winding down

Unbelievably, our vacation was coming to an end, although we had at least been clever enough to schedule it around the Memorial Day long weekend.  On Sunday, we went MTBing - much to Milton's disappointment - heading back to the MOAB Brand Trails.  We got our tires in the dirt around 9 a.m., when there were around fifteen other vehicles in the parking lot.

 I need a cooler helmet

We started out on Lazy EZ, quickly passing a family of five.  Once past them, we saw no other MTBers on that popular trail.  After completing that loop, we cut through the parking lot and went out along the cattle-tracked double-track to Rusty Spur, then climbed to the high point of Bar M (again, encountering no other riders) and went out onto Circle O (where we did see a couple other folks).  I prefer the second half of that trail, where it opens up and I can ride more; I tend to do a lot more hike-a-bike in the front half, although I think I'm getting better.  When we came back out onto Bar M again, we went right to finish that loop, pausing to watch slackliners bouncing above the Seven Mile Canyon rim (including one topless girl - no tan lines for her!).  When we got back to the truck, there was lots to watch during our lunch/beers as there were now 60+ vehicles, with lots of comings and goings, MTBers of all levels, dogs and kids.  Given the holiday weekend, there was also heavier OHV traffic on the Gemini Bridges Road, which we could observe across the highway.

Sunday afternoon sky

Our afternoon and evening was spent walking Milton around the neighborhood, reading in the shade and napping.  We also had our one and only firepit of vacation that night, seeing how earlier in the week it had been too hot/windy/early bedtimes.

Millcreek Canyon

Monday morning came around and we did a short hike out to the Millcreek Canyon overlook so Milton could run off some energy.  We cleaned up, packed up and headed north, pausing for lunch at Ray's Tavern.  It was fairly busy there which was GOOD because their business dropped by 95% during March and April due to the pandemic (with no tourists and the town of Green River being too small to support them as carry-out only), and those months usually mark the beginning of their season.  There was some holiday traffic coming out of Spanish Fork Canyon but we were early enough that the drive back to SLC was uneventful.  And that was the end of a most excellent spring break.

We keep M on the leash when it gets edge-y

Ride stats:  14.79 miles; 1:52 hours; average speed 7.9 m.p.h. (the hike-a-bike slows things down considerably); H's top speed 20.8 m.p.h.

Hike (walk) stats: 2.9 miles; just over an hour