Jeremiah Watt

Day11- no easy day from Cedar City to Duck Creek.

It started off looking like I just may have to return the town Library in order to complete the download of pic’s to the blog. And as it turned out I found that it was okay to go ahead and hit the open road because all the pics came just fine. But it was already 9am and warming up.

I made the mistake of asking a rather plump gal at the Quick-Stop what the hill was like going over Hwy#14, and she replied “oh, not much really”. Obviously she had been sleeping or rode sitting backwards in the car because it was the longest pull of my ride yet and I thought I had hit some good ones. Cedar City lies right at the foot of a row of mountains to it’s east, and these mountains run up into the 10-12 thousand foot range.

I started out, with my odometer readings all wrote down and all the waster filled up, a fresh set of legs that had been lying at the bottom of my spare close bag, of what a joy it was to put these on instead of the tired ones I had the day before….Poochie Maggie, this hill is starting to get steep I thought??

So I check my ODO, and it tells me I have now climbed for 12 miles……Cowboy logic, says its time for something with peanut butter stuck to it, anything even a Sardine if that’s all I got. I eat quietly, because there just ain’t no sense in making noise, and Pray that this hill tops soon, cause my left knee is feeling kind’a sore and my calves are starting to cramp. I finished up eating, and head out again only to round about two bends and find a sign that was unfortunately written in English and I could understand it……..big yella begger that said the pitch will increase to 7% for the next 5 miles. Man I coughed up a hair ball when I read that, and cussed the Utah Highway Department for not at least putting a few signs in Ukrainian or Russian just for times like these……..that way I could ride on clueless.

I checked my knee caps, both there and both sore now…….hum’ph, normal I guess I better keep pedaling. I had 3 Fig Newton cookies left that I had been saving for a special occasion like the top of a pass. I hit 17.8 miles of climb on my ODO, and I actually thought I had topped out and missed the summit sign, so I took a huge hit of water and ravaged the 3 mostly beat up Fig Newton’s. While I was smacking my lips, and enjoying my success along came a Univ. Prof of Geology and he stopped to talk while I panted. It was him that made it known to me that around the bend lies the steeper part of the climbing I still had to do.

So I mounted my bike with a smile and rode of with him wishing me well, sure enough right around the bend was another sign telling long trailers to be careful and motor homes to use caution and oh yes, just in case you hadn’t noticed the pitch is now 8%. Wow, I finally toped out and this time there was a Summit sign of 9940 ft. My gosh was I beat, the total climb was 21.8 miles, I licked out the Fig Newton box and day dreamed about how good a Gatorade would taste right now. What was really neat about the ride up, was getting to that place where you are actually looking down on top of mountains that are in the Zion Park below, like Angels Landing and Temple of the Gods etc. That was right neat. Headed off the other side and rode in thru the Dixie National Forest, I found myself feeling rather ashamed at the state of this Forest, it was nothing short of appauling. Honestly the place looks like it is only 3 live trees away from being 100% dead from beetles or blight etc. I can’t tell you if it is a local Forestry Management problem, or maybe one of those rules from on high back in Washington DC. If I may say, it was a sorry excuse for a forest after having seen the forests of Europe and the condition they are in. I know, we live in a huge country and could fit France in Texas, but that is not the point I am trying to make.

I seen something up on these ridges that I have never seen or noticed before. Riding along at about the 8 thousand foot mark, and there are huge Lava flows running all thru the trees. In some places the lave rock flow is solid barring the path of any tree or bush, but in others it is mixed right in amongst the trees, and there are miles of this stuff. SO, I was wondering, how high where the mountains from which this stuff oozed at some time???
It is now 71 degrees and I have goose bumps big enough to hand pick, and it starts raining just to make it more fun. Guess what Jeremiah did not bring, yer right, a rain jacket. So I put on all the clothes that I had loose on the bike and told myself I was not cold…………er, what was that. My left knee locking up, okay, I must be chilly, but not cold. I rode for several miles and finally that cloud blew off to the south and left me sweating in sunshine……….but it was a HAPPY SWEAT, mind you.

I was riding along and spotted a sign for Aspen Mirror Lake, and decided a walk would do me good. I rode the ¼ mile of gravel, and parked my bike took my camera and a bottle of water. Not a long walk, just another ¼ mile or so and I came upon a postage stamp sized little lake that was giving up Rainbows like there was no tomorrow. And there were two older fellas that seemed to have it down to a science. I enjoyed a visit with these fellas, got a few fishing tales out of the way and asked a PULSE question. It was concerning religion and the state of it in our society. Really only the one fella was very talkative as the other couldn’t hear that well. So Ed, explained to me “that it is a crying shame the way these folks carry on with tearing down crosses and monuments with God on them. And I am not a church going man, but I know from the way my Mother raised me that what the Bible does do is give us a moral highway to walk on even if we don’t go to church. I tell you, that this whole USA is near done if we don’t do something about it and soon”. That’s a summary of a 45 minute answer, and I didn’t have time for a second, so I bid them adios and walked back to the bike.

Next stop was the about to be very bust little burg of Duck Creek. From all the construction that was going on, it isn’t hard to tell that this place will be hoppin in a few years. I had me that Gatorade and some Yogurt like the Russian told me to do. YA ever eat something like that out of good advise, only to sit back when its done and say……man I should have had a Ho-Ho or a Ding Dong?

Its getting late by now, near to 6:30 and I am some 5 miles past the Duck Creek Merc, and I am done in so I pull of on a small dirt road and take a ride towards the rim on my right. I find a very quiet spot in the trees, maybe the prettiest camp yet. I pitch the nylon culvert I call home, throw down the slim fast style sleeping bag and build me a Titanium Cup-full-o-noodles. I read my Bible for a while, and then I rejoin my book called “Epidemic”, which is all about kids and parenting. I highly recommend it too any one interested in such things.

Good Night and God Bless