Bryce to Zion by Mountain Bike

Sophie and I spent the 4th of July weekend mountain biking in Utah. We went on a mountain bike tour from Bryce Canyon National Park to Zion National Park. The trip was a supported tour run by Western Spirit Cycling. We had a great time and highly recommend Western Spirit trips to people into mountain biking! The guides (Dee and Mark) did a great job of taking care of us and keeping us very well fed. I had not been camping in like 20 years or so and Sophie had never camped before. But we had so much fun we're looking forward to our next trip.

The description of the trip said the altitude ranges from 4,000 to 9,000 feet. Silly us, we assumed that meant we would descend an average of 800 feet or so per day. The reality was most of the time was spent at fairly high altitude until the big 5,000' descent on day 5. It felt like we were climbing all the time until then. Part of this was just the altitude since even what should have been moderate climbs at sea level turned into major gasping for air sessions. The advantage of staying at altitude was the temperatures were much more comfortable. Typical daytime highs were 80 something F. Highs at the 4,000' level were around 100F. It was pretty cold at night at altitude, though. 40F was typical.

The group consisted of 14 guests led by Dee and Mark. The support vehicle was this huge 4x4 van (which reminded me a lot of Mr. T's van from the "A-Team"). The typical person on the trip was 30-something and had done a decent amount of bicycling. People came from all over for the trip, although primarily from North America. Attendees:

There's another description of the same trip, but done by paid professionals over here.

The following is kind of a day by day log with pictures and excerpts from Western Spirit's itinerary.

En route to St. George, Utah

It's 650 miles from San Jose to the starting point of St. George. We decided to take it easy and split the drive into two days. Las Vegas is getting expensive these days so we decided to be cheap and stay at Buffalo Bill's at the stateline. Bill's is like a throwback to the old Vegas -- really cheap and really cheesy. But that's what made Vegas great!

The next day we stopped by Las Vegas for lunch and to check out the new New York, New York casino. It's pretty cool, but Luxor is still the coolest by a nose. The drive from Vegas to St. George is through some pretty desolate areas. Mars looks like that part of Nevada with a red filter.

The Hampton Inn in St. George was our destination for the night. The staff at the inn was extremely helpful and friendly. Amongst other things, their free shuttle ended up carrying around members of our group who stayed at the Ramada across the street. In general, everybody in St. George seemed to be blonde, blue-eyed, fit, and friendly. Almost spooky for people from the San Francisco Bay Area (or any big city). It's just too darn wholesome.

Day One

From our meeting point near Zion National Park, we'll shuttle 100 miles to scenic Red Canyon on the outskirts of Bryce National Park. After a brief orientation and bike check, we'll begin this outstanding cycling adventure with a fun doubletrack road that takes us into the spectacular and colorful Casto Canyon. Here we pick up a somewhat technical singletrack that will take us through this deeply cut canyon. Brilliant red rock formations surround us on either side as we gradually climb up to the plateau country north of Bryce. From here we will ride beneath the rock formations of Casto Bluff and the Flake Swale. Our camp tonight will be nestled in the Ponderosas just above the park.
TOTAL MILEAGE- 16 miles

(you can click on the pictures for a bigger version.)


Here the group is unloading the truck and about to start the trip for real. I'm thinking, "Oh no! What have we got ourselves into?"


Here we enjoying the view after a tricky climb. The altitude made the climbs all the more grueling.


Our first tent! We had managed to get a tent shaped blob thing by ourselves. But Myles showed us how to use all those extra spare parts to actually make it into a tent for real.

I thought today was one of the more fun days in terms of terrain. The singletrack through Casto Canyon was a lot of fun. I like water crossings, but too bad there was only a tiny bit of water.

Something I had not seen in a long time was the Milky Way. If you've been living in a big city for a while, it's always cool to look at the stars when you're out in the boonies far away from all those lights.

Menu:
Lunch: sandwiches, Thai salad, and chocolate
Dinner: grilled salmon, pesto penne pasta, caesar salad, and german chocolate cake

Day Two

After breakfast we will make our way to Bryce National Park. Bryce is known for its colorful and strangely eroded cliffs. The unique layers of Bryce were formed some 43 million years ago from the Claron Formation, an iron rich layer of limy sediment. After a stop at the Visitor Center, we will ride over to Sunset Point for a hike down into the Canyon. Here we will find ourselves surrounded by an array of fantastic shapes called Hoodoos. After lunch we will sneak out of the Park and into the backcountry to our camp in the Sevier River valley.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 25 miles


Ok, we survived our first night of camping and made it to Bryce!


Bryce Canyon is pretty cool looking. While Dee prepared lunch, the rest of the group went for a hike into the canyon. Here is a zoom of one of the above pictures. I thought it looked like a big cat statue. I'm easily amused sometimes.


Our second tent!


While Dee and Mark toiled over a hot stove making dinner, the rest of the group lazed away.

The riding today was mostly fireroads and stuff like that. There was a pretty strong headwind for the last few miles, so finding the camp was a relief. Camp had a small lake nearby. Most of the group went for a swim. I went for a short swim. Any longer and I probably would have gone hypothermic.

Menu:
Breakfast: French toast, sausage, and fruit
Lunch: sandwiches, pasta salad, and chocolate
Dinner: spinach lasagna, salad, and chocolate fondue with strawberries and bananas

Day Three

Today, we'll begin with a 1,200 foot climb to the top of the Sunset Cliffs. From the summit, far reaching views can be enjoyed in all directions. To the north, the Paunsaugunt Plateau and the Table Cliffs Plateau loom upwards some 2,000 feet. To the east lie the canyons of Bryce. To the south are the Pink Cliffs and to the west lies the main fork of the Sevier River and the Markugunt Plateau. After a short rest stop in this breathtaking setting, we'll begin a fun filled, 2,000 foot double track descent that takes us through the small town of Hatch. After lunch along the Sevier River, we will continue towards the edge of the plateau to our camp in the aspens at Lars Fork.
TOTAL MILEAGE- 41 miles


Here the group is loafing along the Sevier River waiting for lunch.

Today was kind of a hard riding day. We were too busy gasping for air to take many pictures. Right after breakfast was a fairly intense climb. I shouldn't have pigged out for breakfast -- I felt like hurling. After the climb was a pretty long and fun descent. By the time we made it to camp, I was spent.

The campsite we stayed at today had a campfire pit, so several people went foraging for firewood (lots of ex-boy scouts, apparently). It gets pretty cold as the sun sets, so it was nice to sit around a fire and keep toasty.

Menu:
Breakfast: bagels, oatmeal, and fruit
Lunch: sandwiches, greek salad, and chocolate
Dinner: grilled chicken, baked potato, veggies, and apple crisp

Day Four

Today we will ride on the newly constructed Virgin River Rim Trail. The trail contours through the trees along the edge of the plateau. The Pink Cliffs drop below us, stepping down to the Grey Cliffs of Zion in the distance. Since this trail was built with mountain bikers in mind, the grades are gentle and the turns are swooping. We will stop for lunch at Cascade Falls, the underground outlet of Navajo Lake and the source of the Virgin River. This is the river that created the dramaticcanyons of Zion. After lunch we will continue on the Virgin River Rim Trail to our camp at the end of Navajo Lake.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 16 miles


The waterfall was pretty neat. Apparently Navajo Lake is kind of like a big sink. There is a drain at the bottom which connects to this point at the top of the falls.


These are all along the Virgin River Rim Trail. In some of the shots, you can see Zion off in the distance.


Another tent!

Today started off with the coldest temperature I noticed on my bicycle computer: 31F. I don't know how accurate that was, but we were glad we loaded up on cold weather clothing before the trip!

In terms of terrain, today was the most fun. It was almost entirely singletrack. The altitude did make any difficult climbs even more difficult. We did a short singletrack before we stopped for lunch. While Dee prepared lunch, the rest of the group hiked over to Cascade Falls. After lunch we did a longer singletrack which ended in an amusing singletrack descent to the camp. Some of the group decided they had not had enough riding and proceeded to take a wrong turn for some bonus riding. Today's campground was a regular campground which meant it had RV's and stuff like that. In its favor, the campsite was surrounded by aspen trees and had flush toilets. The other campgrounds were totally out in the boonies.

Menu:
Breakfast: eggs, taters, English muffins
Lunch: sanwiches, cole slaw, and chocolate
Dinner: enchilada casserole, rice, and brownies

Day Five

Today our cumulative descent will take us 5200 feet down into Zion itself. We begin gliding through the aspen trees descending and descending and descending. At last we will cross the North Fork of the Virgin River and begin a rolling ascent through Orderville Gulch. We pop out on the road, and after another mile or two we reach the red pavement of Zion, heralding the entrance of the Park. Once inside the Park prepare for one of the most beautiful sections of road riding you will ever do. As Scott Martin, an editor for Bicycling Magazine says, "How can people bear to do this in car?" After a quick van ride through the tunnel, we will ride into Springdale and our Bed and Breakfast for the evening. Tonight, dinner will be at one of our favorite restaurants, the Bit and Spur.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 48 miles



Some cows decided to join us for lunch today


Woohoo! We made it to Zion!


Riding through Zion seemed like just the right pace to soak in the fantastic scenery. I ended up riding into a ditch once while enjoying the view a bit too much.


I'm over here!


Wow, a bed! Our disposable camera didn't have a flash, so this picture barely came out.

Day 5 started off with a big descent along the Virgin River. A nice change of pace after all that climbing! Before lunch there was a moderate climb. The temperatures were climbing fast as we descended toward Zion (90-100 degrees). It seemed like I was sweating out water faster than I could possibly drink.

After lunch we began the descent into Zion itself. In national parks you can mountain bike all you want -- as long as you stay on pavement. So we took a road which cuts across the park. The road was actually pretty fun, the scenery was fantastic. Day 5 was definitely the winner in terms of scenery. Unfortunately, it doesn't show up that well in pictures. It must be seen in person.

For the last night, we stayed at the Novel House B&B in Springdale. The b&b was a pretty big culture shock after spending 5 days in the boonies. Having hot running water and a big comfy bed would have been a fair amount of culture shock in itself. But this b&b was very, very nice. "We are not worthy! We are not worthy!". I felt guilty dragging my dirt encrusted self inside. After washing up, there were some tasty snacks waiting for us. Dinner was at the Bit & Spur, kind of a California-Mexican restaurant. It was good, although not what I was expecting. Then again, maybe that's what I should have expected from Utah-Mexican.

Menu:
Breakfast: blueberry pancakes and fruit
Lunch: sandwiches, mexican salad, and chocolate (notice the pattern yet?)
Dinner: at the Bit and Spur

Day Six

On our last day we will do one Zion's classic hikes, either Angel's Landing or the Zion Narrows. We will begin on our bikes, riding north through the Park under the Great White Throne, the East Temple, and the Mountain of the Sun. If we choose Angel's Landing we will hike up into the cliff tops with views in all directions. If weather permits, we can attempt the Zion Narrows, one of the Colorado Plateau's most spectacular canyons. In June and September this hike may not be possible, due to high water levels. Yet in the hot summer months, when the water flow is lower, we can hike right through it. After lunch, we will ride back to our Bed and Breakfast where our shuttle to St George will be waiting.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 8 miles (plus hiking)


Hiking through the Narrows.


Group picture time! Left-to-right: John, Dee, Andrew, Myles, Mark, Scott, Jan, Erin, Steve, Sophie, Bonnie, Christie, Rien, Brian, Alan, and Tom.

Day Six started out with breakfast at the b&b. I tried to avoid the temptation of pigging out for breakfast and it wasn't easy. After breakfast was a short ride back into Zion. We caught the tail end of the Springdale Fourth of July parade. If we were a little earlier, our group of 15 mountain bikes probably could have snuck into the parade.

Once back at Zion, we went for a short hike into the Narrows. Normally, I'm not all that into hiking since I'd rather ride. But the Narrows wasn't a typical hiking path. The hiking path is the Virgin River with the canyon walls towering above. It was cool, figuratively and literally.

According to my bicycle computer, we had covered 157.5 miles in 16:14 (9.6 mph average). The itinerary said the trip was 154 miles. I guess I spent an extra 3.5 miles of weaving back and forth up steep hills!

Menu:
Breakfast: (at the b&b) muffins, toast, fruit, cereal, these tasty egg toast things,...
Lunch: sandwiches, cous-cous salad, amd chocolate

After the trip

Towards the end of the trip, the group decided to have dinner together in St. George. We had not made any plans yet (as usual) and decided to stay at the Hampton Inn again. Once we arrived at the inn, we went to the pool & hot tub. Oh, did those feel nice!

Dinner was at the Rococo Steakhouse. Rococo is sort of hanging off the top of a cliff overlooking St. George. The view stretches all the way to Zion some 30 or so miles away. Dessert was at a Baskin & Robbins along the way back to the hotels. At first I was kind of surprised that scoops of ice cream cost the same as in California. Then I noticed the scoops were the size of softballs instead of golfballs. The cost of living truly is lower in Utah!

After dinner we hung around the pool at the Hampton Inn waiting to see the Fourth of July fireworks. St. George put on quite a show, so the trip literally ended with a bang.


Back at home playing with our neighbor's cat, Pita. I think he missed us.

glossary to guide-speak

rolling downhill: uphill with some short downhills
rolling: uphill
rolling uphill: the wheels will be rolling as you push the bike uphill
uphill: yikes!
downhill: make sure your brakes work...