Waterpocket Fold, in Capitol Reef NP,
near Torrey, UT.
phase three: UTAH
"My God, Utah was spectacular! If you haven't been there, go! There are miles and miles red rock and slickrock canyons with huge, otherworldly formations looming overhead. I rode through several national parks and monuments: Bryce Canyon, Escalante - Grand Staircase, and Cedar Breaks. The cliff faces, especially in the eastern part of the state, almost look like they've been painted by some abstract artist who has only two colors in his palette: medium red and dark red. There are some petroglyphs as well, which are pretty neat, although it took me a lot of squinting and head tilting to see the critters depicted by the ancient native people.
"The riding in Utah was pretty tough. It was extremely hot, and when I wasn't climbing the steep grades up the mountains, I was fighting gusty headwinds. When the headwinds petered off, I would be surrounded by a cloud of flying insects interested in salt and blood. Absolutely worth it, though, for the scenery."
JUNE 29th:
PAM: "Joshua has reached Torrey, Utah. Apparently the computers are few and far between, however, he said to update "you-all" and that he would communicate ASAP."
Waterpocket Fold, in Capitol Reef NP,
near Torrey, UT.
JUNE 27th:
PAM: "Joshua has reached Panguitch, Utah. Tough ride, he says, hot and 8,000-ft. climb. The scenery is beautiful."
Bryce Canyon, near
Panguitch
JUNE 25th:
At last word, Josh was on his merry way to Milton, Utah. Thanks to the tendency of local Miltonites to obsessively chronicle genealogical data, Milton is saved from having absolutely no presence in the information age. See? Look out, eleven year olds!
Here is the only photo I could find from Milton, UT. Josh, do these faces ring any bells?
ERROR! Josh was in Milford, not Milton! My bad! Milford is in Beaver County, which looks like this:
And he very well may have stayed at the Oak Tree Inn:
JUNE 25th:
(email from Josh)
Yes, y'all, I've found my way into the land of "Mormonity" and plentiful, massive, suicidal crickets. They're all over the mountain roads here, sunning themselves, apparently undeterred in their quest for the perfect arthropod tan by their slaughtered brethren only inches away. When startled by a bike passing close by, they squeal like demons being exorcised from a possessed Mormon schoolgirl.
The past week, riding through the Great Basin, has been an amazing experience. Although I'm not a real fan of hot weather, I've always been attracted to the desert for some reason. Hot weather has not not been a problem so far, though. In fact, I was riding through rain into a headwind most of the day yesterday, four layers of wool, synthetic fabric, and nylon barely enough to hold off the chilling wind that slithers up through clothing and bites at nipples like a kinky rattlesnake.
The foul weather actually kicked in on Monday as I was descending a mountain pass. Just as I was getting so thoroughly chilled that I could barely control the bike, I came around a bend to find a bar, out in the middle of Nevada Nowhere. I noticed a nice Paramount Schwinn road bike with a Burley trailer parked out front, and went inside to find an older fellow that I'd met in Carson City warming himself up. We ate our lunches and put on warmer clothes, and rode the rest of the day together. This guy, John, was heading off on a more northerly route, to meet his wife in Colorado, and then on to New York. I had to go a little off route that night to find a motel where I could escape from the worsening storm. That's when I ended up in the unidentifiable location at the Utah border. I'm still not sure whether I was sleeping in Nevada or Utah.
Getting back to the scenery, well, damn, it's gorgeous. The terrain is alternating basins and mountain ranges. Clouds moving overhead play with the colors and contrasts. Auto traffic is thin, so most of the time I hear only my tires humming over the pavement, birds chirping and squawking, and the wind in my ears. I've gotten into the habit of listening to music in the afternoon, when I need the extra motivation to get me pedaling.
I have been
staying in cheap motels most nights. I did find a nice place to stealthily
pitch my tent a few nights ago, about 25 miles west of
Austin,
Nevada.
It was a clear night, and I saw more stars than I've ever seen out there, with
no light pollution. It was about 40 degrees, possibly colder, when I woke up in
the morning -- I had to stay snuggled in my sleeping bag until about
7:30 AM, when it was finally warm enough to
get packed up. 
Tonight I'm
in
Cedar
City, at the base of yet another set of mountains. These mountains have a nice
red tint to them. I believe the desert will be increasingly rust-colored as I
travel eastward into Utah. I'm going to take a rest day here tomorrow. My legs
need a day off after climbing 20 or so mountains in the past week, and my bike
needs a bit of cleaning up after a couple of days of riding in the rain. 
The weather is forecasted to get quite a bit hotter over the next week, so I may actually need all of those 8 liters of water I've been lugging around with me for the past week. I should reach Colorado around next Thursday or so. The Rockies are the part of the trip I've been looking forward to the most.
Thanks to Simon for doing such a great job, updating the maps and dredging up pictures of the places I've been. Eureka was an especially neat little town, as you can see from the photos. Like many of the towns I've passed through, it was once a booming mining community with 10,000 or more people, but the mines failed and almost everybody left. (Abandoned mining equipment and various wooden structures, all in varying states of decay, lie in the hills by the side of the road throughout Nevada and western Utah.) The people in these little towns are friendly and helpful, and many are curious about what I'm up to and ask all sorts of questions. Even the motorists out on the highway are supportive, waving and giving thumbs-up as they pass.
It seems that soda has turned into pop and bags have become sacks here in the Mountain Time Zone. I wasn't expecting that until Kansas at least.
I'm sure there's more I could say, but I've been given limited time on this here computer, so I've got to sign off for now. I hope you all are doing well.
--Josh
Progress tracked in green
Cities along Utah stretch:
phase four: Colorado