Day 65 – 5/17/16
To our Hayduke finish at Kolob Canyons Visitor Center:
7.7 map / 7.8 GPS miles
970.1 / 1050.7 miles total
Connect to bikes:
2.4 miles walking
Biking:
17.2 miles (bike computer)
We finished (our version of) the Hayduke! I must say, we all think our ending much more appropriate than the Weeping Rock. We started at an obscure back entrance of Arches National Park, and it feels right to end at a much less popular back entrance to Zion.
We only had a few miles of trail left and then walked the road out to the Kolob Canyons visitor center where we posed for our finish photo.
It still all felt kinda weird. Bubs and I left Joey to hitch to Cedar City, where we all planned to meet up later that day, while we continued on foot to our conveniently located storage unit just 2.4 miles away.
I should mention that neither Bubs nor I have ever bike toured before. Not even overnighted. Heck, prior to today I never even got on the bike with the panniers loaded. It’s sure to be a disastrously good time!
We repacked into panniers and tried to get organized. I have no idea where anything should go. I also thought it was be like 90 degrees and packed shorts and a tank top for biking. And of course, it’s cool and thunderstorms surround us.
Amazingly, all three of us were in Cedar City in a motel room by 2:30pm. Bubs discovered her biking shoes were now way too small. Fortunately, Cedar City turned out to have multiple bike shops and she was able to get new shoes. I picked up some cycling gloves and a little bag for the front to keep my camera and snacks accessible (I hadn’t thought of any of these things). And we went to the thrift store and picked up leggings to ride in, since it’s so much cooler than we’d anticipated.
We celebrated the Hayduke with a nice pizza dinner and drank a bottle of “A to Z” wine (for Arches to Zion!). We ended up piling in bed to read Carrot’s and then Buck 30’s blogs from the Grand Canyon section, already nostalgic for the plunge pools and rock hopping and scrambling nonsense. How is the Hayduke over already?!
So, that’s a wrap for the Hayduke hiking, but I’ll continue the blogging til we get back to Moab. Stay tuned for what will surely be hilarious noobies on bikes stories!
Love the leggings!!
Wow, I can’t believe your Hayduke trek is over. Congratulations on finishing your wild adventure in the Utah back-country. I have enjoyed every sandstone step, fun photos, and entertaining commentary from you. May your next journey be as perfect as this one was!
Georgette from California
Ditto to Georgette’s comments.
THANK YOU!!!!!
Congratulations !!
You three are so Rad! Can’t believe it is over but I bet you are already planning your next adventure. Congratulations to you all!
Warren
Is that screw top wine?! Here’s hoping to do that Zion section next spring if wife’s injury heals.
Yes, screw top! The Zion section is so beautiful, hope it works out for you to do it!
Great job. Can’t wait for the next trip.
Congratulations!
I crack up everytime I read your blog. Thank you for sharing your hikes and fun personality with your friends and us, your readers. Safe and fun travels on the bike portion of your “all the things” adventure!
Oh, I’m so sad it’s over! I’ve been lurking from the beginning and living vicariously. I backpacked in Escalante way back when it was a baby National Monument and the locals would barely make eye contact with drivers of foreign cars (Volvo) with even more foreign license plates (Maine). And we traveled to all of these places (Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon), mostly by car, but some backpacking, and this made me miss them so much. The minute I pack my youngest kids off to college, I’m going to hike the Hayduke (by which time it will probably be a paved ADA-accessable trail with water stations and pit toilets). Thanks for sharing all of these amazing pictures and stories!!