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Some more Stateside Goodness Posted by grahamdickenson      Friday, November 06, 2009 @ 9:01 AM Full Text: This year’s trip started with a near miss as we slipped out of UK airspace at about the time the air traffic computers went down, which caused chaos for the rest of the day. Last year’s crew of myself, John and Julia were joined by Graham (Junior) and Paul who have been on some of the previous trips. Despite an abnormally long queue for the hire cars in Vegas, the direct flight gave us ample time in the evening for a leisurely bike build and supper, in preparation for an early start the following day. The weather forecast was somewhat threatening, with very high winds and high rainfall predictions for our ride area the next day. In the morning we drove through wind and dust clouds to St George and Cedar City, then on to Red Canyon. Although very windy, the forecast rain did not materialise. As we headed up Losee Canyon, the fabulous red colours against the blue sky soon enlivened spirits, dulled by the poor UK weather this year. Having worked our way up Losee and Cassidy, we found that the combination of travelling and altitude was taking its toll so the party split, some returning to the van via the bike path with the remainder going on up to Thunder Mountain. With the smaller group and failing light, the fabulous Thunder Mountain descent was run at some speed and with little interruption to the flow, although we allowed ourselves a brief stop to admire the low sun effect shining down through dust clouds in the distance. The only disappointment of the day was the hopeless and overpriced food in Tropic, definitely a town to avoid in the future. Headed up Losee, enjoying the colours Sunlight effects from the top of Thunder Mountain With a long drive ahead, we set off around dawn the next day, taking the scenic back route via Escalante towards Green River. The initial spectacular section over Slick Rock Canyons and along a narrow ridge saw us in Boulder in good time for a hearty breakfast to set us up for the rest of the drive. A kaleidoscope of fabulous scenery followed as we moved through the Capital Reef National Park, Goblin Valley and San Rafael Reef. Breakfast Arriving at the western outskirts of Fruita in early afternoon, we pulled over at the Loma exit for a warm up ride on the lower Kokopelli Trails, taking in Rustlers, Horse Thief Bench, Mary’s Loop and Steve’s Loop. Our home for the week, the Super 8 Motel in Fruita, was a pleasant surprise, being very comfortable with an excellent hot tub and copious supplies of hot chocolate and porridge for breakfast. The fearsome steps down to Horsethief Bench – this is where it starts to get difficult One of many ledgy bits on Horsethief Dropping into Steves Loop On the Tuesday, we started with a visit to Over The Edge bike shop and then on up to Book Cliffs. We enjoyed a splendid days riding on the single track of the 18 Road Trails, the highlight being Joes Ridge and the spectacular Zippety Do Da rollers. The beautifully subtle colours of the landscape were set off by the spectacular blue sky and perfect 60 degree temperatures. The day was rounded off with a super sized Mexican meal in the evening. Diving into the roller coaster but of Joes Lower runout of Joes The magical Zippity Steep up on Chutes and Ladders On the Wednesday, we headed out to Grand Junction on a cool dull morning, stopping off initially at Ruby Canyon Cycles to confirm worn bearings on Julia’s bike and to order up a new set for a few days later. We then drove up to the Lunch Loops, a nice mix of tight and technical single track. The newly constructed Pet-e-Kes Trail was a delight to climb up, as was the relatively new Prenup, a bypass to the Widow Maker Hill, which continues on up to the Gunny Loop. We linked this up to Lunch Line and then Eagles Wing. With warm sunshine now very much to the fore, we stopped for lunch on the spectacular canyon overlook at the start of the latter. After the excellent descent down Eagles Wing, where most of us ended up walking one or more of the technical sections, we then climbed back up for the superb Holy Cross Trail, another technician’s delight, with some committed moves. Pet e kes climb Junior waits for the oldies to catch up Then on down Eagles Wing Then back up....... .....for Holy Cross Overnight, a weather front came through and we awoke to rain in town. However, we could see sunshine and cumulous clouds some miles to the west so decided to head for Westwater Mesa, where the sun appeared to be shining. We arrived to find dry conditions underfoot at that location and set off for a spectacular backcountry day on the Overlook Trail, headed out to the far end of Westwater Mesa. The return on Arch Loop added some fun technical content. We enjoyed a very fine sunny and extremely scenic day, whilst a number of rain showers passed to the north and south of us. Destination – the end of that Lots to see along the way Slickrock is supposed to excite! Cheeky moves on the way back Not to mention a big sky Friday was very clear and sunny and we returned to the Kokopelli Trails area, starting off with the brutal climb up on to Moore Fun. This then delivers some technical moves and a great descent off the far end. We then headed west on the Lions Loop and Troy Built before looping around from the north to come back on Mack Ridge, the exciting descent off the latter rounding out a fine day on the bikes. Top of Mack Saturday morning saw us up early and back in Grand Junction where we waited for Julia’s bike to receive a bearing change. We chilled out in the bike shop and the nearby old quarter where we enjoyed the fine examples of public art on display. Once Julia’s bike was done, we drove up to the start of Lunch Line and rode from there on the road up to the top of the Ribbon Trail. This starts as a spectacular expanse of slick rock, which gradually fines down to a relatively narrow bridge with a number of drops and some quite technical moves coming down Slick Rock. At the bottom of the Trail, Junior and I hiked out to get the vans whilst the rest returned to the lower trailhead by way of Andy’s Loop and Lower Eagles Wing. Once back together, we turned back up Pet-e-Kes to have another run down Holy Cross and Kurts Lane. With the benefit of a previous look at these trails, the second run down was much more successful. At the end of a hot hard day, we were ready for cold beers and hot tubbing back at the Hotel, followed by the usual monster supper. The locals looked quite bronzed Found a new bike for JimB Not too PC around here then Top of the Ribbon Narrows down a bit Beer o clock in the evening After seven days of riding, we were overdue a day off but, instead of doing that, we went out to the Mack Trailhead where we climbed up the back of Mack Ridge, enjoying once again the fabulous descent of the eastern end before taking Lions Loop and Troy Build back west and around the hills to the car. This is a relatively easy loop but getting much of the good stuff in the KoKopelli area and giving us time to head down to Grand Junction for an afternoon of sight seeing on the spectacular Colorado National Monument drive. The road climbs up the cliffs south of the Grand Junction and winds its way along the rim of the cliffs and various massive sandstone canyons that penetrate into the plateau. Much gawping and photography occurred, followed by another fine supper, a nice end to the first week. Cheeky little climb on Troy Built – much bigger than it looks – none of us could make it! Enjoying the scenery on the Colorado National Monument Watching others at play......... .......but you had to look closely On Monday we packed up to travel to Moab, first pulling into the liquor store to fill up with proper beer to tide us over in Utah. We took the scenic back road route down the Colorado Canyon, every bit as gorgeous as I remember from a trip a few years ago. After checking into our house early to drop bags, we then headed out to the nearby Amasa Back for an intended short and gentle warm up ride. This turned into a bit of an epic, the afternoon being by now pretty hot and the ride packed with incident. It started with me and John falling off on relatively simple step ups, resulting in grazes as we had not donned armour at this stage. My seat pin then snapped about a third of the way up, but I decided to suck it up rather than turn back. The ride up was therefore rather arduous and some sections got walked. I had plenty of time though as we had a spate of punctures as well. There was also an OTB incident which felt like a snapped chain, but appeared to be a momentary freehub failure. All the pain was forgotten as the superb view opened out at the top. The return back down was a riot of fun. I remembered enjoying it years ago on a light XC bike but this time, with a more capable machine and fatter tyres it all got quite silly for a while! On the way back we picked up a new seat pin and called in to make contact with friends from Arizona who had also arrived in town. We confirmed arrangements to meet with them the following day for a very special ride led by local rider Craig. Having brought much of their workshop equipment, they also stripped my rear hub and fixed the problem I had experienced with it. John about to lose some skin! Rock rollers on Amasa Back We met up with our friends in the morning and figured out how to do the shuttles that were required, kicking off by dumping the pick up cars at the bottom of the Portal descent. Then we drove up to the Gemini trailhead to start the ride. That was the start of an exceptionally fine days riding. I really could not say exactly where we went but there were some dots involved. The later stages saw us on the cliff tops above the Moab valley enjoying slickrock riding, a fine mix of technical moves and superlative views. After a lunch stop on the cliff top we finished the ride along the infamous Portal Trail, this having some very exposed sections where a wrong move is pretty certain to be final. Some of that got walked but was then followed by the very demanding technical descent down to the valley beyond, rounding off a fabulous day. Most rode back to town whilst the drivers went back up for the shuttle vehicles. We were aware of this ride and could probably have found much of it ourselves. However, the patient guiding by Craig lifted that burden and really made the ride – many thanks fella, we owe you one. The thirstier ones went straight to the Moab Brewery to start the evening whilst the rest drifted in after showers. Fine food and many pitchers of beer followed – I seem to recall that the Elephant Hill and Derailleur went down quite well. Steep bit on the way up the back of the scarp Lunch spots don’t come much better than this one Yep – it’s a long way down John drops one of the bigger moves successfully Wusses way down – this was only the B line option – and it is supposed to be hucked! No bail out on this one – do it or walk This one says it all John gets another tricky drop The Portal – this is where it gets a bit sketchy MarkC from Phoenix – a rock climber and completely relaxed with exposure (or bonkers!) As Paul and Junior had not been before we had to do Slickrock and that was on the menu the next day. With less sunshine and temperatures around 30 degrees cooler than the last time I did it, Slickrock did not seem quite so bad this time. Junior excelled at this and cleaned everything in the middle ring, quite a feat of strength. We also met up again on the trail with the family from Yukon that we had met the previous week at Grand Junction. Mother and father and teenage son have spent nearly 6 months travelling the States in a motor home, sightseeing, hiking and riding all the best spots. For the next 6 months, they were planning a world tour commencing with Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. Now that is a real trip. Looks innocent enough in a photo but it feels like throwing the bike up a wall and then trying to hang on to some traction The crux move on a really steep and extended climb Bombing down again This little up taxed everyone – except Junior who had the legs to get it in the middle ring The Le Sal Mts throwing out a little weather The gang thread through a deep gulley After heading back down town for lunch, we then went north to visit Bartlett Wash. This is an area to play on rather than a trail and is one of my favourite places to visit with a bicycle. The colour, symmetry and beauty of the rock folds and ledges at Bartlett are breathtaking and the whole area is a fabulous playground of bowls and ledges. With more able bikes and better skills than a few years ago, JP and myself had successful runs down the Toilet Bowl, a massively steep and intimidating feature on the edge of Bartlett Wash. By the end of the ride, the mad steep ramp down off the shelf seemed almost routine. The mellow evening sunshine set off the glorious yellow fall colours of the cottonwoods in the wash bottom. No commentary needed The Toilet Bowl – this is huuuuge and very steep and scary Yellow cottonwoods below the slab - the exit is straight down to the right On the Thursday, we had planned to shuttle up to ride up to Burro Pass at 11,000 ft in the LaSalle Mountains to do the whole Enchilada ride down to Porcupine Rim. However, the rain generated in the LaSalle’s the previous day had made the upper sections untenable so we were only able to shuttle up to Hazard County where the days riding kicked off with a short but tough little climb at around 9,000 ft. Once over the top, the Hazard County section comprises about 3 miles of blazing fast windy sinuous single track, interspersed with a few jumps, drops and rocky sections. This section was sufficiently long and sustained enough to generate some arm pump despite not being particularly steep. After a short section of fire road type riding we then picked up the upper Porcupine single track which follows the edge of Porcupine Rim, linking into the lower Porcupine single track that follows. These sections provide around 5 miles of superb give and take technical riding, undulating over rocks and slabs, linked together with sections of beautiful flowing single track. The infamous notch where the trail effectively goes off the edge of the cliff was liberally sprinkled with floury sand making it extremely difficult to ride. None of us were even tempted to try that and it was hard enough just to walk down it. With much more capable bikes than a few years ago, the Porcupine Rim itself was a delight to blast down although the descent was marred by numerous pinch flats, John topping the list with 4. Whilst waiting for one of John’s fixes, Martin helped another rider who had broken a chain and had neither the tool nor a spare link to deal with it. However, he had three tubes and so an exchange took place which provided an additional spare for us. The time and trouble taken earlier this year to set up a ghetto tubeless system paid off in spades for me, with zero tyre issues for the whole trip (other than handing out my tubes to others!). By the end of Porcupine Rim, we arrive back hot and tired and feeling somewhat battered from the long day. Thankfully, Junior and I had taken the vans out early in the morning, riding back in the cooler part of the day to pick up the shuttle. This paid dividends as we had food and cold drinks on tap and rode back to town in the vans rather than on the bikes. Shuttle loading up Hazard climb Traditional overlook shot By the time I got the camera out Junior had shot up this – took me three goes! The following day was another blinding sunny day and we set off north out of town to have a first look at the Sovereign Trail system. We dropped off briefly to say cheerio to our Arizona friends who were setting off home that day. We started at the northern trailhead and rode the out and back loop comprising the Sovereign Trail system and Salt Wash. With one or two people flagging at the end of these sections, a group of 4 set off back for the van and an early finish, whilst Junior and I headed north to climb up onto the upper Sovereign section. However, having made it to the top of the climb, the rough going and heat began to takes its toll so we elected to bail at the western end rather than complete the loop since we would undoubtedly had run out of water and steam at some point on the return leg. The main group once again headed to the Brewery for beer and food whilst Junior and I grabbed a shower and some food to go, before heading out for the view points in Islands in the Sky to watch the sun go down over the vast vista of Canyonlands. I had done this a few years ago but had forgotten just how spectacular and wonderful an experience it is, particularly the way in which the last of the light highlights the rock faces in a rich golden light. After enjoying the spectacular light show, we headed off back towards Moab, stopping at the Schafer Canyon overlook once it was properly dark to spend 15 minutes or so looking at the night sky. The absence of any light source for many miles made for a spectacular show of stars and a clearly visible Milky Way. Headed up to Sovereign – yes the hills really are green Classic Sovereign singletrack More green stuff on the way up to Upper Sovereign The photos of this are just so inadequate This was very precarious! Post dusk shot with reverse lighting on the downsun horizon Saturday morning sadly saw the departure of Junior and Paul who had to be back in Vegas to fly on Sunday. After seeing them off, the rest of us drove the short distance out of town to start the Amasa Back climb once again. After a break at the viewpoint, we set off a different way to the previous visit, heading out to the Pothole Arch about 3 miles to the east. This is a fabulous scenic spot that is completely out there and we spent about an hour chilling out, eating lunch and lying on our backs wondering just how the sky could be so blue. Heading back, we turned off onto Rockstacker where it took us some little while to get warmed up again to the big moves required to get down this successfully. The most difficult move on the initial drop in comprises extremely steep multiple rock slabs covered in loose dirt. John could not be dissuaded from the folly of trying to ride it but Martin successfully fielded his out of control slide down the obstacle, preventing him going over the edge at the final turn. About two thirds of the way down, John managed to rip off his rear mech. During the course of changing the hanger, he then also managed to pull the mech to pieces, leaving him to follow the party down alternatively walking and rolling. We completed the ride on the exposed Jackson’s Trail, another one with a few moves somewhat out of our league but some exciting and satisfying riding where we were up to it. After a prolonged dry spell, the creek crossing the end was very easy, the creek being narrow enough to jump across. Back to Amasa back – the steps on the way in Beautiful morning light Ledgy bit Switchbacks on Rockstacker One Sunday, inspired by a leelau thread on the mtbr.com site, we set off from the Pritchett Canyon Trailhead up the Cane Creek Road. At Cane Springs, we turned off and headed up Gatherer Canyon, this being a hiking trail come scramble which required cooperative cliff climbing, bike handing skills. The difficult section did not last too long and led us up to Hunter Canyon Rim where we started to find long sections of rideable single track, interspersed with a few rocky hike-a-bike sections. This was much more in the nature of exploring backcountry using a bike than having a ride. We were aware that there was a short spur up to Indian ruins in an alcove in the cliffs and managed to find it, this providing a brilliant lunch spot. We also found the spur to Pritchett Arch before heading off down the jeep road into Pritchett Canyon. The jeep road is one of the toughest tests of four-wheel drive vehicles and some of the obstacles look absolutely impossible to the uninitiatiated. Some of the rock steps were extremely hard to ride down as there were often deep holes or folds at the bottom of steps which could not been seen from the top. This really meant that these obstacles had to be scoped out before trying to ride them, which somewhat spoiled the flow. The ride down the canyon is utterly spectacular but frequent areas of thick sand required well polished sand riding skills. The correct momentum and technique often allows sections to be ridden relatively easily whereas they were otherwise a real pain. This was a very different kind of day to the rest of the weeks riding and made a nice change from what we had been doing previously. Pass us your bike up then Working up the canyon rim Indian archeology Room with a view Majestic bluffs all around Martin storms up some steps After 15 straight days on the bikes, we were overdue a day off and this was provided on the Monday by way of the drive down to Flagstaff. We set off at the crack of dawn and stopped around an hour later in Monticello for a full on American breakfast to set us up for the day. Another hour or so drive brought us to the Natural Bridges National Park, a stunning and beautiful slick rock canyon with a number of natural arches. This was beautifully set off by a glowing sunny day, temperatures in the early 70’s and a nice cooling breeze. We finished the sight seeing with a little walk down to the final slender arch and the beautiful reflective pool below it. WTF – damned if I could see it Fall colours in the Natural Bridges National Park ....and another bluer than blue sky day We then headed southwest across the plateau to the spectacular Moki Dugway, a dirt road cut into some monster cliffs that run for miles. The view off the top is like looking off the edge of the world. Not far after the foot of the Dugway, we then diverted a few miles to the spectacular Goose Necks National Park where, out of nowhere, one suddenly comes across the massive entrenched meanders of the San Juan River, the canyon being around 1000 ft deep. We then motored on past the daft outcrop of Mexican hat (yes it really does look like a Mexican with a hat on) before the classic drive across Monument Valley. Our final diversion was to the Betatakin Indian ruins. We only had time for the overlook trail rather than hiking down to the ruins – these are effectively a large village spectacularly set within a natural arch in excess of 300 ft high. We rolled into Flagstaff in the last of the evening light and amongst gorgeous sunlit lenticular cloud formations sitting above the surrounding peaks. The Dugway view Goosenecks – well as much as I could fit in anyway The Mexican Classic Monument Valley vista Betatakin Closer in Our home for the last week was with Tomas and Heather (aka Chalkpaw on mtbr) who were superb hosts and whose house is only a few minutes riding from the Mount Elden Trails. On the Tuesday, we set off from the house to the Shultz Creek Trailhead, climbing up the Shultz Creek Trail to Lower Brookbank. This led us to the long and flowing Little Bear descent, which was an utter blast to get down. We then had the long climb up Weatherford to the top of Richochet and from the bottom of this we then picked up Secret which took us up to the start of Super Moto, one of our favourite trails of all. The initial rugged techi rocky nature of this finally gives way to super fast flowing single track which seems to go on for miles and miles. We eventually arrived back at the house in a stupefied condition after a huge day out at altitude. We were somewhat surprised to find we had done around 50km of riding and were super hungry. Thomas took us to his favourite burger joint where a couple of us needed two burger meals to replenish the day, washed down with some fine local microbrewery ale. The temperature during the day had been something of a shock to the system with temperatures in the 40’s and keen wind most of the time. We were all feeling quite chilled after the previous week’s heat. Change of scene – fall colours amongst the aspens Ung.....hungry work today Wednesday saw us make a leisurely start, heading down to Sedona for some warm sunshine. We chilled out for a while at the Fat Tyre Bike Ship in uptown Sedona and had an early lunch at the sandwich shop next door. Tomas came down to meet us and take us out to ride the trails to the north of the town, which we had not seen previously. We did Jordan, Teapot, Thunder Mountain and then out to Lost Watch. Our pace slowed down gradually as Martin’s old knee problem resurfaced and punctures once more took their toll. Running out of time and light, we eventually bailed and returned by way of a fire road. I set off to get the car whilst the others sniffed out the Sedona Brewery and ordered up some fine brews and popcorn to round off the day. This was followed by a Thai meal in Oak Creek, the excellent food being somewhat marred by the arrival about an hour after ordering. We eventually arrived home in Flagstaff quite late and very tired. Chillin at Fat Tyre The following day, we were due to meet up once more with Mike from Prescott and local trail guru John (aka Traildoc on mtbr) who were going to show us some of the special stuff at Sedona. This was going to entail a very early start so John and Julia elected to stay in Flagstaff for a repeat the Tuesday ride whilst Martin and I set off very early for Sedona, meeting the others at the Coffee Pot for an excellent breakfast before riding. We kicked off by climbing up Schnebly Hill Road to Cow Pies and then on to the spectacular Hangover Trail. This was quite an experience with numerous committed and difficult moves, often carried out above massive exposure to huge slick rock cliffs and hillsides. In some places, the consequences of a mistake or a mishap were pretty much unthinkable. Other than some of the more extreme stuff I have seen in the Alps, this is one of the most exciting trails I have ever ridden and got us into a zone of total concentration and superlative bike control, induced by a sheer need to totally get it right. We got back buzzing from Hangover to have lunch and a couple of beers in town before heading out to another very special trail of a similar nature to Hangover. This again provided a super concentrated high-octane ride before we dropped back down to return on the lower trails familiar from previous visits. After bidding goodbye to Mike, we were pleased to take a beer with John at his house before setting off back to Flagstaff, to find everyone sat down to a huge home cooked meal back at the house. A huge thank you is due to Mike and John for showing us these fantastic trails. Looking forward to doing High on the Hog next time as well. Edgy entry into Damifino and Hangover Too quick for me – Mike has already gone down this insane slope and hucked off...... ......the ledge below the white band – yikes! We met hikers – who apologised for being on “our” trail – and expressed amazement at the notion of taking a bike up there Slickrock exposure – an easy section As most people were feeling a bit done, it was only Tomas and I that set out Friday morning for a relatively short ride along the lower foothills of Mount Eldon, taking in sections of Lower Oldham and Middle Earth before heading back around lunchtime. A quick shower and a pack saw us departing for Vegas early afternoon. We were dismayed to get stuck in traffic jams at the Hoover dam as the new bridge to bypass it still remains unfinished 3 years down the line. After supper, I managed to get an internet connection after a few days without and discovered an urgent e-mail from Paul who had dropped his wallet at Starbucks in Boulder the previous week. This was somewhat frustrating as we had passed through only hours earlier. A super quick pack in the morning provided enough time to head back to Boulder to pick up Paul’s wallet and even allowed a little time for looking in the local bike shop and do a bit of shopping on the way back to the Airport. Tomas and trailhound at the wave rock As they had a housemate in one of the rooms I was in the hen house Having expended the trip to 3 weeks this year (which allowed 19 days of riding), it was particularly hard getting back to work but at least the UK weather wasn’t quite as bad as it has been on previous returns. Once again, thanks to Paul, Junior, John, Julia and Martin for being great company and making the trip so enjoyable. Photos are a mixture of mine and John’s but there may be some more when I have seen the remainder. As before, we made use of the invaluable maps or trail notes from epicrider (Dale), utahmountainbiking and information from a number of threads on mtbr. Big thanks to Craig, Mike and John for showing us some special trails at Moab and Sedona and to Tomas and Heather for making us so welcome in Flagstaff. Planning is now in hand to try and make the Arizona Spring Fling in March, which will include a return visit to Sedona. Some more pics here Rate Journal: -- 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Author Comments Matt Member #19790 Posted Nov 07, 2009 - 3:28 AM        superb pics 10/10....   From: | Registered: 1255074299 Andrew James Member #5968 Posted Nov 14, 2009 - 9:23 AM           Graham, awesome picks, looks like a tremendous holiday. A little different from the Stock Alps/Whistler trip. Thanks for taking the time to write this. A cracking read!   From: | Registered: 1068842111