Moab Trip Notes 2001

May 11 to May 17, 2001

There were nine of us in the group this year. (Paul could not make it as was in a new job).

Friday & Saturday May 11 &12^th

Sara took John F. to Midway Ford to pick up the van (2001 15 seat) and drive it to Sara & John’s home by 11 20 a.m. Most of the group were already there waiting to start loading.  The first job was to put a new wheel and tires on the trailer and then assemble the bike rack. Sara provided sandwiches and pop as we loaded the trailer and van.  It seemed to go easier this year and with more space. We pulled out at 2.13 p.m. and followed the usual pattern of changing drivers at each fuel stop. Gas prices were higher this year by about twenty cents per gallon and with the more powerful engine our miles per gallon was approx 10 versus over 12 last year.  The van certainly had more power and we made excellent time getting to the Moab campsite at 9.15 a.m. (8.15 a.m. Moab time). Greg arrived about 20 minutes later and Dave and John about one hour and thirty minutes later.

 We set up camp and admired the improvements Dave W. had made to our camping setup. A large rack to accommodate the bikes, helmets and backpacks fully painted in a rainbow of colors.  Also a sink that hooked up to the water supply and drain. (This proved to be a great asset for washing up). We had quiche for lunch and then everybody set up their bikes and loaded them in the trailer. We relaxed until 3.30 p.m. to allow the heat of the day to subside and then left for the Flat Pass trail. We followed Dave W. in the Durango to the usual drop off point on Spanish Trail Road and then all traveled in the van to the start above Ken’s lake. It was a good ride but hard from the effects of altitude and being the first outing of the trip. (Some were hurting more than others!!)  The creek was surprisingly low and all the crossings were rideable this year. We enjoyed the usual rapid ending down the paved road to Dave’s car (17.8 trail miles).  There was a lot of house building activity on this road for vacation style homes, (as we noted in many scenic places this year – Moab is getting popular)– in this case very stylish in red adobe. Dave W, Greg and John F drove back to retrieve the van and trailer and the rest rode back to camp.

Dinner was an Italian feast of Chicken, artichokes mushrooms and pasta with Orange jello salad and bread. We toasted our chef – Sara with the excellent Italian red wine she also provided for the dinner.  Cleaned and loaded the bikes in the trailer and bed by 10.30 p.m. All slept well!

Sunday May 13^th

All up around 6-6.30 a.m. Made breakfast of scrambled eggs. Left at 8.06 am for Sands Flats Kokopelli trail. (Starts from the same point as Porcupine Rim). Unloaded and started the trail at 9 a.m. (5250 ft.) This turned out to be a long steady climb but had interesting changes of scenery as we made our first venture into the La Sal mountains   The start was typical Moab scenery of red rock and scrub, then changed to pine with a few large trees and then to a total coverage of pines. We eventually reached a paved road (after having achieved an altitude of 8100 ft) that goes from Moab and loops around Castle valley to 128 along the foothills of the La Sals.  After a short ride we turned off the road and descended a trail that looped us back to the initial climb and we then had a fast ride down to the starting point. We got back at 1.30 p.m. after a ride of 26 miles. We returned in the van to camp for a lunch of salmon, rice, jello salad and bread. Spent the afternoon in camp, then cleaned and loaded the bikes for a drive to Bartlett Wash at 5.30 p.m.  This is from the same starting point as the Monitor and Merrimac trail but goes further north.  It was a fairly easy ride out to the slickrock with a short portage up about six feet onto the edge of the rock.  This was a unique experience on a different slickrock. The whole area ran for several miles horizontally but only about half a mile wide and gently sloping down from a low ridge.  We rode around on the contours that were mainly striated light and dark red. We had to leave as it started getting dark, vowing another visit with more time on our next trip. As we rode back to the van, lightning was visible in the distance. The bikes were quickly loaded and as we drove back to camp the wind increased blowing garbage across the road and the storm could be clearly seen in the distance, but well South of town. We unhitched the trailer and drove to Eddie Mc Stiffs for a good meal and their micro brewed beer. Both were as good as usual even though it was not crowded and we initially thought the reason may have been a drop off of quality.  Returned to camp and turned in around 11.15 p.m.

Monday May 14th 

We got up at 6.20 a.m. for a breakfast of oatmeal.  Left for Slickrock at 8.23 a.m. Dave S arranged to meet a friend from high school who rode with us. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and around 85° F, Slickrock was as good as usual. We returned home for a lunch of  peanut and pasta salad with chicken.  In the afternoon went into town for local shopping, then spent the rest of the afternoon in camp talking and some went to the pool.  Left for Eagles Perch/Gemini Bridges around 5 p.m. This was a new trail for us and since we were not certain of the turn off from Gemini Bridges trail to get to Eagles Perch, we decided to leave Dave W’s vehicle at the end of the Gemini Bridges trail (just off highway 191). We continued in the van up route 313 into the canyon lands area.  This road climbs to 6,000 ft before you turn off left onto a jeep trail that is the start of Gemini Bridges trail.  We stopped after about 6 miles as the rough road was bouncing the trailer around.  John took the van and trailer another 1.5 miles and we rode down to meet him.  We were then at 4470 feet elevation. As three of the group had not seen the Gemini Bridge formations we took the trail spur over to see them. (Two rock bridges of about 30 feet length across the end of a box canyon that is about 300 feet deep). We returned to the main trail and never did locate the turn off for Eagles Perch trail.  Finally rode down to the trail end passing through a gap in the 150-foot high rocks with the ‘gooney bird’ formation on the right and the peak on the left known as ‘Eagles Perch’  - maybe next year we will find the trail up there?

Dave W and John F loaded their bikes on the top of the Durango and drove off to retrieve the van. The rest of the group rode back to camp down the old Moab road – they said it was a good ride. Dave and John arrived back in camp at 9.00 p.m. just in time for an excellent dinner of steak and fajita’s. Bed around 10.30 p.m.

Tuesday May 15^th

Up at 6.15 a.m. for a breakfast of pancakes and sausages. Left in the van at 8.02 a.m. for Porcupine Rim. We arrived, unloaded and started on the trail by 9.00 a.m.  It was a nice day, not too hot with the temperature in the 80’s, and everybody rode well.  We made the usual stop at the top to admire the view over Castle valley and take group photos. Tim found a small steel cross-monument commemorating a cyclist who died in 1999 – 31 years old who “thought this was the best view in the world”.  We had a great ride down only marred by Carey falling and hurting his back and then falling a second time, badly bending half of his handlebars and barely avoiding going over a 10-foot drop. This forced him to walk all the way down the single track to the road. The single track afforded the usual spectacular periodic views of the Colorado River as you wind down to the road 800 feet below.  The single track has changed since last year as more people have used it.  In has been widened considerably in some of the tricky rock areas and worn away in others creating more drops in the trail. You can understand why people are concerned over preserving the trails when you see the damage inflicted in just one year.  We wended our way down to the road and rode the 5 miles back to camp.  Dave W had ridden ahead and brought back the Durango to pick up Carey. We had a lunch of chicken sausages and baked beans. Five of us went into town to retrieve the van, go shopping, enjoy Slurries and get new handlebars for Carey.  At one bike shop they had an oversized bike that we had fun riding round the parking lot. Everyone except Rob and John F. prepared their bikes for the Moab Rim ride.  Rob drove everybody to the trailhead 5 miles South of town at 5 p.m. They returned and said it was a great ride. This was a new trail for this year and they found that after a small portage (nothing like Jacob’s ladder) you end up on a trail in a hidden valley that takes you up to  the top of Moab Rim by the chair lift. It is then a good challenging ride down to the road on a broad rocky surface. (This will be a keeper for next year). Had dinner of pork chops, vegetables, beans, Risotto and bread.  The bikes were prepped for the next day and to bed by 11 p.m.

Wednesday May 16^th

Up at 6.15 a.m. and breakfast of scrambled eggs. Today we venture into the La Sal Mountains for some new rides. We left at 8.53 a.m. and drove through town climbing out of the valley to drive south of the start of Flat Pass to the Brumley Ridge trail. We planned to do this trail in reverse choosing to ride up the trail and come back down the road.  We had trouble locating the trail end and initially overshot the road pullover, as it was not marked.  We rode up the paved road from 7100 to 8350 feet, and then turned down a jeep trail that dropped into a valley and traveled along the side of Brumley Creek.  The road was sandy with small rocks; the scenery was different with pines and lots of greenery. We stopped and went over to the creek about twenty yards to the left down a small path. There was a small waterfall with a fast running creek around five feet wide.  Tim went down stream and found a crossing to come back to us on the other side.  Carey threw him his digital camera, as Tim reached out there was a fumble and it fell in the stream.  There was a rapid rescue but the camera did not function after its bath.  We returned to the bikes and could hear an air leak from Tim’s bike. Found it was caused by a cut in the inner tube from some sharp edges of the spoke nipple holes in the rim. These holes were not properly covered by the stiff and deformed plastic rim tape. – Moral of the story is do not use plastic rim tapes! Having fixed the puncture we proceeded down the trail, Tim and a couple of riders went down a track towards the creek thinking it was the trail. Tim was doing a slow turn round to return when he lost his balance, fell over and sprained his hand. The trail continued to parallel the creek. Near the end of the trail again stopped and went over to the creek. It was now in a narrow canyon probably around 100 feet deep and about 200 feet wide with lots of ponderosa pines. (John I. later said he had seen climbing anchors in the rock face down to the creek).  After a short climb the trail wound up to the road and our van.  We loaded up and drove towards our next ride, pulling off the road for a picnic lunch on the way at a good viewpoint into Castle Valley.  Nearby were three people with a tripod mounted spotting scope.  We concluded they were possibly hunters checking out the surrounding mountains for antelope activity.  We backed the trailer up to a rise in the ground so that the tailgate would make a tabletop. We had appetizers of carrots followed by grilled chicken strips in a bun and beans; we topped this off with dessert of fruit cups.  After lunch we finished our twenty-two mile ride to the start of Fisher Mesa trail at 8383 ft.  Carey dried out his camera over the van dash heating vents and it returned to normal functioning.  Todd tried making and flying paper airplanes into a box valley from the ridge with little success.  The airflow would keep turning them into the cliff face below us.  At this point we could clearly see the snowy peaks of the La Sal Mountains.  We started the trail at 2.46 p.m. winding through large pine trees.  The sandy and small rock trail rapidly dropped off to 6800 feet.  People turned back at various distances as the trail started to get more sandy and continued winding down with very little to see on either side except trees and brush. We agreed this was not a good ride, did meet some local riders who were researching a new ride, so maybe next year we will have something worthwhile in this area. The group put on jackets and started down out of the mountains on a good paved road at 4.20 p.m.  John F. waited with the van for Rob and Carey who returned at 5.00 p.m. We drove out of the mountains and met up with the group at the junction with 128.  They said it had been a great ride down the mountain road and had clocked a max speed of 47.4 mph. We loaded up the bikes and drove back into camp.  For dinner we used up the leftovers – Salmon, steak, rice and bread, with orange tangerine jello for dessert.  Discussed the superb food we had had all week and the great rides.  Made notes for improvements to next years camp.  A windstorm came up suddenly and we quickly dispersed.  The hot tubs were a popular place.  Bed by 10 p.m.  

Thursday May 17^th

Up at 6.20 a.m. After breakfast of bagels, cereal and yogurt we started to break down the camp. At 8.10 a.m. Rob drove Tim, John I, Dave S, Todd, Greg and Carey to the Amasa Back trail.   Dave W and John F. continued to break down the camp.  When the riders returned we finished the packing and pulled out. Greg started the drive home in his car. Dave W and John I. in the Durango and the rest of us in the van went down town for a lunch of sandwiches before saying our goodbyes and pulling out for home at 1.29 p.m.  We had a good run home arriving at Sara and John’s house at 8.04 a.m.  We unpacked and dispersed after another excellent trip.  They just get better every year.

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