brief desert interlude

 The first real storm of the season came in Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.  The mountains (Alta, et als.) got 8-12" and it even snowed a bit in the valley, but - thankfully, because I am not ready for winter yet - did not stick.  The storm moved out of the area by midday on Thursday and when we got underway to head down to Moab, the road was clear and dry and you wouldn't have know that it had snowed, except for the mountains' frosty tops.

"Holy moly is that a squirrel?" - Milton, probably

It was definitely cooler in Moab than it has been, but we really lucked out on the weather.  Friday was gorgeous, mostly sunny with highs in the mid- to upper 60s F.  Milton and I did a short hike up on the Slickrock Trail.  This was his first time back out on the slickrock since he injured his paw and I cautioned him to take it easy.  He did not take it easy.  But he also didn't reinjure anything, so it all worked out.  We did the Practice Loop ("just as hard") and went out just a little way on the main trail for the views.  It was medium busy, mostly MTBs.  Milt also met a very nice New Mexico rez dog named Cholla in the parking lot; she was a sweetie.

"Are you coming?" - Milton, definitely

From the weather forecast, both H and I were sure that Saturday was going to be a washout; he did hear the rain in the early hours of the morning and had to scurry around closing windows.  But the rest of the weather held off, allowing us to do a hike at Moab Brands in the late morning where I spotted what was either a coyote or a coyote-looking dog up on the ridge, so Milton had to be leashed for a portion of the hike for his own safety.  That afternoon, H and I walked to Josie Wyatt's for a beer.  I thought about bringing my raincoat ... but didn't, and later regretted it somewhat when we got lightly rained on walking back home.

Sunday morning was nice and clear.  We'd planned to head back to SLC midday so we three only did a town walk.  There weren't too many folks on the bike path through town but Main Street was bustling, especially the breakfast places.  I suspect the local businesses appreciated the mild weather as much as we did, hoping to make bank before things slow down for the off-season.

dang it

 Once again, this week got away from me.  More posts very soon - check back again later!

UPDATED: We did get away for a long weekend in Moab.  Didn't do anything extraordinary but man oh man do we like being there.

Here's a photo from the car ride down.  Milton still doesn't love car rides - although he rarely gets carsick now - and he prefers the truck where we are all together.  In the Subaru, he has to sit in the back.  He doesn't like that, even though we set him up with blankets and plenty of room.

all good things

 Sunday was our last full day.  As I mentioned earlier, we'd talked about going up to Dead Horse Point State Park to MTB since it's been forever since we've been up there.  We talked ourselves out of it, however, given that it's a 45 minute drive each way (with gas prices the way they are), plus we don't have a Utah state parks pass this year.  We still wanted to MTB, though, so we just went to the MOAB Brand Trails which is only a 10-15 minute drive and free.

Not a cloud to be seen

It was a great ride with the same terrific weather we'd been having all week.  We went across the cow pasture (no cows yet) to Rusty Spur, then turned right at the kiosk on the bike path to the 4x4 road, out along the Bar M loop to Bar B, out the road to the Arches National Park boundary (love that climb on the slickrock ramp), back to Bar M with a cut across to pick up the upper half of Lazy EZ, then around the lower half of Lazy EZ, then back across that cut to Bar M again, to the parking lot cutoff.  I haven't MTBed all summer but that ride felt really good.  And even though the parking lot was as busy as we've seen it in a while, we encountered very few people on the trails.  Just the way we like it.

Since it was our last day, after we got cleaned up we walked with Milton over to Josie Wyatt's.  Their patio is dog-friendly (have one person wait at the back gate with the dog while the other person goes to ask the bartender to be let in) - the whole hotel is, actually.  Milton enjoyed himself a lot, from making lots of new friends to having two separate servers bring him bacon.  He didn't want to leave.  (We didn't either and were sad Monday morning when we had to drive back to SLC.)

life in the bike lane

 On the days we didn't hike or MTB, we did road rides.  Yes, we.  At the start of the summer, I found a little old Cannondale at a local Play It Again Sports for $120.  I tried riding it but it felt small, so I figured it was a child's bike and left it.  Towards the end of September, I saw that the bike was still there so I had H come with me to check it out.  He watched me ride it around the parking lot and said that it wasn't too small, I just wasn't used to road bikes.  So I bought it; H cleaned it up (for a mid- to late 1990s bike it was in good shape, just needing a wash and lube); and we brought it to Moab for me to ride on the bike path.  If you ride from our house to the end of the bike path at Route 313, then back down and then out and back along the river, you can put together a scenic thirty mile ride.  There's also a really long hill between Arches National Park and the MOAB Brand MTB trails.  My goal for the week was to climb that hill.

It's so tiny and light!

Saturday was my very first ride.  It has been since I was a kid that I've been on anything resembling a road bike and it felt so weird!  It felt narrow and twitchy and I felt like I was way out in front over the handlebars.  With both my MTB and my town bike, I sit up more and my stance (?) is broader with the wider handlebars - I was very nervous on that first ride.  We went from the house, past Arches to the Killer B trail marker, then back down for the out and back along the river.  My average speed was the same as on my super-heavy, one-speed town bike (embarrassing!) but that was because I was so nervous.  Ride stats: 20.19 miles; 11.6 m.p.h. average speed; 22.6 max speed; 1:43:52 time.

For reference, H did the exact same ride Sunday when Milton and I went hiking.  His ride stats were 20.20 miles; 20.1 average speed; 30.8 max; 1:00:14.

We do have new handlebar tape to put on

We got back on the road bikes on Monday, giving my back and wrists some time to shake out.  We did the same route as Saturday except going up just a little further past Killer B, to where that hill starts.  Although it wasn't much further, it was faster and I felt a lot more comfortable on the bike, pedaling more and coasting less.  It was windy along the river and I still hate a headwind, but riding a really light bike like this Cannondale makes me hate it less than when I'm on my MTB.  Ride stats: 21.02 miles; 13.1 average; 34.1 max (H's max, not mine); 1:35:42.

Wednesday we had talked about maybe going cowboy camping up at Sand Flats but with Milton having that foot injury, we decided it would be best to save camping for another time.  Instead, H and I got back on the road bikes.  And this time I accomplished my goal of riding up that big hill!  That hill is a 1.5 mile stretch with a 7% grade, ending up where the Rusty Spur trail comes out onto the bike path.  There are also two cattle guard crossing, just to keep things interesting.  I was very nervous on the descent (I much prefer climbing to descending) but proud of myself regardless.  Ride stats: 24.05 miles; 12.4 average; 32.6 max (H's); 1:56:03.  In non-biking news, we took Milton up to the Slickrock trail parking lot at Sand Flats Recreation Area for lunch and he got to make friends with a bunch of MTBers.

After my ten mile solo hike on Thursday, my legs still had some fatigue when Friday rolled around.  We had talked about MTBing up at Dead Horse Point State Park but decided to postpone the MTBing until I could enjoy it more.  To shake the cobwebs off, however, we did an easy twenty-miler, not attempting the hill again.  Ride stats: 20.26 miles; 13.2 average; 39.3 (H's) max; 1:31:57 time.  We also went back to the Slickrock parking lot for lunch with the dog.  It was really busy and there were so many dirt bikers - way more of them than MTBers, which seemed odd.

We did have to do a half-lap around the

neighborhood to get 30 exactly

Our final road ride was Saturday, after Milton's vet appointment.  And this time we did the whole dang thing, all thirty miles.  It was a gorgeous day, clear, not too warm, not too breezy.  With four rides under my belt, I felt much more comfortable on the bike (except for that long downhill).  I was more confident on the climb to, having done it once already.  On the river portion, there were lots of people out on the bike path - mostly on e-bikes but that's okay, at least they're out there.  And me too - I'm out there now too, now that I'm apparently a road cyclist.  Ride stats: 30.00 miles; 13.2 average; 40.9 max (not me, obvs); 2:15:43; and A had 134.68 road miles on the week.

solo

On Thursday, Milton was a little better but in no shape for hiking.  I wanted to do a longer hike, however, so while H did a MTB ride at Moab Brand Trails (16.27 miles, average speed 10.5, top speed 23.6, 1:32 hours), I got my gear together and hit the trail.  We've done this almost-loop a couple times before but it would be the first time I did it solo and would be the longest solo hike I've done.

Nearing the top of the climb up to Hidden Valley

Starting from our place, I walked to Jackson Street and hopped on the Pipedream Trail heading south.  It was another gorgeous morning, still cool although it would end up being slightly warmer than the last couple of days, completely clear and with very little wind.  I met five hikers, three dogs and one MTBer on this leg, most of them as I was descending into the Hidden Valley trailhead parking lot.  From there, I did the quick climb up and then cruised the length of Hidden Valley.  I saw five hikers and one dog in this stretch.  The tumbleweeds are unfortunately making invasive inroads into the valley but I did see some signs of weed mitigation, so hopefully they won't completely take over.

Looking over the pass

From the pass, I dropped over onto the trail and then 4x4 road leading to the Moab Rim.  There was literally no one out there at all and other than a plane or two, it was super quiet.  I stumbled down Sand Hill and made my way through the dry wash (it is slightly shorter going this way as opposed to over the sandstone domes).  Then, my least favorite part, on the 4x4 trail up to the Moab valley overlook: this section is all up, although not steeply, and isn't particuarly pretty because the 4x4s have chewed it up.  

From whence I came

Before I started my descent, I texted H: the plan had been for him to meet me at the Moab Rim parking lot so I wouldn't have to do the road walk home - but there's no cell reception in the lot itself so I had to remember to text before heading down.  I met two hikers, 1 tenacious MTBer and three Jeeps going up as I went down the Rim trail.  My guys were waiting for me in the parking lot: H had beer, Gatorade and salty snacks for me; Milton had improved enough to gingerly put a little weight on his right foot but mostly just wanted to snooze in the sun.

The Colorado River

My legs were a little fatigued that afternoon (10 miles; 3:50 overall time) but I managed to rally enough for us to ride our town bikes to beers (another 2.5 miles to add to the count).

rocky tops and juicy ipas

 Tuesday (10/3) was our official move-iversary and so the whole family did a hike together.  I suggested going to the Navajo Rock trail system and doing the Rocky Tops loop; that what we did but afterward H said, and I agreed, that that trail is not quite as enjoyable as I always think it is. It is side-hilly on the sandstone domes and rocky underfoot otherwise.  Still, it seems like a good idea at the time, we all made it without lasting damage and it was a beautiful day.

Heading out

We parked at the upper Navajo Rocks lot and then hiked down to the lower lot.  This is my favorite part of the loop (also the shortest): it's all downhill, most of it is on the rock and it's very pretty.  It starts off with the huge red cliffs off to the left.  The washes you cross have trees and are interesting.  And a stretch goes along the rim of a fork of Seven Mile Cayon, with the Monitor and Merrimac buttes off in the distance.  Scenic!

Monitor and Merrimac

Once you cross 313 at the lower lot, you pick up the Rocky Tops trail.  This trail is mixed footing - sand, sandstone domes, loose rock and gravel - as it goes up and over a number of buttes.  And there is always one more up-and-over than I remember.  It does get a little long.  We encountered several small groups of MTBers along this section and I stopped to help a couple of them interpret the trail maps.  One great thing about the Navajo Rocks trails is that they are well-blazed with maps at most of the intersections.

Napping on the Spitfire patio

When we finished up back at the truck - I think that's partly why I think I like this trail: it's a loop and there are not that many hikable loops in the area - we paused for beers and peanut butter pretzels (Milton thought those were quite tasty).  We went home, got cleaned up and then, to celebrate move-iversary, all three of us walked over to Spitfire for beers on their dog-friendly patio.  It was a pleasant couple of hours, chatting with people in the sun, but that place is expensive and, on that day at least, inconsistent.  We got charged $7, $6.50 and $6 variously for pints, depending on the bartender.

Hike stats: 8.62 miles (Milton must have done 10+); 2:34 moving time / 3.4 m.p.h. average moving speed; 2:42 overall time/3.2 overall speed; only 930' elevation

We put the bootie on his sore paw to

try to keep him from licking it - that

was more traumatizing than the injury

That night we were all moving a little stiffly from the distance.  In the morning, however, Milton was not only stiff and sore but the large pad on his right front paw was very swollen and he would put no weight on it whatsoever.  H carried him to grassy spots for calls of nature but otherwise he stayed in bed all Wednesday.  Both H and I checked his paw but found nothing stuck in it; it didn't seem to be cut and there was no blood or oozing.  (Spoiler alert: he'll be fine.)

fall break

We three took some time off at the beginning of October and spent the week in Moab.  There was hiking, MTBing, road riding and beer drinking involved, plus we cooked dinner every night and read a bunch of books.  Photo-taking was intermittant, however, so to maximize visual content, I'm going to post each hike and the MTB separately, but group the road rides into one post.  We tried to alternate activities too: road ride, hike, road ride, hike, road ride, hike, road ride, road ride and finally, MTB ride.  The weather was stunning the whole time, probably the best vacation weather we've had in the past twenty years.  It did rain once, Sunday night overnight into Monday morning, but after that it was clear and dry, with daytime temperatures maxxing out in the high 70s and overnight lows in the 40s.  Perfect!

This dog loves his slickrock

We drove down Friday afternoon, stopped in at Woody's for a drink, and then headed home.  Saturday was my first ever road ride on the new bike (more on that later).  Sunday, Milton and I went for a hike (while H recreated the previous day's ride, only much, much, much faster).  We went up to Sand Flats Recreation Area for a Slickrock Practice loop/Abyss viewpoint hike.  Being a pleasant Sunday in early October meant that it was busier than I've seen it in a while.  The campgrounds were full, there were lots of MTBers and plenty of jeeps/4x4s out on Hell's Revenge and Fins 'N Things, so we sat for a while at the Abyss overlook to watch the off-road shenanigans.

Kind of moody out over the La Sal mountains

Milton charmed a group of riders out on the Practice loop with us, strolling right through them when they stopped for a break.  The lone woman in the group was last and struggling a bit.  When she apologized for being so slow - "I'm a little freaked out here," she admitted - I just told her that I was so impressed that she was doing it at all.  That trail is so far outside my MTB skill level and comfort zone - she was a bad ass for just trying it.

I don't like PBR but I do for $2

That afternoon, we left Milton at home and took our road bikes to Josie Wyatt's to see our favorite bartender and drink some $2 PBRs.  That's another 2.5 bike miles to add to the running total.

csa summer 2023: final week

We were down in Moab (more on that later) and had to miss our week 14 CSA pickup.  This meant that we got a make-up box of apples when we picked up our final box this past week.  I can't say how much I'm enjoying getting these CSA boxes.  The produce is fantastic and local, and it makes us sometimes stretch a little out of our regular meals when we have to accommodate a new veggie.  I will admit that this year was rather squash-heavy, with so much zucchini and summer squash early on, and all the winter squashes now.  We would rather have gotten one whole box of potatoes in place of all the squash all season.  But that's not how CSAs work: you get what you get.  And now that I've found a great cornbread recipe, I can use up the zucchini in that - the winter squashes will keep longer so we've got time to work that out.

In addition to at least five varieties of apples, we got a couple of onions, five or six potatoes, some peaches, more apples, a mini pumpkin, apple cider, a delicata squash, two acorn squashes and a spaghetti squash.  The potatoes and onions will go in a soup I'm making with plant-based chorizo; I cooked down about half the apples into apple pie filling (or apple crisp filling or oatmeal topping) to freeze; I'm thinking I can find some sort of autumnal cocktail for the cider; and I do confess I gave away the acorn squashes to folks who will appreciate them.

csa summer 2023: week 13

 Oh my gosh, squash!  (At least it's winter varieties so that gives us a little time to figure how to use it all).  We got red Hubbard squash - that's the enormous one - acorn squash and butternut squash, plus potatoes, peaches, two varieties of apples, plums, jalapeno peppers, green beans (!) and corn(!!).  

As always, we ate the green beans and corn immediately and they were really good, which is super surprising for the end of September.  The fruit got eaten fresh, while the peppers went in/on pizza and stir-fry, and the potatoes got eaten as potatoes do.  The squashes ... I'm going to need a minute.  It has been very squash-heavy this year - would totally have rather gotten lots of peppers, onions and potatoes instead.  But that's the twist with CSAs: the food is super fresh but you get what you get.

in which we only got our feet wet the one day

It is finally cooling off enough in Moab to take the dog for hikes in places that don't have year-round running water, if you don't go during the heat of the day.  Which is not to say that we didn't do an early morning Mill Creek hike, because we did, Saturday morning.

Not a cloud in the sky on Saturday

We got there 7:30ish, with a handful of other cars in the lot.  Because we like to make a loop when we can (Milton doesn't really care but I like loops), we went out along the rim trail, then dropped down and continued upstream to the spot I think of as the "beaver floodplains" because it got flooded by a beaver dam that one time.  We crossed the creek there - the water is definitely cooler than it has been in recent visits - and went downstream on the other side, crossing back over at the cowboy hot tubs.  Since it was Saturday, we came across a bunch of other folks heading in as we were heading out.

Surveying the slickrock

I'll just add here that each day - Saturday, Sunday and Monday, because we took that day off - H and I got on our elderly town bikes and rode 16+ miles along the paved bike path: from our house, across the Colorado River on the bike/foot bridge, up to the entrance to Arches National Park, reverse course there but turn left after the bridge to go out and back to the end of the bike path along the river, and then home.

Shadowlands

On both Sunday and Monday, Milton and I mixed things up slightly by going up to Sand Flats Recreation Area to hike.  SFRA is fantastic and although it has certainly been discovered, I appreciate the fact that it has not gotten quite as discovered as Arches, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point State Park (all of which are also fantastic, by the way).  

Little rocky ridge

Both days we parked in the Slickrock trailhead parking lot.  This trail is for MTBers, dirt bikers and hikers; four-wheeled motorized vehicles are not allowed, although the Slickrock trail does share some terrain with the Hell's Revenge 4x4 trail.  Milton and I did the Slickrock Practice Loop ("Just as hard" but only 3+ miles instead of 9+) and then walked out on the actual Slickrock trail to the Abyss Overlook to see what we could see.  On Sunday, we saw some MTBers successfully riding some gnarly ascents; on Monday, we saw very dark clouds approaching and limited our time out there before the storm moved in.

Why?????

This last photo makes me laugh.  When we got there, there were three other vehicles in the lot so I parked smack dab in the middle, away from everyone.  When we finished our hike, there were about ten vehicles in the whole entire lot ... and three of them had parked right next to me.  Literally the whole lot was available and they parked right there.

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