Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Trip - Day 2:
Morning came fast but we all got a good night's sleep. Colin is up early and breaking down camp while Shane and I sleep for an extra few minutes. Once I actually unzip my bivy and look out side I can see that it's overcast. The day before, the ranger told us the forecast is for a 30% chance of snow, so we know it could be a cold day; but first things first, I make some coffee and eat breakfast before even getting out of my bag.
Once we are geared up and ready to ride the brief stretch of comments about being saddle sore begins. It's not long before we caught the guys who rode past our camp that morning. We stop to chat briefly and they offer for us to stay with them at Gooseberry camp that night if we decide not to ride all the way out of the park. As the day progresses we start to see people going the other way around the loop. One couple that is taking turns riding and driving the sag wagon has extra water - Colin and I fill up. We continue riding and grab lunch after we reach the Murphy Hogback camp site. Our packs are becoming light as we finish off more food/water but by this point in the trip we seldom notice the weight change - our legs and butts groan louder than the strain of the back.
On the trail again we enjoy some fast rolling downhill, suffer through a few sandy sections and after what turns out to be the last fall of the trip Colin calls out from under his bike - "I've figured out the technique (for falling with the bike/trailer/bad pedal combination)". Somewhere between helping him get untangled from the bike and catching our breath from laughing (there's a technique involved with having a trailer pull you over in the sand?) he elaborates. "It's best if you don't fight the bike, let the handlebars and your shoulder take most of the impact (it's on sand so that helps) and then worry about getting out of the pedal once you're on the ground."
As the miles roll on we all decide to plug-in and listen to some music as we ride. Initially we are all making better time but then the shuffle setting on my iPod brings up Enya and I slow to a turtles pace. We listen to the music all the way into Gooseberry camp where we have to decide if we are going to hike the 3m trail back up to the Island in the Sky road or push on for another 35 miles to get out of the park for the night.
The decision (primarily lead by my limited food and great bonk potential when hungry) is to to ride/hike out the trail and make it back to the car for the night. We all seem a little disappointed we didn't complete the full 100m we set out on the trail. What starts out as a rideable wash quickly becomes narrow, sandy and full of step ledges. Since my gear is all loaded into a good pack I don't really notice the difficultly in pushing the bikes, but after helping Shane and Colin hand all of the bikes up a few of the larger ledges I take my turn pushing the bike with a trailer. I push the bike until our next section of lifting/passing bikes over larger ledges and realize wow - this is going to be an even slower hike out than I'd realized.
After 5-6 different ledge sections we stop to take a break and evaluate how we are going to get the bikes, gear and trailer up the trail (each step gets steeper and what was once a trail is now more of a series of cairns). Colin decides to take the bag out of his trailer and wear it as a backpack (using the rubber hose coated handles as straps); Shane removes two of the three dry bags from his seat post frame and lashes them to his backpack. After much debate Shane and I convince Colin it would be better to strap the trailer to my backpack (which is actually meant to carry weight) than his dufflebag worn as a backpack.
We resume hiking and the trail becomes as steep as one could imagine for one listed on a national park map. As we get another 1/2m in the trail is covered in snow and there is no way we could successfully push/drag/manage the bike if it were still connected to the trailer. As it is there are several sections that two and sometimes even all three of us are handing the bikes up the trail. The uphill slog continues for approximately 2.5 hours, it's nearly dusk when we reach the top and it actually feels good to get back on the bike and ride instead of hike.
Reaching the top of the trail there is no time to rest if we are going to catch a ride back to our car, so as soon as the trail is rideable all three of us jump on our bikes and sprint for the road to try and catch the truck we hear. It turns out we are too slow and once we get to the intersection of the parking lot and main road through the park we sprawl out the gear and begin to reorganize for the 30m ride back to the car.
As we dig through our gear to find warm/dry socks we see another car pulling around the bend. We all jump up and I walk to the edge of the road trying to flag them down. The car stops, but it's about 50 yards from where we are and we can see the group of 4 people are all discussing what they should do. Eventually the car pulls further ahead and rolls down one window, slightly. I quickly ask them for a ride back to our car but soon realize it's a group of foreigners and they don't speak much English. Eventually they are able to figure out we'd like for one of us to ride with them and they rearrange to make space and turn around to go the direction I was pointing as Colin scrabbles to find dry clothes that won't stink. Colin jumps in the car.
Relieved, Shane and I find some dry clothes to put on and slowly organize and move our sprawling gear from the middle of the parking lot road.
5 min later, the car is returning. As they pull up along side us, Colin lets us know they will give us a ride but we pointed them in the wrong direction. Over the course of the next hour the daylight fades into darkness, Shane and I make something warm to drink and polish off the small amount of food we had left. When Colin pulls up we load our gear, snap a few final photos and head into Moab to return the trailer, find some food and a cold beer.
Once we are geared up and ready to ride the brief stretch of comments about being saddle sore begins. It's not long before we caught the guys who rode past our camp that morning. We stop to chat briefly and they offer for us to stay with them at Gooseberry camp that night if we decide not to ride all the way out of the park. As the day progresses we start to see people going the other way around the loop. One couple that is taking turns riding and driving the sag wagon has extra water - Colin and I fill up. We continue riding and grab lunch after we reach the Murphy Hogback camp site. Our packs are becoming light as we finish off more food/water but by this point in the trip we seldom notice the weight change - our legs and butts groan louder than the strain of the back.
On the trail again we enjoy some fast rolling downhill, suffer through a few sandy sections and after what turns out to be the last fall of the trip Colin calls out from under his bike - "I've figured out the technique (for falling with the bike/trailer/bad pedal combination)". Somewhere between helping him get untangled from the bike and catching our breath from laughing (there's a technique involved with having a trailer pull you over in the sand?) he elaborates. "It's best if you don't fight the bike, let the handlebars and your shoulder take most of the impact (it's on sand so that helps) and then worry about getting out of the pedal once you're on the ground."
As the miles roll on we all decide to plug-in and listen to some music as we ride. Initially we are all making better time but then the shuffle setting on my iPod brings up Enya and I slow to a turtles pace. We listen to the music all the way into Gooseberry camp where we have to decide if we are going to hike the 3m trail back up to the Island in the Sky road or push on for another 35 miles to get out of the park for the night.
The decision (primarily lead by my limited food and great bonk potential when hungry) is to to ride/hike out the trail and make it back to the car for the night. We all seem a little disappointed we didn't complete the full 100m we set out on the trail. What starts out as a rideable wash quickly becomes narrow, sandy and full of step ledges. Since my gear is all loaded into a good pack I don't really notice the difficultly in pushing the bikes, but after helping Shane and Colin hand all of the bikes up a few of the larger ledges I take my turn pushing the bike with a trailer. I push the bike until our next section of lifting/passing bikes over larger ledges and realize wow - this is going to be an even slower hike out than I'd realized.
After 5-6 different ledge sections we stop to take a break and evaluate how we are going to get the bikes, gear and trailer up the trail (each step gets steeper and what was once a trail is now more of a series of cairns). Colin decides to take the bag out of his trailer and wear it as a backpack (using the rubber hose coated handles as straps); Shane removes two of the three dry bags from his seat post frame and lashes them to his backpack. After much debate Shane and I convince Colin it would be better to strap the trailer to my backpack (which is actually meant to carry weight) than his dufflebag worn as a backpack.
We resume hiking and the trail becomes as steep as one could imagine for one listed on a national park map. As we get another 1/2m in the trail is covered in snow and there is no way we could successfully push/drag/manage the bike if it were still connected to the trailer. As it is there are several sections that two and sometimes even all three of us are handing the bikes up the trail. The uphill slog continues for approximately 2.5 hours, it's nearly dusk when we reach the top and it actually feels good to get back on the bike and ride instead of hike.
Reaching the top of the trail there is no time to rest if we are going to catch a ride back to our car, so as soon as the trail is rideable all three of us jump on our bikes and sprint for the road to try and catch the truck we hear. It turns out we are too slow and once we get to the intersection of the parking lot and main road through the park we sprawl out the gear and begin to reorganize for the 30m ride back to the car.
As we dig through our gear to find warm/dry socks we see another car pulling around the bend. We all jump up and I walk to the edge of the road trying to flag them down. The car stops, but it's about 50 yards from where we are and we can see the group of 4 people are all discussing what they should do. Eventually the car pulls further ahead and rolls down one window, slightly. I quickly ask them for a ride back to our car but soon realize it's a group of foreigners and they don't speak much English. Eventually they are able to figure out we'd like for one of us to ride with them and they rearrange to make space and turn around to go the direction I was pointing as Colin scrabbles to find dry clothes that won't stink. Colin jumps in the car.
Relieved, Shane and I find some dry clothes to put on and slowly organize and move our sprawling gear from the middle of the parking lot road.
5 min later, the car is returning. As they pull up along side us, Colin lets us know they will give us a ride but we pointed them in the wrong direction. Over the course of the next hour the daylight fades into darkness, Shane and I make something warm to drink and polish off the small amount of food we had left. When Colin pulls up we load our gear, snap a few final photos and head into Moab to return the trailer, find some food and a cold beer.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Trip - Day1:
The night before we leave I can't sleep; one part afraid I'll over sleep our 5am meeting time and five parts shear excitement for an adventure. Typically this pattern is called 'fishing sleep' and is reserved for epic fly fishing trips (a month in Wyoming, Montana & Idaho; exploring a new river or set of rivers for a week; 10 days in Alaska) but it does tend to pop-up now and again for an expected powder day or expedition style trip (adventure racing, 24 hours or Moab, canyoneering).
After waking at 1.30, 2.15, 3.45 and finally at 4.49am it's time to get up. My clothes are laid out and I'm trying to be like a church mouse but my stumbling wakes up the house (Chelsea). Since she's up anyway I open the garage and turn on the light so Colin can find the house and Shane knows I'm not asleep. 2 minutes to Five Shane pulls up and sets out his gear. I grab a bowl of granola and sit with him in the car waiting for Colin who shows up just a few minutes later. By 5.30a we are loaded and driving West.
Road trips with new people always expose new opportunities, the first one we found was a secret stopping point in Silverthorne (turns out there is also one in BC). Next up was bakery/breakfast stop in Avon - finally a cup of coffee. Turns out I'm the only one on the trip who drinks (craves/functions on) coffee so I limit my requests to stop so that we can make time.
In the spirit of making time we blow past the Fruita exit even though we need gas. It's not that we don't intend to stop but making time on the road causes us to drive right past the exit. Knowing we can't make Moab we pull off in Mack. This turns out to be a not so secret spot and Colin and I get aced out of our position for the bathroom, which leads us both to wonder if it's worth going in...
We make Moab by a little after noon and pick up the BOB trailer, lunch and some final supplies from the grocery store. Arriving at the ranger station we find out that our intended route down Shafer Road is closed for mud, snow and ice. The ranger suggest we either drive around to Potash and continue as planned (with an extra ~20 miles of riding added in) or reverse our route. Either approach leaves us in the position to bum a ride back to the car or face another additional ~50miles of road riding. Since it's late in the day, we opt for reversing our route and figure there will be more people driving from Potash to Moab that are likely to give a bunch of dirty mtn bikers a ride than park goers who pull of the highway for a scenic drive.
Starting from the intersection of Mineral Road and U313 we load our gear (http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/upload/island.pdf). As it turns out, there was a misunderstanding about the Washpark cruiser - Shane thought he was going to bring it for me to use and I thought he was pulling it. Fortunately we figure that out before leaving CO so we didn't lug the extra gear but it left us with the following configuration - Colin pulling the BOB, Shane with a mix of gear on his bike and in a backpack and I had everything in my backpack.
When we picked up the BOB, the mechanics at the shop seemed less than sure of how it all worked and only upon assembling at the trail did we figure out which pieces were missing; the cotter pins to keep the trailer connected to the over sized axle. A few items from each of our survival kits later (two zip ties and some bailing wire); snap a pre-trip picture and we are off.
It's not long before Colin figures out the (un)balance caused by the BOB trailer. There seem to be two problems. The first is due to the trailing hinge point when ever he'd stand to ride hard the trailer would pivot counter to his weight and try to pull him over; also despite the suspension on the trailer and the weight in it, the small wheel in the rear cause the trailer to jump when it hit much for a rock or rut in the road. From Shane and my perspective, this made riding behind him a bit of a comic relief from any exhaustion or pain in our ride.
We make good time across the road and descend into the canyon that parallels the Green river. Riding for another hour we encounter the first sand and the BOB pulls Colin to the ground. The landing is soft but the sand kept him from being able to remove his left shoe from the clipless pedal catching him imitating captain crash. After getting the trailer reassembled (the bailing wire holding one side of the trailer didn't survive the crash) we ride for a bit, have a snack and then press on knowing there are 36 miles to cover before we get to our camp and the light is limited.
The sun sets and we are still not to camp, after a quick suggestion to break out our headlamps now we push on another five minute and hit camp about 7p. Setup and dinner go quickly as we are all a touch cold. A little conversation, maybe a pull or two from the vodka and we eager to lay down in our warm bags for the night. Each of us plug in to our iPods and listen to a few songs while catching the unobstructed view of the stars. As Son Volt plays I catch a few shooting stars shut off the music and retire for the night.
After waking at 1.30, 2.15, 3.45 and finally at 4.49am it's time to get up. My clothes are laid out and I'm trying to be like a church mouse but my stumbling wakes up the house (Chelsea). Since she's up anyway I open the garage and turn on the light so Colin can find the house and Shane knows I'm not asleep. 2 minutes to Five Shane pulls up and sets out his gear. I grab a bowl of granola and sit with him in the car waiting for Colin who shows up just a few minutes later. By 5.30a we are loaded and driving West.
Road trips with new people always expose new opportunities, the first one we found was a secret stopping point in Silverthorne (turns out there is also one in BC). Next up was bakery/breakfast stop in Avon - finally a cup of coffee. Turns out I'm the only one on the trip who drinks (craves/functions on) coffee so I limit my requests to stop so that we can make time.
In the spirit of making time we blow past the Fruita exit even though we need gas. It's not that we don't intend to stop but making time on the road causes us to drive right past the exit. Knowing we can't make Moab we pull off in Mack. This turns out to be a not so secret spot and Colin and I get aced out of our position for the bathroom, which leads us both to wonder if it's worth going in...
We make Moab by a little after noon and pick up the BOB trailer, lunch and some final supplies from the grocery store. Arriving at the ranger station we find out that our intended route down Shafer Road is closed for mud, snow and ice. The ranger suggest we either drive around to Potash and continue as planned (with an extra ~20 miles of riding added in) or reverse our route. Either approach leaves us in the position to bum a ride back to the car or face another additional ~50miles of road riding. Since it's late in the day, we opt for reversing our route and figure there will be more people driving from Potash to Moab that are likely to give a bunch of dirty mtn bikers a ride than park goers who pull of the highway for a scenic drive.
Starting from the intersection of Mineral Road and U313 we load our gear (http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/upload/island.pdf). As it turns out, there was a misunderstanding about the Washpark cruiser - Shane thought he was going to bring it for me to use and I thought he was pulling it. Fortunately we figure that out before leaving CO so we didn't lug the extra gear but it left us with the following configuration - Colin pulling the BOB, Shane with a mix of gear on his bike and in a backpack and I had everything in my backpack.
When we picked up the BOB, the mechanics at the shop seemed less than sure of how it all worked and only upon assembling at the trail did we figure out which pieces were missing; the cotter pins to keep the trailer connected to the over sized axle. A few items from each of our survival kits later (two zip ties and some bailing wire); snap a pre-trip picture and we are off.
It's not long before Colin figures out the (un)balance caused by the BOB trailer. There seem to be two problems. The first is due to the trailing hinge point when ever he'd stand to ride hard the trailer would pivot counter to his weight and try to pull him over; also despite the suspension on the trailer and the weight in it, the small wheel in the rear cause the trailer to jump when it hit much for a rock or rut in the road. From Shane and my perspective, this made riding behind him a bit of a comic relief from any exhaustion or pain in our ride.
We make good time across the road and descend into the canyon that parallels the Green river. Riding for another hour we encounter the first sand and the BOB pulls Colin to the ground. The landing is soft but the sand kept him from being able to remove his left shoe from the clipless pedal catching him imitating captain crash. After getting the trailer reassembled (the bailing wire holding one side of the trailer didn't survive the crash) we ride for a bit, have a snack and then press on knowing there are 36 miles to cover before we get to our camp and the light is limited.
The sun sets and we are still not to camp, after a quick suggestion to break out our headlamps now we push on another five minute and hit camp about 7p. Setup and dinner go quickly as we are all a touch cold. A little conversation, maybe a pull or two from the vodka and we eager to lay down in our warm bags for the night. Each of us plug in to our iPods and listen to a few songs while catching the unobstructed view of the stars. As Son Volt plays I catch a few shooting stars shut off the music and retire for the night.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Food:
Given the timing of our drive I figure we're safe to plan on eating lunch in Moab before we start the ride. That leaves 6 meals that we are each planning out individually. Personally I like to keep things simple, eatable (no freeze dried meals) and eat the weighty stuff first.
Dinner - Chipolte Burrito
Breakfast - Coffee, bagel w/pb
Lunch - Chipolte Burrito
Dinner - Tuna, soup, dark chocolate
Breakfast - Coffee, bagel w/pb
Lunch - GORP, left over snacks
That should leave me hungery and motivated to finish the ride and get some more food and a beer.
Dinner - Chipolte Burrito
Breakfast - Coffee, bagel w/pb
Lunch - Chipolte Burrito
Dinner - Tuna, soup, dark chocolate
Breakfast - Coffee, bagel w/pb
Lunch - GORP, left over snacks
That should leave me hungery and motivated to finish the ride and get some more food and a beer.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Gear:
Our gear lists require the essentials +/- some creature comforts (granted we plan on multiple days or some of this wouldn't be needed): essentials, sleeping system, clothes, cooking, water, misc, optional gear and the pack/panniers to bring it all with us.
Essentials (2lbs ~1l of space): basic things you should bring to your back country expedition - compass, whistle, fire system (matches & lighter), shelter system, first-aid, multi-tool, water system, calories, duct tape, cordage, zip-ties, headlamp, lip/sunscreen
Sleeping System (5.3 lbs ~3.5l of space): depends on the planned weather and extremes for the time of year, since we are looking at 30 degree low and clouds we should expect snow. Light weight ground pad 19oz, 35 degree synthetic bag 34oz, bivsack 32oz
Clothes (3.8 lbs ~2l of space): 2pr wool socks, 1pr mid-weight long underwear, precip rain jacket, down jacket, windproof hobo mitts, wool hat, nylon pants
Cooking (2lbs ~2l of space): jetboil java maker, 1 nalgene bottle, 1 lexan spoon (carve chopstix for any other uts req'd)
Water (10.75lbs ~4l of space): 100oz bladder, 1 liter bottle in the bike cage
Misc (2lbs, ~1l of space): toilet paper, tooth brush/paste, camera, music
Pack (4lbs): Deuter Guide 45+ backpack
Bike Repair (?): spare tube, patch kit, allen wrenches, pump, tire irons
In the end my pack weighs 33.8 pounds before I put in the food
Essentials (2lbs ~1l of space): basic things you should bring to your back country expedition - compass, whistle, fire system (matches & lighter), shelter system, first-aid, multi-tool, water system, calories, duct tape, cordage, zip-ties, headlamp, lip/sunscreen
Sleeping System (5.3 lbs ~3.5l of space): depends on the planned weather and extremes for the time of year, since we are looking at 30 degree low and clouds we should expect snow. Light weight ground pad 19oz, 35 degree synthetic bag 34oz, bivsack 32oz
Clothes (3.8 lbs ~2l of space): 2pr wool socks, 1pr mid-weight long underwear, precip rain jacket, down jacket, windproof hobo mitts, wool hat, nylon pants
Cooking (2lbs ~2l of space): jetboil java maker, 1 nalgene bottle, 1 lexan spoon (carve chopstix for any other uts req'd)
Water (10.75lbs ~4l of space): 100oz bladder, 1 liter bottle in the bike cage
Misc (2lbs, ~1l of space): toilet paper, tooth brush/paste, camera, music
Pack (4lbs): Deuter Guide 45+ backpack
Bike Repair (?): spare tube, patch kit, allen wrenches, pump, tire irons
In the end my pack weighs 33.8 pounds before I put in the food
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Plan:
It's spring and while the snow pack is at it's season best, tradition states that we are all impatiently awaiting the next season of outdoor recreation, albeit with an eye on the snow report b/c any given day could produce powderflu.
Over the past weekend we saw our first 70 degree day on the front range and roads/trails were flooded with bikes, motorcycles, hikers and dogs. A brutal awaking on Sunday, the trails all swamped with heavy spring snow bound to pack-out as ice for the next few weeks.
No worries, we'll go west - Canyonlands is forecasting 60 degrees for the next weekend and a friend scored a permit for the White Rim trail.
A fast Google search (http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/whiterim.htm) and some quick rescheduling at work and we have a plan - meet at the dinosaur lots 5am on Friday, drive to UT, ride the 103 mile loop and be back on Sunday. One catch, no one wants to run the sag-wagon so we'll have to self-support on our bikes. Here's where plans deviate - one guy wants to rent a bob-trailer, another will make a go of it with a wash-park cruiser meant for the kid and I'm trying to keep things limited to a backpack.
All of these approaches will be sensitive to size & weight so gear selection will be key. BONUS - we an entire week to sort our biking/camping gear and no doubt acquire some new smaller/lighter/just-plan-didn't-have-it-and-wanted it gear.
Over the past weekend we saw our first 70 degree day on the front range and roads/trails were flooded with bikes, motorcycles, hikers and dogs. A brutal awaking on Sunday, the trails all swamped with heavy spring snow bound to pack-out as ice for the next few weeks.
No worries, we'll go west - Canyonlands is forecasting 60 degrees for the next weekend and a friend scored a permit for the White Rim trail.
A fast Google search (http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/whiterim.htm) and some quick rescheduling at work and we have a plan - meet at the dinosaur lots 5am on Friday, drive to UT, ride the 103 mile loop and be back on Sunday. One catch, no one wants to run the sag-wagon so we'll have to self-support on our bikes. Here's where plans deviate - one guy wants to rent a bob-trailer, another will make a go of it with a wash-park cruiser meant for the kid and I'm trying to keep things limited to a backpack.
All of these approaches will be sensitive to size & weight so gear selection will be key. BONUS - we an entire week to sort our biking/camping gear and no doubt acquire some new smaller/lighter/just-plan-didn't-have-it-and-wanted it gear.
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