Day 45

Cortez CO to Blanding CO

7-4-14

Day 45

We left Kelly’s place after a good breakfast of eggs and pancakes.  Nice not to look at that same hotel breakfast crap we see day after day.  You can get by with it for a week but after that it gets old. They told us to stop and pick the ripe fruit on one of their many trees. It was an apricot tree that was grafted to a peach tree with delicious fruit the result. Ken easily grabbed 8-10 of them for the day.

Our big concern is tomorrow when we will need to clear a mountain pass and be at the shore of Lake Powell  by 4pm. The reason for that is the ferry we need to cross the 2.7 mile lake is broken.  We “supposedly” have a person that will take our bike across the lake for $50 but we have to be there by 4:00 pm.

Should we not arrive on time or if the “boat guy” is not there for us we will be in a real jam.  Our hotel is on the other side of that 2.7 miles stretch of water. On the side we are coming from there is absolutely nothing for services. We will be sleeping on the side of the road if this plan falls apart.

After the team clears this hurdle our next big unknown is the Burr Canyon Trail.  This scenic route has 16 miles of gravel road and a serious switchback climb. Gravel is always an issue with a heavy bike and narrow tires. If we had mountain bikes with knobby tires it may not be a problem. But we have heavily loaded road bikes with street tires.

Hopefully we can get through this section that could have as much as 7500’ of climbing. Then we will be in the “good stuff” of what nature has to offer for the final couple of days as we enter Burr Canyon, Brice Canyon and Zion.

Weather 90 degrees Sun/Clouds

3351 Feet of Climbing