Bill's First Attempt at Riding the Slickrock

Cindi's Third try at Riding the Slickrock

One More Time

Not a Mountain Lion

We enjoyed the ride out to the Colorado River so much that we decided we'd do it again. The morning was cool with a bright blue sky when we headed out from camp. 

This time we decided not to add a side ride since the temperature was very pleasant & we'd ridden almost 50 miles over the last few days.

Just outside the campground I noticed movement through the sage. At first the thought was we'd finally caught sight of a mountain lion. Nope, we were not that lucky. It was a coyote mousing in the sage. 

Its color was so different than those in Montana & the movements were so cat-like that the first impression was lion. Oh well the search continues... 

Watching the coyote watch us was quite entertaining. Its curiosity was fun to watch. We thought the bikes were giving it mixed signals...people on bikes are quite confusing to some animals. For some reason white-tail deer always run toward us when we're riding in the Burg. The coyote finally decided we were boring and disappeared in the undergrowth.

Coyote being curious

Our bugaboo...soft sand

We continued on toward the Colorado River Road. Once again it seemed as if we'd be all alone on the road...well except for the every present lizards. Occasionally it looked as if there were fresh tire tracks in the soft sand & we could still see our bike tracks from the previous ride.

We travelled fairly quickly since we didn't stop to take too many picture. Well wildflowers caught our eye from time to time. We kept trying to spot a red cactus. Yellow prickly pear were everywhere, but the red flowers were not blooming...seemed odd.

Plains prickly pear cactus

Pale evening-primrose

Junction Butte & Island in the Sky Messa

Suddenly we spotted a parked truck...we were not alone today. Evidently they knew the road got a bit more interesting & parked it before reaching the slickrock & shark fins. We noticed two sets of tracks walking through the soft sand & eventually caught up with 2 guys with packs hiking the road. 

We kind of surprised them when we rang out bike bells...not sure they were expecting people either. Waved and moved on to tackle the difficult track ahead of us. 

Cindi on a break

Ever forward

Once at the steep slickrock Bill decided we must **video tape the accent. I was the 'lucky one' to make the first accent...I chose poorly on the 1st attempt. I can't say my 2nd attempt was an improvement. By my third try I was more stubborn and decided that I was going to get up that darn rock. Yelling all the way uphill. I can't say it was pretty. I was a bit too hesitant & should have hit it harder, but I did manage to stay upright and get to the top without wreaking. Of course Bill made it on his first attempt & was much more confident in his approach to the hill. Lesson learned for any future slickrock rides.

Past the shark fins

The shark fins were much easier to ride through & far fewer pedal strikes than our first ride. See lessons can be learned even at our age! 

A welcome change & no feet flying off the bike pedals...not to mention the pedal pins striking shins. It definitely will leave a mark on your shin...ask me what my shins looked like after our first ride.

The Overlook was just as impressive as our first trip. The Colorado River looked more muddy & slower...still no people around & we never saw the two backpackers on our trip back up the road. We assumed that at some point they headed down into the canyon.

Colorado River from the Overlook

Heading back we finally found a red cactus in bloom so of course we had to shoot a few dozen pictures. Looked like every insect in the Park found the red prickly pear too. Lots of bug activity on each bloom. We headed back toward camp. No real problems except for a couple of sand spinouts as we headed back toward the visitor center. 

Red plains prickly pear cactus

Once back in camp we sat in the shade until time for an ice cream at the Needles Outpost. Now that place has a very interesting history. Located right outside the Park's Entrance it has campsites with showers, a small grocery store with ice...and ice cream bars. 

We sat outside & watched the black-chin hummingbirds attack the feeders & each other. Never expected to see hummers in the desert...so much excitement from such a tiny bird.

After watching the hummers & trying to get a good shot we headed back to the Visitor Center to upload our bike stats from the day's ride... 22.05 miles over 2:14 with elevation gain 915 feet and 353 calories burned on the trip. 

Looked like we had worked enough to deserve our the ice cream. Tomorrow we leave for St George, UT and Ward Mountain for more biking. I managed 65 miles of riding over 5 days...Bill actually had about 10 miles more. He did a couple of late evening rides that I skipped for chasing bunnies & birds.

Cindi taking in the view over the cliff at the Overlook

Red pillar below Colorado River Overlook

Bugged up red prickly pear cactus

Black-chin hummingbird

Abajo Mountains from the Overlook...red pillar below rim

Desert cottontail near campsite

Us at the Overlook

*click to enlarge any picture

**tried to upload the videos of our hill climb...not playing nice for blogger so will try some editing.

Hiking & Biking in Canyonland

Big Spring Canyon

Today we rode our bikes out to the Slickrock Trailhead rather than drive the 5 miles. This Park is so free of crowds we feel pretty safe riding the roads. Pretty decent shoulder to ride too. 

Other Parks are not so bike friendly...either no shoulder or crazy people behind rented RV's not paying attention. Looking at you Yellowstone! Between tourons driving big rental RV's and ornery bison we never bike the actual roads in YNP. 

Elaterite Butte...13 miles away

The trail was rated 'easy' with little elevation gain and only 2.5 mile loop. These days we shoot for hikes under 8 miles so this one was a really short one. There were 360 degree views of Big Spring Canyon & Little Spring Canyon with the La Sal (37 miles) & Abajo Mountains (23 miles) in the distance. Several large Buttes could be seen several miles away on this particular morning. 

Junction Butte & Island in the Sky Messa

North Sixshooter Peak

La Sal Mountains

The Needles from Slickrock Trail

We managed to see a few lizards & the occasional bird. Even a squirrel made an appearance on the rocks...hence the name rock squirrel.

Side-blotched lizard

House finch

The trail was marked well by rock cairns until we were heading back towards the parking area. We never found the proper trail back. Backtracked to the last known rock cairn and still could not find the next marker. We finally gave up & just headed down toward the parking area. We were not the only one that lost the trail...everyone had the same problem. Maybe someone knocked it over, but thankfully we could spot the road so we knew which way to head...not a good place to get turned around & lost in the rocks.

Rock squirrel

Our ride back to camp was uneventful. Managed a total of 10 miles on the bike and 2.5 miles of hiking. 

Tomorrow we're going to bike out to the Colorado River Overlook again. Maybe I can actually ride up that steep section...we shall see how that goes tomorrow.

Plains prickly cactus

Colorful sunset

Pink sunset...finally

Colorado River Overlook via E-MTB

Cave Spring Road

Today we headed out early to bike to the Colorado River Overlook. The bright blue sky and cool temperature was a wonderful way to start the day. We took a short detour along Cave Spring Road to add a few miles to the ride & see if there was anything of interest along the road. 

Wooden Shoe Arch

As a bonus we did get a shot of the Wooden Shoe Arch. We stopped at the Overlook for Bill to take the short walk out to check out the Stone Storehouse. Only a quick 10 minute walk out to it. I stayed with the bikes since we didn't bring any locks with us for the ride

We made a quick stop at the Visitor Center to check the road access for the Overlook. All was good so we headed down the dirt road that was designated for 4 x 4 high clearance vehicles. 

*Stone Storehouse from NPS site Veronica Verdin

Lizard tracks in the soft sand

A mile in we ran into some deep sand that turned out to be really tricky to ride...sometimes we failed to maintain a proper upright position. We did figure out that riding through the sand too fast did not work. If we maintained a nice steady pace with a little wiggle on the handle bars to match our rear bike tire's spin & wiggle we could ride it out. 

The lizards certainly do a good job at moving along the soft sand. We never saw one actually on the road, but their tracts was everywhere.

The road had quite a few sections of this deep sand which made us wonder how many vehicles got stuck. Neither of us got stuck and managed to get to the last couple of miles without any real problems. 

Deciding which path to tackle

The last section was tricky to say the least. I tried 2 times to ride up the steep rocks without success. Of course the pictures do not show the 'angle of steepness' nor how big the drops were off the rocks. I decided that it made more sense to walk my bike up the incline. Bill, however, managed to get up the rocks on his 2nd attempt. 

We both had a few peddle strikes on the rocks. Even lost contact with a peddle, but no falls...a definite win! Riding over the slick rock was a fun time...our new tires really stick to that rock.

No wonder the Park Service said to park and walk that last mile. Driving a vehicle up it looked darn near impossible for normal people. We made it over the last mile of slick rock & shark fins to the Colorado River Overlook.  

Cindi on the Colorado River Overlook Road

Colorado River Overlook

From the overlook the river looks pretty tame...a lot of muddy slow moving water. The red rock views were stunning. We even had a phone signal because our phones started pinging with missed messages. No idea how we managed a signal out in the middle of nowhere. Took a break to keep hydrated and watched the water before heading back toward camp. 

The trip back was uneventful...figured out how to negotiate the sand piles & shark fins without any problems. 

Red Pillar down below the Overlook

Cindi taking in the view of the Colorado River

Our ride ended up being a total of 27 miles in 2 hours 40 minutes with an elevation gain of 1089 feet. 

Never saw a single vehicle or person the entire time. Tomorrow we are planning to hike the Slickrock Trail bright & early.

Canyonlands National Park

Moab Brewery

As luck would have it we hit Moab at lunchtime. We decided to make a stop at Moab Brewery. A beer (Dead Horse Amber) & hamburger sounded really good after spending the day driving. Surprised that we found a spot to park Cliferd & the Tin Can right at the Brewery. The beer was most excellent...the fries were much better than the burger, but no where near as good as Bridger Bowl's fries. After eating we gassed up & headed toward the Needles District of Canyonlands. 

This was our first time visiting this section of the Park & man is it in the middle of nowhere. The turnoff from Hwy 191 onto Route 211 is still a long 30 miles of driving at the posted speed limit of 40 mph through a portion of Bears Ear National Monument before reaching the Needles entrance. 

The campground's fairly small with only 11 reservable sites & 16 first come sites. Most sites were set rather far apart which was an unexpected treat. Temperatures most days were low to mid-90's and the sun was pretty hot. With no neighbors we were able to leave the shady side shades up all night to help cool the interior. 

For a National Park we will say that it was not crowded anywhere we went...trails, roads, campground. The most people could be found at the Visitor Center checking their phones, otherwise pretty sparse in the Needles District.

Our site via the NPS

At least the site had plenty of shade options over the course of the day. We spent the hottest part of each day on the cliff set into the rocks at the back of our site. Lots of birds, lizards, chipmucks, rabbits to keep an eye on from that perch. It took some getting used to being in camp during the heat of the day. We planned all of our rides & hikes for early mornings when it was much cooler. Afterwards we'd head back to camp for lunch and hang in the shady areas until the sun dropped enough to venture out for a late day activity.

The start of pass access only... Elephant Hill Road

Elephant Hill Road from camp

On our first morning we rode the bikes out as far as the gate closure on Elephant Road without using our batteries. We proved that it can be done as long as the hill climbs are not to steep. I will say that you definitely know you're pedaling a heavy bike. Past the gate requires a permit...some discussion was made if we wanted to try for one. We did check & it was possible to get one while we were in camp, but decided to wait until the next visit since it was quite an 'extreme' ride.

The Needles from Elephant Hill Road

Since the day was starting to heat up & the forecast was for mid-90's we decided to drive to Moab & call the bike shop in Grand Junction, CO. It was going to be much too hot to do much so why not take a drive? 

As luck would have it the shop had a battery charger in stock so off to Grand Junction for a 90 minute drive in air conditioning. We got our charger! Thank goodness we could now do all of the rides we'd planned.

Colorado River along Dinosaur Diamond Byway

View along Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway

View along Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway

Heading back to Moab we decided to take the Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway. What a beautiful drive. The road took us along the Colorado River for several miles with lots of red rock cliffs along the way. A much more relaxing road than I-70 with lots of turnoffs for photography. 

Since it was dinnertime when we got to Moab we stopped by the brewery for another Dead Horse Amber Ale, some pork BBQ & bang bang shrimp tacos. Absolutely a fantastic dinner! 

Tomorrow we tackle the Colorado River Overlook Road...the last mile should be 'interesting' based on the reviews of those that have tried to drive the 7-mile road to the Colorado River Overlook. The Park Service claims that the last 1.5 miles one should park it & walk to the Overlook to avoid the 'stair-step drops & large rocks'. 

Western fence lizard

*Click to enlarge any picture

The Search for Energy

We hitched up and headed out bright & early for our first camping trip of the 2024 season. Once again we decided to head down to Utah & then to Nevada before the summer heat. Bridger gets to visit his favorite spa while we camp, bike & hike in a few National Parks. He hates the heat & loves pool time so pretty sure he won't miss us one bit. National Parks are not exactly 'dog friendly' places especially if the humans want to hike & bike.

Tin Can Allie with her Cliferd

We had a beautiful drive along the Gallatin River to West Yellowstone, MT. Surprisingly not much traffic for a Holiday weekend & we made it through West Yellowstone easily. The tourists were heading in from Idaho so oncoming traffic was pretty heavy. Glad we were heading away from that chaos. While Bill took his favorite after breakfast nap I started wondering if we'd packed all the essentials. Specifically the battery chargers for our bikes which I had not seen in the pile. Just before Ashton, ID Bill woke & I asked if he'd packed the charges?? The answer was cussing followed by looking for a bike shop in Jackson, WY. 

I managed to drive most of the way up the Teton Pass without any issues. We switched drivers at the top of the Pass & Bill took over to drive into town. As a side note the very next week this road was shut down when a crack opened up & the entire road collapsed & slid down the mountainside. People commuting to Jackson from Driggs, ID now have 3+ hour commutes to work. WYDOT has been quickly building a temporary road that should be opened in a couple of weeks. Glad we missed that excitement.

Steinaker State Park's Reservoir below us

Once in Jackson we stopped at the local bike shop, but no chargers for sale. Lots of rentals with lots of chargers, but no luck getting one. Filled up the truck & headed toward our next bike shop along the route in Rock Springs, WY...of course it was not open either. Did I mention it was a Holiday weekend? 

At this point we continued toward our first overnight spot at Steinaker State Park near Vernal, UT. As luck would have it there was a couple of bike shops in town. Both claimed to be opened on Sundays, but nope neither one was open when we wandered into town. Holiday weekend strikes again!

Under Moonshine Arch

Moonshine Arch

We gave up our search for power and managed a hike out to Moonshine Arch. A fairly short out & back hike to a rather unimpressive arch as arches go in Utah. We found a few western fence lizards on the red rocks near the arch.

Western fence lizard with amputated tail

One had a partially amputated tail that was regrowing. Always fun to see what we can find to photograph that others wouldn't find too interesting. 

A few violet-green swallows flew around the cedars & pines. One of the most hyper birds & so difficult to get a clean shot...unless it happens to land above our heads.

Violet-green swallow

As always we found some wildflowers to photograph & try to identify. Back in camp we watched black-chin hummingbirds at the Park's Entrance. Vicious little birds when guarding their feeders. 

Black-chin hummingbirds fighting

Yellow warbler

Another bird that I have difficulty getting a clean shot was the yellow warbler... such a pretty bright bird with a lovely song. Sitting in camp during dinner was a blast listening & trying to find where it was hiding. 

Of course while fixing breakfast on our last morning it sat right by the window in plain view, but the screen obscured my clear shot. 

Dang birds drive me nuts!

Just before leaving for our next destination Bill called our friends in Livingston, MT to see if they could drop by the house & mail us one of our chargers to Moab. We were still hopeful that we could find one in Grand Junction or Moab. Both towns are know for extreme mountain biking. So thankful for good friends that could help save our trip & a backup plan was in place. 

We stayed 2 nights in Steinaker and made a plan to take a small detour toward Grand Junction, CO. Actually we were heading to Moab, UT & Canyonlands National Park, but took a turn west that only added 30 minutes to the trip. There was a Specialized dealer in Grand Junction that 'supposedly' had a charger in stock...according to the Specialized website they were open on Mondays. The question was will they be opened on Memorial Day Monday? Their website said yes, but we had our doubts which proved accurate. 

At least it was only a 30 minute detour dragging a AS through the streets of Downtown Grand Junction... then we were off to Moab, UT. Talk about crazy traffic heading toward us...WOW! All of Salt Lake must have spent the Holiday in Moab. A solid line of trailers & RV's heading toward us all the way toward Moab.

 

Pale-evening primrose

Flat-top buckwheat

Broadbeard beardtongue

*click any picture to enlarge