Author Topic: 2 month bike trip Bozeman-Las Vegas in July-August 2016  (Read 15421 times)

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Offline zzzz

Re: 2 month bike trip Bozeman-Las Vegas in July-August 2016
« Reply #15 on: May 31, 2016, 08:57:04 am »
Hi:

It will not be hard to hitch-hike at the tunnel. I got a ride immediately going into the park and going out it took about 10 minutes. As a woman traveling alone I would bet money that you will get a ride w/o even that delay.

Traffic is only allowed one-way in the tunnel at a time. What that means to you is that when you get there you will go up near the mouth of the tunnel and wait for them to hold traffic in the direction you're heading. Then all the cars back up for 20(?)± minutes and you walk down the line of cars at a stand still with your thumb out. A bunch of the cars & RV's in line will be loaded with all their gear and they will wave you off but there's always some locals coming thru with a empty pick-up truck. They'll signal you to get in and you take a ride in the back with your bike. After the tunnel they drop you off and you get a great downhill to the valley.

No need to sweat this one.

Pete


Offline alessandra

Re: 2 month bike trip Bozeman-Las Vegas in July-August 2016
« Reply #16 on: May 31, 2016, 11:37:18 am »
 :) Sounds very good to me! That's my husbund who's going to be sad  ;D

I finally dediced to let him come, let's see if he resists till Zion :D

Offline zzzz

Re: 2 month bike trip Bozeman-Las Vegas in July-August 2016
« Reply #17 on: May 31, 2016, 12:16:09 pm »
If the hubby is along it makes it a little harder in that you need a vehicle that can fit you both but it doesn't change much, I'm sure the 2 of you are not going to look dangerous or threatening on the side of the road there and that's the important thing.

As to your question on the previous post about getting down to G.C., you only have 2 choices that I can see. You can go back the way you came in on 9 back out to 89 and head south. That's what I did. When you get to Kanab take 89A to Jacobs Lake and then turn right to go to the North Rim. Or you can go out west past Springdale and take 59 to 389 and meet up with 89A that way. I was planning on doing that but I was warned off it by a local. I can't remember whether he said it was dirt or just really broken up but he didn't thing it was a good road for a road bike.

btw: I looked this up the other day : 5m visitors per year to the South Rim versus 1m visitors per year to the North Rim. And it's not because the south rim is nicer, it's because it's much easier to get there. The road to the north rim is a 45 mile dead end so it might be tempting to skip but it will be a much nicer visit.

pm


indyfabz

  • Guest
Re: 2 month bike trip Bozeman-Las Vegas in July-August 2016
« Reply #18 on: June 02, 2016, 10:27:32 am »
Not to hijack the thread, but I was (mistakenly) under the impression that one could get shuttled through the Mt. Carmel tunnel by the NPS. In looking up the matter I came across the this from 2014:

http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2014/02/22/bicyclist-seriously-injured-after-attempt-to-bike-through-zion-tunnel-1/#.V1A_xXL2Zjw

smh

I have ridden through a 5,300', unlit tunnel while riding the abandoned portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that is now an unofficial bike trail. Even with a very bright headlamp it was easy to become a bit disoriented. I followed the advice of someone and tracked the highway median stripe, which was still visible decades after the road was abandoned. Most of these people had NO lights. The two who did had only little flashers.

Offline alessandra

Re: 2 month bike trip Bozeman-Las Vegas in July-August 2016
« Reply #19 on: June 02, 2016, 11:15:09 am »
Yes,thanks. That's one of the articles I had read and that deeply impressed me.
No doubt that I'll not dare to ride the tunnel. I was indeed lookinf for information about how to avoid it.
But if the chances to be hitch hicked are real, I'll take my chance

Offline zzzz

Re: 2 month bike trip Bozeman-Las Vegas in July-August 2016
« Reply #20 on: June 02, 2016, 11:18:50 am »
No NPS shuttle when I was there and when I inquired the Ranger did not give me the impression they could take me thru. That said, if there's a more conducive place to hitch a ride, I can't imagine where it would be. Even as a 58 y.o. guy who hadn't shaved recently and probably looked a little rough after 3 weeks on the road I had no trouble. With all those cars at a stop, if they have room for you and the bike it's harder to wave you off then to say yes.

Before I got there I was under the impression that they had traffic going both ways except when a large RV or tour bus came along and they would then make the tunnel one way for that vehicle to pass. That turned out not to be true and after seeing how narrow the tunnel is and how many large RVs and tour buses go thru, I didn't see any way that could ever be the case. And it was so regulated that even on the morning when I left and there was much more traffic leaving then entering the park, they still kept the tunnel open in either direction the same amount of time (say 15± minutes) each way instead of going to 10 minutes one direction and 20 minutes in the busier direction.

RE the article you linked to : I don't know where the park rangers were when these guys rolled up because they were standing sentry when I got there and they made sure to let me know in no uncertain terms to not even think about riding thru. Be that as it may, that was an exceptionally stupid move on the riders part to go in there w/o a proper front light.  There was several places in the tunnel where there was daylight but overwhelmingly it was Dark and not straight with a pretty good down hill slope.

pm