Despite having my mountain bike for several months and traveling to numerous locations for bike adventures, the most obvious destination was still on my to-do list until last weekend. The weather was as good as it gets for November in Utah so Keith, Melissa, Roger, and I headed to Moab to check out some of the most famous single track in the world.
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| Ready to ride at Klondike Bluffs |
I can't figure Moab out. Roger and I couldn't find a hotel room anywhere in town last month while waiting for our camping and river gear to be rescued from the Colorado River on a late-season Sunday night. With perfect weather and a holiday (Veterans' Day) weekend, I was expecting a lot of people to be camping and adventuring around the area. We pulled into
Horsethief Campground around 8pm on Friday night to find only one other site occupied.
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| Camping at Horsethief near Moab |
We spent the entire day Saturday riding at the
Klondike Bluffs trail network located several miles north of Moab. The desert scenery reminded me of Fruita, Colorado and wasn't the classic red slickrock that most people think of when they think of riding Moab. The trails, however, were fantastic. We made our first loop by starting with Agate and Jasper Loops and connecting to Jurassic Trail before returning back to the parking area on Dino-Flow. This was an easy, flowing loop and a great warm up for the weekend.
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| Tonic the Dog herding Keith and Melissa |
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| Riding on Jurassic Trail |
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| Roger on Jurassic Trail |
Our second loop at Klondike Bluffs was a little spicier. We took the Mega Steps Trail to the top of the bluffs and then over to Baby Steps, descended on Little Salty, and connected back to the parking area on the EKG Trail. Little Salty was particularly fun, while EKG forced me to walk my bike a few time times. We finished the loop and made it back to town for a shower and dinner at the Brewery before an eveing of stargazing at camp.
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| Keith on Mega Steps |
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| With Roger on Little Salty |
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| Bike malfunction on Little Salty |
We spent Sunday morning biking at the
Klonzo trail network located a few miles south of the Klondike Bluffs area. The scenery was similar to Klondike Bluffs and the trail network was smaller, but the riding was fun and non-technical. We rode most of the trails at the network including Dunestone, Boondocks, Secret Passage, Wahoo, and Cross Canyon.
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| Roger at Klonzo Bike Trails |
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| Roger at Klonzo Bike Trails |
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| Keith enjoying a beverage break at Klonzo |
Keith and Melissa headed back to Salt Lake on Sunday afternoon while Roger and I spent the rest of the day riding at one of Moab's most famous mountain biking trails, the
Slickrock Trail at Sand Flats Recreation Area. The scenery was spectacular with great views of the snow covered La Sal Mountains and the Colorado River. The trail was difficult for me and I found the short but extremely steep climbs and drops to be quite intimidating. The beautiful red rock made up for the frustration. Roger was perfectly patient with my minor tantrums.
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| The La Sal Mountains from Slickrock Trail |
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| Roger on the Slickrock Trail |
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| My bike taking a break on Slickrock |
I bought several bundles of firewood and enjoyed a big fire and a growler from Moab Brewery on Sunday night. Despite an increasingly bright moon, the stars were beautiful and I managed to see quite a few meteors before finally turning in to bed.
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Reward after biking
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After enjoying the late season sunshine and packing up camp on Monday morning, Roger and I headed to
Dead Horse Point State Park to ride the
Intrepid Potash Trail. We decided to ride the medium length Great Pyramid Loop and enjoyed the leisurely riding with occasional viewpoints looking into the canyon. The longer Big Chief Loop looked nice as well, and the views of the canyon would have been particularly spectacular with evening light.
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| Overlook on the Intrepid Trail |
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| Roger at Intrepid Trail |
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| Enjoying the views on the Intrepid Trail |
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| We were canoeing down there two months ago |
