Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 16, 2002

Day 45 (88 miles) Green River, UT to Cap
Today was an early day, up at 4am! We are getting good at that. We had to shuttle a few miles to our start today to avoid some interstate. Rajeev and I were in the first van full to get dropped off and we hit the ground running, as it were. The ride was gorgeous. The area is very arid but on all sides there is shrubby vegetation and ridges of red rock. On a few occasions we went through patches where the ground on the side of the roads turned to sand, like you would see in the Sahara, not what I expected in Utah. We stopped for lunch in the parking lot of a general store on the side of the road, not particularly close to anything. There was a “town” about two miles further up, but it was basically a gas station at the intersection of two main roads. As we neared the park the red rock ridges grew, and we descended down into the canyon. The park has a series of petraglyphes. We stopped and marveled at those for a few minutes, and I got to say a few words in German to some other bikers (from Germany) who were also looking at the petraglyphes. Our campground was called Fruita, and for good reason. The entire campsite was edged with small fruit trees, apricots mostly. There was a family of deer, which seemed to be used to people and decided that the fruit trees were an excellent place to feed. Many of the riders got almost too up close and personal with these friendly visitors. For dinner we had a feast of rice, veggies and chicken, plus mac and cheese, with a side of fresh apricots. It really hit the spot. A few storms passed over after we arrived in camp but nothing too monumental… I took an afternoon nap in one of the vans and missed them completely. Tomorrow we are getting another early start. I am driving, so I get to make breakfast… up at 3:30 cooking oatmeal, what fun that will be.

- David Courson