days 7& 8 - moab, utah

Moab was as amazing as we had expected. we decided to camp since the desert supposedly cools off down to the 20’s at night. plus, you are provided with shade for your tent. Shouldn’t be that bad, right? Wrong. The temperature did cool off, but just not until 3am…

Moab is known as a mountain biking mecca and when Chris found out that Moab was a short 4-hour detour from our original route, we decided to revamp the plans to include it. Moab is a quaint little western town with a creative mix of locals and thrill seekers. Lots of great little shops and even a brewery. The town is dedicated to outdoor adventure sports like mountain biking, rock climbing, white water rafting on the Colorado river, jeep tours, hiking etc.

Our first day saw us completing a bike ride called Klondike Bluffs, which is known as a perfect introduction to Moab mountain biking as it has all of the elements: sand, spectacular views, and of course, Moab’s famous slick rock (sandstone that has been washed smooth by wind and rain which creates a skateboard park type biking experience). We were advised to start any ride very early (i.e., 7am) given the afternoon heat of over 37 degrees. Given some equipment technicalities, we started this ride at 9am, at which point it was already 27 degrees.

By the time we had finished the ride at noon, it was much too hot to be out in the desert. Chris was fighting a mean cold (which, unfortunately, I caught at the tail end of Moab) and wasn’t feeling his best after the ride. But it was well worth it, right Chris!? That night, we gave up on the idea of camping, wimped out, and got a tiny cabin with AC.

Chris was feeling a little bit better on day 2, enough so to complete Moab’s famous Slickrock trail (experts only, so I didn’t tag along). Based on yesterday’s experience, he started at 7am. This trail is 100% on smooth rock with jumps and half-pipes strewn throughout. It also runs along cliff edges overlooking the desert, the town or the Colorado river so the views were pretty incredible.

Chris on Slickrock trail doing a wheelie over Colorado River, 1000 ft drop

Jeep and Hummer tours on Slickrock trail

Feeling superhuman on Klondike Bluffs

I AM the man

The view looking into Arches National Park

The traveling pharmacy

At least someone in Utah has a sense of humour (double click on the image to get a better read of the bottle labels...)

Desert animal of some sort, a rabbit? a hare?

Dinosaur tracks along the biking trail. Moab is rich in dinosaur tracks and fossils.

Aimee hand over dinosaur hand

Aimee biking up the white slickrock...this was tough in the heat!

Chris wasn't ready for the heat and elevation (Moab is at about 4500 ft above sea level)
Can't....breathe....

The campsite we abandoned for the AC cabin

Kevin, a Moab local whom Chris biked with on the Slickrock trail, drops into the half-pipe. Kevin's been riding the Slickrock trail since the '70's and brought Chris to some less traveled terrain. Notice the jeans, water bottles in back pocket, and you may even see a cigarette in one hand if you look closely.