Slickrock Action


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North America » United States » Utah » Moab
November 7th 2006
Published: February 6th 2007
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I had been iching to get some mountain biking in and since Moab was known as the mountainbiking mecca of the USA it had been my main motivation to come to this place. So I got some repairs done to my bike and headed out to ride the famous slickrock tracks, while Naomi did a spot of hiking in Archers national park.
The ride I did today was up to the top of a rock mountain. The road was a bumpy and sandy 4x4 road. I allowed 3 4x4’s to go ahead of me but quickly overtook them while I bumped my way up the hill over the slickrock and through the thick sand. It was tough going and the lungs were burning. To stay on the track I had to either follow the tyre tracks or the white markers on the rocks. Finally I reached the top after a 10k ride, and scrambled down to view the little arch which is the highlight of getting to the top of the track. All in all this was probably one of the most technical rides that I had ever done. It was graded a 2/4 for difficulty but I think in NZ
Slick rock trackSlick rock trackSlick rock track

This is the terrain that needed to be navigated. Good thing for suspension.
the grade would have been much higher.
After a breather it was back down. Despite loosing the track as apparently every new 4x4 and biker experiences, I followed some guys with GPS in jeeps and causally negotiated the the slickrock terrain back to the bottom. Then I rode another 12 km’s to meet Naomi at Archers national park.
We then drove up and photographed rock archers including probably the most photographed arch in the world - the delicate arch. Again there are more amazing rock formations in Archers. Photographers wait at all good vantage points for the perfect light so they can capture the landscape in spectacular detail.
My new SLR was provided fairly useful and I got to snapping some low light shots which were handled well by the camera.
Once darkness closed in we headed back to the hostel



Additional photos below
Photos: 11, Displayed: 11


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STOP!!!STOP!!!
STOP!!!

Before you drive off the cliff and enjoy the view. This is the turnaround point of the 4WD track
Hole in the rockHole in the rock
Hole in the rock

Top of spider Mesha trail
Colorado RiverColorado River
Colorado River

This river is huge! It carved the Grand Canyon and runs through many states including Utah.
Archers National ParkArchers National Park
Archers National Park

Sun through the arch, taken by Naomi, I let her borrow my camera while she roamed around Archers national park
Balancing RockBalancing Rock
Balancing Rock

Archers National Park
Delicate ArchDelicate Arch
Delicate Arch

Taken at late dusk on the new Nikon. We could hardly see the arch normally. I'm impressed with the new camera.


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