After a late night, we snoozed until it was light out and then rode to Escalante for $0.69 day-old donuts and coffee. Before leaving we put together a plan for the next week. Today, we aimed for Bryce Canyon National Park.

As we cycled along, we came upon a car that was pulled over, waiting for us to come by. Gina, Mark, and their son, Zack were visiting from Miami and wanted to hear about our trip. We had fun chatting with them, and hope they enjoyed the rest of their trip!

Afterwards, we continued with the long, steady climb in the heat, accompanied by a gusty wind that was occasionally in our favor.

  
The reward for this climb was a brief downhill, and soon enough we were going back uphill, this time for the final stretch up to Bryce.

 Despite busting our buns up to the park, we arrived in time for the second-to-last shuttle of the day, which we rode through the park. We hopped off at Bryce Point, where we walked to a lookout before catching the last shuttle back to the campsite.

  
  
After narrowly missing them in Gunnison, CO, we wondered where Jenny and Lisa were now. After sending them a message, we were delighted to find out that they are at the same campsite tonight! We went and met up with them, and also met a fun French couple who are also touring the US. We caught up, had a few drinks, and then went to clean up and get to sleep. All six of us planned to stay an additional night at the campsite, so we hope to meet up again tomorrow.

Trip stats, to date (Day 71)

Boulder, UT to Bryce Canyon City, UT
Daily mileage: 63.5mi ;  Trip total to date: 4,257.1mi
Daily riding time: 6hr 24min;  Trip total time: 370hr 19min
Daily ascent: 5,362 ft;  Trip total ascent: 214,857 ft
Flat tires: Rachel – 3; Chris – 2