Happy Feet

Just returned from a week long mountain biking trip in Moab, Utah based out of a rental minivan.

Day 1: Flew into SLC from Vancouver BC, picked up the van, some food and drove to Moab. Slept in a truck stop.

Day 2: Visited Arches NP. Trail running / hiking Park Avenue, Delicate Arch, Double Arch, Balanced Rock, Devils Garden and Broken Arch, taking 400 pictures in one day! Camped in Devils Garden Campground.

Day 3: Visited Canyonlands NP. Hiked Aztec Butte, Mesa Arch and Grand Viewpoint. Camped at Willow Flat Campground

Day 4: Picked up a rental MTB in Moab for three days. Rode trails in the Brands area and Slickrock Practice loop. Camped at Sand Flats Recreational Area.

Day 5: Rode Navajo Rocks area in Canyonlands NP and then Intrepid Trail system in Dead Horse Point SP. Camped in Sand Flats.

Day 6: Rode Slickrock Trail in the morning. Set out at 8:30am and had almost the whole trip to myself. After lunch I went back for more riding in the Brands area. Returned the bike and camped in Sand Flats.

Day 7: Drove the Colorado River Scenic Route (Hwy 128) out of Moab back to SLC. Visited the Temple Square area and looked at Mormon stuff. Stayed at a hotel close to the airport.

Day 8: Flew home from SLC to Vancouver BC. Began editing over 800 pictures.

Impressions: Simply amazing area! It was almost visual overload looking at the sites in the national parks and the amount of biking opportunities seemed endless. I could easily go back for more mtbing or for hub and spoke road tours up and down the NP roads. Another option is the White Rim trail for a gravel trip. Traffic in early Nov was light in the parks, weather was warm but not hot during the day and below freezing at night. People in Utah were incredibly polite and helpful.

I rented a 29r Trek Fuel EX7 that retails at $3300 for $165 for three days. I decided to do that instead of paying baggage of $100 for my fatbike ($65 difference for a decent full suspension mtb). Amy and Tim at Poison Spider Bike Shop in Moab were great for suggesting trails as were a couple of other locals.

Below is a slideshow video of my MTB related pictures. I'll post other scenic shots when they are edited.

mstateglfr 

That's a fantastic trip! Really neat that the weather worked out for you- its key.
Knowing nothing about moab other than it's in east central UT, I would have guessed its colder that short sleeves weather there right now.

When planning, why did you pick moab for a destination?

Happy Feet

I only had a week and chose Moab as a less expensive sunny destination to get away from the usual rainy weather we have here around this time. I don't like lazy vacations, sitting on a beach etc... and it was Moab or Tuscon. Funny enough, we had sunny weather at home the whole time I was away. It can be hot and crowded in Moab during peak times but early Nov is shoulder season, a little cooler but not yet cold (except at night). As it was I hit the weather window perfect, 60-65F during the days (but felt hotter with the direct sun) and down to 20F at night. I only took carry on luggage which included clothes for riding, my sleeping bag and inflatable mat.

Mainly, Moab is a top mtb riding destination so there was that motivation, I wanted to do the iconic 10 mile Slickrock route and I wanted to look at the national parks that are centrally located to Moab. Gravel riding has the well known White Rim trail there too. I couldn't say enough about the area as the people were great and fit with my outdoor lifestyle/outlook. I can see at least two to three more week long trips there, doing different things each time.

Here's a video of one trail;


I can ride road and gravel and am so so on mtb but this trip really motivated me to work on my technical skills so I can do more advanced routes down the road. Fortunately, the trails offer a wide variety of terrain from windy flow single track, extended rock desert trails, flat or up and down - all with amazing views.

Happy Feet

A couple more:

stardognine

Really cool, thanks for sharing this. 👍 I've definitely thought about going up through Utah, and still probably will, eventually. But I've gotten kinda spoiled, down here in Arizona. It still hits the mid 80s F during the daytime regularly, and lows are usually in the 50s F . 😛😁😉

djb

pretty darn cool
man, that look tempting and fun. For me it would be quite an airfare to get there, but it was really fun to watch the vids.

re the Moab brands north 40 video and (great) soundtrack (good choice btw)...just think how much bikepacking gear and everything that person could have bought instead of buying that smelling old sweater with cigarette burns in it!?

ridelikeaturtle

Moab: the only place I'd consider returning to in the US. Absolutely beautiful.

Happy Feet

Took me a second to get that one

Doug64

Dale, we stopped in Moab on our way back home from our Ontario tour this summer. We are getting closer to Halifax Arches NP was a great place, and I probably shot about the same amount of pictures as you did; it was hard not to. We had our bikes with us, but didn't do any riding. Time was limited and we wanted to be in the park for both sunrise and sunsets. The temps were also pushing into the 100F range. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures!

DropBarFan

Nice report--Utah is pretty amazing for outdoors activities of all sorts & it's interesting that you say it would be fun for road touring as well as MTB riding. I did a ski trip to Utah last winter & was esp impressed by the polite & friendly folks. The roads from Salt Lake City to the ski spots even have bike lanes...quite feasible for a fit rider to ride up & ski I'd think.

Happy Feet

The roads in the parks didn't have especially wide shoulders and might be a pain in the busy season with RV's etc... but at this time there was little real traffic and it seemed quite safe.

Hah ha! I imagine my wife would have gone buggy waiting for me to stop and start taking all the pics. Each morning I tried to make a point of waking up pre dawn and racing to some spot to catch the sunrise and also planned to catch sunsets.

Here's day one so far:

Tourist in MSN

It took me a while to figure out that your "short hub and spoke" trip had nothing to do with small wheel sized spokes.

djb

no worries 'guv, it will be as advertised for "my largish hub and ridiculously really really really long spoke and Header tour in Cornwall" on my upcoming PennyFarthing trip, unless of course you are a bit thick and do not have the foggiest of what I'm going on about.....

djb

hey Happy, serious question here--did you have to be concerned about rattlesnakes? As an easterner, its not something I ever consider, but watching the scenery shots it suddenly occurred to me that it may be a real issue to be careful of.

Happy Feet

They said there was a species of rattler but I saw no sign of them. Hardly any wildlife other than some small lizards 2-3 inches and a couple of herds of deer. It was odd, being one of the first trips I have done in a long time where I did not have to be bear aware.

stardognine

Those small lizards are probably skinks. You see about a million a day, road touring. They like to lie in the sun, on the berm of the road, and run like crazy, when a bike comes along. 😁

Happy Feet

Finally finished editing the rest of the photos: