Part 4: Bicycling through the Land of the Sleeping Rainbows

By Frosty Wooldridge

Part 4: Reaching the Land of the Sleeping Rainbows, Valley of the Gods

Public Domain

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”  Susan B. Anthony, brought the vote to American women

Ms. Anthony understood the freedom aspect of bicycling.  How can one describe it?  What causes it?  How does it permeate the entire body with bliss and spiritual joy? 

(Rest stop before resuming the climb up a 9,000 foot pass)

A lot of people ask me why I love bicycle touring.   They ask what I get out of it.  They wonder how something that takes so much energy can render so much pleasure.  They attempt to understand what I acquire from so much “hard work” which I call “hard play.”

Once, I pedaled up the “Road Going to the Sun” in Glacier National Park, Montana.  The ride started from Avalanche Lake and took about six hours to reach the 8,000 foot pass at the top.  My friends and I had to awaken at 5:00 a.m. and get onto the road by 5:30 a.m., so we could summit the pass. If not, the rangers would transport us by van to the pass to get us off the road by noon. 

After passing through the “Weeping Wall” of showers, alongside Bird woman Falls (492 foot drop), seeing three grizzly bears walking across the valley, multiple snowfields rushing into white water streams, purple, yellow, white and red wild flowers blooming all over the place and watching the sun rush over the ramparts, my friends and I finally made the top. You couldn’t have asked for a more sensual, visual, physical or spiritual experience.  I’d do it over again 100 times just to feel the stunning energy pulsing through my body, heart and mind again and again.

At the top, a rather rotund man jumped out of his humongous motor home and walked up to us, “I saw you folks riding up the road this morning. My wife and I felt really sorry for you because of the steep climb and terrible amount of work you must have had to suffer pedaling your bikes with all that gear.  Aren’t you glad you finally made it to the top of the pass?”

“Actually sir, we had so much fun,” I said. “We’re ready to coast back down and do it all over again.  Heck of a fantastic six hours of riding through wondrous sights at four miles per hour.  How fast did you make it to the pass?”

“Oh, we made it up in a half hour,” he said. “I’ve got 400 horsepower under the hood.”

“Good for you,” I said.  “Glad you enjoyed the ride up in 30 minutes.”

Of course, the guy and his wife looked like two heart attacks begging to happen, but I refrained from making a mention of that. 

What would you choose?  Thirty minutes of 400 horsepower, air conditioned, with soda pops at your hand and total comfort of sitting on your butt looking through the glass at the wonders of “Road Going to the Sun” and 46 inch waistline—or six hours of crawling up the mountain under your own power?

At the top, we gazed at patches of snow, wildflowers blanketing the ridges and blue sky from horizon to horizon.  On the other side, we “flew” down the mountain to see one of the glaciers in the park along with Lake McDonald sparkling in the sunlight.  Give me my “two leg power” under my hood any day!

Back to our ride in Utah.  From Price, Utah, we traveled along Route 10 through many little towns.  After we crossed south under I-70, we traveled on Route 72 at Fremont Junction. At first, we dove into a pine-filled valley with a rush of cool air, but soon began climbing toward an 8,000 foot pass.  After a few hours, we reached the pass and decided to camp out. 

The sky darkened quickly as we sat by our stoves watching the evening dinner simmer on the flames.  We sipped a few cups of hot chocolate and watched the approaching storm.  Just after we finished dinner, a rain and sleet squall slammed into our tents.  Ratta-tat-tat pounded the nylon, but we remained warm and dry within.  Being “that” close to nature keeps a person in touch with the wild side of nature.  It keeps us in touch with our wild side.

(Camped out a 9,000 feet and sharing hot chocolate and dinner, Bob and Frosty)

Next morning, clear skies greeted us and very cool weather running about 40 degrees, but quickly reaching 50 degrees.  We packed our gear and dropped down into another valley to lose 1,000 feet of altitude.  Quickly we started going up another incline to the 9,000 foot pass.  We slogged it all the way to the top.  Along the road, golden aspen lit up the sides of the mountains.  Such sights make pedaling incidental, almost effortless, like a bird flying. 

We reached the top by mid day.  Very cold, very windy, very beautiful view for 100 miles in all directions.  In front of us, we saw the road winding for over 10 miles into the future toward a small town named Loa. 

How does it feel to coast for 10 miles?  Answer: sheer childhood ecstasy.  Fun. Frolic. Cavorting on two wheels. Prancing over the landscape.  Blissful living.

We grabbed some food in Loa and a few wild apples from open apple trees.  Farm country. Cows, sheep and horses.  Flat land, but to the south, huge cavernous sedimentary rock country appeared on the horizon.  Many colors, many steep rock faces.

(Bob resting before we start the last leg of the pass ride)

In Bicknell, we stopped for Pickle Pie.  Famous, and yes, it tasted good along with 10 other pies that we tasted.  I can resist anything but temptation when it comes to food on a bicycle tour. 

While we sat in the booth, Bob asked the waitress about heading into Torrey.

“What are we looking forward to as we travel south?” he said.

“Have you ever been to Arches National Park?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.  “Beautiful country.”

“You ain’t seen anything until you’ve seen the ride from here to Torrey,” she said. “You’ll be riding through the Land of the Sleeping Rainbows.”

“Who gave that name?” Bob asked.

“The Indians gave the sedimentary rock cliffs that name because of the colors that got locked up in them like rainbows that fell asleep forever,” she said.  “You’re in for a rare treat all the way to Torrey and then, it gets better in Capitol Reef National Park.  After that, you’ll ride through the Valley of the Gods…make sure you visit that remarkable geological paradise.”

“Will do,” I said. “You can count on us finding every gorgeous spot in Utah.”

(Buffalo along our route heading into Loa)

We finished our tasty pies and hit the highway.  The road curled like a ribbon in the wind.  It carried us through a wide valley fenced by high mountain cliffs.   We saw the colors from the distance, but couldn’t see the striations.  On our left and right, barbed wire encased sheep and cattle farms that spread across the landscape.  Horses ran alongside the fences to keep up with us.

Within five miles, we passed a 100 year old grain mill.  It had ground grains by using a small stream that meandered through the valley. 

After passing the mill, the lady’s foreshadowing of the journey rose before us almost like mythical ramparts.  Have you ever walked into a surprise party?  Did your jaw drop?  Did you feel overwhelmed?

Pedaling into the “Land of the Sleeping Rainbows” dropped our jaws, raised our eyes and profoundly touched our senses.  Massive striated cliffs of every color greeted us on the east and west side of the road.  Mostly on the east side, the Great Spirit (Indian name for God) created a multi-layered birthday cake with topaz, red, burgundy, purple, bronze, white, tan, gray, saffron and many other colors too numerous to mention. 

(The beginning of the route through the Land of the Sleeping Rainbows)

Geologists call it Cedar Mesa Sandstone inherent in the Colorado Plateau.  The Permian Age, about 3 million years in time, created the stupendous beauty around us. At one time, an ocean covered this area.  It receded and reappeared 29 times in millions of years.  Each period piled more and more layers into the geological rock multi-layered cake.  We pedaled our bikes through the eroded remains from 65 million years ago.

I swear that I used up my photo card from taking so many pictures.  Cactus, coyotes, hawks, sheep, buffalo, horses and antelope graced our field of vision.  Either they startled us alongside the road or we startled them on our silent bicycles.

(Shadows creating more visual drama along the route of the Land of the Sleeping Rainbows)

As the sun slid into the last moments of the day, mysterious shadows played on the vertical, multi-colored rock  walls alongside the road.  Talk about magic!  We lived it with every stroke of the pedals.   I hope that guy from Glacier National Park doesn’t drive up and tell me how sorry he is for my riding a bicycle.

Part 5: Café Diablo, wonders of Capitol Reef National Park, Valley of the Gods.

(Frosty and Bob at the end of the day after traveling through the Land of the Sleeping Rainbows)

Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents – from the Arctic to the South Pole – as well as eight times across the USA, coast to coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. In 2012, he bicycled coast to coast across America.  His latest book is: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, copies at 1 888 280 7715/ Motivational program: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, click:

www.HowToLiveALifeOfAdventure.com