porcupine rim, part 3

Once again we were able to get out of Dodge (SLC) early on Friday, enabling us to arrive in Moab at a reasonable, early evening time.  We did have some snow flurries going up Spanish Fork Canyon and across the top of Soldier Summit, but it wasn't sticking to the road and there wasn't much traffic.  The weather was forecasted to be a bit better than it's been lately; we drove down in the truck, hoping that warmer weather might enable us to get out on our MTBs.  

 Smooth stretch there

But first we went hiking on Saturday.  When we had done the Porcupine Rim portion of the Whole Enchilada trail the prior weekend, we noted the signed turn-off for the Porcupine Rim 4x4 trail.  We've really been enjoying our explorations of this part of Moab - upper Grandstaff Canyon, Jackass Canyon, the greater Sand Flats - and thought that we should see what the 4x4 trail had to offer.  With no tourist lodging available in Moab right now, trails are not being heavily used and we decided to take advantage of an OHV trail with probably no OHVs on it.

Grandstaff Canyon

We parked in the same spot as before, the area by the water tanks on the Sand Flats road.  After starting on the Porcupine Rim trail, we turned left at the first sign, where the 4x4 trail reverses back down the canyon on a short, steep, rough pitch.  This section was loose dirt and stones and it looked like it had recently been dug out.  It's just a few yards long, however, and after that the trail was remarkably like the MTB trail: a mix of dirt, sand, slickrock ledge and boulder-y bits.

Pour-over

Of course, since we were going the other way, towards the mouth of the canyon, we started out going down (which would mean an uphill finish, the bane of a hiker's existence).  The grade was mostly gentle, with some steeper, steppier sections, especially on corners.  It seemed MTB rideable, though, with not too, too many hike-a-bike parts.

Adventure dog

Milton once again ranged around, even flushing out a big rabbit at one point.  H called him off it - or, more likely, it was savvy enough to go to ground where he couldn't see it any more - but not before he had burned a lot of energy in the chase.  He's pretty fast when he wants to be.  Luckily, the rabbit was faster.

Have you guys seen a rabbit around here?

One trail runner passed us, and we saw him further ahead having branched off onto another trail.  At around three miles in, there is a junction where several trails intersect, including, we believe, the newly-installed Falcon Flow.  Falcon Flow is the first of a series of new trails meant to be single-track options to bailing out of the Whole Enchilada, for MTBers too fatigued for the technical bottom half.  We haven't checked it out yet (either on foot or on wheels) but we saw a number of MTBers at various points along the trail and it looks like a good one.

At just under four miles we paused, took in the scenery and started retracing our steps.  The Porcupine Rim 4x4 trail deadends at five miles, at a scenic overlook.  We were being conscious of our mileage, since we had spotted a wash we wanted to explore on the way back, and anyway the whole dang trail is a scenic overlook, perched as it is on the edge of upper Grandstaff Canyon.  It would probably be simpler if they just put signs where it isn't beautiful.

Hike stats:  7.8 miles; moving time 2:46 / speed 2.8 m.p.h.; overall time 3;06 / speed 2.5; 1,030 feet of elevation