It wasn't all MTBing, of course. H prefers riding and I am better at hiking so we try to alternate; after the first Saturday's MTB at DHPSP, we took Milton for a hike at Amasa Back. The parking lot was busier than it's been but not yet full when we started out. We did have to keep an eye out for MTBers, so Milton - busy getting his crazy on since he hadn't been out on a trail for a while - didn't get in their way. One kid, calmly pedaling up the slickrock, got a big grin when he saw Milt and said, "Your dog looks stoked!" And indeed he did.
We were all relatively stoked as temperatures were very pleasant and it was much less smoky than the day before, although the LaSal mountains were still mostly obscured. I like this hike a lot because it is super-scenic, with dramatic views from the overlook, but it isn't terribly difficult and you can make a loop out of it if you're willing to descend via the jeep road. Only twenty-four MTBers passed us on the way up but we saw 82 total riders (six women), plus seven side-by-sides, three dirtbikes and one jeep. Moab is definitely open for business and the traffic on the trails (not to mention the traffic on Main Street) proves it.
Small pause in the stoke
Back in the parking lot, we talked with a lot of folks, including a Sprinter van couple from Seattle (dog people who gave Milt a treat) and their riding partners, who were parked on either side of us. Milton, of course, charmed everyone in the vicinity. As a bonus, we got to watch crazy BASE jumpers flinging themselves off the cliffs above us: it was only about a fifteen second ride from jump to landing but I can't imagine being brave enough to fling myself off a perfectly good cliff like that. Those people are nuts.
Once home, Milton crashed as we chatted and had beers over the fence with our neighbor Amelia, home from a summer on Alaskan fishing boats. That night the stars were out enough to merit a fire pit and cool enough to merit wearing fleece and flannel while doing so. Hooray for fall!
Hike stats: 6.09 miles; 2:10 hours/2.8 m.p.h. moving average; 2:41/2.3 overall average; 890' vertical
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment