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Double Rainbow
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(Outside Salt Lake City) From the Grand forested mountains and cool weather of Jackson Hole we headed to the hot red rock desert of Moab, UT (stopping for a short time along the way at the Great Salt Lake and Park City Utah...in the last blog)
The change in landscape and weather was dramatic - for us and the pooch - daytime highs in Jackson were mid 60's and daytime highs in Moab were mid 90's with a hot direct sun overhead. Moab is renowned for mountain biking and lays the claim that the sport originated there. Needless to say our 3 days in Moab were all about biking.
Day 1 - We rode the Klondike Bluff trails, moderate and not too technical. Shan is morphing into a mountain biker... That evening we headed into Arches National Park for a short tour and took a sunset hike to view Delicate Arch; once you see the pictures you'll recognize it, highly photographed but worth the trip so see in person.
Day 2 - I took a one hour shuttled van of about 12 riders to almost the top of some distant mountain, Moab sits at about 4,000+ feet elevation and the van dropped
us off at above 10,000 feet (math wizards that converts to 6,000 feet of vertical decent & downhill riding!!!) At the point of no return the driver handed us our bikes, said "have a good ride" and was gone. Luckily i studied the map before i left the shop and knew what trails were ahead; the area/trail system i was in is known as "The Whole Enchilada". The day started with a moderate climb to the top of that distant mountain and then tilted down the slopes and along the ridge line. The distant views of the red desert were good and the ridge line i speak of had about a 1,000 foot drop-off to riders right. The ride was a good mix of terrain - it featured down hill curvy single track that was flowy and fast and at one point here i came around a blind turn and there was a massive black cow and calf standing in the middle of the trail, lacking an eject button, i quickly moved into dual lock up mode and came to a dusty screeching halt - i dont think ive seen a cow move that fast. Other sections of the day
included 4x4 Jeep roads, straight single track over bulky rugged rocky terrain that made your jaw jiggle and sections of 'slick rock'. Well worth the trip, i felt confident over most of the trails only walking the bike over a few sections of wickid knarly you gotta be crazy to do it kinda stuff. All said and done a 27 mile ride....did i mention it was mostly downhill?!
Day 3 - We tested our skills and endurance on the world renowned slick rock trail - this is the original trail and terrain that made Moab the epicenter of mountain biking. The trail is 10.5 miles entirely on red slick rock, actually petrified sand dunes... picture an expansive view of steep rolling sand dunes...now picture them red....and now make them rock....thats what we rode on. Some 45 degrees up and down the other side. The kind of stuff you cant ride anywhere else, its unique riding, tire pressure in the 25 psi range for traction and you're maxing out your heart rate in granny gear. This is the stuff i like and im good at. There was some literature on the trail at the parking lot, it truly is world
renowned and remarked as the second hardest trail in the world, rated a 4 on the scale of 1-4 for difficulty, Moab "Slick Rock Trail" look it up. First timers usually settle in the 3-4 hour range for completion while local riders can complete it in 2-3. I did it in 2 hrs and only had one 'dab' (a 'dab' is when you put your foot down on technical spot) but i immediately back tracked 20 feet and cleaned the obstacle second try, i was pissed, i could have had a fast and clean ride, but ill take the 2 hr time and one dab for my first go around. Shannon was up second and wore a silly smile of enjoyment, she liked the terrain and is catching the mountain bike fever. Fun.
Moab was fun biking and we left much unexperienced but we had to move on and beat the heat - while in Moab some bikers told us we had to check out Fruita, Colorado.....a small town in north west Colorado where everyone bikes.period. As you'll see in a few pictures...you know when you get to Fruita. We did two days of riding here, day
one was at a section called "18-Road" and was a desert setting again, hot hot hot sun sun sun, caught some really fun trails here including Kessels Run, which i did several times, its a downhill non-techincal but very curvy and lots of flow with high banked turns shooting you right into the next one. Day two in Fruita was at the "Lunch Loop Trails"......now i consider myself a good experienced capable rider but ive never experienced anything as continuously technical and knarly as some of these trails....they were relentless with tough spots, hard descents and rocks everywhere, i wasnt having my best day of riding but it didnt matter, i walked more here than ever before. Hats off to the folks who ride these trails on a regular basis and can really ride them, id like to spend a month on these trails and put the Fruita quiver in my hat.
Kona got a few river sessions out of the Fruita deal swimming in the cold fast flowing milk chocolatey Colorado River. Fruita like Moab was dessert with temps in the 90's and a relentless sun, not Kona weather. It was an unplanned side shoot so we only
spent a few days and now we're in Durango located in the south western corner of Colorado. Cooler here maybe reaching low 80's during the day, 55 nights. We're finally sleeping outside of the van, we've slept in the van for almost a month and a half...its tight.
Off to explore Durango....Colorado mountain region with forests, rivers, Rocky Mountains and 2,000 miles of riding trails.
JP
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