DAY 28: Natural Bridges

126 km (78 miles) - total: 3997 km (2483 miles)

Monticello, Ut to Blanding, Ut


3km short of 4000. I am making progress, with one State left to enter, to explore and to finish my bicycle adventure.
I am in awe, in complete awe of Utah. I shouldn't write much today. I should not even attempt to describe the setting I rode in, my words would impoverish the scenery through which I cycled. However, for the record: I was up early and I made good time from Monticello to Blanding. For the very first time I had a tailwind and I flew those 20 miles. I got there before 9 and it was too early to check in. So I emptied my backpack of its contents and left my stuff at the motel and took only water and food and I was on my way to the Natural Bridges National Monument, 37 miles West. It was a pleasure to ride with almost no weight on my shoulders. I had forgotten what it was like to ride the bicycle unburdened. That made for a more enjoyable ride through some of the most incredible, lonesome, inspiring landscapes I have ever seen. Under a hot sun I followed highway 95. The road meandered through valleys, gorges, canyons, hills and open spaces. I must have encountered no more than 10 cars the whole day. It is a bit like doing a tour of the British Museum off-hours when all the statues, the exhibits and the halls are mine and mine alone. The variety of geological formations was astonishing. Highway 95 is one of Utah's scenic byways. I kept stopping to take pictures. Every angle better than the previous one, every strech of road more singular and unique than the previous one, an ensemble of beauty that never tires me, never bores me. It is alive and I come alive.

I cycled through rugged hills, impossible rock formations and imposing red walls of sandstone hearing only the lulling sound of my bicycle wheels rolling on the paved road. The only regret that I feel is that I will never be able to describe the feelings through my words, to anyone. So I guess it is just between me and the earth. I climbed the many steep inclines rapidly -gaining 2000ft in one of the ascents- and I reached the Park at noon. I spent about 2 hours admiring the Bridges before taking to the road again back to Blanding via the same road I traveled on in the morning. It has been an incredible day. I experienced the beauty of cycling in open spaces completely engulfed by the thrills of nature cuts right through and clarifies one simple truth: that we are one with the earth. The wildeness is now inside me and will be in every fiber of my being until the day I die.

I have enjoyed learning a bit about the "Bridges". They were discovered quite late, in 1883 by a man who was searching for gold. In 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt saw a picture of the Bridges and he fell in love with them. He established Natural Bridges National Monument, which is Utah's first National Park System area. Nature cannot be shackled: the three bridges were sculpted by water. They are formed by windblown sand and later through the relentless action of water against the cross bedded sandstone. It's interesting to understand that, through time, water percolation weakens the rock wall to the point of creating a hole which can grow to the size of the current natural bridges. And just as nature takes its course, the bridges are temporary, blocks fall from their underside and the surface wears thin. The geology of Utah, the study of geology for that matter, tells me that everything, just everything, even the heaviest, sturdiest and most solid elements are subject to change. Nothing can stay the same.

Utah is where the jagged rock formations are relentlessly exposed to the elements. Arches, buttes, pinnacles and spires rise pink, golden, orange, peach and they are continuosly transformed by mother nature. Utah is where the canyons create a maze as far as the eye can see.

In the evening I went food shopping in Blanding with a thousand thoughts swirling in my mind. On my way out of the store I met two girls who are doing a cross-country bike ride from Maine to San Francisco raising funds and awareness for bringing safe and clean drinking water to people in developing nations. They have been on the road for 2 and 1/2 months. Now that is determination! That is a true purpose. I felt admiration for me and deep deep shame for me. I bought a water bracelet from them thus pretending to contribute to their worthy cause. Enjoy the rest of your trip young girls! All those things, those things that seem like irrefutable certainties to you will one day change and so will you. As for me, I stopped thinking and dug in a chewy sandwich and loads of fresh fruits. After traveling West for 27 days, tomorrow I will go South, next stop: Monument Valley. I know what I am looking for.



Just my shadow on the lonesome highway


Rock walls by the side of highway 95


Butler Wash Indian ruins


Rock formations by highway 95


View from H95


H95


Scenic Highway 95


View from Highway 95


H95


H95


On a hot day I was finally able to ride in a vest, entrance to the Park


Sipapu Bridge


Sipapu Bridge


S. Bridge and Canyon


Owachomo Bridge