porcupine rim

Timing is everything.  For example, we scooted out of work early on Friday and drove south to Moab ahead of the latest storm, with dry roads and light traffic the whole way down.  We got to Woody's in time for a couple of beers before the Friday night DJ kicked into gear - timing is everything.  And when we did our hike on Saturday, we managed to avoid most of the weather that was threatening, with only a few sprinkles to dampen things.

 Heading up under cloudy skies

Moab is pretty empty right this time of year and we're loving that.  It's for good reason: it's relatively cold (low to mid 30s throughout the weekend and the sun never really came out) and the trails can be wet/muddy.  But the trailheads are nearly deserted so we're trying to take advantage of that, getting out on trails that see high traffic in the high season.

He's a blur

On Saturday, H suggested that we do some of the Porcupine Rim trail, starting at the Colorado River.  This is the end of the Whole Enchilada MTB trail: super-popular and one of Moab's most iconic rides, starting the the LaSal mountains and ending up at the river.  I've been wanting to ride the Whole Enchilada; after walking the bottom 3.5ish miles, I'm thinking that it's above my skill level.

Much greener than we expected

It's great hiking though.  We parked at the large-ish lot at the end of the trail, walked through the bike tunnel under the road and started climbing.  As we got away from the road, we let Milton off his leash, pausing only to let a single MTBer ride by.  That was the only person we saw the whole time.  The trail is nice to walk on, combination dirt/sand and trickier rocky sections.  It's never really steep but it does climb steadily and before long, the Colorado River was far below us.

High above the river

As we wrapped around a corner, the wind picked up a little bit, coming down Jackass Canyon's steep cliff faces.  We made it up to the rim, where the singletrack segued to a jeep road.  At this point we'd been out for about an hour and a half and as it started to sprinkle on us, we figured this would be a good spot to turn around.  Milton, who has yet to learn to pace himself, slowed down a little for the return trip.

It was spitting rain when we got back to the truck so instead of post-hike beers in the parking lot, we drove a little ways downriver to one of the campgrounds and utilized one of its shade pavilions to keep dry.  In the spring/summer/fall, these campgrounds are packed to the gills; show up in chilly December, however, and you get the place all to yourself.  Timing is everything.

Looking down Jackass Canyon to the Colorado River

Hike stats:  6.74 miles; 2:26 / 2.8 m.p.h. moving; 2:45 / 2.4 m.p.h. total; 1,120 feet elevation