Moab Trip Notes 2004

May 08 to May 14, 2003  -  Diary by John F. Walker

Saturday May 8^th & Sunday May 9^th
   
Todd collected the van and we started loading at Sara and John’s at 1.00 p.m. Tim & Carey found the lights were not working on the trailer and traced the fault to a bad contact between the steel chassis and the aluminum frame. They fixed it by adding wiring to the lights from the chassis. Sara provided lunch and we finished packing and left at 3.00 pm. We had a storm in Iowa with hail and then more heavy rain until midnight. The weather cleared and we had a good run through until we were on highway 128 within 20 miles of Moab. The police had shut down the road. We were told it was a crime scene because someone had been stabbed and we could be delayed up to two hours.  Tim went over to the scene and said there was a tarp over a body and you could see boots and a bloody arm of the victim sticking out.  We decided to turn round, drive back to highway 70, drive further west and come down 191 to Moab. We listened to Tim’s police radio, heard that they had witnesses and were chasing a suspect who was observed running and had thrown away items and hidden a knife in a tree. Later they reported they had captured the suspect and had secured about a one-mile square mile area to look for the evidence disposed by the suspect. The investigator said he would release a report to the media in the afternoon when he had figured out what had happened. We called Dave and John and they were just getting in to Moab. When we finally got into camp around 11.20 a.m. (Minneapolis time) Dave, John, Paul and Greg were well into setting up camp.  We were at different sites this year ( 176,177,178) as construction workers for widening highway 191 had taken long term rentals on a many  of the sites including our usual sites 6&7.  There were many greetings and talk as we caught up with each other’s news. We finished setting up camp with all the new canopies from Dave and our amenities that increase each year. The bikes were loaded into the trailer and we left for Flat Pass around 4.30 p.m. We started at the golf course end for a different experience. Our intent was to ride as far as we wanted and then come back to the start.  The stream crossings were low this year and we all rode through the three crossings you ford at this end of the trail. (John F got a puncture after riding through the second stream crossing).   There was no breeze and the temperature was warm so it was perfect riding conditions. The trail seemed a lot sandier this year but not so many loose small rocks; suspect the use of the trail by more off road vehicles was responsible for both of these changes. Paul and Dave were using single gear bikes. We went at our own pace with Paul and Rob flying ahead (Rob’s hip joint replacement had certainly not affected his riding ability). With the sandy conditions nobody wanted to turn around so we rode the whole trail to Kens Lake and then the nine mile back to town by road, The return trip was very fast as mostly down hill, our group (Tim, John I and John F) averaged 21 mph reaching 25mph at times. We arrived back in camp at 9.20 p.m. (Moab time) and set about cooking dinner. John I was the main cook and it was pork tenderloin that Sara had marinated in Rosemary and Thyme, rice and mixed vegetables, with wine, followed by cinnamon apple pie. This was an excellent dinner to start our trip. We sat talking, with people drifting off to bed around midnight. 
   
Monday May 10^th
   
Cool overnight in the region of 35 degrees. Up at 6.20 a.m. Breakfast of quiche, scrambled eggs with vegetable filling,  bread, jam, orange juice and coffee. Loaded bikes and left for Porcupine Rim at 10.11 a.m. after the sun had risen warming things up a little. Started riding at 11.10 a.m. getting to the Rim overview at 12.05 p.m. Trail was good with quite a few riders. As we started down Carey found he had a flat. Other than that incident it was a good ride with the single track in good condition. In places new tracks had been made skirting some of the rock drop offs making them easier to traverse. The ride on the road back was hard due to a cross wind off the river for all of the seven miles back to camp. Arrived at 3 p.m. lunch was great; fajitas with beef, bean salad, and sour cream.  Everybody rested and then four hardy riders (Paul, Carey, Dave and Todd Stahl) borrowed Dave’s BMW X5 and went to find the Sovereign trail. The four came back having found the way to ride Sovereign missing the first sandy portion.    They said it made a good ride and was a keeper for next year. (Maybe the first ride?)

Around 9 p.m. Malcolm, his wife Heather and their two children Cleo and Phoenix visited us. Malcolm told us his next book was in printing and could be here before we leave. He will drop it off Friday if this happens. He told us some new rides to try.  ‘Fins and things’ is a trail that drops off of porcupine Rim to the left just after you start the trail and comes out on Sandy Flats road above Slickrock. He even thought there might be a way to join into the practice loop. Also recommended Onion Creek trail.  (We have often thought about this one but it entails crossing a creek 26 times and the same on the return, the creek is heavy in salt and sulphur and the bike bearings would have to carefully cleaned after this ride – this is a rental bike trail). He also told us that the Fisher Mesa single-track trail was open and in good condition (we could not ride this trail last year because of snow). Malcolm and his family left and we had dinner of leftovers with white and red wine.

During the evening large gusts of wind built up and continued through the night. It was like a front coming in but there were clear skies. Bed around 10.30 p.m. some stayed up to watch the video “The Match man”
   
Tuesday May 11^th   
   
It was windy and cold all night from the front which been coming through since Monday afternoon. We found that the trees on this campsite give us more wind protection.  Up at 6.20 a.m. Carey made breakfast of pancakes.  We left around 8.30 a.m. For Fruita using both vehicles. Arrived at 9.35 and took off for Prime cut at 10.19 a.m. We rode up Prime Cut to the top of road 18 and then cut over to Joes Ridge. There was a strong cross wind that made it very interesting riding down the top of the ridge! The tracks seemed more rutted than last year. We then rode the “Gulley trail”. This is always an exciting swoopy downhill, we diverted off the trail to get back to road 18 and to the parking lot at 1.45 p.m. The group rode up 18 and down Prime Cut and then up 18 again and down the Gulley trail before we left at 12.45 p.m. By this time there was a strong wind with rain in the air. At the parking lot we decided it was too cold so we loaded the vehicles and drove into town to find a place to picnic. It started raining hard and so we decided to drive back to Moab as the rain had settled in for the afternoon. Dave drove John I to Grand Junction airport. We were back at the campsite at 3.00 p.m. (Highway 128 takes fifteen minutes longer than using highway 191). Dave got back at 3.15 p.m. The rain had stopped and we all did bike maintenance, Carey thought he had a creaking bottom bracket and rebuilt the unit. It then seemed it was the mainframe pivot,  (just above the bottom bracket).  In reassembling the pivot shaft the head one of the retaining screws broke off.  A trip was made into town and the mechanic at Poison Spider was able to get the broken screw out and supply a replacement.  Todd fixed a slow puncture. We had dinner at 7.00 p.m. of chicken breasts diced spiced potatoes, Sara’s Jelly, and wine. John I called around 9 p.m. to say he was home. Watched a funny video and we sat around the fire until 10.30 p.m. We positioned the vehicles to block some of the wind.
   
Wednesday May 12^th

Got up at 6.30 a.m. Breakfast of oatmeal with muffins and coffee. Very cold overnight and in the morning, we restarted the fire. As the sun came up over the mountains it began to warm up. We loaded the bikes and left camp at 9.30 a.m. drove through town onto the La Sal Mountain Loop road and the scenic but steep drive into to the La Salle Mountains to the start of the Kokopelli trail (8,400 feet).  We parked at 10.45 a.m. and on getting out found the temperature to be about 35 degrees with snow in the air. Everybody put on extra clothes and we quickly started down the trail (Dave and Paul riding single gears). At least this year it was not muddy. It started to snow fairly heavily and soon we could not see down into Castle Valley. To add to our discomfort we heard a thunderclap. As we carried on down the trail the snow eased off and the weather started to clear although it was still cold. We turned onto the upper Porcupine Rim trail and enjoyed the single track through the woods and on patches of slickrock along the Rim edge. We stopped to enjoy views from the rim edge and take photos before joining the campsite road. Turning off into the woods again, we continued to gradually drop down (including three walk-downs that were impossible to ride) to join the Porcupine Rim trail and rode back towards the start of the trail. It was a great ride down this part of the trail after being so used to climbing up this section to the top. At 0.2 miles from the start we turned off onto the unmarked Fins and Things trail (15 miles). The jeep trail undulated down and was a very good ride until we started to hit stretches of sand.  We were well above Slickrock with very good views across the sandy dessert where the flowers were beginning to bloom. The weather had improved well into the 60’s so in a few hours we had gone through a temperature change of around 35 degrees over a drop of around 3000 feet. The area had several jeep trails crossing it and we carefully followed the trail signs. At one point Todd, Dave S and Carey made a diversion to see the “Morning Glory Arch” across some slickrock. Eventually we could see the Slickrock trail area below us. After a long drag over a very sandy trail we came out onto Sand Flats Road 0.8 miles above the start of the Slickrock trail (we had ridden 19 miles up to this point). It was a fast ride back into town with the group gradually gathering at a bar and restaurant for snacks and their excellent draught Guinness. Returned to camp around 5.20 p.m. after 25 miles.  Tim, Rob, Carey and Greg took Dave’s BMW.  Greg and Carey were dropped off at the golf course.  Tim and Rob drove on to pick up the van, and then left the BMW at the golf course.  Greg and Carey returned at 10.20 p.m. enthusiastic about an excellent course at reasonable prices (it turns out it is a municipal course). Carey noticed that both his tires were flat and on checking found 30 to 40 pinhole punctures from thorns. 
   
May 13^th Thursday.

Got up at 6.30 a.m. with breakfast of eggs and veggies, quiche, yoghurt, and coffee. We did Bike maintenance (Carey found a flat front tire). We loaded the van and left at 9.20 a.m. driving highway 191, onto Castle Valley Road and the long climb into the foothills to reach the Fisher Mesa trail. Coming from this way the trail is not marked, but it is the next trail exit on the left after the two trail entrances to the Adobe Mesa trail. Started the trail (Dave and Paul on single gear) and took the left fork to drop down on the old wide, rutted trail for 5 miles until the new single track was signposted to the right and cut through the trees and rocks over to the Mesa rim edge. It generally followed the rim edge with occasional diversions inland to go over outcrops of slickrock. The trail continues to drop and goes out five miles before returning on the same trail. We went out for four miles and started the long uphill return. Back at the road, six of the group rode down with Dave W, Greg and John F following them in the van. They reached 35 mph and at one point Tim drafted us at up to 48 mph. At the bottom of the hill we loaded the van and returned to camp around 2 p.m. for a lunch of shrimp, cheese and crackers. We agreed that the new Fisher Mesa single track was a neat ride. In the afternoon we all did our own thing.  Dave took Paul to ride Slickrock; John F went into town and visited the museum. He asked the curator/researcher if she knew anything about the grave of a little girl on the Poison Spider trail.  She told him they had researched it and found it was a hoax.  The cross was originally put there by the jeep trail people to warn them not to go over that way and it grew from there with people even putting up a fake gravestone. Also asked about the remains of the old homestead and truck chassis we pass at the top of the Kokopelli trail.  She said there were about 20 cabin sites in that region, and they even had their own post office. Some were used by cattle ranchers; others were summer cabins for people to get away from the summer heat in the valley. She said there was a similar site further up the mountain with several cabins still in existence.  We prepared for our last ride. Dave W dropped us all off at 5.30 p.m. at the start of the Hidden Valley trail. We completed the hike-a-bike up to the valley by 6 p.m. and were rewarded the view of a much greener valley than in previous years with some flowers in bloom. The single track is now two single tracks and we saw several people walking dogs so it is getting well known.  We rode out of the valley and started the climb across to the top of the Moab Rim. It seemed sandier with more small broken rocks from the jeeps. Just before the top of the rim we checked out the wood tracks erected for the down hillers. The main track dropped about 30 ft at a 40-degree angle with an 18” take off half way and about a 4 ft drop off at the end.  John F had a front pinch flat and changed the tube.  We had a good ride down the Rim trail and a fast ride back to camp getting in at 8 p.m. Dinner of chicken breasts, vegetables and wine.  Sat around the campfire until 11.20 p.m.
   
Friday May 14^th
   
Up at 6.30 a.m. breakfast of eggs and sausages and fresh tomatoes. Started breaking down camp. Using Dave W’s BMW Paul dropped off Carey, Dave S and Todd in at Slickrock at 8.40 a.m. We finished packing and Dave Greg and Paul left at 10 40 a.m. for the drive back to Phoenix. The Slickrock riders returned at 11.08 a.m. We finished packing and left around 12 p.m. Called in to Moab for Smoothies and started home driving out of town on highway 191. We had an uneventful ride home pulling into Sara and John’s at 8.00 a.m.