Day 45, Blanding to Natural Bridges, 56 miles (including scenic loop of 'bridges!)

It was novel and enjoyable to pack up camp in absolute solitude; we were sorted by 8am and the resevoir was like a plate of glass - clear and tranquil. A few easy miles to Blanding, we stopped at the visitors' centre for water and were soon approached by a Swiss couple as they passed in their hire-car. Themselves (tandem) cyclists, 'Jan' (I didn't catch their names)-wanted to know all about our trip, and nodded severely at our responses. He has the same 'B.O.B' trailer back in Switzerland, and as such felt an affinity with Matt. Jan left us with best wishes and returned somewhat glumly to their hire-car.

In Blanding, we hit up the grocery store and made the tactical error of indulging in a large carton of cereal and milk respectively. In the nearby park, we dove into tupperware containers full of milky cereal - assured that this was a good move, given the lack of services for the next 74 miles. Our bags laden with tinned stuff and bellies full of darily, we struggled to cycle up-hill. On the upside, before we could manage to roll out of the park, we managed to get ahold of our mate Bruce (uni friend of Sals'). We now have a Labour Day agenda; meeting up with Brucey in Bryce Canyon, West Utah! With this date in mind, we can take our time through the beautiful and diverse canyonlands of Utah; don't mind if we do!

The day was short on mileage but not on spectacular views; as we arrived into what makes Southern Utah oh so monumental! Matt insisted on stopping to scramble up a roadside outcrop for a photo-call. The views just kept on coming. Another diversion presented itself in the form of an Indian village ruins heritage site.
After some knee-grinding uphills and awe-inspiring vistas, we rolled into Natural Bridges National Monument. In the parking lot, we met a couple of Kiwi guys who were doing their own America ride; on a pair of KTM motor-bikes. Charles and Dave had bought the bikes in California and will store them on the East coast for another ride next year, before finally shipping them back to NZ. It was great to meet some semi-locals on their own big-adventure. Their biggest mileage in one day was 700km (we didn't bother telling them ours after that!)

Having set up camp in the Natural Bridges campsite, we ditched the trailer and bags to ride 'bare naked bikes' to check out the natural wonders. Without the touring gear our steeds felt like bucking broncos; and so we charged around the Natural Bridges 8 mile loop. By the time we returned to camp, the 13-site campsite was fully booked, so we ended up sharing our ample camp space with a German guy and his English wife in their big RV. We would have stayed up to chat, but were knackered and hit the tent.