Moab Mancation

I figured I ought to write some stuff down before it gets watered down in my brain. Celebrating these past few weeks of away from the academic rat race, my brother and dad came down to visit me. It was for a semi-annual "Mancation" that has become sort of a tradition these past few years. Typically, men from within the extended family and friends head down to Moab for some hiking, mountain biking, and just good times away from normality.

This May, Brent drove his Ford Contour down with my dad and rented bikes within the SLC area to trash up in the rocky insanity of Moab. After we packed up things, visited, and ate food we borrowed Bryan's pickup and jammed on out of SLC. A few stops were in order, like old HW6 and to appreciate the excellent views. The weather was making scenery a bit more dramatic, as well as adding elements of snow and rain to the mixture. Upon our arrival in Moab we met up with David and a few others at a doublewide trailer "inn" we arranged to stay in for the holiday weekend. Shortly thereafter bikes were tuned up, and packed for our first adventure on the famous Slickrock.

As we arrived and unloaded, the storm clouds loomed overhead and thinned out the parking lot. We charged right on ahead because we're crazy like that. About 30+ minutes into absolute blissful rollercoaster riding fun on the bikes, the wind howled, and rain began to slam us sideways. The temperature dropped several degrees, and wet exposed skin fell victim of an unpleasant wind-chill. At times, the wind was so bad that one had to bank into the wind at a severe angle, then quickly recover when the tires slid out on the wet surface, or when the wind suddenly stopped. About when we traveled our furthest distance away from the road, the sun finally decided to come out. Reflecting water puddles, and wet surfaces rarely seen that way provided excellent views and beautiful scenery while the dark sinister clouds added contrast.

By the time we got back to the cars, we were all pretty hammered and needing food. The nearest Chinese restaurant provided the perfect amount of food for us that evening. That night and the following morning was spent repairing tubes, and replacing brake pads. The next morning Damion showed up in time for us to hit the Porcupine Rim trail. This trail begins with a brutal and humiliating uphill stretch, followed by a rough uneven trail along the cliff rim. The effects are similar to being locked inside a paintshaker for several hours. My suspension wasn't working so hot, so my arms and hands took a severe beating. I was lucky however, because both me and Brent were the only two who didn't actually go over their handlebars that day. Damion had a pretty rough wipeout though. We did however make it back in one piece, even though our joints were a bit loose. Took a break by the Colorado River, and then a short ride into Moab to retrieve the vehicles. Food was next on the agenda so we narfed some juicy buffalo burgers, and other high carb fuels.

Sunday we decided it would be best to take it easy. A simple hike to Corona Arch seemed like a good idea. There were many others doing the very same thing, but I believe everyone but me had never been to the arch, and we discussed how large of an aircraft could fly through the arch "safely". After the arch, we looked at some dinosaur tracks nearby, along with some pictographs I had overlooked before.

After that hike, the Hinckley tribe did some more exploring around the nearby rail system. We found a seemingly abandoned rail tunnel though the mountain, and just like old times, went for a hike through it. It was nice and cool inside, and after one's eyes adjusted to the darkness…. Well, you still couldn't see anything about 300 yards in. The tunnel gradually curved, and intersected the straight portion to the daylight ahead. Navigation then was much easier. We met some people at the other end who were spooked by our presence and red headlamp deep within the tunnel. Tossed around some rocks at some old rock drilling equipment, and headed back to our place. Damion had to head back though. Since Brent, my dad, and I still had another day we simply crashed and took a short nap to recover from the heat of day. When the sun was setting, we decided to go on a spur the moment ride on the slickrock practice loop. Conditions were perfect with the low angle dramatic lighting, and cool temperatures. Not many people were out there since it was so late in the day. Brent rode after a small bunny, and I flanked it from the side. Kind of fun having the speed advantage for once.

Memorial Day we wanted to avoid crowds, and go for another excellent bikeride. We checked out of our room and packed our things. I drove the truck north with us and our things, and took a dirt road off to our trailhead. Something must have jarred a sharp object into, or loose in the tire, and we got a flat. After putting the spare tire on, we were ready to park the truck and head out on our trip to Tusher Canyon. Route finding was pretty simple with the GPS, but would have been more challenging if we only had cairns to navigate. Eventually we rode up on this awesome slickrock shelf that gradually gained altitude. There were only a few places where one needed to pick up the bike and climb to the next level. When we hit the highpoint, we could then choose our own paths along a massive stretch of fun slickrock.

There were two "playgrounds" of just blissful mountain bike terrain. Lots of naturally banked turns, neat jumps, and it almost seemed as gravity was continuously working in our favor. Best of all, the views were spectacular in 360 degrees. Also there wasn't another person to offend the eye. In the lower distance there were some people on quads within the canyon bottom, but that's about it. After getting our fill of views, and playing around the slickrock we headed back to the truck. Packed it up, and headed back to the SLC valley. On the way, we stopped by Damion's place to play some games and hang out for a while. Then we visited the McEntires for some food and tale sharing. My dad left for home the next day on a plane, but Brent was going to stick around for the week and the following river canoe trip…