I didn’t get a chance to mention what I did yesterday, so I’ll put two days in one post.
I texted Brett on Saturday night to see what he and his dad were planning, and if I could maybe get in on it. I was a little leery after the other standoffish couple, but it worked out great. I met Brett and his dad Ken, both from Calgary, for breakfast at the Jailhouse, which is one of the best breakfast restaurants in Moab, and started the day right with some very good Eggs Benedict. They had brought a pile of maps with them, and hatched out a plan to ride somewhere I hadn’t been. It was about 20 miles south of town, and it was called Cameo Cliffs. The ride would take us around several bluffs, and past a couple of arches. Now this was fun! Nicely bermed sandy tracks through Junipers. The sand was a little moist still from the rain the day before, and you could rail the trails like a roller coaster. Too much fun! In between, there are some rocky ledges and slick rock, but nothing particularly challenging. We stopped in a bit of a den, and high above was a small arch. The trail dead ends at a viewpoint high above a large arch on the edge of the highway. I really didn’t expect much scenery since we had driven so far south of town, and the landscape changes considerably. I was wrong, and this was possibly one of the top 5 rides I’ve done in Moab.
Brett and Ken
Checking the map to make sure we hit as many off-shoots as we could.
At an intersection, I spotted a wooden ladder up a rock face. It ended up being marked on the map, and was called ‘Indian Bathtub’. In less than ideal footwear, we shimmied up to the ladder. I was the first to go up, since they didn’t like the looks of the old ladder, but much to my dismay, it wasn’t a natural pocket filled with water, but a perfect place to pitch a tent for the night. The floor was dead flat and sandy.
Brett came up for a look, but still didn’t like the ladder, or the idea of the foot of it slipping out, and a nice 100 foot toboggan ride off the little cliff to the picnic table below.
Here’s Ken romping up a climb. Dela Frijoles Ken! Ken and Brett swapped bikes for a while, as Ken had a new Husqvarna that Brett wanted to try. He said he’d be easy on it, then stood on the pegs, and ripped down the road in a perfect standing wheelie. They came with a small enclosed trailer with four bikes. Two KTMs, the Husky, and a Beta Trials bike.
Ill conceived group shot.
Ride completed, I took them to a spot that would kill the last few hours of the day, and despite them having been to Moab 5 times previous, they had never been on Kane Creek trail. It is a trip up a narrow canyon bottom, and the trail crosses the stream about two dozen times. I had been on it twice before, and the water was quite a bit deeper in spots. This was the only picture I took, since I put the camera in the pack to keep it from getting wet. We rode up stream to a point that the quad/ Jeep and the single track trails meet, and the Jeeps made a horrible mess with boulders, and with the sun already setting, we headed back. We were soaked from the waist down, but they loved the trail.
And a picture from a section of Kane Creek when Todd and I rode it.
Today, we were all super tired and worn out from the long day yesterday, plus was my fifth day on the bike. We drove out to the Whitewash Sands dunes, rode Dead Cow wash loop (sometimes called the luge or the tubes). Again, the camera was in the pack, but this time to keep it out of the dust. I failed to find the trail connecting to a slickrock trail I wanted to ride, and out here, the environment is quite delicate, so it’s best not to trail blaze. That’s okay, we rode in the dunes until we couldn’t ride any more. It was a fantastic two days with Brett and Ken, and I fell roughly in the middle as far a ability goes, so we made a good team. Ken taught Brett to ride a bike when he was 9, and we he crashed, he was told to ‘pick it up, and get back on’. This has made Brett a very good rider, but Ken is no slouch either. He an oil and gas guy, and reminds me in many ways of brother Roger. In one tough spot, there was an almost vertical rock face about 10 feet high. While Todd and I had gone up it with relative ease the previous two times we had ridden the trail, I think it was Ken’s hesitation that played with my head. I suddenly believed it was beyond my ability. While we were looking at it, Brett rode back down, then up it. . . . . 5 times before I went for it and jumped over the top like it was nothing. Ken took off before me on a side track, but juuuuust barely made it up that.
No pics of the Luge this time, but here is one from two years ago.
I still think of RB when I’m riding. Miss you.
