October 28
58 miles/93km
+2600ft/790m
It was a dry morning, and a little warmer than the last few days. We were still on the highway, but with a decent shoulder and not too much traffic in the early hours.
We took a very short detour to visit Pipe Spring National Monument. The site of this perennial spring has been home to the Paiutes for ages. Later, Mormon settlers ranched in the area. There are still some old buildings. We explored the grounds and the museum for about an hour before continuing our ride.
We stopped in Fredonia around lunchtime. I had hoped there might be a coffeeshop or something in town, but it was just a Family Dollar and a gas station and restaurant. We grabbed some snacks and headed to the park to eat lunch at the picnic tables.
A little while later, we left the pavement behind to join the winter road. We saw a few cars and passed a few hunting camps and had awesome views towards Grand Staircase-Escalante as we climbed. Some parts were steep, up to 15%, so we did a little pushing.
We descended from the top toward Vermilion Cliffs National Monument and found a place to camp right around sunset. Our next two nights will be in hotels. Tomorrow we’ll be right outside the Navajo Nation, the following night in Cameron, and then we’ll exit the reservation and head into Grand Canyon.
