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I Love Moab in November

Jason and I have vacationed in Moab many times but the pleasant weather, breathtaking scenery, and killer biking trails always call us back for more.

This was the view from our cabin's patio. Beautiful!
Our cabin was nestled on the banks of the Colorado River. It doesn't get much more scenic than that.

Although we just went to Moab in June, we weren’t quite ready to acquiesce to winter yet so we traveled down there again for one last hoorah. We typically go to Moab in the spring or fall when the temperatures are about perfect; we had never been this late in the season so we weren’t sure what to expect. The weather turned out to be quite pleasant. Jackets were needed but we stayed pretty warm with them, except when the sun went down. Burr!

Partition Arch is a favorite of mine. It's like a window to an alien landscape.
This rock had a face so Jason thought I should kiss it.

Moab was pleasantly uncrowded, the most deserted we have ever seen it. We were even able to secure a cabin at the Red Cliffs Lodge, a popular hotel that we have found it impossible to get reservations at during the busy season. Now that I have stayed there I can see why it’s always packed. Our cabin was situated on the banks of the Colorado River; we had our own private patio from which to gawk at the majestic sandstone cliffs that broke the skyline. Our suite had an inviting fireplace and a Jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. I would highly recommend this lodge to anyone fortunate to find a vacancy there.

Jason did his impersonation of a dark angel in honor of the Dark Angel behind him.

We spent our time in Moab doing the usual: hiking and biking. While the day we spent hiking in Arches National Park was lovely, our real adventure was our bike trek. We went biking on a “trail” that we hadn’t tried before: the left side of Tusher Canyon. This was supposed to be only a moderately difficult path but I don’t think I’ve ever feared for my life while biking like I did as we traversed the narrow ledges of this canyon’s walls, ledges that slanted into a sandstone oblivion. The hundreds of feet between us and the ground were not broken by trees or bushes; nothing to soften a fall or hold onto meant that any slip-up could result in an abrupt encounter with the valley floor.

I snapped this of Double O Arch. Way to go me!

But potentially falling off cliffs wasn’t our only problem in Tusher, finding the cliffs that we would then try to avoid falling off was also a big dilemma. Like many of the lesser known Moab trails, the path up the side of Tusher Canyon was not marked and since it traveled over rock it wasn’t as if you could just follow the footprints of those that went before you. Our biking book said that after about 3.4 miles of riding to look for an obscure rock ramp on the right that leads up a passable portion of the slickrock. Earth to the author: how are you supposed to notice an indistinct bank of rocks that slope up when you are surrounded by upward slanting rocks? Needless to say that finding the “ramp” was tricky, frustrating, and involved a lot of backtracking.

Does that look like moderate biking to you? I don't think so. And yes, that tiny dot is me.
I was holding my breath the whole time Jason was riding along this ledge. It made me really nervous.

Was it all worth it? Absolutely!!! The top of the plateau we risked our lives to reach was a slickrock paradise! It was all freestyle riding up there and gorgeous. And since it was off-season we didn’t see a single biker so all that slickrock goodness was ours to enjoy by ourselves. I would gladly get lost and face precipices to bike on top of the world like that again.

Defying gravity? No, it's just the sticky slickrock.

The bottom line? I would recommend Moab in November. You’ll need a jacket but you won’t have to fight throngs in the national parks or on the slickrock and you will have all the lodging options your heart could desire. Do it! Do it!

Rachel November 24, 2010 No Comments

Fall: the Limited Edition

Fall is my favorite! The brilliant colors, the crisp leaves, the cool breezes with a hint of winter on their breaths.

As much as I love this season it always makes me feel a bit panicky. Since fall is a limited time offer, and the threat of winter only elevates its exclusivity, any moments not spent out in its golden and fiery hues seem a bit wasted. Once I sense that the countdown to the chill has begun, like the ticking of a bomb that is set to go off, I feel compelled to shove as much of autumn into my life as possible while I still can.

This year our fall here in Utah has been unbelievable. The weather has been beautiful and unseasonably warm so I have been especially determined not to squander what precious little is left of the loveliness. Jason and I, therefore, biked three different canyons in three consecutive weekends in a blatant attempt to savor the smell of decaying leaves and enjoy the slanted autumn sunshine: Millcreek, American Fork, and Provo. But biking alone didn’t satisfy my craving to be out in the midst of fall so we crammed as many other outdoor activities as we could into our already stuffed schedule.

The Millcreek Pipeline Trail was, as always, completely delightful but we got a little too distracted by the majestic scenery and somehow forgot about the early approach of darkness this time of year. So the last couple miles back to our car we had to ride like the Flash as our vision became increasingly obscured by the night. (Word to the wise: biking along the side of a cliff on a trail that’s a foot wide does not work well in the dark.)

Size isnMillcreek may be a smallish canyon bit it
Size isn't everything. Millcreek may be a smallish canyon bit it lacks nothing in beauty.
I smashed my rather
I paused on the Pipeline to patch up a booboo.

The Great Western Trail to Pine Hollow up American Fork Canyon, one of our most frequented paths, was our second ride. We biked to my favorite meadow and even though its now-dry grasses weren’t nearly as beautiful as they are in the spring it was still a nice secluded spot for a quick break and snack.

Jason thought the trail surrounding the meadow was not nearly
Jason thought the trail surrounding the meadow was not nearly as much fun to ride as the meadow itself.
Jason
Jason is quite the crazy biker. He cruised down this tricky part.

Big Spring Hollow Trail up South Fork in Provo Canyon, the last ride in our three week bike extravaganza, was deliciously colorful and incredibly warm (high 70s). We hadn’t done this trail in a few years and I distinctly remembered the uphill section being very challenging. This time, however, it was no big deal. I guess recently training for a half marathon does have its perks. Oh the ego boost!

Big Spring Hollow was divine!
Big Spring Hollow was divine...even the pesky uphill section.
Ah...blue sky, red leaves...beautiful!
Ah...blue skies, red leaves...beautiful!

In addition to biking pretty much everywhere, we went rock climbing up American Fork Canyon with my friend David and took on the face of Eight to Eleven where his brother Danny fell and shattered his ankle bone last time we climbed. The memory of that accident gave me a lot of unexpected nerves as I tried to scale up at his fall spot. I got stuck once, probably partially due to my fear and partially due to my short arm span, and had to come down. But the boys convinced me to try once more and this time I relaxed and conquered it. I’m glad they didn’t let me give up because I am not prone to going easy on myself; I’m sure I would have regretted not pushing to the top…not to mention the bantering I surely would have received from those two had I called it quits.

Jason rocked Eight to Eleven.
Jason rocked Eight to Eleven. Being part monkey does come in handy now and then.
Two manly men posing together on a cute little bridge
Two manly men posing together on a cute little bridge; now that's not something you see everyday.

We also took our friend Arvinder, who is visiting from India, up to Timpanogos Cave. He’s not accustomed to trekking straight up mountains but his heart survived the over 1,000 ft ascend and we all enjoyed the unusual innards of this national monument together. Since we were already up in the canyon, after we hiked to the cave we opted to take a detour to Cascade Springs on the way home and see how the season was altering that landscape. I have to say that although Cascade Springs is quite picturesque there are many places in our surrounding canyons that are just as lovely, if not more so, that don’t have dozens of people milling about them. So I think I’ll pass on Cascade Springs next time. Man! Good thing I have feet and a bike to take me to where you only have to do crowd control on chipmunks and mosquitoes.

Timp Cave: I wished my insides looked so sweet!
Timp Cave: I wish my insides looked so sweet!
I took a moment on the way back to chill in the cool twisted
I took a moment on the way down from the cave to chill in the cool twisted branches of this tree.

Fall may be terminal but while it’s still kicking I hope I will get more opportunities to bike, hike, climb, or just read a good book in the backyard. It would be a shame to squander a season so colorful, pleasant, and fleeting.

Rachel October 24, 2010 No Comments

The Gait Keepers

My racing team from last summer got together to run the Utah Marathon Relay again this year. The Utah Marathon Relay takes place in South Jordan every September and, as the name suggests, it’s the length of a marathon, 26.2 miles. Fortunately, the course is split into 5 loops so each team member only has to run 5.2 miles, which makes the race completely doable even for the non-nutsy. Although our team hit some unexpected snags this year, we still managed to beat our previous time. Yeah us!

That look on Jeremy
That look on Jeremy's face is the look of a man that knows he may lose bowel control at any moment.

Jason, Fran, and I were all very prepared for this race since we had run a half marathon just a month before. Nothing makes five miles look like a walk in the park like running thirteen. Jason’s brother Jeremy seemed reasonably ready for the event as well, though he didn’t train as much for it as last year. I think running five miles didn’t scare him this year since he knew he could do it so the fear of being the humiliated downfall of our team didn’t inspire him as it had previously. My brother Drew, after he barely survived last year’s race, intended on thoroughly training for his run this year but somehow those good intentions never resulted in actual exercise. The race got closer yet his plans to prepare remained in the indefinite future so he only got in a few pathetic runs before the relay.

The first runners waited valiantly in the cold for the race to start.
The first runners waited valiantly in the cold for the race to start. I'm there somewhere in their midst freezing my tukus off.
Drew looks surpsingly peppy here as he pases the 4 mile mark.
Drew looks surprisingly peppy here as he passes the 4 mile mark.

But, ready or not, our race day came and that’s when things got a little messy. The day before the relay I was showing signs of catching a cold: headache, sore throat, stuffiness…the usual. Although a cold wouldn’t stop me from racing I was concerned that it would hinder me from doing my best. Then Jeremy came down with something in the wee hours of the morning on the day of the race that, unlike my cold, was a showstopper. He got a bout of food poisoning and warmed up for the relay by running to the toilet over and over again during the night. While he still showed up bright and early at the starting point ready to run there was no telling if the large quantities of Pepto-Bismol he had downed would be enough to keep all his fluids in their proper places inside of him. We had him do a little trial run across the parking lot to see how his stomach held up and that didn’t go over well so Jason and I collectively decided that he needed to abort. Running and the runs may sound like things that go together but they really aren’t. With Jeremy off to be buddies with his bathroom we had to hurry and find another runner. Luckily, we know an abnormal number of active people so Fran was able to find a friend willing to be a last minute addition to our team.

I came zipping through the finish line at 50 minutes and 35 seconds
I came zipping through the finish line at 50 minutes and 35 seconds. I'm pretty proud of that; my short legs had to work hard for it.

So after all that how did we do? Being a little under the weather had no ill-effects on my performance; in fact the opposite surprisingly seemed to be true. I shaved about a minute and half off my time from last year and crossed the finish line in just over 50 minutes. This trend continued for my teammates who all bettered their runs from last year, even Drew was about a minute faster than the year before. (I’m sure not getting lost helped.) Jason’s time was the most impressive though. He was almost five minutes quicker this year than the preceding at 41:38. Way to go Jas!

Team Name
Team name? The Gait Keepers. Average Team Speed? 9:15/mile.
With about an 8 minute
With about an 8 minute/mile average, Jas was flying! This picture makes it look like I might mean that literally.

All our slightly quicker paces paid off. We finished at 4 hours and 2 minutes, which was 11 minutes faster than our previous time of 4 hours and 13 minutes. This put us in 82nd place out of 124 teams. Not too shabby considering Andrew was in our group. LOL. Just kidding Drew…mostly.

Here
Here's my dramatic handoff to Fran. Cue the Chariots of Fire music.

Good job everyone! May we rock even more awesome next year!

Rachel September 22, 2010 No Comments
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