Utah: Riding In The Land Of Rocks And Sand

Thanks! Well, you only get one go-around so there's no time to waste. Do all the fun stuff now!

Good photo! Thanks for adding it And thanks for cruising through my report. Only have a few more days to go

OK, how about a little 2-on-1 action, eh? It had rained pretty good that night and we were feeling a little mellow. We had some maintenance to attend to, as well, so we took my 650 out for a little bit of exploration. It was raining lightly when we left but it was no big deal.
Hey, the other side of the Great Western Trail!

Wet sand is glorious...

Ooh! What's up this wash?

Damn...where'd all that sand go?

Ahh...there it is...




I think Eric likes the 650 more than I do. The more he rides it the more he likes it...


This trail went on forever...

Uh-0h...



Almost as hard to walk in as it was to ride in...

We spent the rest of the day lounging in camp and prepping the 610's for the big ride the next day. It would be our last as I had to be back at work 2 days later. We had planned on fording the Fremont River and riding up to the northern end of Cathedral Valley. We'd tried to make it out there last year but got turned around by the torrential rains. This year would be better, no?
Maybe not. We woke up to a fine dusting of snow on the domes of Capitol Reef...

It was about 18º and it looked as though more snow might be on the way. We decided to ride into town for some breakfast and wi-fi. Yeah, it was a little chilly, but at least there was some sunshine poking through...

Just when you think the desert can't get any more beautiful...

Beautiful but freezing cold!

We pulled up at the Capitol Reef Inn, home of lightening-fast wi-fi and seriously good food. Highly recommended!

The weather report was not promising. Rain, I can deal with. Super low temps with snow and sleet forecast for everywhere we wanted to go was not good. With such low temps all it takes is a mechanical failure of some sort or an injury and good times can turn life-threatening in a hurry in this unforgiving and remote territory. It was looking like our last day riding had come and gone already. It would be clear to the east but we just didn't have a day to waste on traveling. Eric wanted me to call in and see if I couldn't take Friday off and return to work the following Monday instead. I was really reluctant. I was super-fortunate to get what I already got, and didn't want to ask for more. He finally talked me into it, the worst they can say is "no," right? Well, I put it off as long as I could. I took a deep breath and dialed. The big boss answered, of course, and he kept me on hold for all of about 30 seconds before coming back on the line and saying "See ya Monday. Don't break anything!"
We flew back to camp, threw all our crap on the trailer and made a bee-line for Moab. White Rim Trail, here we come!!

Thanks, Mr. Ace

I'll try to get some posts done today. I'm a bit under the weather at the moment...

We traveled east towards Moab in fairly consistent light snow and rain. It was pretty nice by the time we got to Moab, but still cool. Had dinner in town and took advantage of the wi-fi. I did some research on the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park, and it seemed we needed a wilderness permit to ride it. The permit basically gets you one of a limited number of camping spots. No dispersed camping allowed on the trail. There were only 2 spots available on-line and they were both within several miles of the start/finish. I wanted a choice spot about half-way through, of course. Anyway, we bombed up to the Island In The Sky visitor's center to get a permit. The place was still open but apparently they quit selling permits an hour before closing. There were some cancellations due to the dismal weather forecast (snow/rain with cold temps,) though, so we decided to be back on their doorstep at 8am the next morning. And a cold morning it was...





We totally scored on the permit and campsite choice! We got the spot that I'd been eyeing on the map. It was about 45 miles into the 100-mile trail.






We cruised the park and checked out some of the lookout spots. This was going to be our route down to the White Rim Trail in the morning...yay!!











We'll be riding around that white rim in the morning!






Time to grab a spot to camp and do some maintenance. I lost a bolt and my carbon fiber pipe hanger got chewed as a result...









Pretty hokey, I know, but it only has to last me 2 more days...on the White Rim Trail with full camping gear LOL!






After buttoning the bikes back up we dropped down into Moab via Gemini Bridges and Gold Bar. We needed to see if we could find a replacement stove as it was going to be far too cold to camp without it...





My kind of slab...









Have I mentioned lately how much Eric loves his 610?















The real reason we went into town...





Well, that, and we needed that new stove. GearHeads is a fan-freakin'-tastic store if you ever need anything while in Moab! Crammed full of stuff you want and need, helpful employees, and they have a free water fill-up in their store. We got a new MSR Whisperlite International stove and a few other little items I could not live without. Ah, we have ignition, Captain!





We finished prepping the bikes and gear, sat and enjoyed the show with a bottle of wine, then hit the sack early...

We woke up to freezing temps and misty on-and-off rain. Great. No big deal, though...we were prepared for the weather and we were pretty psyched to be riding the White Rim Trail...




We were also psyched to see that the Shafer Trail was open. For reasons that will soon become obvious, it gets closed whenever there is precipitation...





















Covering the brakes, our first viewpoint on the WRT...








A rare photo of the two of us...






Hard to see it, but this is an arch that Eric is standing on...





I was kind of freaking out on it, but I did it...









Common theme on this trail...






We wanted to see all that we could so we took all spurs and off-shoots from the main road. This was Lathrop Canyon, an 8-mile out-and-back down to the Colorado River...



















The road ended at a clearing with a picnic table. Hard to believe how hot it was down here...

Perfect spot for a couple of tuna sandwiches and a cooling dip...





The green trees in the canyon were beautiful...












Most fun bike ever...





Eric agrees...















Not a good spot to tip over...

















So green and lush for the desert...








Finally, after 5 hours, 45 miles and 300 photos, we arrive at the coolest camp spot on the trail!



With the tent set up, there was nothing to do but eat dinner and wait for the sunset and the new moon to appear...






I think we were in this big guy's spot. He was not happy with us...









He was interested in the tent...





It was starting to cool down, but there was no trace of the cold temps and/or precipitation that had been in the forecast. It was a beautiful night and we had it all to ourselves!

This was the veranda outside my tent...

And this is the rock that would hold down our vestibule. I'm telling you, it's everywhere!

I've got my wine, I've got my chair...I'm ready...


Yeah, I don't know...couldn't we have gotten a campsite with a view?

Ahh...sunset...

What a difference a few minutes makes!

The new moon makes its first appearance in the twilight...

Oh, yeah...hot dinner tonight!


The earthshine on the new moon was breathtaking. So lucky to be out here and to be able to witness such stunning natural beauty all around me. A perfect way to cap off a great day of riding and exploring...

The morning was cold, but the coffee was hot...

The sun couldn't come up fast enough...

Sunrise on the Green River far below...

Took a walk to warm up and see what lies beyond...


Every campsite has one of these luxurious amenities...

But you better come prepared...

Time to go...

I know! It was so much more than we imagined. We figured it was a road that we could drive our car on, or ride our street bikes on, or...I don't know. We just figured we might as well do it since we were there. We really had no desire to ever do it before until we visited the other side of Canyonlands. The Maze was stunning so we figured why not? It was just so much more...

Hah! Yes, it's super quiet out there. Like, so quiet you can hear your own heartbeat. One of the things I like about the desert.
And, no, I don't do a perimeter check. I know there's critters out there but I don't want to see them

Hey, Jim! Your kid is so lucky! He's going to be a great riding partner for you for life!
You're going to have to go with us one of these days.

We dropped down off the ridge we were camped on and rode the edge of the rim itself again...

It is, indeed, white...

Nice rock

We were getting closer to the Green River...

A lot closer, it turns out...

We stopped to check out the massive river. It's so hard to tell how wide this thing is by looking at the photo. It moves a ton of water, even though it looks really lazy through here. I'm going to guess that the water was 20' below where I was standing...

While wandering around and checking everything out, I realized my pipe looked off kilter. <...sigh...> Time to take all my gear off again. I needed a new hose clamp/pipe hanger...

We put it all back together, ate a little snack of roasted almonds and cold chocolate, and hit the trail. We were expecting the dreaded beach sand sections to begin anytime now since we were dropping down to the river's edge. Less than a mile later Eric waved me over. I stopped, gave my tail end a once over and decided everything was coming off yet again. Good thing...

This time the subframe itself had broken. I've got about 22k miles on the 610, and most of them off-road and rocky with gear on the back, and have never had a problem with the subframe. It's been rock solid ever since I beefed up the little underframe thingy that bolts to the subframe under the very rear of the fender. You know, the little thing that the turn signals mount to. Anyway, the only real surprise is that it hadn't broken before, so Eric whipped out his well-used safety wire pliers and we were back in business in no time...

Unfortunately, everything had to come off the rear of the bike. Eric was at his limit so I had to carry everything on my back. I managed to get the tent bag strapped to the top of my doggy bags that were attached to my seat but everything else (1 sleeping bags, 2 sleeping pads, clothes, sandals, and other miscellaneous items) ended up inside my backpack with the food and water. The other sleeping bag got attached to the outside as it wouldn't fit inside it....

Oh yeah, it was comfy...

We switchbacked up the side of this butte...

The sand was already starting to build up and we weren't anywhere near the river yet. Note the baby sand dunes on the side of the road...

Here we go...

I didn't get too many too many photos of the deep sand. It was deep enough to where I didn't want to stop for fear of digging myself a deep hole when trying to get going again. Suffice to say it was as gnarly as we'd heard.
I passed Eric in this section and he was going all over the damned place! My big fat knobs are a handful in the dirt, and the rear pushes the front all over hell and gone, but if I can maintain control I get monster drive from my massive rear knob...even when it's damned near gone like it was on this ride. Anyway, Eric went down in a heap somewhere through here...

The rest of the trail looked a lot like this, with a few sandy patches thrown in for fun...

Ahh...the official end of the trail...

I must say, our decision to do the White Rim Trail was a last-minute decision and I am so thankful we did it! We got very lucky with a good campsite, and the rain the day before helped make it pretty sweet, too. It isn't anything gnarly, but the scenery just cannot be beat! We almost got overwhelmed by it towards the end of the first day. I'm glad we didn't do the whole trail in one day, which a lot of people do. It can be done, for sure, but at the expense of all that makes this trail the phenomenal spectacle that it is. Highly recommended!
We had about 20 more miles to go before getting back to camp, after which I grabbed the 650 and took dirt down into Moab More on that later!

After finishing the White Rim Trail, we left the river behind...





...and switchbacked up to the top of the plateau...




The switchbacks weren't quite as radical as the ones on Shafer Trail or the Burr Trail, but they were still challenging and fun. Can you see Eric?




We arrived in camp about 20 minutes later, starving yet reluctant to park the bikes. We were both acutely aware that this was our last day here, and we weren't quite ready to pull the plug. We off-loaded all our stuff, had a snack and then headed back out to the Shafer Trail. I'd parked the 610 with its broken subframe and was now riding my 650. Oddly enough, the Metzeler "Sahara" tires do not work well in the sand...

























My shirt does double duty as a search-and-rescue aid...











Whaddaya mean I'm not doing it right?






Oh. Ok. I guess the front wheel is supposed to be off the ground...not the rear!







I dig the national park entrances out here...





More later; I'm riding up to Reno at sunrise tomorrow and I'm exhausted!

Simply outstanding!