Riding the JEM trail

When you're in a new place, figuring out where to ride can be difficult. On the road, one wonders where are the good places, where the drivers are not likely to kill you. Off road, one wonders where the heck is the trail head? That's the beauty of guided tours.
Yesterday, we headed out into the great wide open to find the JEM trail. We wanted to start riding at the quarry, to avoid the vertiginous section of trail along the Virgin River. Our patience was rewarded, and after a long drive on a really bumpy wash boarded road, we found it.

It's not a bad trail. Parts of it are pretty rocky. Jim was attempting this short steep little climb with a right hand turn. He did not make it. There's an owie on the elbow, but he's otherwise fine.

We did part of that trail and then went up Hurricane Cliffs for a bit. Then I was tired and we went back to the truck. It looked like we would have thunderstorms for awhile, but they never materialized.

Today we went back to the JEM trail and rode it from the trail head, which put us on the stretch that goes by the river. Parts of it are very close to the edge. I didn't get any really good shots because I did not want to look down.

A rider coming up the trail.

It was a good day, we went farther than before, I rode more rocks up and down, and only walked about 3 feet of the riverside trail.

Riding to Zion

Today we rode on the road into Zion National Park. This is the one that's paved and not under construction. It's about 6 miles, and is a gradual climb and is quite pleasant. The best part is the park shuttle buses can't run you down.

It's just stunning as ever.

Tomorrow I think we're mountain biking.

MTB on Gooseberry Mesa

Yesterday we took a trip up to Gooseberry Mesa with Zion Adventure Company. It was a fun ride at 4,500 feet. The air was not as thin as on the 9,000 foot ride, but I'm still feeling the altitude!
Here we are climbing up the mesa on an old pioneer road.

After climbing for awhile, we got up to the slickrock. It was fun riding.





The view from one on the over looks. It was really bright out.

However, this is the most amazing thing we saw. These people are riding slickrock on a tandem. How on earth do they do this?

We have to go back and do the ride again. This time I need to get a picture of the giant boulder I rode down. Scared me to death, but I did it.

Hiking in Zion Again

We took the shuttle back in to Zion today for an easy little hike. Hah! Double Hah Hah Hah! We took the trail up to the three Emerald Pools. It's about 4 miles. We were not expecting as much elevation as we got.
This was taken at the lower pool, this is the water fall that feeds the pool. Later we would be standing where that water runs off the edge.

Here we are on the trail up to the upper pool. This was the steep one. There was much stepping from rock to rock.

Big rock on the side of the upper pool. There were people everywhere, so I didn't get a wide shot of the pool.


I took this from the upper pool. One needs a better camera than a pocket sized point and shoot to capture the magnificence of this place. However, my beloved will not sign up for carrying a giant DSLR, so I soldier on with my teeny tiny Canon.

About a gazillion years ago, there was a vast desert from Wyoming to Arizona. There were dunes reaching 3,000 feet tall. Current dunes in Saudi Arabia are only 300 feet tall by comparison. Then the oceans came and packed the dunes into sandstone. Then the Virgin River came and carved the Zion Park canyon, eroding the sandstone. Now there is sand everywhere!

So, after all this walking I have water blisters under my blood blisters on both big toes. I popped the water blisters after getting home today. Then I read on the web that you shouldn't do that. Hopefully I'll be better Tuesday because we're going mountain biking on Gooseberry Mesa. Mountain biking always involves walking.

Tomorrow we're doing laundry and resting. My toes are asking for a break from the walking.

Apologies to my Commenters

I have just discovered that one is not allowed to remove comments from the list on the "comments" tab. If you use Blogspot, you'll know what I mean.
The upshot is, I just permanently deleted a bunch of comments, thinking I was tidying up my account. There does not seem to be any way to put them back.
So, to all of you who took the time to comment on my posts, I apologize for deleting you. I treasure each and every one I receive, and I'm just ill about wiping them out.

Navajo Lake Ride

What genius decided it would be fun to mountain bike at 9,000 feet of elevation? Why, that would be me. We drove back out route 14 to the Navajo Lake trail. The section we rode was really nice, it was a very pleasant trail. Unfortunately it was at 9,000 feet! I thought I would suffocate on every climb.

The aspens up there are just beautiful. I was talking to a woman at the trail head who said we should really do the Thunder Mountain ride. This is a cut and paste from their web site.

Most riders do Thunder Mountain as a downhill with a shuttle. For this option, leave a car at the lower trailhead, then go to the Coyote Hollow trailhead at elevation 7800 feet. You'll climb slowly to 8200 feet, then begin a serious downhill. One of the ride's unforgettable moments is the 1/4 mile along the top of a sharp fin projecting from the valley floor 300 feet below, with rock falling away at 70 degrees on each side.

I obviously project an air of competence I do not currently possess.