Angel's Landing!!

L-R: Me, Kyle and Tim.

Can you spot the bus on the road below?

Thursday September 2. This morning I got up early. Found a post office in town where I could buy a money order to pay the ticket. But they wouldn't let me pay with a credit card and the bank didn't open for another hour. So I went back into the park to do a hike I had heard about. What a hike! Four hours, 1600 foot vertical climb up to the summit of a cliff. The trail had lots of switchbacks until near the top where you needed to use chains to make sure you didn't fall off! Vertical drops on either side, or at times, both sides! Really challenging, but lots of fun. Met two single guys and climbed with them. A 23 year graduate named Kyle and a guy about my age named Tim. We became fast friends and swapped emails.

After the climb and the descent (which was just as scary, because you could see all the way down) I went back to Springdale to pay the ticket. The bank wouldn't let me use my credit card to make a cash withdrawal. So I went to the post office and talked to a great guy, who helped. I used all of the last of my cash to pay the ticket, but at least it's done. I'll just consider it to be a tax for riding all the beautiful roads! After that was done, I had a leisurely ride through the construction and the hot valley, back to the east entrance. Beautiful views. Then I took my time and rode towards Bryce, but as usual I did a couple of side trips. Tim had mentioned that Cedar Breaks National Monument was worth a visit, so I rode up there. Started in shorts and a t-shirt and was hot, but rode up 6000 feet! and was quite cold. Had a great talk to a park ranger there about the park and the cedar trees. He told me he was very jealous of my trip and then asked, if being Canadian, I liked Rush. I told him I worked with Alex, very funny. Then I rode to Bryce. On the way the road goes through a gorgeous canyon called Red Canyon. Full of red sandstone hoodoos. Spectacular. Then the land flattens out into a meadow. Finally arrived in the small town outside Bryce and registered in a huge Best Western here. Checked in by a very nice South African. I spent some time talking to him about my African tours. After I finish this, if the photos ever download, I'm going to ride into Bryce to see the sunset.