Another Moab Trip

I never get tired of going to Moab, but the drive gets worse each time. I want to live a car-free existence. That will be another post.

This time we picked up my dear friend and former colleague, Mizz Amy Schwarts, better known to the masses as Schwartzy, from the Salt Lake airport. It had been a while since we hung out. In fact our last trip together was four years ago during spring break when I picked her up in Salt Lake and we headed down to mountain bike in St. George and Zion. The weather turned on us after only a few days and we finally retreated to a youth hostel (don't laugh) in Salt Lake after having woken up to our tent straining under the weight of freshly fallen snow. At that time we were positive that we should have gone to Moab, since it would surely be warmer.

It was not warmer...............

Well, for the first few days it was seasonably mild and we got to ride some new trails we had never tried out before. The best ride was called the Klondike Cliffs Trail which was about 15 miles north of Moab. It was an out and back that was technical enough to be challenging for Owen and Amy. The out portion is a gradual grind that climbs about 800 feet in less than five miles. The trail starts out as a rough double track with some technical-ish rocky sections and followed by a 2 1/2 mile section of slick rock (Kayeta Sandstone) with dinosaur footprints fossilized along the way.

Before turning around and bombing back down hill there is a short section of single track that takes you to the edge of Arches National Park. The view at the end of the single track is the photo at the beginning of this post.

As soon as the really cold weather arrived so did our friends from Victor, Grace, Antonina and Sasha. Grace did not take my warning of possible cold weather to heart and arrived with two light weight sleeping bags for three people. She has absolutely no fat on her and thus very nearly froze to death. Upon my departure I gifted her two extra sleeping bags since I would not be needing them in Telluride and she would be staying in Moab for two more nights. What are friends for?