The following morning we awoke to sunny skies and were ready to ride. We had heard the night before that Moab was hosting a 24hr mountain bike race this weekend and estimates of 4000 people would be flocking to the area for it. We decided to secure ourselves a camping spot before everything filled up. Lucky we did to, as much of the camping was already full, and by the end of the day 90% of the sites in the area were occupied.
That day we decided to ride an area that is somewhat of a Moab legend, called Slickrock. Located just a few miles out of town, 95% of the trail is located on solid bedrock that undulates throughout the landscape. In a few of the low lying areas we were forced to ride through soft red sand that pushes and pulls your tires, testing our balance. As the trail is located on a plateau, and winds its way up and over, around and beside massive rock formations, we were presented with some incredible views. The trail itself was about 13 miles, however we added an extender 1.5 mile loop just for fun. By the end of it we were punished, from the constant thumping, and the beating sun reflecting down and up from the rock. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and checking out the town of Moab.
We were both feeling sluggish the following morning, and decided that it would be a good day to go for some hikes. Having visited the visitor info centre the day before, we selected a couple canyon hikes to try and avoid the sun as much as possible. We started on a trail named Negro Bill Canyon. It wound up through the canyon adjacent and through a beautiful creek. The shade from the cliffs above, and the
cooler air temperatures from the creek made for a beautiful hike to Morning Glory Arch. As we arrived we witnessed a group of people rappelling off the arch and into the canyon. One person on either side of the arch to counter-balance each other down the 150ft drop. It was pretty cool, and I made a mental note to bring our climbing stuff next time we come. I was feeling spry on the way back and decided to do some wall running at the base of the cliff walls. The curved transition between the canyon bottom and the cliff face was perfect. I am not sure how high my feet actually got, but it felt as though I was essentially horizontal on the wall. That being said, often when you think you have aired a huge jump, you were in fact only 6 inches off the ground, but hey, its all about how extreme you THINK you are!
That afternoon we went and checked out Corona Arch. After a short hike in, we were rewarded with a beautiful view, and some interesting side slope hiking. We approached the arch itself and hiked through the span to see that there was a “trail” up that would allow you to walk over the arch itself. The trail however consisted of shallow foothold that had been cut into the rock, and a 200-foot drop off to the right. After some consideration, we decided that going up may not present much of a problem, but coming back down would be challenging to say the least. The fact that there were climbers hangers also suggested that we may not want to try the route without some rope and gear for extra protection.
We then explored the dirt road at the end of road 279. It brought us past the potash mine and up into Canyon Lands National Park. The road was amazing, though Dee would describe it differently. It was a 4x4 road, or at least as much of a 4x4 road as I would want to bring MY truck on. The operative word being my. We bounced our way through dry river beds, up steep rock
inclines and over ridgelines. The road eventually brought us to the end of a canyon and a 400-foot plus headwall ahead of us. There was no obvious way out. I plugged our way up, following the road, trusting
that it had to lead somewhere. It did! Following the contour of the cliff and the natural steps, the road wound its way up. From the bottom there is no way you could tell that the road picked its way up, but from the reverse angle, looking down, it looked pretty amazing. We finally crested the top of the canyon walls to find our selves within Canyon Lands National Park, and without having paid the mandatory $10 entry fee. We broke in! With daylight fading we explored parts of the park and cooked dinner in rest area and ate dinner at the top of the world, overlooking a 1000ft drop.
Amasa Back Trail proved to be an experience for us both. It is a shared route with the 4x4’s, and let me tell you, that what those guys were doing was scary as hell. The first decent onto the trail consisted of a series of rock ledges at least 3 feet in vertical height. We rode around them while the Jeeps bumped and skidded their way down. We then proceeded to follow a couple bike tracks up the wrong trail, which after a couple kilometers petered out on top of some sizable cliffs. We backtracked and followed the main route the rest of the way. Our pace was that of some really friendly drivers who we bantered with. Their main concern for the area was stewardship and preservation while enjoying the backcountry. I was shocked to say the least, but they turned out to be real cool guys. As Dee and I reached the top of the trail we rested and ate lunch. She had hit her limit for the day and sent me onto another trail with a guy named Rich from Salt Lake City. Thank goodness he was there too, as I flatted shortly after leaving Dee and didn’t have a spare tube. The ride was a fast flowy singletrack trail out to a lookout. We elected not to take the extreme route back to the parking lot, as when we looked down it we saw the first three features on the trail would be ones that we would be walking. The main Amasa Back trail was super fast with tones of wheelie drops and choose your own adventure lines. What fun!
That afternoon we saved another few bucks by combining our shower fee by doing some of our laundry at the same time. Peeeww, it was time too…our bike jerseys were starting to STINK!!! As mentioned previously the Moab 24 hour race was taking place over the course of the weekend, so we decided to check it out as daylight fell and the racers switched on their lights. When we crested the hill above the race course start/finish it looked like a Nascar event. Tents, trailers, motorhomes and bike company tents were set up as far as the eye could see, literally. It was a small mobile city. We parked in the heart and went for a walk. The atmosphere was electric with cycling enthusiasts, racers and officials. After snapping a bunch of photos we returned back to camp at a reasonable hour while the racers pushed their endurance and stamina throughout the night.
In hopes of completing our own test of physical endurance, we headed out towards the Sovereign are the next morning. De wasn’t feeling it that day, so we did individual rides. She rode the standard Soverign Trail, while I looped and circled throughout the area. It was some of the most fun classic cross-country trails
that I have ridden in a long time. It was a mix of slickrock, gravel washes, and silt/clay. Rolling hills with steep drops into historical river valleys and steep climbs to rocky out croppings. I had a great time! We met back in the parking lot a couple hours later and took off to Arches National Park, where we completed the hike to the Delicate Arch. Shortly after leaving the parking lot to the Arch, it was obvious that this was somewhat of a pilgrimage. The trail seemed as though it was shoulder to shoulder, and looking up hill there was a steady line of people marching to and from the arch. Once we arrived though the crowds dissipated, somewhat. Most people were courteous and aware that everyone wanted to view the arch without a throng of people under it. The hike to and from provided a variation of terrain to keeping it interesting. We walked along a 5 -foot wide ledge on the edge of a small cliff, meandered along step slickock, and weaved our way through desert geography and fauna.
Sunday night the crew arrived. Chris and Gord pulled up at around 6:30pm and told us that Nadine was too busy at work to arrive. I was some skeptical, but trusted their caniving minds. A few minutes later Nadine arrived on her bike, parked it and joined the conversation as though she had been there the whole time. Lesson learned…never trust your friends.
Monday morning we rode Slickrock Trial. Dee and I had done this trail days earlier, but were happy to do it a second time. Nadine and Dee took things a little slower than the guys, who pushed the pace while still managing to find time to enjoy the views. By the end we were all crisped from the sun and ready for some shade. Thankfully Nadine and Chris had brought their shade tent and set it up at camp. After a short rest we split up into two groups. The late arrivals went and hiked Negro Bill Canyon while Dee and I showered at the local hostel, went to the bookstore and checked out some bike shops.
Tuesday was the day that Dee and I had been waiting for. When we arrived we talked to some locals who told us that we had to o the Porcupine Rim Trail, but that we needed a shuttle to do it. Having done some research we found out that it cost $25/person on the shuttle, so we elected to wait until Chris’ truck arrived to save some bucks. Chris and I set up the shuttle in the morning and we all loaded up and went for a drive up the hill…unfortunately we didn’t really know where we were going. We had a map, but it was pretty ambiguous. In classic Roberts’ style, I pushed on despite the warnings and pleading from my wife. This time it turns out that I was right, though we didn’t get as high up the mountain as we had intended. Our original destination was at the top of the section of trail called Hazard, however we only made it as far as Kokopelli’s trail head. Hazard would have added another hour or so of sweet singletrack from what we understand. From Kokopelli’s trailhead however proved to be one of our favorite trails ever. The start is a super fast rolling 4x route that we flew down. Some sections were pretty sketchy as we were going so fast and catching so much sir that we were flying into unknown and unseen territory. This led to some hold on and hope like hell that our lines worked out. Luckily in each case, it did. As we descended the trail changed into switchbacking downhill cross country. We wove our way through the forest and along the canyon cliff top. In some sections we were within 3 feet or less of a 400 foot drop, while in one section of the trail there was a crack in the rock that extended away from the cliff about 6 feet. We didn’t realize it at the time, but as we rode over the crack, there was daylight below our tires…that was exciting!
Eventually we found ourselves descending a very rough 4x4 trail that jarred and pounded our bodies and bikes or about an hour or so. This was the trail’s only downfall, as once we were through that section we were into another sweet section of singletrack. This section traversed down the canyon rim, following natural steps in the cliff face. The narrow singletrack was fettered with small rock drops and rolling jumps that we had a great time airing off of at top speed. Classic cross-country stuff! Exhausted from adrenalin and physical effort we finally arrived at the truck. Off to a quick burger and fries at Milt’s Stop and Eat in Moab before running the shuttle and procuring 5 showers for the price of 3.
Our last day before leaving, and we were subjected to some great speeches by Nadine at breakfast. My own personal favorite was “Chris, will you warm my banana for me?” It was blatantly obvious that it was a completely innocent comment, however everybody’s mouth dropped open and the comments started flying…there was some good roasts! Once the dust settled on that one, we packed up and headed off to Arches National Park to check out the Fiery Furnace hike. The shade from the canyons provided some shade, but there were still sections where we were exposed to the full heat of the furnace, which proved too much to Dee. She returned to the truck to rest in the shade while the rest of us forged on. Nadine conquered, or suppressed, some of her fear of heights and we scaled our way up narrow cliff ridges, and over narrow slot canyons. What Fun! When we returned to the truck, the newbies took off to hike into the Delicate Arch while Dee and I rested and cleaned the truck. They returned just before dinner, starved and tired from the active day. We decided that we needed Mexican Food. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but both Dee and I agreed that it was the best Mexican food we have ever eaten.
The rest of the trip is fairly uneventful with a long 23 hour drive home. This included some stops at REI, a couple missed/wrong turns here and there, renting a cheap motel room in Baker City - Oregon, and a smooth sail through the boarder. In total we logged about 5600 kilometers, and crossed through 6 states.
Click here to check out the photos.
Cool stuff dude!
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