Where the Trail Leads: Cliffhanger II -escape and endings
Birds of Prey, unexpected snow and altered plans in Moab, Utah
by Felix Burke
The condor, its three meter wingspan casting a shadow on us, was closing fast. I could see its beak and talons. I yelled at Turner to turn around. We both yelled “OH SHIT”!!!! The noise of the yelling must have signaled to the bird that we were not any kind of normal prey and, at the last minute, it changed direction. It probably just wanted a closer look, but it is possible that it was trying to knock us off the cliff band to munch on carcass in the valley below.
A little disturbed and exhilarated, we made our way down the cliff and back to the car. It was time to leave Zion behind and make our way to Utah, the final stop of our trip before heading home to the east coast.
The route we chose to get to Moab took us through Grand Staircase National Monument where we took a day to explore Bryce Canyon. It was cold, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the rare geological shapes called hoodoos. They consist of soft rock topped by harder stone, creating thin spires that poke up from the ground. They are called hoodoos in reference to their of eerie nature.
There is a difference between being keen for adventure and being dumb. We may be both but it didn’t change the fact that it was simply too cold for us to camp in Moab. We had to find a place to stay.
The Lazy Lizard is a hostel on the south end of Moab where eclectic personalities come together to sing songs and talk about their travels. This is where we ended up staying for our time in Moab. The Lizard provided us with a kitchen and a warm bed to come back to after each day’s adventure.
Moab has the benefit of being located in the middle of two National Parks, Canyonlands and Arches. Unfortunately there was too much snow to explore the bike trails, but we made up for it by hiking into the national parks every day.
Our time in Moab was full of adventures and was the perfect way to cap off what was the trip of a lifetime. We were a little nostalgic as we left Moab because we knew it marked the end of our journey, but we knew that we had done the trip right and neither of us had any regrets. With the long drive ahead of us, almost 4,000km of open road, we would have a lot of time to reflect on the many great moments and to think about what we were going to do next.
Felix Burke is cross country racer from Mont-Tremblant, Que., training in Victoria, B.C. while studying at the University of Victoria. In 2018, Burke achieved his goal of winning the Canada Cup XCO series overall, racing for Rocky Mountain Bicycles. When returning to studies and training in September didn’t feel right, Burke decided to find answers on the trail. Where the Trail Leads is Burke’s story of the journey that follows. Chapter 1: New Season New Plan, Chapter 2: Planning, Chapter 3: Mt. Hood, Ore., Chapter 4: Dust and Burritos in Bend, Ore., Chapter 5: Bucketlist rides in Downieville, Cali, Chapter 6: Wrong turns in San Francisco, Chapter 7: Death Valley, Chapter 8: Santa-Claus and Chapter 9 pt. 1. Felix will be contributing to Canadian Cycling Magazine in French. Read his first column en Francais ici.
