USA - WWR part 3 + Bonus
From Stanley we ride on the Harriman Trail to Ketchum. Here we get off the wheels for the first time for two days since our start. Ketchum is the first larger and very touristy city we pass through. A very nice mountain town and the focus here is clearly on cycling. Countless bike shops and trails around and through the city.
We enjoy the selection of the many restaurants so that we don't always have to decide between burgers and pizza in the diner, which has been frustrating for the last few weeks. At the post we receive our summer sleeping bags and send the far too warm ones to Greg and Kate. We are replacing the bicycle chains and considering how we can increase our water supply for the coming desert sections.
When we leave the Sun Valley, we stay one night at the "Crater Of The Moon" National Monument. Here, many millions of years ago, lava came out of the ground and left an impressive landscape.
On the way to Arco, the mountains shimmer like silk in the light, difficult to describe.
In Arco, the first city in the world to be connected to a nuclear power plant (1955), we stay one night at the campsite. We had to smile when the whole city had no electricity in the morning - luckily it wasn't a fallout.
We are replenishing provisions and plenty of water for the upcoming "Snake River Plain" crossing. On the 130 km long section there is only drought and the outstanding "Southern Butte".
From the city of Blackfoot, which is characterized by agriculture, we drive along the Blackfoot River Canyon to the Blackfoot Reservoir. At the canyon, however, you should not take the curve too fast on the gravel.
At the reservoir we pitch our tent, cool ourselves off from the heat and even see a white pelican.
The next section of the route was not particularly exciting in terms of landscape, which was also good for us. In the past, mineral water was shipped from the town of Soda Springs to all over the world. Here, carbonated water simply bubbles out of the ground from the Hooper Springs - in taste like the SodaStream.
Up to Bear Lake and along a large phosphate mine, which is used to produce plant fertilizer, we enjoy the many water sources that splash out of the rock along the way.
We have one of the best sunrises and sunsets so far above Bear Lake.
At Bear Lake we cross the border into Utah and have a 60 km long descent to Park City. We stayed one night with Brett who shows us the city, he was very helpful and lends us his car to get a new rear tire from Salt Lake City. Another night we were with Patrick in his very large apartment we felt very comfortable and planned his next trips in Europe with him - Warmshowers.org is not only the largest but also a very great bicycle community.
We are leaving Park City and thus also the Western Wildlands Route. From the Strawberry Reservoir we work our way on the Skyline Drive along many birch forests up to Wasatch Pleateau. We spend the night at 3260 meters of altitude and have a fantastic sunset - we are well used to the altitude.
On the long descent from the plateau, the landscape changed in no time - we were in the desert. In Castle Dale, we talked to a few residents who were interested in our route. They recommended that we should stop at the Little Grand Canyon. We took a few liters more water on board and made our way to the Wedge Overlook - it was so worth it. And as always, we have the whole backdrop to ourselves.
It continues through the desert.
In this warm climate, everything simply grows and matures, we carve a melon harvested from the same day - delicious!
Meanwhile, a black widow is digging under the table.
We use the cooler hours to finally get to Moab. We store our bikes there and rent a car.
The area here was at the top of our itinerary. We drive to the "Monument Valley" national park further south to Arizona, where many Western films have already been shot. We were gifted with all weather conditions and light.
We missed our saddle so much in our bike-free time that we were looking for an alternative - Found!
There is also a very magical and hard-to-reach place in this region. Photographers like Chris Burkard were already allowed to enjoy it. We looked for a local guide from the Navajo tribe, the largest Indian reserve in the USA. We paid a lot of money for our standards and let ourselves be shaken with the large V8 for 7 hours through protected desert landscapes and along steep slopes to the final photo spot on the mountain. The light on the rock creates an effect that makes you think you are standing in front of a painting - an incredible experience.
