the heat was hot and the ground was dry

 The Mill Canyon area north of Moab is full of trails that we've only begun to explore.  I particularly want to get out to see the Tushar Tunnel and Bartlett Wash, although I know the latter is far above my MTBing skill level.  I suggested that we take our MTBs out there to ride the 4x4 roads and maybe get to the tunnel.

Looking out at Tushar Wash

It was sunny, with temperatures in the 60s, windy and dusty with headwinds right from the start.  We parked in the larger 4x4 trailer lot (not the dinosaur track lot by the horse camping area) and headed out on that road.  For as many maps as they have posted at the kiosks, the trails themselves are not well marked, at least not as you are heading out.  The road was sandy in patches but the hard pack made for good riding.

At the first intersection, our choices were: continue right on the road up a long hill, take the middle route - to the Tushar Tunnel - with deep, soft, red sand, or go left on the Monitor and Merrimac trail ... which was the trail we hiked in the other direction back in January.  So much for exploring new ground but at least it looked different going this way.

Dead end.  Very sandy.

It ended up being a very sandy route after all the OHV use.  We did turn off the main trail for a bit to check out the dead end route we'd noted before (very sandy), then continued up the (very sandy) hill past Determination Towers.  We debated veering right to try to get out on the slickrock but at this point we'd been out for a while and just ended up going down Mill Canyon (sandy) to the dinosaur bone loop, and then out that road.

Arrowleaf balsamroot, I think

We ended up with over twelve miles and I suspect I walked at least half of it, in MTB shoes; I ended up with three hot spots but no blisters, amazingly.  H did awesome and rode 98% of it, despite all the sand and incessant winds.

Black dogs heat up quick

After cleaning up, we walked into town with Milton: errands first, then beers on the dog-friendly patio.  It wasn't super busy but we did talk with Nugget (bulldog-pitbull mix, sweet as pie and a total rockstar), Toby and Charlie (big dogs, sleepy from the heat) and a local woman who fosters for Underdog Rescue, Milton's alma mater.  Milt strategically placed himself by the door - in full sun - and managed to score plenty of pets.

Nugget!

Ride stats:  12.55 miles; 2:15:00 excursion time; 5.6 m.p.h. average; 18.0 m.p.h. H's max

Hike stats: 2.38 mile town walk

Additional ride stats: In addition to whatever we do together, H has gotten out for a road ride first thing in the morning each day.  This day's ride was 18.09 miles.