MoabreturnApril2007

ADVENTUREMOTO.US

"Life Should Be An Adventure"

Return to Moab

April 2007

After an unusually snowy Winter, it was time for a return trip to Moab. Mike had recently purchased a DRZ 400 similar to mine, and we were anxious to try some of the more technical sections of the Moab trails. After carefully watching the weather for several weeks, we finally had some good riding weather...or so we thought!

As usual, the weather forcasters out of Denver were wrong! We hit snow and ice on I-70 and it was slow going for over 150 miles. We saw 1 snow plow in all that time. The Colorado highway department must be saving their equipment for next Winter.

When we finally hit clearer weather, we stopped to check the bikes. It seems that Mike's DRZ caught the brunt of the dirty slushy snow. We thought about getting gas, but the prices were $3.00 a gallon and we decided to hopefully find some a little cheaper on the Western Slope.

We finally crossed into Utah and took Scenic Highway 128 into Moab. The sun was out, but the wind was blowing at least 40 mph.

If you take the main highway 191 into Moab, you miss all this spectacular scenery.

We checked into the Motel and decided to ride the motorcycles into town to find a place to eat. Directly across from the motel was this hill. Only in Moab do they give away the landscape.

While looking for a place to eat, we had to stop and get a few photos of the beautiful La Salle Mountains. We ended up eating at the Moab Brewery. Unfortunately the bad meal was not worth the very long wait. Oh well, you have to try different places to know if you like it.

The next morning we had a great breakfast at Denny's, then off in search of adventure. Our first stop was Hell's Revenge. We had planned to ride this area on our last trip, but Mike's KLR didn't have full knobbies on it. With the DRZs, we thought we would have no problems...again we were wrong!

Apparently Moab had been having some heavy rains as there was a water filled ravine blocking our path. Normally this would not be a problem, but the early morning temperature was only in the low 40's and we were not prepared to ride with wet clothing, so we did the smart thing and turned back.

We were able to locate a large open slickrock area that was primarily Jeep trails. Lots of steep uphills with sandtraps. The dark lines were made by Jeep tires and made it easy to follow the trails.

This DRZ 400's were made for these types of technical trails. Plenty of power to scoot through the deep sands and climb the steepest hills.

We eventually ended up in a section of Fins and Things that was especially challenging. This slickrock downhill was good for a big dose of adreneline as the DRZ's kicked and tried to swap ends on the way down the very steep and bumpy rock face. This is normally used by the 4-wheel drive vehicles and there is a large path of oil where someone split their tranny case open.

For amost an hour we plowed through deep sand and over jagged rock. The riding was fun, but you had to be constantly looking ahead for unseen hazzards.

Hazzards like this deceptive ridge that you can't see beyond. My motto is "If you don't know, go slow. If you can see past, go fast!"

Good thing we stopped! This steep downhill was a dangerous mix of powdered sand, very slick oily rock, with a tight sweeping right hand turn at the bottom. It was a heart pumper going down and even more treacherous when we had to come back up this way. Definitely not for the beginning rider.

After a serious full body workout with the DRZ's we came to the canyon overlook where we spent a few minutes enjoying the views before heading back into town for a meal at the local Burger King. A lot of great riding, and so far not a single tip over.

After a quick meal, we headed out of town to the Poison Spider Trailhead. Like many of the trails in and around Moab, this ride has a lot of challenging obstacles and is not for the inexperienced motorcyclist or 4-wheel driver.t.

This is a photo of the first leg of Poison Spider. Don't be fooled by what looks like a typical dirt road. The sand is silt and massive rocks are everywhere! On our way up, we came across a 4-wheel drive SUV stuck on the rocks in the curve at the foreground. And this was the easy part.

Unfortunately we didn't take many photos of the ride up the switchbacks. We were too busy making split-second decisions about what was the best line of approach to make it this far. Even wiith the power and great suspension on the DRZ's, one stall and the results could have meant a trip to the emergency room. Mike and I take our riding seriously, and while it may not look like it, there is plenty of protection in the helmets, jackets and knee/shin guards that we wear.

This is an area called Sandtrap Canyon, The sand is deep powder and the only way through is to sit back over the rear wheel and keep the throttle steady.

If you get past the long stretch of sand, you come to this rock wall which is way more difficult than you can imagine. As I always say, the photos lack the depth to show just how bumpy and steep this really is.

The Jeeps and other 4-wheel drive vehices have left a lot of rubber from spinning tires on the surface of the rock. There are numerous gashes and pools of oil left from failed attempts to negotiate this climb. The white paint is intended to alert the Jeep drivers to stay as high on the edge as they can to avoid bottoming out.

The secret to negotiating the trails in Moab is to always look ahead. Hard edge rock ledges are hiding around every corner. Hitting one of these at speed could definitely ruin your weekend.

The amazing scenery can make it hard to focus just on the trail ahead. Glancing to the right or left can end up in an unglamorous stop.

This tip over actually happened while I was sitting still on the bike and taking a picture of the canyon below. When I went to take off, I realized I had stopped with the front tire against a rock and...over I went. No damage to me or the big Z, but it was a reminder to always carefully pick the places you stop.

Not one to miss out on a photo-op, I got Mike to stop laughing and to take this picture. With a little help from Corel Photo Paint, I added the skid mark and fake smoke. Now I get to stretch the truth with a story of how "I was blasting along and had to lay the bike over to keep from flying off the edge of the cliff". Sounds better than saying that "I just fell over!"

Unfortunately the threat of heavy snow and Mike's worried wife made us decide to cut our adventure short. We packed up the next morning to head back to Colorado, but not before Mike stopped to pick up a 150 lb. souvenir rock. I think he took the sign "Free Dirt" a little too literally.

And, as it turned out, the weather forcasters were wrong once again. The predicted snowstorm never arrived. Better safe than sorry...I guess?

On the way back across I-70, we stopped in a small town to get a bite to eat, and ran across this remodeled old school bus complete with patio doors and wooden shingles. Not sure if there was a hot tub inside, but for only $2,000 what do you expect? In some parts of the country this would be considered a retirement condo.