Day 44: Capitol Reef National Park, UT to Escalante, UT

Monday, July 12

Expectations can be friend or foe. Sometimes we go into days expecting the worst, and at the end of the ride find that things weren’t quite as bad as we’d expected. Other times we head in unprepared for what lies ahead, and become devastated with each new obstacle that rears its ugly head. Today’s ride fell squarely into the latter of these two; we went in expecting a few tough climbs, but what we got was nothing less than the hardest day of the trip so far.

We started off with a climb out of Capitol Reef National Park, and quickly realized we’d have to add a couple of miles onto the original total. Not the best way to start the day. We weren’t given much time to get warmed up; once we left the park we immediately hit a steady climb out of the canyon. My group, which dubbed itself Team Testosterone (in light of our high concentration of Y chromosomes), had some pretty strong climbers in it, and we quickly made our way to the top of the first hill. At this point I stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break, telling my group I would meet them at the top of the climb. As fate would have it the directions were wrong, and my group missed the turn and added yet more miles onto the day. I was the lucky one who stopped behind to figure out what was up, and had a good laugh as I watched them make their way back. Still, they should be thankful they didn’t go as far as Kieran, who got a nice tour of a Utah grist mill before realizing he’d gone ten miles out of the way.

Eventually we got back on track, and started on the long climb we’d all been waiting for. Dubbed “Hog’s Back,” this climb was extremely frustrating because every once in a while we’d start making our way back down the hill, essentially wasting some of the ground we’d arduously climbed up. I stopped at what I thought was the top- where cows were parading across the road, no less- to wait for the rest of my group. There we celebrated being done with the toughest part of the day, and talked a bit about what we’d thought of the ascent. It was here that Kevin said he thought it was the toughest climb of the trip so far. If only he’d known what was in store ahead. After descending for about a minute, we rounded a bend to see a steeper grade than any previously encountered. Worse yet, we could see the road winding its way up the mountain for many miles to come. If we’d thought that climb so far had been tough, the rest of it was basically the state of Utah trying to beat us into submission. I kept looking up around each corner for the water stop, only to be rewarded with more of the mountain in front of me, almost as punishment for getting my hopes up. I finally made it to the top, and at this point I didn’t even have enough energy to be excited about getting there. I wordlessly grabbed some food and sat down to await the rest of the team.

We were given a bit of a reprieve over the next fifteen miles, as we reaped the benefits of our long climb. Considering we start and finish at sea level, one of my mottos for this trip has been, “what goes up, must come down.” Or at least, that’s what I tell myself when we’re going up tough hills. On this day, however, we weren’t even given much of a break on the descents, as a pretty strong headwind came to impede our progress. Nevertheless the miles downhill went by pretty quickly, as my group enjoyed making our way out of the mountains. The day’s elevation chart had essentially told us we were done with any difficult climbing, and so we looked forward to a comfortable ride into Escalante. Alexis, who had driven the van ahead, told us that there were some hills in store, but nothing too difficult. I would later learn she was trying to protect us from the truth, because what she had seen along the rest of the way was so difficult she had no idea what to say.

We entered what the group called “Devil’s Backbone,” which may or may not be a name the 4K made up, but it certainly seems appropriate for the hellish environment we had to work our way through. It began with a steep descent into a canyon along a very narrow pass, with no rail guards or anything for protection along the sides. I went along pretty slowly, not wanting to risk anything for a little bit of extra speed. I would later learn, almost as a fun fact, that this part of the ride along Highway 12 is considered one of the most scenic drives in America. It’s funny how this was lost on me, as I was forced to focus squarely upon keeping my bike from veering off a cliff in light of the strong winds present on top of the pass. The way out of this canyon was filled with some very steep hills, and it finally finished with a two mile climb at steep grade to get out. Once we reached the top, it was almost like entering another planet, as there were no signs of life or civilization stirring under the hot desert sun. It took a bit more climbing to get out of this eerie wasteland, and to at long last be done with climbing. We slowly made our way down to the town, and figured it was appropriate to stop and celebrate with a round of drinks for surviving the worst day so far. It was all we could do to keep ourselves from going insane. I’m proud we all made it through the worst day so far, but I can’t say I’d jump at the chance to go through this day again.

-Chris Tait