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Bob grinding it out early in the Jughandle Arch Loop. This section took us through an area where there was active Potash mining. Kind of cool to see the collection ponds close-up. We rode right past the potash plant at the beginning of the ride, and were able to look up and see the rim of Amassa Back. |
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Lawrence powering up the beginning of the Jughandle Arch Loop. |
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Potash collection pond along the Jughandle Arch trail. This is also proof that what you see through the viewfinder is not necessarily what you get in the picture. That's a chainlink fence in the extreme foreground. |
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Lawrence cresting the last big climb before lunch. We stopped off in the shade just after this point and relaxed with a nice view down to the Colorado. After lunch we had a choppy downhill (with a nasty, "You lose if you miss it" kind of turn), and then the climb to the base of the Schaeffer trail. |
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The twisting loops of the Schaeffer trail. |
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Mike at the top of the Schaeffer Trail climb. We came up the road that's visible passing "through" the front wheel. The Colorado river is down the canyon and to the right, and Dead Horse point is also in the background. |
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Lawrence savors the great views from the top of the Schaeffer Trail. |
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Lawrence and Bob enjoy a well-earned rest after climbing the Schaeffer Trail. |
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Mike at the top of Long Canyon, the Moab Rim trail and the La Sals are in the background. |
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Mike, meet Mr. Snakebite. Got a little careless at the beginning of the descent in Long Canyon on the Jughandle Arch Loop. It was a great place to stop, though, with a view to the La Sals and the Moab Rim area in the background. |
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Lawrence felt this was worth an extreme closeup. You make the call. ;-) |
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Lawrence and Bob, all smiles as we descend Long Canyon. We dropped 1900 feet in less than six miles, and it was a sweet section. I feel compelled to mention, however, that this picture was taken just after I heard a "thump thump thump" and looked up the trail to see Bob coming running around the corner, sans bike. Bob later told me that he figured no one would see him if he just ran back up, grabbed his bike, and hopped on like nothing had happened. Too bad I didn't have my video camera... |
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...and for the full view... |
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Jughandle Arch, albeit at a rather odd angle. The arch is near the bottom of Long Canyon, right along the highway. |
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(L to R) Mike, Bob, and Lawrence at Jughandle Arch. Happy to be alive, done with the ride, and heading in to Moab for some cleaning up, food, and football. We later had the pleasure of relaxing at Eddie McStiff's while the Broncos dominated the Raiders 27-0 on Monday night football. All in all a good day. |