Day 17: Hot Hot Hite (Hanksville, UT to Hite, UT - 51 miles)

Our night was a bit less restful than we had anticipated due to our mosquito friends. Our tent put up a valiant effort, but the few mosquitoes that snuck in managed to do their damage. We woke up feeling less than refreshed and hit the road to Hite. The ride was a short 51 miles, so we were looking forward to an early arrival.

The scenery keeps getting more beautiful as we make our way east. The roads weave in and out of the rocks, creating a very cool riding experience.

The short ride was a nice break from our usual daily mileage, but the heat rolled in quickly. By the time we got to Hite, the temps were hitting 100+ degrees. We met up with the MIT riders at the convenience store at Hite and sat in there for the afternoon. Our convenience store food choices are becoming quite creative. Pork sandwiches and Bowl Appetit meals hit the spot. After getting kicked out at closing time we set up our stuff in the shade near the ranger office. I did some reading from previous coast to coast blogs and read about waking up to hit the road at 2:00 AM to avoid the heat. We're planning on doing that for our 80 mile journey to Blanding, our last stop in Utah. We all wanted to stick together during the night ride, so the MIT crew offered to carry our bags for the morning. With the next day's adventure planned out and our sleeping mats sprawled all over the visitor center sidewalk, we attempted to get a few hours of shut eye before the twilight wake up.