Stan's Burger Shak is a Vortex

Still dark when we woke up this morning, first rays while we were stirring the oatmeal. We slogged up the hill we had descended the afternoon before and stared straight into the rising sun. Another positive of going westbound. (We were headed East at that point, took a left and no more sun.) There are some days where we wake up on the bikes. You achieve a mild level of consciousness while getting ready, eating a banana – but it might be ten miles before your focus actually gets sharp. We rode over two bridges that took us across the Colorado, and then the Dirty Devil rivers. It was a steep push out of the Lake Powell area, 8 percent for a mile. Then the hill decided it was tired of punishing us and mellowed out for the next fifteen miles or so and we held a respectable 11 and 12 up the slight incline. Stopped off at the Hog Springs Rest Area. We were hoping it would have running water, but no such luck. When you see the plastic tubing jutting out of the roof you know they're ventilating a toilet of the let-it-drop variety. A Clif Bar or two later and another touring cyclist arrived. As it turns out, Michele had slept at Hite Recreation Area last night as well. And he started riding this morning within a few minutes of our departure. Still missed him. Michele is a teacher at a special high school for promising athletes and artists in Quebec City. His English is a bit slow but we conversed nonetheless. He tows what looks like the bicycle equivalent of an Airstream trailer. Gleaming, curvaceous metal. Anyway, he started in Denver and is heading to San Francisco as well.

It was only right to pick up another foreign companion so we rode with Michele the next 35 miles to Hanksville. Hanksville was sort of a forced destination for us, another stretch of 50 miles of no services between Hite and there. And the last few days had been strenuous, so we decided to lounge a bit. We stopped at a convenience store set into the mountain and Michele told us about earlier travels hitchhiking through Latin America, and visiting Machu Picchu, and hiking the Inca Trail. He didn't have the right equipment out of a group of better-equipped companions but he ended up being the only one without blisters because he did much of the trail barefoot. Cool guy. Michele decided to press a bit further for the day so we shook hands and he departed. We'll likely see him again.

We cruised over to the post office just in time to jettison some empty fuel canisters, and some extraneous clothing, and a few other oddities. Luckily we made it into Hanksville fast, the post office is no more after 12:30. We doubled back to Stan's Burger Shak and were ensnared in the Lake Powell traffic. Hanksville seems to be a popular stop-off for the speedboat set and this was an establishment that feeds a lot of people. Counter ordering but an expansive dining hall. It took a couple of years for the orders to come up but they had Wifi so we were appeased. Noisy though, bustling. Grocery store for a stock up and then to the laundromat. There was a really comfortable three-legged couch that we enjoyed and Jordan relayed details of the trip and travels to a woman who was laundering as well. We checked out the park which was on the outskirts of town and decided that was going to be our home for the evening.

We went to the Burger Shak much later in the afternoon and enjoyed a far more pleasant atmosphere. We skipped the stove meals today and enjoyed what Stan had to offer. A very kind gentleman gave each of us a Clif Bar after hearing about the ride. I managed to put up a bunch of posts and we did some mapping and some strategy. We hightailed it back it to the park just as the light was slipping away and found the evening's concrete slab. Had an awning though. We got chased by a couple of yappers on the way over but they were laughable and we outsprinted them easily. There's a pump spigot about four or five feet off the ground at the park so Jordan and Jeremy got nude, individually, and showered underneath. I decided I wasn't dirty enough to get wet. No shower streak continues. Blew up the air mattresses, dozed off.

Out of Hite, over the rivers, early.

Colorado? Dirty Devil? Can't remember.

You're not so big.

Road to nowhere.

Michele and company.

Looking out from the Laundromat. Hanksville is a dusty place.

Lounging.

Only 3000 miles!?

Shredded.