Cold morning, but no big plans for the day, so we relaxed with some hot beverages before going further north, and down in elevation. Nice rock formations and rugged mountains to look at during the drive. Still a cool and windy day though, good for taking care of some town stuff and hanging out. We parked for the day in the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area just south of Grand Junction.
We did a bit of wandering around, and I got in some yoga by placing some rocks on the mat, but mostly hung out in the van, hiding from the wind - at least there was sun! Fried up some potatoes for dinner, to go with leftovers, then played a little Trivial Pursuit.
October 20
We continued the drive to Grand Junction with a stop to visit a former coworker of Rudy's from Superior, and also just happened to see my Dad's friend, Mike, from when we lived in Gypsum working at the same place - a funtastic surprise! A few hours were spent visiting before we moved on to Third Flats. Rudy ended up opting to do most of his ride in an adjacent area, while I did a few of the intermediate trails where we parked. This is more of a dirt biking area, so lots of loose rock, and a bit technical for my taste, but still good to get out and do something! Next we headed to my college buddy, Erik's place for some real showers! Then we went out for food and beer and catching up. Erik has actually been traveling for work a lot, and we really lucked out on catching him for a few well deserved days off. Spent the night in Erik's driveway.
October 21
A nice relaxed morning with delightful coffee and some more visiting before Erik and I headed to Monument Canyon for a run in his open Jeep - extra refreshing on a brisk morning! The sun warmed us up quickly. Erik claimed he hadn't exercised in a month, but he's still a better athlete than me, so I think we both got a good, challenging workout on the 2+ hour run, which included about a mile of essentially hiking up stairs. The canyon was amazing though, and the trails in pretty awesome shape, making for a satisfying outing.
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| View from the 'top' |
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| Trail Monster |
During our run, Rudy kept himself busy rotating tires on the van and repairing his bike fork. After a few hours of relaxing, Erik took us to 18 Road mountain bike trails. We ended up doing pretty much the same trails, notably Zippity Do Da and PBR - Rudy and Erik just went a lot faster! I can blame having to stop to let a big snake cross the trail.
Rudy was inspired to make another cheesecake, so we stopped for supplies, got that thing baked up, and made some pasta and just hung out and ate, soaking in the great day.
October 22
Just a few more hours of hanging out with Erik, then we headed to the Tabeguache Trailhead for the Lunch Loops trail system. We met Peter and Dennis from Washington State there - we'll be enjoying Moab with them in the coming week. I ran while the guys biked, more nice trails and cool views.
We headed to the Colorado river for the boys to clean up and cool off (I wasn't hot enough to get into that river!), then we headed to Gypsum Mike's place in Fruita. Bean burritos for dinner, then tons of visiting. I think I last saw Mike about 15 years ago, it was pretty cool to see how life has changed in some ways and stayed the same in others for the both of us!
October 23
We spent a few relaxed hours at Mike's before hitting the Kokopelli's Trails for some biking. I really liked this system - some great stuff for novices, including an easy loop with sign posts to learn about mountain bike techniques, trail etiquette, even the local ecology. I wasn't patient enough to stop and read them all, but I'm really glad they are there! I looped around some of the intermediate trails - they were mostly easy and scenic, but definitely some challenges here and there - enough that I didn't want to attempt any of the advanced trails, which Rudy and Peter thought were great!
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| A lot of trail along a Colorado River canyon rim |
We all finished our rides close to the same time, got in some eating, then made the drive to Moab, taking the beautiful Highway 128. We stopped for the night at Upper Big Bend Campground just outside of town - apparently just in time, I think it was full within an hour of us settling in.
More river cleanup for the guys (I made do with the tepid solar shower), then some split pea gruel for dinner, followed by just hanging out at the picnic table.
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