Moab and White Rim

Brent and I hooked up the KTM’s to the Equinox, along with two mountain bikes, and blasted out towards SLC Sunday night. We took turns driving all the way, until we reached the McEntire’s place in the afternoon. I called up a local bike shop to have them put on a used rigid fork on my mountain bike, and I went over to drop it off. After that both Brent and I crashed for a few hours on the sofa downstairs. That evening we met up with Trevor, Brandy, and Bryan at our favorite restaurant to get a delicious sub sandwich. Tasted SOOO good. Thereafter Bryan, Brent and I went over to play some pool out in Sugarhouse, and went to a dollar movie. Later, we picked up the car and went to Bryan’s place to crash for the evening.
The next morning we departed southward to make a stop at Rocky Mountain ATV to pick up some riding boots. Then we headed on good ol’ highway 6 where we eventually hit Greenwater and grabbed a snack at the Subway. Then we were off to Moab. We stopped in directly at the Sovereign Trailhead and unloaded the KTM’s. Soon we tore down the road towards Arches NP, but it seemed to be a very tame and easy jeep trail. We got to the boarder, and there didn’t seem to be much as far as singletrack, so we headed back to the trails. We slithered up many trails, and enjoyed plenty of views. There weren’t that many bikers on the trails either. Later on my bike was giving me overheating issues, and Brent’s was being awfully sluggish and having oil issues. After managing some of the more pressing issues with the motorcycles, we headed back as the sun was dipping low to the horizon. Thereafter we checked into a local Hampton Inn there in Moab.

The next morning I noticed that my airbox cover was missing on my KTM. I knew it was kind of loose when we were riding, but being mounted on the bike would prevent the thing from coming off. I figured it must have fallen off while on the trailer. We backtracked to where we were the day before, but no luck. We decided to head up to the Poison Spider Mesa. Once there in the parking area near the dinosaur tracks, I fabricated a make-shift airbox cover out of the cardboard box my boots came in. It worked like a charm, and didn’t look bad either. We motored our way up the road, having to make some stops to tinker with oil levels etc. Soon we encountered a wash, and a dry waterfall which the trail went up. It was covered in loose sand. What normally would have been an exciting little hill climb, was a tricky and annoying obstacle which took a considerable amount of time to get over. After draining batteries trying to restart the engine through various stalls, we got past and up on top of the plateau. The ripples and creases in the sandstone were slightly annoying at first, until I upped my speed and goosed the throttle to lift the front tire. Doing a wheelie, one was able to ride through all the divots and maintain velocity with maximum comfort. It was awesome! Brent and I stopped to soak in some views and adjusted my chain which was slightly loose. Eventually we made it to the rim and saw some bikers about to go down the Portal Trail. That trail looks INSANE! I need to return w/ a mountain bike and try it out. We continued up the trail and took a few breaks, along with some wrong turns. We sat on the ledges overlooking northern Moab and Arches NP. Every now and then we encountered a mountain biking group. Some looked at us with disgust, some with heightened enthusiasm, and some with no regard at all. The sun was beginning to get low, and if our lives depended on it, we could have made it all the way to where we were earlier this year on the Gold Bar Rim trail. We blasted our way back along a different route, and descended into the Colorado basin as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Packed our gear, and hit up a Hampton Inn to dine upon fresh cookies, and dirty up bath towels.

The next morning we had decided that we were going to do the White Rim Trail! We asked the lady at the front desk to supply us with a few complimentary water bottles, and even snagged a sack lunch from the counter. We had an early start, and unloaded the bikes near the canyonlands visitors center. Brent packed a 2 gallon gas canister in the Alstom backpack, and we headed down the Shafer trail, descending to the rim. We made quick work, and the road appeared to be in excellent shape compared to the last time I was there in my Suzuki Grand Vitara. We hit up a little viewpoint where a lone raven was perched at the cliff edge. There were many sights and scenes to soak in during the ride. Only a few places we pulled off to snag photos for a shamelessly posed photo along the rim, but it was more fun to cruise along the road at terrifying velocities. It wasn’t until several miles when we encountered a group of bikers pedaling their way along the road. A while later we parked our bikes at the White Crack overlook campsite. It was a short walk to the edge of the rim, and we had an excellent view all the way around and even into the Needles. We ate lunch there and soaked in views for a while until we started getting warm. There were two other motorcyclists that came by momentarily at the campsite while we were out on the rim. One of them had a KTM as we saw from the binoculars. We set off again, and at one point hit a lengthy flat straight stretch. Throttle was opened, and went about 55mph along the dirt road. There were many sections where one would have to go crawling speeds on a jeep, and we zipped through on one wheel. Eventually we split the gas Brent packed along and continued on our way. There were a few more motorcyclists, and several more bikers. Two bikers had makeshift containers settled on their rear fender which appeared to hold all of their gear for the entire trip. They were the only ones without a jeep following along. At one point there was a green van camper pulled over and a lady scampered out and snapped several photos with a DSLR of my cruising past. Her enthusiasm and expression was priceless. It would be great to get a copy of one of those shots. After a long ride we made it up to the top of the canyon again and with a few scenic detours, made our way to the paved road back to the car. We loaded up the bikes and headed back to Moab. It’s amazing how sore and tired we were after 103 miles of riding.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel, packed our things and left the motorcycles in the hotel parking lot. Then took the equinox out to Onion Creek to check out some gypsum deposits and local scenery. Some of the river basin had a very pungent Sulfur odor where we found plenty of shiny gypsum crystals. Later David, Mike, and Kurtis showed up and met us at the Moab bike shop where we headed out to the Tusher Canyon trail. The playgrounds were spectacular especially with the low angle sunlight as the sun got lower. We stayed out goofing along the awesome slickrock until we only had moments of daylight left. That evening we met up at the cabin and cooked a massive meat and potatoes meal, and watched B movies. We also crammed ourselves into the tiny hot tub they had there at the cabin’s resort. When we all got out, the water level was a good foot lower.

The next day we all piled into my car and headed up to the very top of the Porcupine Rim trail at the Hazard County Trailhead. I was the only one with a frame lacking suspension. It took me a bit longer than the rest to keep up since I couldn’t go blasting through rugged bumpy sections at top speed. This was my THIRD time going down the Porcupine Rim trail with no suspension. I believe it would be worth my money to splurge for a full suspension rental if I choose to go again. We made it down and back to the cabin where we were about to unpack, and head up to the top and retrieve my car. Unfortunately, David’s son Sebastian was really sick, and he decided he needed to head back to town. He packed his stuff along with Mike and Kurtis. They headed back shortly afterward. It was planned to take a shuttle up to the Hazard County Trailhead the following morning, but Brent talked to our neighbors there, and they were kind enough to allow us to use their rental car that evening. So we headed up and picked up my car. Brent returned the rental car to the neighbors, and I drove the Equinox back to the cabin. We followed tradition and ate at the Chinese restaurant that evening. All went well until some douchebag sitting behind me was acting all “know-it-all” about Chinese culture, food, and food preparation by complaining in an obnoxious way to the waiter. Some people… sheesh.

The next morning we packed our things, fixed up the place and headed out to Spanish Fork to visit Damion and his family. We stayed there for some time visiting and goofing off until we headed out back to WA. We drove all night long and arrived in Lynwood the following morning. I crashed on the sofa, and Brent went to work.