Trip to George Day 4

Friday, May 27 - Panguitch to Zion N.P.

83.1 miles - 3,716ft climbing

Today was a great Day!  We got a great breakfast at Ray's and were headed out.  We had some more climbing to do before our decent into Mount Carmel Junction.  The summit of the climb was at 7,700 feet, over 1,000 feet above Panguitch.  We were able to pound the climb thanks to a generous tail wind.  The weather was overcast and cool.  We actually ran into a spot of rain and hail near the summit.  

We skipped the stop at the summit and began our decent.  We enjoyed a brief stop at a great little rest stop at Shingle Creek.  

We then kept going down the hill until we came to a great German bakery in Orderville where we stopped and enjoyed wonderful brat's and a pastry.

Once we descended to Mount Carmel Junction, we began the slog West up into Zion N.P.  This was the toughest climb of the trip.  We suddenly had a crazy head wind and a super steep grade to contend with.  I was in granny-1 and granny-2 forever getting up the hill.  We then had some windy rollers into the park.  


Once there our excitement to see the park was like a jolt of energy.  I spotted three big horn sheep watching all the excitement from his perch high above.

Zion has a tunnel that is over 1 mile long that bikes are not allowed to enter, so we had to find a ride in the back of a truck.  It took us almost an hour to catch a truck with room.  It was a beautiful brand new Toyota Tundra in metalic orange.

Once through the tunnel we descended the switchbacks down to the main canyon.  Once there we headed up canyon to the lodge to get dinner and hang out for a bit.  

We then headed to the campgrounds which were of course full.  

We trolled around until we found a very generous couple from Houston that graciously allowed us to share their camp-spot.  They were in the first come first served area that has over 100 spots.  They had to get in line at 7am (they were about 30th in line) in order to get a spot.  Crazy!!!  They were touring Utah, so we gave them some ideas for things to do and places to see.

This was a crazy hard and long day.  But The Park paid us back with some great scenery and perfect weather.