Monticello, UT – Rest Day
Woke up at around 9 or 10 still really tired, but couldn’t really sleep anymore. Riding at night is tough because it’s hard to get in a rhythm. Both times I’ve done it now it totally wipes me out the next day. I guess I don’t fully commit because I have yet to stay up all night and ride sunset to sunrise.
Brian was already awake by the time I was moving. I introduced myself and before I knew it I had coffee and some sautéed kale and eggs in front of me. Brian also works for the forest service. He does wild-fire fuel management. He used to be on the front lines fighting the fires like Terry, but has since moved on to his current job.
From what I understood he basically puts together proposals to perform controlled burns of areas where the fuel (trees, grass, etc.) has increased to an unsafe level and an uncontrolled wild-fire could be dangerous. Once approve they carry out the plan. Sounds really interesting actually and there is a lot of data and analysis performed to determine which areas need to be burned, how to burn them, what things you need to do before you carry out the controlled burn, etc. They use models that include everything from the geography of the land, moisture content of the soil, and the density and type of trees/vegetation. It all sounded pretty cool since I like large data sets, statistics, and finding different ways to interpret data.
After breakfast it was already noon or 1. I got a bunch of stuff done on the computer, finally cleared out my email inbox. Monticello is about 5000 feet higher in elevation than Moab, so it’s not nearly as hot (90/95 deg). I decided to take a rest day and try to get back to a routine. I took a shower, organized my gear, did laundry, and found a small chunk of things to send home tomorrow. Nothing super heavy it just feels good to declutter a bit. I also worked on my bike and fixed a few little things that have been bugging me for awhile.
I continued to eat amazingly throughout the day. For lunch he made some chicken and quinoa with rice and for dinner we ate spaghetti. He’d cook and I’d clean up and do the dishes, a trade off I’m always willing to make! We talked about all kinds of things from politics to religion – you name it. That’s what’s interesting, it seems that I have met people with similar viewpoints and understandings on this trip. And even when you don’t agree on something it seems you can always find some common ground or understanding. I keep thinking how great it would be if there could be a reunion of some sort with all the people I’ve met along the way, because I think everyone would get along so great!
Now I’m stuffed, going to bed early for an early start tomorrow, and stoked to have met another fantastic person on my journey.
