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"Boy, the snow looks like it comes pretty far down..." The plan
for day 3 was to head up into the La Sals and then spend a chilly last night camping out
before heading down into Moab on a short day 4. But hey, plans change... Click on the
images below for larger versions.
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From the smile on Terry's face you can tell that the ride up
and over the back rim of Fisher Valley covers some of the most enjoyable and scenic
terrain on the Kokopelli. After a short climb up out of camp, we bombed down a fast
section of jeep road. On either side mesas and canyon walls blured by. After rolling along
a brief flat section we headed up towards the La Sals. |
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At the base of the sloping rock outcrop to the
left of Mike's shoulder you can see where our day began. Day 2's campsite was just in the
shadow of that rock formation. The trail curls around to the right along the valley rim. |
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A final view back into Fisher Valley before leaving it
behind us. The riding to this point had been pretty fast and we were making good time. It
was about at this point that the weather started to turn a little chilly and I wondered
how close to the snow we'd get. |
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Rob found the snow question was pretty easy to answer! As we
gained altitude we started to hit snow showers and at one point it was coming down pretty
hard. Everybody pulled on jackets, gloves, tights--whatever we had. We sheltered for
awhile under a big pine tree while waiting for the gang to regroup. Then we decided we'd
better get moving before we got any colder. |
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Mike at the summit of Mason Draw. Woa--what's up with this?
Basically I didn't take any more picture for something in the neighborhood of 25 miles.
After climbing through the snow and shivering our way through another stop to regroup we
started thinking about finishing up on day 3 instead of camping in the snow. After
topping out we enjoyed flying down a pavement section on our way to the last big climb
(also on pavement). Top speeds approached 50 MPH and our bikes were nice and clean, having
shaken or spun off most of the mud we picked up in the snowy sections.
The clouds in the background of this shot were right with us the whole way, spitting
snow and hurrying us along with drafts of cold wind. The mountains looked pretty cool as
they ducked in and out of the clouds. |
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Slickrock at last! The section from the previous shot at the
top of Mason Draw to here was not my favorite this time around. We got into some
horrendous mud when we tried to rejoin the Kokopelli just below Mason Draw. It took
probably 20 minutes to scrape off the bikes and get on the road again. We decided to head
down to Sand Flats road and pick the trail back up where it intercepted the road. Sand
Flats was chilly and seemed to go on forever. As we neared the Porcupine Rim trail we were
reintroduced to civilization in a big way. Preparations were underway for a downhill race
the next day, so we had to weave our way through downhill racers on some pretty wild
downhill rigs. Trucks and vans were all over the place, and it was a little overwhelming
after so many miles of solitude.
I did feel a measure of satisfaction at beating some of the cars down after passing
them on the rougher sections of Sand Flats. I couldn't wait to get to Slickrock to at
least zip out onto it for a minute. I must admint to laying flat on my face and giving it
a big kiss one I finally got there! |
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End of the trail--City Market. From left-to-right: Terry,
Mike, Rob, Mike P., Steve, Jake, Doug, Mike W., and Henry. We all grabbed showers at the
RV park over near 128 and 191, then scrounged around town for something to eat. There were
people everywere for what appeared to be an antique car show rolling through the middle of
town. It was like a giant cruise strip, and we were just baffled. People everywhere again.
We found our way to Pizza Hut and inhaled some of God's Own Pizza before heading back to
Colorado.
We figured we were on a roll so why not start driving for home? I lost track of the
shifts, but they included some really slow, snowy sections over Vail pass and through the
Eisenhower tunnel. I pulled into home at about 7:30 a.m., just in time to have some
breakfast with the Fam. Great trip!
Questions about the Kokopelli? Feel free to drop
me a line and I'll tell you what I know. |
 
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