Day 9 we rolled out of the very charming town of Escalante at 9am - had to get to Boulder by 1pm before the post office closed: our food drop was there! Mark and Henric were still stranded 5000 ft up at the Posey Lake campsite - while the rest of the group made our way to Boulder, Mark and Henric got a ride down, found out the bike shop was closed and that Henric’s broken pivot bolt could not be had for love or money anywhere in North America - the solution was “Doc” at the local motorcycle chop shop called “Hogs”, he machined a new bolt from steel and by last night they were rolling again! Meanwhile, what we thought would be a boring ride to Boulder to get back on road turned out to be the most incredible 3 hour spin through the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, just JAW DROPPING! Once in Boulder we got our food drop, downed a few local ales, and commandeered the local park where we used the sprinklers as showers, and sorted all of our food and gear. We then proceeded to the Hell’s Backbone Grill for a 4pm dinner reservation. Even though Boulder is one of America’s most remote towns, this restaurant is a foodie destination and was a James Beard finalist for best restaurant in the country last year! What followed was an exceptionally superb multi course dinner in a fantastically beautiful outdoor setting, and we all basically lapsed into a dream state for two hours. Then it was off to the Burr Trail to find a campsite, where once again (for the umpteenth time on this trip) Utah upped the ante on the scenery. Just… WOW! We pitched camp at the mouth of a stunningly beautiful slot canyon. This morning we woke up early and were pedaling by 7am to try to beat the heat. After a couple more hours on the Burr Trail we entered Capitol Reef NP and AGAIN were astounded by yet another unique geological wonderland, highlighted by the vertiginous Burr Trail switchbacks that descended 200 meters down the escarpment in about 1.5kms. The following three hours were a death March slog through sand and washboard in searing heat. I drank 10 liters of water today and it wasn’t enough. A fellow in a converted school bus stopped and gave us some of his which was very kind. We were about to begin a 30km climb into the Henry Mountains (very remote - the last mountain range to be mapped in the USA) when some Govt employees in a black Suburban happened to come along and told us not to do it - too dry and sandy (climate change dang it!!) and water was sketchy. It was 41 Celsius so we decided not to tempt fate and rerouted down to a state highway. Tomorrow morning we will start at 6am as we have 130km of ride-around to get back on route at the Colorado River crossings. We are having so many highs and lows every day, so many extreme challenges…. but spirits remain high and we are starting to get a whiff of the barn! This is truly the hardest and most incredible thing I’ve had the good fortune to attempt. Feeling very lucky.