Utah! - Klondike Bluffs

One thing we really wanted to do in Moab was go biking. Before the trip we investigated rides online before we went so we knew there were some for geezers like ourselves!
After a consult with the girl-with-many-piercings at the bike place and we picked Klondike Bluffs as our route.

Since we had a rental car we wisely decided to rent a bike rack and drive out there ourselves rather than take a tour. In retrospect this was a good decision. the story.

This is the beginning of the trail. It's on BLM property. They don't allow off-road anything in national parks. The "Klondike Bluffs" are actually in the Arches National Park. The trail we biked takes you to an overlook of the bluffs.

We're off. The trail starts at a parking lot away from anything resembling a mountain. There was a steady wind and the gravel road was washed out several places. Most of our prior biking has been with road or hybrid bikes which are much lighter. I could hardly lift these bikes onto the bike rack. They had big fat tires and shock absorbers front and back. Also disc breaks. They grab a little differently. Controlling this pretty heavy bike was a huge challenge at first even on the flat gravel road. Heck, I have trouble remembering which hand changes the gears on the front/back.

This is about where things started going wrong. This little runoff was wet, and very muddy which slowed me down.
Dan stopped and I went on, but the runoff area looked like the trail and I turned to follow it, except I was really following the streambed.
By the time I figured out that I was slogging through a little stream-bed and turned around all I could see of Dan was the back of his shirt as he peddled down the trail. I was mired in a muddy spot and couldn't turn around to catch-up with him quickly, so he got ahead of me.

See this puddle? This picture does not describe the hugeness of the puddles and the depth of the washed out road that I encountered, as I pedaled along trying to catch up.

This picture is actually on the slickrock. Once on the rock the trail was marked with white lines or little piles of rocks.
The slickrock was easier to pedal on because it was dry and hard, but it was also steep.

After struggling what seemed like straight up I finally saw the carions and got onto the trail which skirted the slope rather than heading straight up. But I was exhausted and totally alone. Where had Dan gone so quickly? If I'd been at home I would have whipped my phone out and called to see where he was. No Verizon network guys following us around here.

I decided a break was in order.  Leaning my bike against some dead wood I got out a trail bar and had some water.

I had regained my breath and munched down my trail bar when a happy group on a guided tour descended upon me. Of course they were happy, they were headed downhill!
This was why I said earlier that not going on a guided tour had been an act of wisdom on our part. I had a vision of me, sprawled over the rock wondering if that pounding heart was a heart attack and a group of 20-somethings all waiting for me to catch up with them thinking that they really shouldn't let such old people go on these trails.  There are some advantages to age, like you have the cash to rent your own car!

I got back on my steed and continued on.

This is the view from the top of the steep slickrock. The trail continued on awhile longer on a less steep rocky area. By this time I was getting the knack of steering the somewhat heavy bike. The guy at the bike shop had warned us about the breaks, not to clutch them too tight. But I'd managed not to go head-over-heels so that wasn't a worry anymore. Now to figure out what happened to Dan.

So I kept pedaling. Not a sign of anyone. I saw a sign that pointed to the bluffs. So I kept on.

Eventually the trail ended, or at least it looked like it ended. Another sign pointed to the overlook.
Since there wasn't a soul to be seen I left my bike and walked up to the overlook.
I guess the trail hadn't ended because there was a bike rack with bikes in it. 
A second later two women walked around a corner  and said, "you must be Ginny -  what happened to your bike?"
 They'd been up on the overlook with Dan who at that point thought I was ahead of him and must have gone up and come down without him running into me.


So I walked on up and there he was. You can see that the view was lovely. The rain that had waylaid me before was nowhere to be seen. Time for another trail bar. My trail bar advice is that the boxes of Quaker granola bars are just as good, and cheaper than the fancy bars they sell at sports stores.  In the end it's all about the sugar.
The Klondike trail is and out-and-back trail. You go up then you go back down the same way. The return rn was a totally different story - weeeee!.

Wosh!












Notice how my mouth is always open!







































Opps!

We'd be going along, sailing off small boulders, jumping little crevices and I'd hear a crash and stop. Turning around there would be Dan picking himself back up.

Here we are back in the parking lot, muddy bikes loaded up onto the car, Moab Mountain Bike Geezers!