Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 17, 2003

The Endless Climb
Day 47
Bryce Canyon National Park, UT to Cedar City, UT



The rooster crowed at 6 am this morning. This was a kind of late start for us because the sun didn’t rise until 6:20. I don’t know if it was that we had a short day yesterday and that everyone was well rested or what, but we were ready to go within an hour and a half from the time that we woke up--it usually takes us a lot longer.



In the morning, the ride was pretty nice. We went through Red Canyon. We took a bike path that paralleled the road. The whole group rode pretty much together on the path. It was a neat sight to see. I was jealous of the motorists, though because the road went through tunnels carved out of the red rock, while the bike path went around the tunnels.



The first water break was in Panguitch. Coincidentally, one of the people who fed us a wonderful dinner two nights ago at the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints happened to be in Panguitch visiting a church a few hundred feet away from our stop. Right after the water stop, we began our thirty-something mile climb up to the Cedar Breaks National Monument. The first 15 miles of the climb were relatively easy and passed by quickly. At the end of these 15 miles, we stopped for lunch at Panguitch Lake, where we ate food that was donated both by Hogi Yogi’s and Arby’s. The remainder of the climb was steeper and more frustrating than the first part because the road seemed to continue forever. To make matters worse, it started to sprinkle on us as we neared the top.



Eventually, we did reach the top. I am not exactly sure of how high we were at the summit since everyone we ask tells us a different number, but we were probably at around 10,400 ft. Our reward for reaching the top was a beautiful view of the Cedar Breaks National Monument, as well as a long descent into Cedar City.



It was incredible how quickly the temperature changed going down that mountain. It seemed like we hit a wall of hot air as soon as we entered the city. Cedar City is one of the largest cities that we have visited in a long time. We stayed in one of the gyms at Southern Utah University. By the way, they are having a Relay for Life on August 15-16 at Cedar High School, so if you are in Cedar City on those dates, be sure to visit the relay. For dinner, we had burgers, hot dogs, and pizza graciously provided by Travis’s friend, Lenny.



After dinner, some of us checked email while others called friends and family or wrote in their journal. After today’s tough ride, we were all ready for our day off.



Rajeev Mahajan