Stuff

Today we rode and stuff. From Grand Canyon to Zion National Park, past 'Nice Indian' jewelry stands, through deserts, over gorges, across plateaus and skirted cliffs. The scenery in this part of the country is awe-inspiring. It lacks the relaxing green we're used to, but in return the mountains are bare and we can see every butte, crest, cliff and crevice. Nothing is hidden.

For those of you mapping our route, we left the Grand Canyon by the east entrance on 64, then north on 89 then west on 89A. 89A is the winner here.

We briefly considered visiting the north rim of the canyon, but opted to skip it since we just spent a day on the south brim. So we went to Zion NP instead.

It was hot, and this morning I threw away the cooling vest because it was starting to smell like post-Katrina New Orleans. But I managed the 93f ok, as it was a dry heat.

Riding into the park was a visual treat. The rock formations were right next to the road, as were the bighorn sheep. But it was slow going, and the pavement was worse than some I've been on in Minnesota.

Once in the park we found a campsite, but before we paid we discovered it was overrun with ants. We got another site, paid, and discovered it was overrun with ants. We sat with our feet on the benches to avoid being bit.

Beer was found in a local grocery store. We selected bottles from two Utah breweries (squatters and Zion canyon) and they were all 4% abv. Wasatch brewing makes a Polygamy Porter with the slogan: you can't have just one. Duh, at that low abv you need two! Best beer today was the virgin stout, by zion canyon brewing co. Iirc.

Can you spot the mountain goat (sorry .. camera only has 3x zoom)