I had trouble sleeping last night, similar to Escalante. I didn’t want to take another rest day, so I decided to push on. I knew it wouldn’t be as difficult riding as I have gone through the past several days.

Today’s ride was through two bowls. A slight downhill out of Cedar City, a gentle climb to about the halfway point, then downhill again to Milford, UT. The two wide, flat valleys were surrounded by mountain ranges. There wasn’t much else to see in the valleys.

Much of the government land, especially BLM land, is open range. That means there are cattle grates every so often along the highway. I think the first one I crossed was in Colorado and meant to keep wild animals inside a national park. In Utah, they have been more common. They are a little tricky on a bicycle. I am always afraid my front wheel is going to turn and fall between the bars causing me to go over the handlebars and crash. I have ridden across three type of cattle guards. The most common type has square bars that are close together. I am getting used to this type and will cross them without dismounting, though at a slow speed. Another type has bars with round tops. Those really make me nervous and I dismount and scoot my bike across. A third type is a little sneaky. They have square top bars, but the bars are far apart. Fortunately, I have only crossed one like this. It really freaked me out because the gaps between the bars are almost wider than my feet are long.

At Milford, there is a motel that offers discounts to people on bicycles, which is nice. Tomorrow, I will plunge into a long stretch of desert with no services. Unlike the stretch in eastern Utah, this stretch does not have any campgrounds or ranger stations with water.