Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Canyonlands

 Here's some random pictures of Canyonland's Island in the Sky my parents and I went to go check out.  Beautiful country.  We were in awe.

 Mesa Arch

 Wow.



 Awesome.



 Upheaval Dome.  Either a metoer crashed in or something else happened.
 Awesome switchbacks.  No, we didn't drive on this road, not part of the Island of the Sky tour drive.  My parents would have a heart attack anyway.
 Dad lovcd every minute of the tour, he even started remembering his river raft trip in Cateract Canyon when he was 14 or 15.  The following Sunday, he talked to his old leader on the phone to Tooele to talk about the memories.  I even had to look for the phone number on the internet.  It was awesome.  Also, how his leader is still alive.
 These cliffs were amazing.
To those who have never been there, you are missing out!  Even my parents were glad to see this before they die.

Early Spring Moab Biking

 I wanted to go to Moab so badly in a long time, it was finally time.  After a harsh winter, I was definitely getting spring fever.  My parents butted along, I paid for the motel room and they paid for gas and food.  When we got there, it was windy and the temperature was ok.  Warm enough, but the wind was gusty.  I still went that night to do a short ride.  I went to the Klonzo Trail System and they were just newly built last fall. 

 These trails are mostly designated as intermediate trails but ya, they were intermediate.  They were also short but you can get a good workout if you fly by.  These trails were mostly dirt singletrack with a little dash of slickrock.  I still liked these trails because they were windy and twisty in most places.  You won't get a real hardcore technical Moab ride out of these trails, but hey, the Klonzo trails are way better than the trails at my home or even Park City I thought.  Because it was still all in Moab.  I think they made these trails not too technical on purpose because they needed some trails in the area for beginners and intermediates also.


 I still had a blast and the scenery was awesome for a Moab arrival late afternoon ride.
 The next day, on Saturday, Moab was cold and windy.  Mom and dad and I decided to go to the Island of the Sky in Canyonlands.  My parents never been there and I have once when I was a teenager when I was with my older brother and sister.  I remember very little of it.  Probably only Upheavel Dome, but not the lookouts.  Anyway, we went there that morning and after that, I decided to go on another bike ride while my parents went into town to eat lunch.  I rode on the Brand Trails, I've ridden there before and wanted to ride there again because they were so fun.  I rode on EZ Trail, Deadman's Ridge, Bar B, and Rockin' A.  These trails were very fun.  Deadman's Ridge was definitely my favorite, it was so technical and challenging and I cleaned most of the trail.  I haven't ridden that good in a long time.
 I'm definitely going back to Moab in a couple of weeks, and hopefully it won't be as cold or windy.
-fun part of Deadman's Ridge.

New biking designation close by: Price, UT

 One weekend when my parents went away to do some grandkid sitting, I was left home alone.  I was going to go up with them thinking I can take my bike with me and do some biking where they were going to be which was Antelope Island.  I called the people at Antelope Island and they said the trails there were still muddy.  So I stayed home anyway.  That Friday night, I felt like going someplace for the weekend to bike where there was no snow or mud.  I browsed all through the internet and found about Price which was right over the other side my mountain, it still was a 2 hour drive though, but less than Moab or St. George, even Antelope Island.  Like places with low elevations and desert environment.

 When I got there at the trailhead, the weather was decent and good enough for jacket weather.  Later on, I was in shorts and a thermal jersey, it was perfect weather.  The trails I did was Luke's and S'mo Joes.  They were awesome trails.  They looked like they weren't ridden much because of early of the year.  I think all the snow just barely melted off like a week before.  These trails had a lot of turns and twists and this system of trails reminded me a lot of a trail I used to love in Farmington, NM.  They both have trails on a mesa and goes in a loop like this.  The trail in New Mexico was the Road Apple Trail.

 At halfway of the loop, at the top, was a fork out of some more trails that go further north, I guess I've read that they are awesome too and adds like 1,500 of vertical climbing.  There were no tracks at all on these trails, so I figured don't do them yet and wait like a few weeks later after a few people have ridden them so I would know where I would go.
 The total miles in the loop was like around 8 or 9 miles, when I got back to the trailhead, I wanted to do more.  So I did Luke's again and did it an out and back, and also rode Alan's Alley.  So the total miles I did that was 15 miles.  It was a blast.  I am planning to go back again and do this loop plus the northern trails, since it's so close to where I live.
Here's a sweet map of all the mountain bike trails near Price.