KLMNO
Travel
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2020. SECTION E EZ EENAVIGATOR
How to negotiate for a hotel room
upgrade — and when to just leave. E18GIFT GUIDE
What to get the traveler on your list in
the Year of the Canceled Trip. E19The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted travel domestically and around the world. You will find the latest developments on The Post’s live blog at w ww.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/
BY JOHN BRILEYS
hafer Canyon Road rises from the Utah
desert like a coiled snake, six switchbacks
and 1,200 vertical feet of sandy, sunbaked
malice poised between us and lunch, beers and
one final killer view.
I’m with 12 old friends from the University of
Colorado at Boulder, all in our mid-50s, and two
guides, in the home stretch of a four-day, mid-Oc-
tober mountain bike and camping trip along the
White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park.
We are tackling 80 miles of the 103-mile loop,
which wends through the hypnotic scenery of
these Ancestral Puebloan lands. Shafer Canyon —one of only three roads in or out of here — is our
final hurdle.
We started planning this last fall and, once
covid-19 hit, thought we might have to cancel. But
our outfitter, Western Spirit Cycling Adventures,
determined that these outdoor trips posed low risk
(the company says it has had no coronavirus cases
among its customers). As a precaution, we all got
tested just before the trip and many of us again after
returning home, with no covid detected. And, per
the company’s policies, we wore masks during the
shuttle rides to and from the White Rim. About half
our group flew in from the coasts, with the rest
driving from various points in the West.
SEE UTAH ON E20Old friends embark
on a rocky ride in Utah
They reunite to bike an 80-mile c ircuit in Canyonlands park
BY ANDREA SACHSMost of us are probably wishing we
could go back to Christmas Past, but
unfortunately, we are stuck in Pandem-
ic Present. Last holiday season, an esti-
mated 7 million people visited New
York City, the epicenter of merriment.
This year, fewer revelers will embark on
the pilgrimage. As this story went to
press, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention advised against travel-
ing for Thanksgiving; similar guidance
may come for Christmas. And New
York State has its own restrictions,
which also could change, but as of
mid-November, out-of-towners from
all but five northeastern states — New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut,
Massachusetts and Vermont — must
obtain a negative coronavirus test re-
sult within three days of arrival and
retest on the fourth day of the visit. In
between swabs, visitors must quaran-
tine. Many hotels are discounting
rooms and throwing in such perks as
free parking and dining credits. NYC &
Company, the city’s tourism office, has
a list of specials on its website, and
many are valid through the end of the
year, if not beyond.
SEE HOLIDAYS ON E18In NYC, holiday
magic endures with
tweaks to traditions
JOHN BRILEY FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTRobert Abbe, a San Francisco investment banker, pedals along White Rim Road in Utah as the
Washer Woman towers in the distance. The road was built in the 1950s for uranium exploration.