Magnificent 7: There were F-bombs

[Previously posted on FB 4/23] When in Moab, there are a few rides that are too good to miss. Yesterday I rode the (almost) Whole Enchilada. Today it was the "Mag 7." The Mag 7 links up several trails near Canyonlands National Park. Many shuttle the official route, if there is such a thing. Although the route has a downhill bias, there is considerable amount of steep, technical climbing along the way.

I did a big ride with Dave in 2013 on these trails. It was a loop and did not hit the lower portion of the Mag 7 route. Today Cathy dropped me off at the top so I could ride all the way back to town, 40+ miles. I thought with the downhill bias, this could easily be banged out in four hours, even with taking lots of pictures.

Cathy is renting a townie bike for the week, working on strengthening her new knee on the paved bike paths that lead out of town. She likes it her but has no idea how hot it gets in summer...

I sampled a good portion of the new Horsethief Trails at the height of land before embarking on the Mag 7 course. These trails were marvelous. Flowy, fast and surprises were rare. Certainly good trails for noobs to cut their teeth on before trying the Mag 7. The trailheads on Rt 313 were packed, but I encountered people only twice in 7 miles on this network.

Starting on the Mag 7, dropping in on Bull Run gives you a good taste of what you're in for over the next couple hours. Everything is rollable if you so choose. I always choose! Temps rose rapidly today, reaching into the 80's, so I was glad it was a hazy day.

In 2013, Dave and I headed back up the trail system when we got to Gold Bar. To continue the point to point ride, I continued on the Gold Bar singletrack which merges into a jeep track up the the ridge. You know those massive red cliffs you drop below heading into Moab while driving on Rt 191? Gold Bar tops out at the highest point on those bluffs. The view was magnificent, pretty much unobstructed 360 degrees. It was a brute to get up there though.

Continuing along the ridge, Golden Spike jeep track is taken. This is where the ride went to shit in a hurry. I was hoping for a relaxing cruise back to town, but the jeep track did nothing but drop off ridge and then go right back up at fall line grades. It sought out many interesting "problems" for jeeps to tackle too, which meant dismount scrambles for me. Glad I wore my new cheap Specialized shoes with sticky Slip-Not soles for this ride! Golden Spike was nothing but none-stop PUDs, pointless ups and downs, in hiking parlance. This wouldn't have been so bad if I had planned on it.

Things went downhill from there. I wasn't going to take the Portal Trail down riding solo (where several deaths have occurred), so I took option B, Poison Spider jeep track. The problem here is it's been pretty dry and numerous, sometimes lengthy sandy patches were essentially foot deep talcum powder that were impossible to ride. F-bombs! I was sipping the last four ounces of water I had for the last two hours. I brought only 90oz or so with me, not nearly enough for 6hrs working hard on a hot day. One of the jeepers did ask me earlier on Golden Spike if I was all set with water. I was at the time, not knowing what lie ahead. The jeepers were pretty impressed I rode all the way out there. I thought what's the big deal, it's less than an hour back to town... It was more like 3hrs. Golden Spike and Poison Spider jeep tracks are probably the most deserving of a "one-and-done" label of any trails I've ridden.

I was so glad when Rt 297 came into view. Been a while since I got myself into boondoggle territory, and today was a pretty good one. I finished with 45mi and 4800ft of climbing in about 5.5hrs moving time. I used both Garmin and Suunto on this ride, as the Suunto does much better capturing the minutia of elevation changes in this terrain and the Garmin does better with distance. Almost a hundred miles and 10,000ft in two days. This trip is going to kill me. 44.5mi, 4800ft, 5.9hrs.

Mustang Trail in the new Horsethief trail network

Mustang Trail with La Sal's in hazy distance

7-Up trail

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Mag 7!

No E-bikes!

Exposure on Bull Run

Slot Canyon on Bull Run

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Rim riding, probably still on Bull Run. Cathy would rather not see these. Sketchy selfie...

This might be on Great Escape trail with the ever present La Sal's in distance

Great Escape

Probably still Great Escape trail 

Great Escape trail? So much fun bombing this stuff with near continuous downhill slope. Heavy braking was rarely needed.

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Heading up Gold Bar jeep track

High point of Gold Bar, looking north on Hwy 191 towards SLC

View southeast from Gold Bar high point, around 5500ft elevation.

Slight zoom on the La Sal mountains.

View south from Gold Bar rim with Colorado River in distance. Ride pops out somewhere down there. Had no idea what lie ahead.

There were surprisingly few jeeps out. Encountered only three moving caravans and a few stopped. Despite my pathetic pace and ability on this terrain, I could still move along much faster than these guys.

I stopped for 10 minutes to watch this guy solve this problem on Golden Spike. Had a couple spotters giving wheel feedback. 

Almost there. That rear tire had to drop before rolling over.

Slick rock section of Golden Spike jeep track. This actually wasn't too bad of riding, except it still threw some ridiculous grades at you.

Golden Spike in a slickrock wash

Oh, if it just stayed like this the rest of the way! But a whole lotta suck was coming.

Tops of the La Sal's from Golden Spike jeep track

One of my favorite views from the ride on Golden Spike jeep track.

Then there came sandy section after sandy section on Poison Spider jeep track. Fine pixie dust kind of sand. Sucked your soul dry trying to ride it. Should have taken the Portal Trail down!

Brief non-sandy bit of Poison Spider

Heavenly sight for a weary soul, the final Poison Spider switchbacks down to Hwy 279.

The Real Whole Enchilada

[Previously posted to FB on 4/22] There's this ride in Moab called the Whole Enchilada. It drops from the La Sal mountains all the way back to town. The vast majority of riders shuttle it. You can take shuttle service up to 8300ft on Loop Road this time of year or higher on dirt roads after the high country snow melts. I confess to shuttling this 4400ft downhill before. At one time, I had banked up about 80,000ft more climbing than descending from all my Mt Washington and Mt Equinox efforts. I didn't feel too guilty. Not this trip though. I had nobody to cajole me for "wasting" so much time riding to the top. Climbing is the best part!

I took Sand Flats road right from town. Starts paved, but soon turns to dirt. Once past the Slickrock riding and camping areas, traffic went to almost nil. Very peaceful watching the gained thousands accumulate. The climbing continues on forest road #634, which is part of the Kokopelli route.

Up top, there is a lengthy section of new singletrack call Jimmy Keen. It is open grazing land and the views were phenomenal. Much of this trail was smooth as a baby's butt, uncharacteristic of most Moab trails. Little did I know this was now the favored route down from Loop Rd. The shuttle machine was still going in full force and I had wave after wave of riders coming at me.

Coming this early in the season means you can't ride all of the Whole Enchilada from Burro Pass. Snow line was right at Loop Rd at 8300ft. The trail on the other side of the road was filled with snow. Lucky to be able to ride this far!

Heading down, I was now on material I rode once before on a 26" MTB in 2013. What a difference more travel and big wheels make! Was still very tentative on exposed bits and severe consequence sections. There are many exceptional riders on this trail, but I passed more than I got passed. I was also one of very few riders without a droppah post. Hmmmm...

Other than a few close calls, I had no mishaps. Passed at least 10 riders with flats descending into the Colorado River gorge. The weather as phenomenal, 40's to start, staying in arm and knee warmers all the way up until part way back down. 70's when I finished in town. Loop went just over 50 miles with 5300ft climbing (actual is probably more) in about 5.5hrs moving time. Other than being a bit more extreme than what I'm comfortable with, this loop compares favorably with other greats like the Monarch Crest, which most sane people also shuttle. The Hill Junkie isn't sane. 50mi, 5300ft, 5.5hrs.

Sand Flats Rd, probably around 6500ft elevation looking back down.

Further up Sand Flats. It's about to get heinously steep, like some of those climbs in the Canary Islands.

Zooming on distant mountains with Moab in center from around 7000ft. Per my maps, those mountains would have to be well over 100 miles away.

The La Sal mountains from Sand Flats Rd.

Forest road #634

Finally on singletrack, the Jimmy Keen trail. So buff. First 4mi was flat or slightly downhill, then last 4mi climbed a bunch. Most go opposite my travel, but I thought it was an excellent climbing trail.

Jimmy Keen trail and the La Sal's

Looking towards Moab from Jimmy Keen trail. The La Sal's need more trails like this!!!

La Sal's from Jimmy Keen

Jimmy Keen trail meandered all over this alpine prairie.

Taking in the view. Felt like Colorado, which is just the other side of those peaks.

Castle Valley from 8000ft. Will be seeing a

One of many exposed ledges on the Upper Porcupine Singletrack and Lower Porcupine Singletrack trails.

Castle Valley

When you hike the Bonds in New Hampshire's White Mountains, you have to take that iconic photo from Bondcliff. Well, this is the equivalent iconic photo from the Porcupine Rim in Moab. 

Don't let the view distract you. It is a long ways down!

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The rim that is followed all the way down. In Strava Fly-by, I noticed one other rider today earned his turns from the top. He started in Castle Valley and rode up the dirt road you see here to Loop Rd. A couple others rode up Sand Flats and picked up the classic Porcupine Rim descent much further down from Loop Rd. Good to see others embracing the climb.

Much of the descent was ledgy and chundery. Saw many flats.

The La Sal's made a re-appearance on the Porcupine Rim Trail. 

Beginning descent into the Colorado River gorge on Porcupine Rim Trail

If you fell wrong here, it would be all over in about 5 seconds, or however long it takes you to plummet 1000ft. 

Huge murky volume in the Colorado River below

Looking up the Porcupine Rim Trail from near the bottom

To the river at last, around 3900ft elevation, a 4400ft plummet with bits of climbing along the way.

Moab: Day 1

[Previously posted on FB 4/21] Headed to the southwest with Mrs Hill Junkie for a warm desert break. We plan to spend most of the week in Moab before heading over to Durango for a couple days. Exploring "down the road" possibilities...

After bike build, I went out for a quick spin right in town on a trail called Pipedream. Had ridden this once before, forgot how challenging it can be when you don't know the trail. Riding it with my Tallboy this time, I had many fewer dabs.

I had wanted to spend a couple days in the SLC area before heading to Moab, but there is still a lot of snow there. Riding possibilities are limited. Probably best I nixed that a few weeks ago when booking lodging. Snowbird got 10" of snow last night and many areas remain muddy from frequent rain. None of that down this way in Moab. 10mi, 900ft, 1.3hrs.

Pipedream trail near southern trailhead. La Sal mountains in background.

Totally weirded me out riding under this rock that is barely stuck up there.

Trail and weather were perfect.

Exposed bits.

From below you wonder how a trail weaves through this mess.

So green in Moab.

Huge $12 platters at El Charro Loco. Very yummy.