Moab

Originally posted to RohJuh.com on Oct 5, 2002.

Day 1 (Sat, Sept. 28) Zion
Our journey began at a little past 8 AM as we departed San Diego. The route was fairly simple – straight up the 15 to Zion National Park where we planned to car camp for the night. Lunch found us at the El Pollo Loco (mmmm . . . yummy cilantro!) in Barstow and by late afternoon, we had arrived at Zion. We checked into the Watchman campsite and had dinner at the Bumbleberry Inn, home of the famous Bumbleberry pie. Unfortunately, it began raining. I wanted to do something to protect the bikes but soon discovered that the tarp I had bought previously (5′ X 7′) was too small to provide adequate coverage. So we stopped at Zion Outdoor to buy a larger tarp (8′ X 10′) and Judy took the opportunity to buy a pair of convertible pants. The tarp turned out to be a really good purchase because it rained pretty hard that night. The storm that evening was actually a really cool experience as the rain pitter-pattered on the truck and frequent flashes of lightning illuminated the skies throughout the night.

Day 2 (Sun, Sept. 29) Angel’s Landing
When we awoke, it was still raining. We were kind of bummed because we wanted to spend the day exploring Zion. Due to the weather, we decided to just cruise around in the Zion Canyon Scenic Shuttle loop. Because of past problems with severe overcrowding, you cannot actually drive through Zion anymore. Instead, you must take the shuttle to get to various places. Our shuttle driver, who could have passed as a brother of Dave Thomas (of Wendy’s), was one of the crankiest we’ve ever seen. He was curt and seemed annoyed with even reasonable questions from inquiring tourists. The weather soon cleared up during our ride and it turned out to be a pretty nice day. The shuttle driver probably thought it odd that the two youngest and fittest people on the shuttle were the only ones who actually stayed aboard for the entire loop.

Since the weather had cleared up, we decided to grab some food and water and do Angel’s Landing, a 5-mile day hike that climbs 1,488 feet. The hike consists of a gradual uphill then some fairly steep switchbacks. Then near the end of the trail, you have to scramble over some rocky terrain as you go up a steep and narrow ridge. Chains have been installed to assist in the climbing. It was a bit scary in places and we were surprised at how many people were actually doing it. We reached the top and were treated to a beautiful view of the valley below.

There weren’t many opportunities for mountain biking in Zion. They have only one bike trail in the park and that is the Pa’rus trail, a 3.5 mile paved trail. Uhhh, no thanks. After the hike, we continued driving towards Midvale/Sandy (just south of Salt Lake City) where we planned to check into the Homewood Suites there. Along the way, we saw a bunch of signs for JC Mickelson’s, a restaurant chain. Nothing else really seemed appetizing so we decided to try it out. I ordered a steak and Judy ordered the blackened chicken. Neither were very good so we won’t be eating there again.

Day 3 (Mon, Sept. 30) Jackson, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone
The weather looked kind of cloudy when we awoke which kind of worried us. We had tuned in to the Weather Channel the previous night and they had mentioned the possibility of a cold storm moving through Salt Lake City later in the week. If this was the case, that would mean the storm would be passing through Yellowstone in the next day or so since the jet stream hits the Yellowstone area on its way to Salt Lake City. We hoped for the best and continued on our way.

Somewhere on the 89 enroute to Jackson, Wyoming, we got pulled over for going 75 in a 65 mph zone. Weak! And to add insult to injury, payment for the ticket was due on October 09 which was before we would even be home, and it had to be a money order – no checks or credit cards accepted. Hey Lincoln County, WY, what kind of shit town ticket policy is this?

There was quite a bit of construction on the 89 with many sections where we’d have to follow a lead car after waiting for the line of traffic heading the other direction to pass. This slowed down travel a bit, but the beautiful scenery and patches of brilliant autumn foliage made things better. We got to Jackson later that afternoon and had lunch at the City Sub Shop in town.

We continued through Jackson and entered the Grand Tetons National Park where the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. Somewhere along the way between the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone we came upon a small group of people pulled over on the road. We slowed down to see what the attraction was and discovered that they were observing a black bear cub near the side of the road frolicking in the bushes. I looked at the surroundings and decided that an attack threat from momma bear would be minimal so I jumped out and snapped some shots.

We ended up car camping at Louis Lake in Yellowstone that evening. It got really cold that night. I woke up sometime in the middle of the night and checked the thermometer on my watch. It read 27F! Brrrrr!

Day 4 (Tues, Oct 01) Geyser Basin, Snow, Back to Salt Lake
That morning, we awoke to chilly temperatures and snow was just beginning to fall. If a snowstorm was on its way, we certainly did not want to be backpacking in it so we headed to the ranger station to get a weather update. The closest ranger station was a few miles north in Grant Village, but we unfortunately didn’t know that it was closed until we got there. So we had to backtrack and go to the ranger station back at the south entrance to the park. After a short wait, a ranger showed up and I inquired about the weather. She informed me that the weather was very unpredictable and that they were expecting anywhere from 2″ to 12″ of snow that day and night. Judy and I decided that we’d put off our trip for one day and obtained permits to start our trip the next day.

Since we had a day to kill, we decided to check out Old Faithful and reserved ourselves a room at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. I wanted to head there immediately to get our bikes indoors. The snow was turning into slush on the roads and driving caused the slush to splash up onto the bikes resulting in a thick layer of slush that collected on the front wheels of each bike. On the way to Old Faithful, we passed by Geyser Basin so we swung through to check it out. The winds were whipping and it was really cold so we just quickly got out, took a few pics, and got back in the truck.

As we were pulling out of Geyser Basin to head towards Old Faithful, we came upon a roadblock and were informed that the road to Old Faithful was indefinitely closed due to the snow. This wasn’t looking good. We decided to head to Jackson and as we drove, it seemed the snow kept getting harder and harder. It looked like we weren’t going to be able to backpack Yellowstone as planned. So what were we going to do now? It was only Tuesday and we weren’t supposed to meet Ryan and Cynthia in Moab for another week. We needed to plan another trip on the fly.

When we got to Jackson, the first thing we did was to look for a store to buy a car charger for Judy’s cell phone. Re-planning a trip on the fly would require many calls so a charger was imperative. After purchasing one at a local cell phone store, we headed for Teton Mountaineering to see what kind of books they had. We talked a bit with one of the store employees who highly suggested we try backpacking the Canyonlands in Utah, particularly the Needles district of Canyonlands. By now, we had a pretty good idea of how the jet stream flowed so we wanted to make sure that the storm in Yellowstone didn’t follow us into Utah. Unfortunately, the jet stream actually does flow from Yellowstone to Salt Lake and into Utah, but it was possible that Canyonlands was southeast enough that we’d be safe. We tentatively planned to backpack through Needles, but bought two Falcon Guide books, Hiking Utah and Mountain Biking Utah, just in case Needles didn’t pan out.

So we were back on the 89, heading south to Salt Lake City again. On the way, Judy put her new car charger to work and called the ranger’s station in Canyonlands to check on permit availability and things to do. They indicated that we should have no problems getting permits.
We had to go through all the construction along the 89 again and the wet weather made it even harder on the bikes. The construction areas seemed to be covered with something that I could only describe as unmixed concrete. I don’t know exactly what it was, but driving through it just covered the bikes and the bike rack with a bunch of gritty stuff.

We had dinner at an Arby’s just north of Salt Lake. After 5 roast beef sandwiches, I had had my fill of Arby’s for some time. When we finally got to the Hampton Inn in Salt Lake, it was still raining, and the bikes just looked trashed. We brought them inside the hotel room and I went through half a roll of toilet paper (that’s all I had – I didn’t want to trash all the hotel towels) cleaning the crud off.

That night, all we watched was the Weather Channel, trying to get an idea if we’d have decent weather in Needles. It looked like we might, but it was hard to say.

Day 5 (Wed, Oct 02) Needles District of Canyonlands, Natural Bridges National Monument
We woke up, had our free continental breakfast and headed south on the 15, south on the 191, east on the 70, and then south again on the 191. Scattered showers were experienced the entire way down. We passed Moab, where we’d be meeting Ryan in about a week, and then hit the 211 west towards the Needles district of Canyonlands. We drove the 20+ miles in to the visitor center and took in all the scenery along the way. Although Canyonlands is very scenic and pretty, it wasn’t exactly the kind of terrain that we wanted to backpack – it was too dry and “desert-y”. A new plan was in order. In the Hiking Utah book, we found an interesting backpack trip called the Fish Creek and Owl Creek loop which was near the Natural Bridges National Monument, nearly 100 miles south of Needles. We decided to give that a shot and headed there. Along the way, we hit the Subway in Blanding for dinner.

The weather still wasn’t cooperating and we were hit with showers all along the way. When we got to Natural Bridges, we found that the main campsite was already full but that there was space available at the overflow campsite. We headed there to car camp. It was still raining and we hoped the morning would bring better weather.

Day 6 (Th, Oct 03) Natural Bridges
It had rained all night and when we woke, it started snowing. Arggghhhh!!! We didn’t really feel like backpacking through the snow and with the weather, there really wasn’t a whole lot we could do. We stopped by the Kane Gulch ranger station for some backpacking trip ideas. For first timers to the area, they highly recommended the Kane Gulch trail. This trip was also in our guide book so we were somewhat familiar with it. Based primarily on their recommendation, we decided that we would do this trail if the weather cooperated. Hopefully tomorrow’s weather would be better and we could start then.

That day, we visited Natural Bridges National Monument where natural bridges of rock and stone have been formed by years of water erosion. We headed to Blanding for dinner at the Old Timer’s Restaurant based on a recommendation from an employee at the Natural Bridges visitor center. The food was pretty good. As we left the restaurant, the weather was definitely showing signs of clearing up – we actually saw some sunshine! Hopefully, this was a good sign of things to come. We stopped by the local market to get some fruit and some magazines to read that evening.

We drove back and got a campsite at the main Natural Bridges campsite where we slept in the truck, eagerly anticipating that tomorrow would bring sunny skies.

Day 7 (Fri, Oct 04) Kane Gulch
Finally! Good weather at last! Not just good weather, but great weather! The skies were clear and the sun was beaming! We stopped again at the Kane Gulch ranger station and the forecast for the next few days was clear and sunny. We decided that we were going to do the Kane Gulch trail and obtained the required permits. We were feeling ambitious and decided to hike nearly 30 miles in which we would start at the Kane Gulch entrance, emerge from the Bullet Canyon trailhead, and then hike back along the road to the ranger station. The ranger informed us that water may be somewhat difficult to find and showed us on the map where some springs might be found.

We began our trek, our spirits high from the good weather. The trail was fairly easy to follow, but we didn’t really have a good idea of how far we had gone. The first attraction was Junction Ruin which was at the intersection of the Kane Gulch and the Grand Gulch. Somehow, we missed it entirely! However, we soon came upon Turkey Pen Ruin, Stimper Arch, and Split Level Ruin, other key attractions of the trail.

Unfortunately, we could not find any water sources. We searched the area where the ranger had indicated that there was a high potential for water and just couldn’t find the spring. We were becoming a little concerned because we had each brought only 2 Nalgene bottles full of water with the expectation that we could find water to pump. We finally found a spring with lots of water, but the water was all muddy and silty which almost instantly clogged the water filter. The water could be boiled, but it tasted pretty bad and I wasn’t sure I brought enough fuel to both cook and boil water. Because of that, and because we had already seen much of what there was to see, we decided that we would just make the trip an out-and-back overnighter. Plus, this way, we could check out Junction Ruin on the way back.

We found a really nice campsite (near the water source and just north of Split Level Ruin) and proceeded to set up the tent. As we unpacked the tent, I realized that we were missing something. The ground cloth for the tent was in a separate bag that I had neglected to bring. Not having the ground cloth is not that big of a deal, but the ground cloth bag also contained the stakes! Doh! Major blunder! We quickly ran through our options. One option would be to hike the 10 miles back. However, that was quickly ruled out because it was already pretty late and we were both pretty tired. The best option was to try to set the tent up by tying it to a tree and using big rocks in lieu of the stakes to hold everything down. Amazingly, this ended up working quite well and the tent remained solid and sturdy throughout the night.

Day 8 (Sat, Oct 05) Moab!
The morning was once again beautiful. We packed up and headed back towards the ranger station. This time, we paid closer attention to the map and its features and about 8 miles later came upon Junction Ruin and the Grand Gulch intersection. They were somewhat hidden behind tall cottonwood trees so we didn’t feel as bad about missing them on the way down. The ruins were really cool and we were glad that we were able to see and explore them. There were also some great campsite locations in this area.

After getting back to the truck, we headed towards Moab and got a room at the Comfort Suites and did a few loads of laundry. Dinner was at Buck’s Grill House. The Elk Stew looked really interesting so I got that. It was good, but nothing really special. I enviously eyed other people’s steaks which looked really good and wished I had gotten a steak instead. Judy got the Trout Salad which she enjoyed.

Moab is a really cool town. On the weekends, especially in the fall months, it gets pretty crowded and it is really cool to see all the off-road vehicles and cars/trucks loaded with mountain bikes. It’s quite unlike any other town that I’ve been to.

Day 9 (Sun, Oct 06) Klondike Bluffs, Islands in the Sky
Upon getting up, we got our free continental breakfast, the highlight of which were the Belgian waffles that you make yourself by pouring cups of pre-made batter into a griddle. Although we had a fairly good idea of the rides in the area through our Mountain Biking Utah book, we decided to stop by the Poison Spider bike shop to get some local advice.

We chose to do the Klondike Bluffs trail which was supposed to be a good introduction to slickrock. We parked in a small lot on the side of the 191 and rode 2-3 miles in on a dirt road. After riding in, we realized that we could have drove in this distance and avoided the somewhat boring dirt road. The actual trail was a whole lot of fun and gave us a good taste of slickrock. We even got to see some real dinosaur footprints fossilized in the slickrock. And at the top of the trail, we were treated to a cool view of Moab and its surroundings.

Our bikes were functioning remarkably well considering all the crap they had been through. Judy was having a small front derailleur shifting issue and I felt that I could use a little lube in my pedal cranks so we brought the bikes in to the Moab Cyclery for a quick adjustment. The guy we talked to there was really nice and gave us a bunch of tips, including some suggestions on some good singletrack rides in the local La Sal Mountains. It sounded fun, but we’d probably have to save the La Sal’s for another trip. One of the cool things about the Moab Cyclery was that they had a mini North Shore course set up in front with narrow planks and a teeter-totter. I didn’t trust my skills enough to give it a shot; I probably would have killed myself.

For lunch, we hit Zack’s Woodfried Pizza. I was famished and got the all-you-can-eat pizza, salad, and soup special while Judy got just the salad buffet. Afterwards, we perused the shops along Main St. and Judy bought a bunch of souvenirs.

The plan that night was to car camp at the Islands in the Sky district of Canyonlands. There was still plenty of light left so we drove to Canyonlands, found the Big Mesa campground where we planned to camp, and then drove through the scenic loop. After doing the loop, we returned to the Big Mesa campground to look for a campsite. Big Mesa is, as its name implies, a big mesa that has quite a view all the way around. We found a campsite that had a pretty nice view and retired for the night.

Day 10 (Mon, Oct 07) Amasa Back, Gemini Bridges
We woke up early and watched the sun rise over the nearby La Sal Mountains. Klondike Bluffs was fun, but we wanted something a little bit more challenging so we decided to try the Amasa Back trail. We parked at a lot just before Kane Creek Rd. turns to dirt and rode up to the Amasa Back trail head. Once again, we realized that we could have driven in a bit to bypass some of the dirt road. The very first part of Amasa back involves a fairly technical slickrock staircase. When we got there, two guys with really nice bikes were taking turns trying to descend the staircase. After a few tries, they were both able to make it cleanly. I decided to go down an easier route just to get a feel for it, but after watching the two guys do it, I had to give it a try down the harder section. I made it down cleanly, and it was quite exhilarating! Judy ended up walking down, and was kind of frazzled about what might lie ahead.

Right after the staircase was a thigh-high drop-off. And right after that was a technical rocky section. A short stretch of fairly smooth riding quickly met up with another technical uphill. It was a bit too much for Judy, so we decided to head back and find another trail.

The Gemini Bridges trail is what we decided on. It consisted of a somewhat long climb on a dirt road, a descent, and then a long flat section which was kind of boring, although the scenery was pretty cool. Then we hit a bunch of slickrock mixed with dirt which was a lot of fun. We finally arrived at the Gemini Bridges, a pair of large natural bridges, and took some cool photos there.

Dinner found us at Pasta Jay’s which is a very good Italian restaurant with good portions. We decided to spend the night at the CastleRock Inn, which was right across the street from the Comfort Suites that we had stayed at two nights before. The CastleRock Inn was nice and new (only a year old) so we wanted to check it out, especially since we weren’t that impressed with the Comfort Suites.

Day 11 (Tues, Oct 08) Arches National Park, Hole in the Rock
We decided that today would be a good day for rest since we’d be doing the famous Slickrock Trail the next day. During the Gemini Bridges ride, we had talked to two guys who said that they found the Slickrock Trail to be an extremely physically demanding trail. We spent the day in Arches National Park checking out the cool rock formations throughout the park. Judy’s achilles tendon was kind of hurting so she stayed in the truck while I did an hour and a half, 4.2 mile hike to check out the Landscape Arch and the Double-O Arch.

We spent some time looking for a campsite. Steph Davis, a famous climber who Ryan climbed with last year, had given some directions on some campsites near the Amasa Back trailhead. Judy and I went to check it out, but decided that they were kind of far (we actually never even found it). We discovered that there are campsites right next to the Slickrock Trail that would be much better so we decided to go there to secure a campsite.

Ryan and Cynthia were due to arrive that evening so we decided to wait for them for dinner. To kill some time, we decided to check out the Hole ‘N the Rock, a house that was built years ago into the rock. We went on the 10 minute tour through the house. It was pretty interesting. After the tour, we checked out the ostriches next door (not sure what they were doing there). Ostriches are weird-looking creatures!

Ryan’s monstrous Land Rover finally chugged into town around 8:30. Ryan wanted to eat at Pasta Jay’s so we ended up going there for the second night in a row, which was fine because it was a good restaurant. After dinner, we headed up to our campsite. Judy and I did the typical sleep-in-the-truck thing, Cynthia slept in a tent, and Ryan shacked up outside in his bivy.

Day 12 (Wed, Oct 09) Slickrock Trail!
The famous Slickrock Trail of Moab awaited us. Ryan had ridden it once before, but for the rest of us, it was our first time. We prudently decided to try out the Practice Loop first. The Practice Loop is about 2.5 miles and is no easier than the main trail, but gives you a good idea of what the trail will be like. If you decide it’s not for you, you can turn back. We did the Practice Loop and continued on.

The Slickrock Trail is unique in its characteristics, with endless seemingly impossible uphills and downhills. Contrary to its name, the slickrock is not slick at all, but grips your tires very well. The steep uphills are relatively short (5-15 seconds), but physically demanding. You are required to be in granny gear and be up out of the saddle, peddling as fast and as hard as you can – you’re basically doing quick sprints up the hills. On any other surface, your back wheel will skid out, but on the slickrock, your back tires grips pretty well. It does skid out occasionally, which requires you to balance a bit between keeping your front tire grounded and keeping your rear tire from skidding.

Nowadays, the trail is very well marked with dotted white lines. You’ll find occasional “fried eggs”, yellow splotches within the white lines, which indicate a more technical section. For most guys, however, the fried eggs are not really that big of a deal. Some sections are kind of scary because of the terrain – you sometimes can’t see what’s over a hump and don’t know if you’re going to be riding straight off of a steep cliff. Fortunately, that won’t happen (as long as you follow the trail) and once you get closer to the hump, you realize that its totally ridable. All in all, it’s a really cool trail! In fact, it’s Judy’s favorite trail of all time!

People have been known to do the trail in under an hour and a half. We took nearly 5 hours! This was primarily because we stopped several times to take pictures. Also, Judy and Cynthia were encouraged to do a lot of stuff that they might not have done without some encouragement. Several steep downhills gave them some hesitation, but for the most part, they rode them down and realized that they really weren’t that bad. And of course, Ryan and I had to try to do the more technical sections, sometimes several times. All in all, I think both Ryan and I rode the entire trail cleanly with the notable exception of one long, steep climb in which both of our lungs and legs just simply gave out.

As we were packing up the trucks after the ride, a bunch of Ryan’s buddies from the Land Rover Club of San Diego spotted his beast of a truck and stopped by. They had hired a guide to take them on a 4X4 trail and asked if Ryan wanted to tag along. It was time to test the mettle of the Defender! Judy and Cynthia headed back to the CastleRock Inn and Ryan and I got ready to do some off-roading.
The guide led the group of Land Rovers on a trail called Fins and Things. We did some pretty amazing stuff that I just couldn’t believe. We went up and down some impossibly steep hills. I wouldn’t have believed it was possible without seeing it. Ryan’s Defender definitely proved its off-road worthiness!

For dinner, we hit Buck’s Grill (again for Judy and me). This time, I ordered the steak and wasn’t disappointed. In fact, Cynthia, Ryan, and myself all got the T-Bone steak while Judy got her Trout Salad again. That night, we stayed again at the CastleRock Inn.

Day 13 (Th, Oct 10) Wall Street
After getting our continental breakfast, we headed towards the local climbing store, Pagan Mountaineering, to get the beta on the local climbs. Ryan spent some dough on a bunch of cams and we headed for the Ice Cream Parlor which is along Kane Creek Road, several miles past the Amasa Back trail. The road was very dusty, especially when following another vehicle, and I had my rear window open for ventilation. That was a mistake as the entire inside of my truck got coated with a layer of dust. Yuck! We finally got to the climbing area. We had hoped that the climbing wall would be in the shade, but that was not the case. It was directly in the sun and it would only be getting worse as the sun continued to rise. We decided to go check out Wall Street instead.

On our way back, we decided to stop by the Amasa Back trailhead to show Ryan the beginning of the trail. We didn’t ride it, but just walked down. For some reason, the slickrock staircase did not look nearly as technical as when I had first ridden it. Ryan was not impressed. It probably seemed more difficult previously because it was the first technical section that we had encountered while at Moab. Now, it just looked like a lot of fun. We knew that Wall Street would be in the shade during the afternoon, so after checking out Amasa Back, we decided to get some lunch in town.

Wall Street is somewhat of a strange area because the climbs are right on the side of a road. For some reason, there were a lot of big semis cruising along this road. Where they were going, we weren’t sure. The sun was on these walls as well, but it would be getting better as the day went on. Ryan set up a 5.9+ climb and a 5.10a climb. Cynthia led a 5.9 that I followed and cleaned. By the time I started the climb, it was pretty much dark so I had to do the climb with my headlamp, a new experience for me!

When we were done, it was pretty late but we still needed to eat. As we were driving around, we saw Fat City and decided to go there. Ryan and I ordered the sampler’s platter, a carnivore’s delight of tri-roast, ribs, and a half-chicken. A smoked sweet potato, which Fat City is supposedly known for, was thrown in as the lone vegetable. The food was pretty good. After dinner, we headed back to the Slickrock campground.

Day 14 (Fri, Oct 11) Porcupine Rim
We awoke to a very windy morning and somewhat cloudy skies. It felt like a storm was approaching. We were planning on doing the Porcupine Rim trail that day, but were having some doubts because of the weather. Judy and I were actually thinking about just heading home. We were both kind of homesick and by leaving then, we could get home a day early.

We drove into town and had breakfast at Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The food was pretty good. Judy and I were still on the fence, but Ryan and Cynthia both wanted to do the ride. A part of me wanted to do it because were were already in Moab, but a part of me was tired and wanted to head home. Ryan’s potent powers of persuasion, however, convinced us to do the trail.

Porcupine can be done either as a 14+ mile shuttle ride or a 30+ mile loop. Much of the loop part is on pavement however. We decided to run a shuttle which was quite a pain in the ass because the distances from the start and finish points were pretty far. We dropped the women off at the trailhead and then took both vehicles to the end point where we left my 4-Runner and drove Ryan’s truck back to the start. It took about an hour just to do that.

We started on the trail and found it to be really fun with lots of slickrock bumps interspersed between dirt – my favorite kind of terrain! About 2-3 miles into the ride, Judy all of a sudden started hyperventilating uncontrollably for some strange reason. It was kind of scary. After a few minutes, she calmed down and recovered to a normal breathing rate. She claimed that she wasn’t even working that hard. None of us knew what caused it (Judy and I thought that Judy might have breathed in too much dust the day before as we were driving to the Ice Cream Parlor). Judy felt fine, but we didn’t want to take any chances. I would ride back with Judy. Ryan and Cynthia could continue on since the shuttle had already been set up.

Judy and I got back to Ryan’s car, loaded up the bikes, and then drove back to the CastleRock Inn. Unfortunately, we did not have our wallets (they were in the 4-Runner at the trail end) so we couldn’t buy any food and couldn’t check into the hotel. So we spent the next several hours just tooling around the hotel parking lot. It was actually kind of fun since there was a long, straight curb in the parking lot. We practiced our balance by trying to ride along the curb and by doing figure eights between the parking lines. Passerbys probably thought we were weird for spending hours mountain biking a parking lot while in Moab.

After Ryan and Cynthia returned, they told us about the trail. They both like it a lot. Ryan said that the last half mile or so was really technical. He had several crashes in that section and simply had to walk others.
We washed up in the hotel and went to the Sunset Grill for dinner. The Sunset Grill is on a high hill and offers a nice view of Moab. Ryan highly recommended the smoked salmon appetizer so we ordered two, one for Ryan and one for Judy and myself. Cynthia tried some of Ryan’s but didn’t really like it. The rest of us thought it was delicious.

Day 15 (Sat, Oct 12) Homeward Bound!
Our trip was rapidly coming to a conclusion. Ryan and Cynthia, on the other hand, had a few more days of climbing left. Judy and I planned to make the trip home in one day. The drive actually wasn’t all that bad. We left Moab at 7:30 AM PST and got back home around 8:00 PM PST, which included about an hour and a half stop at the Primm Outlets.

It was sad that our vacation was over, but at the same time, it was nice to be home. And we were both looking forward to picking up the Latte Dog the next day. Although the weather did not quite cooperate initially, the trip still turned out to lots of fun and we ended up doing a bunch of stuff that we might not have done otherwise. All in all, it was one of the most memorable trips either of us have taken with some great pics taken.