It's an amazing place.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Virgin UT to Escalante UT
We're at the Broken Bow RV park. We have satellite and pretty good wi-fi.
This was taken heading east on UT-20. Look at the yellow sign showing the off camber switchback. This was on the 8% grade portion of the road.
Then there were the 13'6" tunnels.
It's not a bad drive - we were pretty happy the sun was out for it.
Update to post. The park was tolerable, barely. When we got there, no one was available to check us in, but one of the residents told us to get as high as possible on the hill. When people dumped their tanks, it would bubble up out of the lower sewer hookups. I think that's all that needs to be said about that.
This was taken heading east on UT-20. Look at the yellow sign showing the off camber switchback. This was on the 8% grade portion of the road.
Then there were the 13'6" tunnels.
It's not a bad drive - we were pretty happy the sun was out for it.Update to post. The park was tolerable, barely. When we got there, no one was available to check us in, but one of the residents told us to get as high as possible on the hill. When people dumped their tanks, it would bubble up out of the lower sewer hookups. I think that's all that needs to be said about that.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Leaving Zion in the Morning
Tomorrow we are headed east to Escalante Utah. According to the park website, cell phone is limited, limited being code for not any. They do have wifi so we're reachable via email. We have really enjoyed Zion. If you have the opportunity, you should come here and see it all.
MTB New Product Awareness
You may have noticed that in most of my pictures on the mountain bike, I'm wearing knee and elbow protection. It's not that I'm such a gnarly down hiller, it's just that I have an issue about maiming; as in I don't want to be! My knee pads are hot, they make my knees sweat. We saw a guy out on the JEM trail wearing these, and they look much cooler than what I have. The are from Black Diamond, a maker of stuff for cross country skiers. When we get back to Tucson, I'm going to order up a pair and see how they are.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Drive to Kolob Terrace
Today was a rest day for us. I got up this morning unable to look up or side to side because my shoulders were so tight from yesterday. The JEM trail is like riding down stairs for an hour or so.
We drove out to the Kolob Terrace which is part of the Zion National Park, but is much less visited. It's more spread out than the Zion Canyon, but is also beautiful.
On the way up the road we drove in to a sub-division that's under development. They've got roads and utilities in, but no houses yet. This is lot 36, they're grazing llamas on it.
A canyon on the side of the road.
We're at about 8,000 feet here. The road goes in and out of the park, a lot of it is pasture land.
Here we are at the end of the road at the reservoir. We're now at 8,200 feet. It was cold up there!
On the way down we took a dirt road toward another section of the park, but it was so rutted and lumpy, we abandoned. But not before getting a good picture of the aspens and a little creek.
Sections of the drive down are just stupendous. Most of my pictures didn't turn out because the camera kept focusing on the dead bugs on the wind shield.
We stopped at a trail head for a nice little walk.
Nice little walk, HAH! Double HAH HAH HAH!!!! See the vague line moving sort of diagonally across the middle of the picture? That would be the cliff side trail. We decided to bail, we're supposed to be resting!
Here is Jim, hiking back up through a lava field. See the pink sand on the rocks? It's every where.
It was a nice day. We saw a lot of pretty country, got in a short little walk and I can turn my head again.
We drove out to the Kolob Terrace which is part of the Zion National Park, but is much less visited. It's more spread out than the Zion Canyon, but is also beautiful.
On the way up the road we drove in to a sub-division that's under development. They've got roads and utilities in, but no houses yet. This is lot 36, they're grazing llamas on it.
A canyon on the side of the road.
We're at about 8,000 feet here. The road goes in and out of the park, a lot of it is pasture land.
Here we are at the end of the road at the reservoir. We're now at 8,200 feet. It was cold up there!
On the way down we took a dirt road toward another section of the park, but it was so rutted and lumpy, we abandoned. But not before getting a good picture of the aspens and a little creek.
Sections of the drive down are just stupendous. Most of my pictures didn't turn out because the camera kept focusing on the dead bugs on the wind shield.
We stopped at a trail head for a nice little walk.
Nice little walk, HAH! Double HAH HAH HAH!!!! See the vague line moving sort of diagonally across the middle of the picture? That would be the cliff side trail. We decided to bail, we're supposed to be resting!
Here is Jim, hiking back up through a lava field. See the pink sand on the rocks? It's every where.
It was a nice day. We saw a lot of pretty country, got in a short little walk and I can turn my head again.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
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.
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.
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