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Bryce, Zion & North Rim
Introduction
In early fall, 2001, I returned to the Colorado Plateau with five friends. We spent two weeks touring southern Utah and northern Arizona on bicycles. Our travels took us to three national parks and two national monuments. We climbed and descended through several environments from deserts to alpine forests. We stood at the edge of huge cliffs and gazed into deep canyons. We gasped for breath as we meekly propelled our heavy bikes higher and higher into the thin mountain air while marveling at the magnificent scenery all around us. I based the trip on a trip report written by my friend Allen Freeman. I made one major modification to Allen's plan, an out and back leg to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This was a very challenging and yet spectacular addition.
Pictured above from left to right.
Unfortunately, our experience was marred by a horrific national tragedy. On September 11, 2001, the third day of our tour, terrorists attacked the United States. The terrorists hijacked four jet airliners, crashing two of them into each of the World Trade Center towers in New York City. A third airliner crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Normally, I pay little attention to current events during my tours. However, every generation has experienced at least one monumental shocking event that changed their perception of the world. Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when the heard the news. For my grandparents, it was the attack on Pearl Harbor. For my parents it was the assination of President Kennedy. For my generation, it was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. I created this tour report directly from the daily emails that I sent to my friends, family, and the touring list at phred.org. I used a Sharp TM-20 PocketMail device to write the email at the end of each touring day. I transmitted the messages from a pay phone the following morning. I corrected the original text for spelling and grammar. Notes in blue Italics like this are additional comments I added while preparing the text for the web. Finally, it may be difficult for you to read an entire tour report in one sitting. Therefore, I use a cookie** to help your browser remember the last page you have read on my site. When you return to my site, go directly to my home page. There you will find a link back to the last page you have read so you can resume reading where you left off. Click here to try this feature now. You should bookmark (add to favorites in AOL and Microsoft browsers) my home page for future reference. **A "cookie" is a small piece of data stored on your computer. Its only function is a navigational aid for you. I do not use it to track your surfing habits.
Bryce, Zion & North Rim Contents
 Introduction Day 1 St. George to Springdale, UTDay 2 Zion National ParkDay 3 Springdale, UT to Pipe Springs National Monument, AZDay 4 Pipe Springs National Monument to Jacob Lake, AZDay 5 Jacob Lake to North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, AZDay 6 North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, AZDay 7 North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, to Fredonia, AZDay 8 Fredonia, AZ to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, UTDay 9 Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park to Hatch, UTDay 10 Hatch to Bryce Canyon National Park, UTDay 11 Bryce Canyon National Park, UTDay 12 Bryce Canyon National Park to Panguitch Lake, UTDay 13 Panguitch Lake to Cedar City, UTDay 14, Cedar City to St. George, UTEpilogue |
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