Calf Creek Recreation Area to Bryce Canyon City, UT – 70 miles
Yesterday started off cloudy again so I slept in a bit. I was up by 730 and on the road by 9. The route climbed for most of the morning. I had two 7000 ft passes and one 10000 foot pass left before finishing Utah (I hope, I haven’t looked at the next map section yet…). The plan was to try to tackle both of the 7000 foot passes today. That would put me in Panguitch which showed a population of over 1000, so I figured there must be something going on for the 4th there.
About 20 miles before Panguitch I rode through the outskirts of Bryce Canyon National Park. I didn’t realize the route didn’t actually go through the main part of the park and it was starting to get dark, so ultimately I decided to stop at Bryce Canyon City. It was exceptionally more touristy than the other National Parks and the private campground in town and the campground in the National Park were charging $30 for a site! Between Bryce Canyon City and the Park there was a section of National Forest and I was able to find a great spot for free less than 2 miles outside of town. Also somewhere along the way I found a perfectly sized American Flag just laying on the side of the road to add to my flag pole!
After setting up camp I rode back into town because I had heard rumors of a fireworks show. I grabbed a six pack and a bag of chips and found a good spot to post up and watch the show.
The fireworks were surprisingly good for how small of a town Bryce Canyon City is. I was also surprised with how dry it can be up here that they were shooting off fireworks at all.
The prospect of spending the 4th of July alone in the woods somewhere had me a little bummed out since it’s always been a time to hang out with friends drink some beer and eat some food. I’m glad I was able to participate in some small celebration with other proud happy Americans!
