Day Twenty-Two: Red Canyon - Escalante

As per usual, we woke up a little later than expected, but just in time for coffee. Ron and Naomi welcomed us into their camper (which, may I add, was extremely spacious) for a fresh pot of caffeine, and even cooked us breakfast. We feasted on eggs, bacon, toast, rice, and fruit parfaits while hearing the story of how the couple met and the travels they’ve taken on in the past few years. They were enthusiastic, witty, and so nurturing to us that it was hard to say goodbye! We gave them hugs on our way out, and also bid farewell to Russ and Evie before taking on another day of riding… yaaaaaaay!

Just outside the campground, we noticed the entrance to a bike trail, which we heard would parallel the highway all the way through Red Canyon. We were excited to finally have our own space, but were sorely disappointed, as it was essentially just a windier, steeper, longer way of getting to our destination. Naturally, we were pissed. The bike path eventually met up with the road, so we were able to carry on without too much of a struggle. We stopped at another Chevron to stock up on food for the day, and were happy to hear from the clerk that the road to Escalante, our next stop, was all downhill. Now, that brings me to two points: 1) locals pronounce Escalante,“Es-ca-LAN-TEE” and 2) the road to Es-ca-LAN-TEE was NOT all downhill.

Along the way, we met two guys cycling from Colorado to San Francisco, but they were not your average hippie-ish cyclists; no, no, they had green hair, a blue heeler in tow, and looked like they had dabbled in every drug in the cabinet. Sorry, but it’s the truth. We spent minimal time talking with them before cruising down a long, steep, downhill—but what comes down must go up, eh? After a couple hours of a tough ride, we found ourselves walking our bikes up a never-ending hill, then finally reaching the summit, which overlooked the picturesque badlands and the Grand Staircase National Monument. Despite the climb, it was pretty damn beautiful.

We finally reached Escalante, and headed straight to the closest restaurant, Circle D. A couple of burgers later, we walked to a campground, and set up camp next to two new friends of ours, Pat and Nicole. The couple was our age—finally—and they greeted us with an offering of Bud Light Limes and a game of bean toss (except it was a janky football-themed version of the game that Slater and Pat had to assemble). We enjoyed stories of their vacation across Utah, Nevada, and California, and even watched video footage of their tour through slot canyons earlier that day. The witching hour arrived after a few roasted marshmallows and a whole lot o’laughs, and we snoozed away in the tent.