Bear’s Ears – Day 3

It is obvious to me that the people making Google Maps have only ridden their bikes in the flat costal areas of California. And likely then, only 2 – 3 mile commutes to work. Two hours and 15 minutes to travel 25 miles? On a related note, Anne had driven between Bluff and Mexican Hat many times to shuttle for San Juan River trips. She remembered the rout as having “some rolling hills”. Do you see that profile above lower right? Never trust a driver to give a bicyclist good information about a route.

Our day began with a bang – literally. A very loud bang. Leaving our comfortable but aging Mokee Motel, we began backtracking into town for breakfast. Ever vigilant of tire pressure, and never wanting to use my hand pump, I decided to use the gas station air compressor to top off my tires. It was a handmade hose with no pressure valve. Going for that little extra pressure, I blew the tire right off the rim. The convenience/gas station store, emptied as everyone inside came running out to see who had been killed outside. Thankfully, it was off the rim, but no break in the tire itself. I was able to fix it pretty quickly before going to breakfast.

We pedaled a couple miles back through Bluff for breakfast. This was basically a necessity with the limited number of options in Bluff, but it was only tolerated (in terms of bicycle touring) because the day was short and allegedly easy. We ate at the Bluff Resort along with a group of U of U medical students on a “retreat” – WHAT? No one took me on a retreat in medical school. The only “(re)treat” I ever got was a candy bar from a vending machine that I paid for and ate for my lunch and dinner. I suppose this next generation of doctors might have to do everything by telemedicine so they don’t get dirty or worn out.

Not far out of town, we turned into Sand Island. I don’t know why, but all of our side trips included some sort of hill. In this case, that was good at first: we went down to the river. But there is no free lunch and I paid for it later coming back up from the river. There was a busy boat launch on the San Juan River. Boaters would follow the San Juan to Mexican Hat but while it carved a very slight downhill path. Meanwhile, I would be “carved up” by some “rolling hills” that rivaled the Appalachian Mountains on my way to Mexican Hat. We did take time to enjoy some great petroglyphs before heading back to the route – the only one I think I understood was the one of a man with a cowboy hat, sitting on a horse…maybe more recently added?

Everyone was feeling good and happily rolling along as we left Sand Island. We even ran into another cyclist riding from Boston to Argentina. Seems a bit of an odd route, but riding a bike as long and as far as you can is quite wonderful. We first passed up and over Combs Ridge. You can see it in the 3rd photo above running parallel to the guard rail. It is a sandstone uplift running north and south. We crossed it going east on Monday, paralleled it as we went south to Bluff on Tuesday, and crossed it again going west toward Mexican Hat. It is a largish hill but not too painful. The pain came with the next hill that added a significant amount of vertical to our day – everyone else smiled patiently at me as I slowly chugged up to the top using my two pistons rather than their electric motors.

The agony of the climb was partially aleviated by the increasingly amazing geography and geology around us as we got closer to Mexican Hat. Of course the “Mexican Hat” being one of the most interesting geologic features. I’m told, by a reliable source, that one summer 8 campers from Navajo Trails Ranch (where we worked multiple summers) stood on top of the Mexican Hat. I’m so grateful I never owned a youth camp…..

If you thought Bluff was limited in activities, then Mexican Hat wasn’t even on the map. In fact, I’m pretty certain that if there weren’t a boat launch and take out on the San Juan River at this location, this wouldn’t be a location. As it was we ate at thee “cafe” which featured cold pizza and fried things (likely chicken, but could have been local rodents). The cafe was basically one third of the town the other two thirds being boater parking lot and a nearby gas station. Just down the hill (which we would come back up in the morning) was our motel – the San Juan Inn. Miraculously, the front desk had a battery charger waiting for us which our daughter had shipped Fedex a few days before when we discovered ours was on the fritz. The Inn was quite lovely as it clung to the sandstone cliffs overlooking the San Juan River. The restuarant was open thankfully and we enjoyed a dinner – not a Navajo Taco but a Navajo Burger. Yes, it is a hamburger patty between two huge Navajo Taco “buns” and should not be missed.