The mountain was angry that day, my friend

Mountain weather is very capricious.

Biking from Milford UT to Cedar City, I had put in about 70 miles and arrived in Cedar City at about noon.  Jaine and I met for a picnic lunch at a nice park and at about 1 pm I thought I'd take off some of the edge of the 10,000 ft mountain I was to climb the next day.

Off in the distance I could see clouds brewing, but they seemed pretty far away and on the other side of the mountain.  I put on a light jacket as it seem to be cooling off, but the weather was still nice...in the 70's.

I took off on Hwy 14 heading to Brian Head and Jaine went back to check on Josh to see how he was doing.

As I entered the canyon leading up to the top of the mountain, the wind started to ominously gust into my face.  When I got to the first mile marker, I started to feel a few drops of water.  "Hmmm....", I thought,  "Looks like I might be in for a little rain."  Just then, the rain started to come down hard and the wind began to roar. I was getting soaked and as the road started to go up at a 4 % grade I started to think "You know, it can't get much worse than this", when I started to hear some plinking on my helmet.  The drops of water were starting to get hard and would hit and melt on my warm but soon to be cold helmet.  I looked down on on my bike calculator and the temperature dropped from the 70's to 41 degrees.

Man, was I cold!  My jacket was soaked, the wind was howling like a banshee and the temperature was 41, soon to turn to 38 degrees.  I kept pedaling up the mountain and vehicles  would pass me spraying water on me, their drivers wondering who was the nut trying to climb the mountain in this weather.

Between mile 2 and mile 3 Jaine drove past me with Josh.  Both bike holders on the rack were full and there were only 2 seats available in the car.  I yelled to Jaine "Go to the hotel and come back immediately!"  Jaine took off and I kept pedaling.

I figured she'd be back at around mile 4 or 5 so I geared up for a tough climb.  The weather was relentless and the grade started to go up to 8%.  The wind and sleet continued relentlessly.  I was almost grateful the road grade went up, because all of that hard work climbing the mountain was keeping me warm.

When I got to mile 4, I was thinking "Jaine will be coming here soon, just hang in there!" and I kept pedaling.

When I got to mile 5, I started thinking "Hmmm...where IS Jaine?  Maybe the motel is farther away than I thought."  The sleet started to turn back into rain as the temperature rose to 48 degrees.  I was still freezing, and my hands and feet were numb.

It's interesting how your mind starts to mess with you when you are soaked to the bone, the wind is howling in your face, you're pedaling up this insane hill at 4 mph and you're wondering when the cavalry is going to show up.

At mile 6. I was thinking "I suppose they're checking in right now.  Maybe hauling some stuff in the room.  Man, I wish they wouldn't do that.  It would be a lot nicer if Jaine would just come back in that darn car and pick me up."

At mile 7, I had been pedaling for over and hour and now I am getting seriously miffed.  "Man, where is Jaine?  What are those guys doing? Are we all checked in?  Is dinner being served?  Are those guys lighting a candle for world peace and toasting the end of a beautiful day?  What the hell is going on here anyway?"

At mile 8, the temperature started to warm to about 52 degrees.  Even though I was numb and freezing, the wind was actually helping...it dried my jacket and I started to warm up a bit.  I could see the sun start to  come out up ahead and knew if I pedaled faster (from 4 mph to 5 mph) I could get to the sun faster and maybe I could get warmer.  I started thinking "Boy, it would be nice if Jaine picked me up at the 10 mile mark.  That means I only have 16 more miles to go to climb to the top of the mountain.  That would really make tomorrow's job easier."

I was too fogged out to recognize when I passed mile 9, but I could see the marker at mile 10 and thought "Man, this is great!  I went 10 miles after going 56 miles from Milford to Cedar City UT."  By now, the temperature was almost 60 degrees.

Just as I got to within 20 yards of the 10 mile marker the cavalry arrived.  Jaine pulled up and immediately go out of the car and asked "Are you ok?"  She was very worried.  I asked her "Were you able to check into the hotel?"  She said "Are you KIDDING?!"  I dropped off Josh right away and came barreling back down the mountain to get you!"  That made me feel so good. I was just so happy to see her.

The hotel  was a lot farther away than we thought and there were no signs or directions to get there to the place whatsoever.

At any rate, it turns out the mountain was just teasing me...the next day when we took a break and visited Bryce Canyon National Park, we got caught in a hail storm with hail the size of peas that covered the ground 2 inches thick.  That's what can happen when the mountain gets really angry.

Before the storm started to really pick up                               Finally leaving the storm...2 miles back the road was 2 inches thick with hail

We need your help!  Please donate to the best of your ability without doing material damage to yourself.  Every little bit helps and is much appreciated!