I slept well again last night. As I was heading out, a man from New Zealand stopped to walk around the picnic area. He said when he planned his trip to the US, people told him he needed to go to Utah. There isn’t anything like it in New Zealand. I’ve been across this country and haven’t seen anything like it.

Today ended up being a relatively short day into Hanksville, UT. For the first 12 or so miles, I was still climbing away from the Colorado River. The climbing was gradual, however, so it wasn’t so bad.

Once I crested the hill, the landscape changed and became more gray and desolate looking. I was looking forward to getting to Hanksville, so the second half of the day seemed to drag on.

I got to Hanksville at a little after 1:00 and stopped at a restaurant on the edge of town for lunch. I debated going further, but needed to resupply after the last three days so decided to stop there. I figured by the time I resupply, there won’t be much time left to ride. While I was resting at the convenience store/restaurant, an older man said, “That’s what I call a real man,” pointing to my bike and gear.

From Hanksville, I begin the first of two long climbs in Utah. It will probably take at least a day and a half. I had planned to take tomorrow off before I started the climbing, but feel pretty good so I will try to get some miles in.