another MOAB ride report.....
The Stars
The Canyons
The Mountains
The Monuments
Dad
Don
Dan
Bob
Gene
You may also see.....
Flowers
Wild Animals
Death Defying Feats
Carnage
Food
And a Few Laughs
Tuesday, May 12
My daddy went to Moab and didn't take me. I was worried because he is an old fart and thinks he can ride. He was planning to ride some of the trails that are way out in the boonies, and I knew that if he broke or crashed that he is too fat and old to walk out. Anyway, he made the trip.
Even though I was pissed about just getting a T-shirt, I still acted like I wanted to know everything about his trip. He told me he drove 900 miles to some little town near Dallas to pick up a friend named Don. Then they drove the 1100 miles to Moab, all in one trip. They both took their DR650s and stayed in a hole-in-the-wall motel named the Inca Inn.
In MOAB they met some other friends, Bob and Dan. The plan for the first day was to ride the White Rim Trail. I was really scared when I first heard about this. The White Rim Trail is in the Canyonlands National Park and is 50 miles from anywhere. Here area couple of pics of some of the trail from Dead Horse Point. You can see why they call it the White Rim Trail.
Dad said they rode the loop counter clockwise, whatever difference that makes. He sounded like a little kid when he talked about going down the switchbacks at the end of Horsethief Rd.
Once they finished the switchbacks, they rode south along the Green River.
Dad said he was worried about getting over Hard Scrabble Hill.
Dan took this picture from the top of Hardscrabble Hill
It must have been tough - Dad didn't take but one picture.
The next big obstacle was Murphy's Hogback. The Hogback was easier than expected (except for Bob's previously mentioned bout with gravity).
Here is Dan wondering when Bob is going to work up his courage for another try.
While Bob wonders the same thing
Dad made a video from the top of the Hogback. Note that Bob makes it this time.
Did you see how easy Don made that climb look? Don is a great rider except for one thing - that is his top speed.
While those guys worked their way up Murphy's Hogback, Dad took a little rest.
Dad said after Hard Scrabble Hill and Murphy's Hogback, that the rest of the trail was easy. This disgust me, but it is Dad's story, so I am posting this pic of some of the girls they saw out on the trail.
I don't know which guy that is, but Dad better not have a picture like that.
Dad tried to describe how beautiful the mountains and canyons were, but I didn't understand until I saw some pictures.
Three Bozos
Dan the Man
Dad says Dan may not be playing with a full deck.
Musselman Arch
Near the end of the trail is Musselman Arch. The pictures do not tell the whole story of the arch. The arch is about 5 feet wide, it is ~1000' down if you fall, and there is a big crack in the rock near the thinnest part. Dad says there was no way he was going to walk out on the damn thing. Then Bob went strolling out on the arch like he was on a Sunday walk. Dad may be old, but he still has a lot of "boy" left in him. He took the dare and made the walk.
Dan was going to ride his bike across the arch but nobody would watch.
My Dad
Dad wanted me to post this picture and tell everybody he is not really that big. He says he is wearing a bulletproof vest. Suuuuurrrrreee :o)
Here is Dad pretending to be Lawrence of Arabia.
End of White Rim Trail
One of the ways out from the White Rim Trail is the Schaffer Switchbacks. Here is a picture that shows the road starting up the wall.
Here is the view from the top.
From the Schaffer Switchbacks, they decided to go back to Moab via the Gemini Bridges Trail. Gemini Bridges was worth the trip, but it is hard to capture the feel of the Bridges in a photograph.
They got to the "Bridges' just a few minutes too late to see some guys walking a tight rope stretched across the hole behind the bridges. However, there were some guys rappelling down the canyon wall across from the Gemini Bridges. Look close and you can see a guy down the wall ~50' plus the guys at the bottom holding the ropes.
Dad was surprised to learn that this group was all from the same company and that they were on an outing to build teamwork. Dad said his company used to do some stuff like this and they called it Rambo School. Dad said they never did anything that looked a dangerous as this. This could be an easy way to get rid of "low performers".
