The 09 Moab Adventure

For those of you that have never been to Moab Utah... You are missing out on the experience of a life time. Moab is one of the most scenic areas in the country to ride off road. It is basically an arid desert area that is geographically one big rock! ! When you hear the reference to 'Slick Rock'; it is just that... One huge rock that covers 20 square miles. (Can we say no dust? Even is a dry desert environment!) This arid, dry environment with no dirt results in very little vegetation but spectacular vistas. The Moab riding area is literally adjacent, and between Arches and Canyon Land national parks. (This should give you some hint as to the uniqueness of the geography of the place. Let's talk about the ride..

My life long friend, Lloyd Liebetrau, did a great job organizing the logistics of the trip.. Considering the below average temps for the majority of the time we were there, the condo with garage he set us in was a great and really worth the $330 for the week. Lloyd also supplied all the food and beverages for the week in this price... I think that one of the items that kept the trip reasonable was that only 1/2 of the crew drank beer.... This helped balance out the beer supply requirements. A couple of the Missouri guys started staring at me one night when I ONLY had 6-8 empties in front of me on the kitchen table... If they could only see me when I get into a serious bench racing session ! ! !

The days were cool... (Read that as cold in the AM) But with proper riding gear, we were all comfortable. We also left on Friday, a day early, because of the impending snow storm blowing into Colorado / Nebraska / Iowa / Wisconsin... That fizzled out and only delivered 1/10 the snow predicted... (Can you imagine the weather guys were wrong?!?!?)

Summation of the Ride:

Sunday:
Temps were 70+ when we got into town mid afternoon ... An hour later , after unloading and setting up 'camp' in the condo, the wind shifted and the temps instantly dropped 20 deg. (So much for the warm balmy weather)
But not to deter us, 1/2 of us went on a warm up ride on Amasa / Cliff-hanger trail. This is a class 4+ out of 5 in difficulty rated trail. (Might as well wreck the bike on the 1st day) The trail is a dead end trail that ended up above the Colorado river accost from Poison Spider trail. Great Vistas! ! !
Monday:
Lloyd's buddy,Dale, that runs Elite Tours, took us to the high desert 25 mi south of Moab. (6000 ft elevation) Beautiful area with neat trails... Only issue was the fresh 1-2 in of snow. For most of us from the Midwest, this was not an issue: But Dale, the guide, could not figure out for the life of him why ANYONE would ride in the snow! ! ! After 35 miles of snow riding, we relocated to low desert to escape the snow. Ended up riding an additional 50 miles in the low desert that only a guide could lead you though. (Special thanks to Dale from Elite tours. If you are interested in a guided tour of the Moab area, check out the Elite Tours' web site. They have an extensive variations of tour options available from guide only to full blown tours that supply accommodations, bike and gear.
Tuesday:
Started with the ride up Poison Spider to the ridge above Moab. This is again a '4' rated trail that is very popular with the 4 wheeler gang. This trail has several overlooks into the Moab valley and into Arches National park. We spent an hour looking for the King's Hand Arch... Only to give up and drive a 1/2 mile further down the trail and find a painted sign on the trail that said 'arch this way'. Oh well, it's always fun exploring..
After 4 hr's of enjoying the vistas on Poison Spider we detoured over to Gemini Bridge Arches... This is a twin arch that is located on the side of a 500' canyon that you can approach from the top or bottom. Again, the vistas in the area are awesome.
We then travelled north to the Monitor / Merrimac area and rode the 7 mile Rim trail.... This is another trail that overlooks the Moab valley area. The trail around the Monitor / Merrimac buttes is again the unique solid rock Moab trail.
For Charlie, Brian (Burleson) Dixon, Lloyd, and myself... We needed more additional riding and re-rode the Triple bar / Poison Spider trail back to Moab. We road 115 total miles for the day that was 85% off road. Of interest was the 4 Wheeler groups we passed Mid morning were still on their trip though Poison Spider late in the afternoon. We stopped and asked one group if they were going to camp out, considering they were only 2/3 of the way though the trail... They claimed they were going to finish the trail... I did not have the heart to inform them of the obstacles they had ahead and it would be well after dark before they finished. As a note: We covered this trial in appox 2 hrs in the afternoon with short stops to enjoy the vistas.
Wednesday:
Lost 2 of the Missouri guys to an R&R day.
The remainder of us road the Slick Rock area. This is the 'classic' Moab area that is ridden by bikes, motorcycles, and 4-wheelers. This whole trail system is just one big rock! After Slick Rock, we headed down the Fins & Feather trail, and the Porcupine Rim trail. This was at least a 15-17 mile one way trail that takes you along several canyons. Considering the last 5 miles in now closed to motorcycles... We had to retrace our route to get back home. Still a fun ride: But unfortunate that 5-6 mile of prime single track is lost to motorcycles. It's amazing that the economy is not keeping the feds busy and they still have time to shut down trails during this economic crisis.
Thursday:
Rode the Sovertine single track area north of Moab. Not as many vistas in this area, but it is an extensive single track area After 5 miles of this tight trail, we started stripping off riding gear! (The day did get into the low 60's) After 40 miles of single track we went back over to the Merrimac / Monitor area and explored some more trails in this area. Lot's of sand roads that had Lloyd practicing bench presses on his 525 KTM... But we did find some nice over looks, a cave, and "Wipeout Hill". We really impressed some 16 yr old and his dad who just got into motorcycles and would not even think of attempting the climb up 'wipeout hill'. We all gloated from the comment that 'we were really good riders'.

Attached a few photo's.... If you never have been there, you really need to do it before the greenie's close it all down. It is an awesome place to ride.

Dewey.