After a night to recover at Gmas, it was time to head for the desert and visit one of mountain biking's most famous places: Moab. We got up early to finish washing riding clothes and cleaning up bikes. I put new shifter cables and housing on both bikes then loaded them on the rack. We drove by the Jordan River Temple on our way out of West Jordan. It's a very cool design. That's what I like about temples. They're all different in the way they look. The building, the landscaping, the lot and the placement in town are always unique to that temple.
We had lunch with Amber at Brick Oven. It's a pizza and pasta restaurant that has a few locations around Utah. They make their own root beer. I am a root beer freak and their root beer was awesome! They had a pizza buffet going that day too, so needless to say I left with a happy, rounded belly.
After Brick Oven, we hit I-15 and headed south, passing through Provo by the big Y on the mountainside behind the BYU campus. I was fascinated with the sports complexes we passed while on this trip. We saw the Mizzou campus in Columbia, MO, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Nebraska campus in Lincoln, Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, WY, the Utah campus in Salt Lake, and now the BYU campus in Provo. I know, I have a sports problem.
The landscape changed many times on this drive. We drove through the desert-like valley before exiting into some small mountains through Spanish Fork Canyon. The canyon looked similar to the Mt. Timpanogos area we visited last week. The trees gave way to shrubs as we drove over Soldier Summit, eventually leading us to flat, brown desert. It was really fun to look at for a while as I have not seen a desert like that in several years, since I was out in Las Vegas in 2004.
Red rock formations appeared in the distance as we neared Moab. There were a lot of conventions in town this weekend, so we called ahead to book us a campsite. That allowed us to stop before town and check out the Klondike Bluffs Trails. I had again printed some maps, so we easily found the parking area and trails. Shannon was tired from yesterday's ride, so she stayed behind at the car as I explored the desert.
There are several trails in the Klondike Bluffs area, each designed in a different style of riding. I took the Dino-Flow trail on the way out. It is a flow trail, missing most of the desert rocks and flowing up and down with the terrain. It was fun, but I was hungry for rocks!
The sun was starting to drop in the west, so I had to hurry back on the EKG trail. EKG is so named because both your heart rate profile and elevation profile will look like the readout on an EKG monitor. You are going either up or down the whole way, usually steeply. Nearly the entire trail is rock. It is marked by spots of paint on the rocks and by small piles of rocks. Sometimes the markers were far apart and it was hard to follow them, especially on high speed descents. It was a good workout and a long 5.4 miles of rocks. I got to see a beautiful desert sunset and watch the moon rise ahead of me in the east as I passed by numerous rabbits and lizards sunning on the rocks.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Once back at the parking lot, we hurried to pack the car in order to make it back to the paved road before complete darkness set in. There were more people riding the Klondike Bluffs Trails and one of them had a dead battery, probably from blasting too much Beastie Boys as that was all we heard coming from their cars. None of the group members had jumper cables, but we did so we offered them up. The car fired right up and everybody got on their way back to Moab for the night.
Our campground was crappy to say the least. The sites were tiny, and I'm not at all exaggerating. We could barely fit both the car and tent onto the site. It was a bit ridiculous This was a dusty, dirty desert campground with most of the occupants looking like they live there. I was not at all impressed with the Moab I had seen so far. It really made me miss the mountains of Park City.
Jordan River Temple
We had lunch with Amber at Brick Oven. It's a pizza and pasta restaurant that has a few locations around Utah. They make their own root beer. I am a root beer freak and their root beer was awesome! They had a pizza buffet going that day too, so needless to say I left with a happy, rounded belly.
A frosty mug of Brick Oven Root Beer
After Brick Oven, we hit I-15 and headed south, passing through Provo by the big Y on the mountainside behind the BYU campus. I was fascinated with the sports complexes we passed while on this trip. We saw the Mizzou campus in Columbia, MO, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Nebraska campus in Lincoln, Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, WY, the Utah campus in Salt Lake, and now the BYU campus in Provo. I know, I have a sports problem.
The BYU Y on the mountainside in Provo
The landscape changed many times on this drive. We drove through the desert-like valley before exiting into some small mountains through Spanish Fork Canyon. The canyon looked similar to the Mt. Timpanogos area we visited last week. The trees gave way to shrubs as we drove over Soldier Summit, eventually leading us to flat, brown desert. It was really fun to look at for a while as I have not seen a desert like that in several years, since I was out in Las Vegas in 2004.
Entering Spanish Fork Canyon
Windmills on Spanish Fork Canyon
Hwy 6
Somewhere near Price, UT
Red rock formations appeared in the distance as we neared Moab. There were a lot of conventions in town this weekend, so we called ahead to book us a campsite. That allowed us to stop before town and check out the Klondike Bluffs Trails. I had again printed some maps, so we easily found the parking area and trails. Shannon was tired from yesterday's ride, so she stayed behind at the car as I explored the desert.
Klondike Bluffs Trails parking lot
There are several trails in the Klondike Bluffs area, each designed in a different style of riding. I took the Dino-Flow trail on the way out. It is a flow trail, missing most of the desert rocks and flowing up and down with the terrain. It was fun, but I was hungry for rocks!
Dino-Flow trail
La Sal Mountains in the distance
Lots of rocks off to the side of Dino-Flow, but few to run over on this trail
More Dino-Flow
The sun was starting to drop in the west, so I had to hurry back on the EKG trail. EKG is so named because both your heart rate profile and elevation profile will look like the readout on an EKG monitor. You are going either up or down the whole way, usually steeply. Nearly the entire trail is rock. It is marked by spots of paint on the rocks and by small piles of rocks. Sometimes the markers were far apart and it was hard to follow them, especially on high speed descents. It was a good workout and a long 5.4 miles of rocks. I got to see a beautiful desert sunset and watch the moon rise ahead of me in the east as I passed by numerous rabbits and lizards sunning on the rocks.
One of the better marked sections of EKG
More rocks on EKG
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Getting a little air on EKG
Sun setting behind a cloud
Moon rising in the east from EKG
EKG Heart Rate (red) and Elevation (green) profile
Klondike Bluffs Trail Map. Dino-Flow is the trail on the bottom, with EKG on top.
Video: Highlights from Klondike Bluffs
Our campground was crappy to say the least. The sites were tiny, and I'm not at all exaggerating. We could barely fit both the car and tent onto the site. It was a bit ridiculous This was a dusty, dirty desert campground with most of the occupants looking like they live there. I was not at all impressed with the Moab I had seen so far. It really made me miss the mountains of Park City.
No comments:
Post a Comment