solo

On Thursday, Milton was a little better but in no shape for hiking.  I wanted to do a longer hike, however, so while H did a MTB ride at Moab Brand Trails (16.27 miles, average speed 10.5, top speed 23.6, 1:32 hours), I got my gear together and hit the trail.  We've done this almost-loop a couple times before but it would be the first time I did it solo and would be the longest solo hike I've done.

Nearing the top of the climb up to Hidden Valley

Starting from our place, I walked to Jackson Street and hopped on the Pipedream Trail heading south.  It was another gorgeous morning, still cool although it would end up being slightly warmer than the last couple of days, completely clear and with very little wind.  I met five hikers, three dogs and one MTBer on this leg, most of them as I was descending into the Hidden Valley trailhead parking lot.  From there, I did the quick climb up and then cruised the length of Hidden Valley.  I saw five hikers and one dog in this stretch.  The tumbleweeds are unfortunately making invasive inroads into the valley but I did see some signs of weed mitigation, so hopefully they won't completely take over.

Looking over the pass

From the pass, I dropped over onto the trail and then 4x4 road leading to the Moab Rim.  There was literally no one out there at all and other than a plane or two, it was super quiet.  I stumbled down Sand Hill and made my way through the dry wash (it is slightly shorter going this way as opposed to over the sandstone domes).  Then, my least favorite part, on the 4x4 trail up to the Moab valley overlook: this section is all up, although not steeply, and isn't particuarly pretty because the 4x4s have chewed it up.  

From whence I came

Before I started my descent, I texted H: the plan had been for him to meet me at the Moab Rim parking lot so I wouldn't have to do the road walk home - but there's no cell reception in the lot itself so I had to remember to text before heading down.  I met two hikers, 1 tenacious MTBer and three Jeeps going up as I went down the Rim trail.  My guys were waiting for me in the parking lot: H had beer, Gatorade and salty snacks for me; Milton had improved enough to gingerly put a little weight on his right foot but mostly just wanted to snooze in the sun.

The Colorado River

My legs were a little fatigued that afternoon (10 miles; 3:50 overall time) but I managed to rally enough for us to ride our town bikes to beers (another 2.5 miles to add to the count).