Day 15…Bryce to Calf Creek BLM Campground
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The day started off quiet enough. We had breakfast at Ruby’s (Jerry managed to get three meals in at that place!), and started to roll. Dick was looking a little anxious, and suddenly announced he was going to rent a car and return home. Jerry had caught a cold earlier in the week, and Dick wasn’t feeling so hot. Rather than hold everyone up, he decided to call it a trip. Thanks Dick, for joining us. You are truly a gentleman, and I enjoyed your company!
Jerry and I helped pack Dick into a Camry, and then we headed off into the heat of the day. And it was hot. They are breaking records all over the area, and some of them are heading into the low 100’s.
We entered the Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument, finding the scenery fine and the roadkill to consist of rabbit. I watched two Ravens fight over an old carcass….little did they know there was a fresh one 1/4 mile down the road.
I trudged into the town of Escalante and headed for the library. They would not open untill 3 pm, and it was only 1:00. I had lunch at a diner, and had a good hamburger and a surly waitress. All the locals got great service though. I guess tourism isn’t high on her list.
Jerry showed up about an hour later and we got some groceries. I headed back to the library and logged on to the slowest internet connection in the world. After writing posts for awhile, having them get lost, trying again…well, I just gave up. I head out on the bike to catch Jerry, who had already left.
About 12 miles from Escalante, we found the most incredible canyon! Well, it’s not like we discovered it or anything…it was right along the road! But the Calf Creek Canyon was incredible. We decided to stay in the BLM Campground….we managed to get one of the 13 sites, swam in the river, washed our clothes and had some dinner. We would have liked to have made the 6 mile hike to the 126′ falls, but enough was enough.
During the night, the stars disappeared and the clouds started to boil…of course we had not put our rain flys on! We scrambled around in the dark and got ready for the downpour. It ended up raining a little for 5 minutes!
It was a tough 65 miles with hot temperatures. I rode for 5 hr, 2 min at a 12.8 mph average.
I hope everyone is enjoying the blog….thanks for the nice comments!
-Rick