide expanse of farm lands made for a gorgeous afternoon ride. I stopped in Afton for a little diner lunch and got to see a very impressive "elkhorn arch" that stretches over the main street. It's made of over 3,000 elk antlers and weighs over 15 tons. Craziness. I finished out the day up in Alpine, WY, 81 miles later. I found a campsite behind a biker bar and set up my tent. Jackson, WY (a.k.a. Jackson Hole) was my next destination and a mere 36 miles away.
Comments