diverging paths

For Sunday, H wanted to MTB again but I wanted to hike so Milton could go too.  We all got what we wanted by going to MOAB Brand Trails.  H and I each knew what the other's route was going to be, and we decided that we'd just go out for two hours and meet back at the truck if we didn't see each other on the trail.  Milt and I left first, so he would stay with me and not chase after H.

H on the front side of Lazy EZ

Us hikers were doing this: out on Lazy EZ, then right onto Bar M, staying on Bar M past the Bar B and Rockin' A junction, then left onto the cut-off back to the outbound leg of Bar M and retracing our steps there back down the hill, then right onto the back half of Lazy EZ and back to the parking lot.

H's bike route was: out Lazy EZ, right on the cutoff to Rusty Spur, around Rusty Spur to Bar M, out onto Rockin' A, then Circle O, then reverse direction on Bar M to the above-mentioned cut-off back to the outbound leg of Bar M and then right onto the back half of Lazy EZ to finish.

Lizard huntin'

It all worked exactly as planned except that when H passed us on the front side of Lazy EZ, Milton took off after him and chased him down.  So H had to ride back to me and I had to keep Milt on a leash until H was far enough away.  Then, when we were on the outbound leg of Bar M, Milton was really ranging far afield.  I think he was looking for H, could sniff out that he'd ridden past.  To solve this, we went the reverse direction on the Bar M loop portion, getting off of H's trail.  Plus, the lizards had started to come out and Milton was mightily distracted by that.

By the time we reached the last leg - the wonderful swooping turns of downhill Lazy EZ - it was getting warm and I put Milton's white t-shirt on him to try to reflect some of the sun's rays.  We were also stopping for water every thirty minutes and he's smart enough to wait in the shade for me to catch up.

Sego lily, desert-style

H's ride was a success except that Rockin' A, which is the most technical of the trails in the planned route, took him a lot longer than he had planned.  (Milton and I got back to the truck about fifteen minutes before he did.)  It's a tough call: we want to ride the harder, more technical stuff so we get better at it, but it's not as much fun as the trails where we can just ride, and not fret about obstacles.

A shady spot

There were about twelve other vehicles in the parking lot when we finished, so we were able to do some people-watching while we changed our of our riding clothes and had our sandwiches and beers.  It will be interesting to see how quickly the trails get busy, as the state tries to slowly reopen.  For now, with just a handful of people out on the trails, it still really feels like it's our own private playground.

Ride stats: 13.51 miles; 7.1 m.p.h. average speed; 1:54 hours (no hike stats because H had the GPS)