April 28th, 2013

Day 4,

I wake up once again happy to have survived the night.  I pack my stuff and take my time planning an escape route through the deep sand.  I make it out fine and head back to Horse Shoe Bend where I can actually take my time and enjoy it, this time during sunrise instead of sunset.  Once again I find my myself in a breathtaking spot where my mind can rest.  Taking time like this is important for me.

I continue on, do the necessaries in town and am in Utah within a couple hours.  By one or two I make it to Zion National Park and cruise around.  I had previously never heard of it nor seen any pictures so I’m taken aback and blown away with the looming smooth faced rock mountains.  I can’t believe how different this landscape is to the miles of highway leading up to it.  It seems fake, like a theme park instead of a natural wilderness park.

I spend a lot less time there than I like cause a noise in the engine is making me anxious and I want to arrive at a good time at my friend’s parent’s house tomorrow and there are still many miles to go.  I still enjoy the rest of my ride soaking in the beautiful scenery of Utah yet my mind is troubled once again trying to figure out what that sound could be on the bike and why the engine feels different.  As I go up one particularly long and steep hill the engine feels like it bogs down then backfires.  My body tenses up and I ride slower, with more care, and listen carefully to every sound for the remainder of the day’s ride.  I doesn’t seem too pressing since the bike is still running and I wouldn’t know what to look for even if I did stop, so I move on.

I find the best camping spot yet in a little secluded spot on the Seviere River.  It is so perfect that I think there must be a catch.  I have plenty of time before sunset and don’t quite know what to do with myself again.  I juggle a bit, but question the purpose of it and move on to loading pictures onto my laptop.  I always feel like I must be doing something productive every minute but maybe this trip will be a good time to learn to mellow out a bit.  I get to bed early and soon enough find the catch to this perfect spot.  It turns freezing cold and I can barely sleep…