January 11, 2023
Valley of Fire State Park
What a difference one day can make. Blue skies, little to no wind, spectacular scenery … the list goes on.
Today we made our way north towards St. George, UT but along the way we diverted to Valley of Fire State Park. We’ve been here before and even commented that we would one day like to ride this spectacular natural wonder. Today was the day.
We started our ride 10 miles west of the park entrance and proceeded to climb for 4 miles before dropping 6 miles towards the park entrance. Very little traffic and all vehicles gave us a wide berth … must not be in the city anymore. Turning north into the park, we enjoyed / endured a short but very steep climb before topping out and riding to the end of the road. Along the way we were treated with more views and then a band of desert bighorn sheep. Needless to say, EVERY car then stopped, some of them in the road, to take their quick pictures with their phones before whisking away. We stayed for about twenty minutes trying to get some clearer pictures which I believe we did.
Once to end of the road, we realized that sunset was only a few hours away and we had one 6 mile climb to get back. So, today, no walking around although we have hiked this area in past trips.
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1 year ago
The ride back was … long and cooling as they daytime high of 52 was slipping away quickly but we got a dream ride done with 31 miles and 3000 ft of climbing which felt very nice indeed.
Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 45 miles (72 km)
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1 year ago
1 year ago