moab brand trails

A week in Moab - our favorite!  That being said, we knew we needed a plan.  We do better when we have a plan, and waste less time flailing around trying to figure out to do on the day we want to do it, and we also had the heat to deal with: temperatures were looking to hover in the high 90s/low 100s for much of the week.  We decided to MTB on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and to hike on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  We also decided to get going on the early side so we could finish before the day's heat really kicked in.  We even preselected the first few rides and hikes, giving ourselves time to research and decide the latter part of the week.

A bit cloudy to start

So Saturday morning found us out the door by 7 a.m.  We were on the dirt at the MOAB Brand trails by 7:30.  There were only seven cars in the parking lot at that time, including us, an increase to eleven vehicles halfway through our two loops, and then back down to seven when we left.  We were noticing that there seemed to be a lot fewer tourists in the area - mostly visitors from away as Utah and Colorado residents know that it's just too darn hot.  This day wasn't too bad yet, temperature-wise: with the partial cloud cover, the morning was in the 70s/low 80s.  It did feel a little humid, however, at least desert-humid.

Blue skies arrive

The riding was quite pleasant, although I had trouble focusing for our first Rusty Spur/Bar M loop (I got it more together for the second time around). We only saw four other riders out on the trail which was delightful.

River is down a bit since just over a month ago

After a post-ride beer, we drove back to town, with a grocery store run before settling in for an afternoon of reading and siestas.  Around 4:30, we walked to Woody's, where the bartender was pouring our pitcher as soon as she saw us walk through the door.  It was starting to rain just a bit as we walked back afterwards, a brief weather system moving through before the southern Utah heat really started to kick in.

Ride stats: 16.66 miles