Canyonlands White Rim Mountain Bike (5/12/01-5/19/01) by Scott McCollough:
Saturday morning found us breakfasting at the Moab Diner quickly followed by Dave and Marty hurrying off to rent bikes. Somehow Bill had found a Lutheran Minister in town who offered to loan him a bike for the week. Since we had the morning to ourselves, we headed to the Potash road for a short bike ride. We rode about 2 hours, checking out petroglyphs and rock climbers along the way. Back at the car, we decided to check out the Lions Park meeting point and eat lunch while we waited for the group to arrive. Surprise, surprise, everybody was already there. We made our introductions, got a briefing from Bob and Susan, quickly finished our lunches, and headed out. Bob and the Mills drove out the Potash road to our first camp at the lower end of the Shafer Trail, while the rest of us went to the ranger station to pick up the permit and leave our extra vehicles.
The volunteer at the ranger station was a bit green. After telling us the maintenance crew was down to one person, so some of the pit toilets might be a bit short on toilet paper, he issued us one roll. How this one roll was expected to last twelve people on a seven-day trip was well beyond us. Suzy offered to leave toilet paper at the toilets, but that just confused him - he wasn't authorized to give out more that one roll per group. When asked the condition of the road, he said that he had heard no reports, but that no news was good news. So off we went into the unknown with our solitary roll of toilet paper.
We were allowed to leave excess vehicles at a trailhead parking lot close to the visitor center. There, we transferred gear into Scott's trailer and Kay's truck. About 1:00 PM, Darren, Carl, and Larry left their cars and joined Bill, Dave, and Marty for the hair raising bike ride down the Shafer Trail to our first night's camp. Kay, Suzy and Scott walked out to a viewpoint above the trail and waited for the bikers to pass below - cheering them on as they went by. They then followed them to camp. The ride was about 6 miles, all downhill and the drivers never caught up with any of the bikers.
When we arrived at the campsite - in a small side canyon a couple miles from an overlook of the Colorado River - Bob, Mike and Denise were unloading gear. We all pitched in and set up the kitchen and our tents. While Mike and Bob shuttled Bob's truck to the top of the Mineral Bottom road - where we planned to exit - Carl and Scott walked to the overlook and caught up on personal news. After a wonderful dinner of paella and pie - which Darren could not get enough of - we started planning the next day's ride. Bob incorrectly calculated the ride was about 20 miles, but upon further evaluation, it was only 12. There were no complaints from the riders who were actually extremely happy his calculation error wasn't the other direction.
Even with Bob's stated desire for a leisurely start the next day, the camp was packed up and the bikers were underway by 8:30 AM. Scott thought he would be able to drive to the next camp, ahead of the bikers with his truck and trailer, then bike back to the group and ride to camp with them. Well, that didn't work, as the bikers were typically faster than the cars. Mike, in the Walla Walla rig with the rented trailer, played cleanup each day, while Kay and her truck worked the middle of the pack. We stopped at several great viewpoints looking into the Colorado River canyon for photos. At Musselman Arch some of the group had their pictures taken as they braved the walk across the narrow top. Continuing on to Airport camp, we arrived by 11:30 AM. The camp was named for a close by old runway used by prospectors searching for uranium in the 50's. Larry was waiting there for the rest of us, having rocketed to camp on his high-tech bike. We set up camp, ate lunch, then Carl and Scott rode down Lathrop Canyon to the Colorado River.
While at the river, a jet boat tied up, waiting for 15 hikers working their way down. On our way out, one of the hikers asked Scott how far they were, and he responded "about half way", which caused a heavy groan from the hiker - Scott assumed they had been brought in on the White Rim Trail, which is only four miles from the river. Later we learned they had been dropped off at the park road on top of the Island-in-the-Sky, 8 miles from the river. Anyway, Kay hiked part way down Lathrop, and as Carl and Scott were biking out, Bill buzzed by on his way to the river.
Back at camp, a mystery developed. Darren was looking for chocolate to eat, so Suzy pulled out a bag of M&Ms, gave a package to Darren, Dave, and Carl. Larry declined. She then claimed she put the bag on the dash of Scott's truck. When Scott returned from putting up his tent, and noticed others eating M&M's, he asked where they were, and they said to check the dashboard, but they were not to be found. Accusations rolled around the camp - Darren had the motive of chocolate deprivation, but Dave and Suzy were very suspect, as was Scott. Others were just mildly upset to have missed out. The weather was windy and clouds helped keep the temperature down. After dinner, Kay and Dave graced Larry with a couple of birthday songs in their beautiful voices. The camp was frightfully exposed, and the wind tended to be strong until later in the night. Fortunately, the toilets had adequate toilet paper for the group - we didn't have to break into our emergency roll yet.
Still trying for a leisurely start, Bob was again thwarted and we were on the road by 8:30 AM. Another 10 mile ride, for which Bob agreed to drive Scott's truck, since his "knee was sore" from the first day's uphill. This allowed Scott to ride with the group. The wildflowers were incredible with aster, primrose, phacelia, cliff rose, mariposa tulip, larkspur, paintbrush, and desert dandelion everywhere. We cycled onward to Gooseberry camp, which was on the edge of the White Rim with beautiful canyon views below. We reached this camp by 11:00 AM, set up, ate lunch, and then a group headed for the rim on the steep Gooseberry Trail.
Mike, Denise, Larry, Scott and Darren stayed in camp, huddled in the shade of a wonderful pinion pine - being in its shade was like having an air-conditioner. Strangely, the missing M&M's seemed to be quietly moving around camp. Darren's suspicious movements led up to Larry's hysterical laughing, followed by Denise's discovery of a mysterious bag in the front seat of their truck. Later, Carl walked into the kitchen with the missing M&Ms - he found them in his personal bag. Shortly thereafter the few remaining packages of M&Ms disappeared, never to be seen again.
Mike and Denise set up a tarp tipi for showering, which they as well as Scott and Darren used, before the wind blew it down. Bob and Suzy returned from their hike, only to hike across the desert to a pinion pine about a ½ mile away for a shower. Several others took advantage of it as well. Most of the hikers made it to the top of the Island-in-the-Sky mesa, and some continued another mile and a half to Grand View Point. Denise called to some of the ravens living along the trail. It was interesting to see how they responded.
The following morning, with nothing to block the sun, we had full light at 6:30 AM. The sky was crystal clear. Our usual routine put us on the trail by 9:00 AM with Suzy driving for Scott. We passed by Monument Basin, a deep canyon below Grand View Point with seemingly paper-thin towers of sandstone, reaching our White Crack campsite by 11:00 AM. We had the campsite set up routine pretty well nailed by now, except how to set up the sunshade for the kitchen. We kept missing the proper orientation to keep the maximum shade in the kitchen when the sun eventually moved to the west.
We all headed off in different directions on hikes. Bob found the actual white crack and an old road through the Cedar Mesa sandstone barrier to the lower mesas. Ever energetic Carl headed down to see if he could get to the Green River. The rest of the team lazed around camp in the shade. Some hiked around the rims - with Denise's ravens checking on us, to make sure we were safe. After getting within a ¼ mile of the river Carl was stopped by cliffs and forced to return. Along the way he found a ram's horn.
While getting dinner ready, a government truck drove up, and a heavily bearded man walked to the rim with a little antenna attached to a small leather case. He was a biologist working for the Park Service and was searching for bighorn sheep wearing radio collars. Apparently the bighorn used the old road to get to the Cedar Mesa rim and water pockets on the point. The weather was cloudy, and hot, with the usual wind. The group's carnivores especially enjoyed a dinner of burgers and beans. Healthy eaters Mike and Denise stuck with their garden burgers. When dinner was done, everybody was stuffed as usual.
Another attempt at a leisurely start resulted in an 8:30 AM leave for Murphy's Hogback, 9 miles away. This was expected to be a somewhat hilly day for the bikers. Bob was driving Scott's truck - as we left the White Crack we were greeted with a light sprinkle of rain. Several of the hills forced the bikers to walk, even Larry, when his high tech ride failed to shift when climbing. The final climb to the camp on top was rocky and steep. Bob roared up the hill, followed by Kay with tires in the air. Mike had no problem, even though several of us had added their bikes to his load.
This camp was possibly the best on the trip with excellent views in all directions. To avoid the afternoon heat, we were at camp by lunch, as usual. We set up the kitchen, took several compass readings to determine how to orient the sunshade, and still missed it by several degrees. Several headed for the rim on the Murphy Trail, while the rest lounged around camp. Dave hiked out to a point west of camp, and could be heard singing there. Partly cloudy skies and a wind kept the temperature down somewhat. Denise called to the ravens near the kitchen throughout the afternoon. They again kept a watchful eye on our safety (and errant scraps of food). Later a tour group pulled into the camp across from us, and cranked up their music. Kay asked them to turn it down, which they did immediately. The cards finally made their appearance. Dave won at hearts, and promptly retired as champion.
While Bob and Suzy were hiking, some of the others moved Bob's bike to the top of a capstone in the middle of camp. Bob didn't notice it was missing until a backpacker walked by on the road and he thought he should go after him and invite him to dinner. He immediately noticed his bike was missing, located it, and promptly decided to borrow mine. It wasn't until the next morning that Carl finally climbed up and retrieved it.
For some reason, Scott reclaimed his truck for the next day. We seriously wanted an early departure for this long morning ride. The start was cool and cloudy but it warmed up as the morning wore on. We passed by massive canyons below the white rim. The Cedar Mesa sandstone was over 100 feet thick now, creating quite a stark scene. Bob predicted lunch at Potato Bottom (20 miles) at 1:00 PM, then a ½ mile hike to an Indian ruin, and to camp at Hardscrabble by around 4:00 PM. Just to make him wrong again, we reached Potato Bottom at 11:30 AM, ate lunch, and then headed over Hardscrabble hill.
A couple bikers opted to ride over to camp in the trucks. Hardscrabble hill is very steep and has extremely tight switchbacks. This caused a few minor problems with the trucks, but eventually all made it. A few of us decided to hike to the ruin, which turned out to be closer to 1 mile (you know, Marley miles). The rest continued to camp. Bob was there first, at about 1:00 PM, but a group was eating lunch at our camp, and were slow about leaving. When Mike arrived and couldn't find a place to park, Kay finally asked them to leave. For whatever reason she had become our problem resolution expert on this trip and seemed to be very effective.
This was our first camp on the river, but the beach access was tiny and steep. Bathing was welcome, but extremely awkward. Several people found a rocky ledge in the current to wash up. There was much speculation as to where one would wind up if the current caught them - the naked, bare-footed walk back from Fort Bottom might be interesting. Larry was bathing when a couple of kayaks went by, with him exposed to the world. One of the kayaker's told him not to be embarrassed, that she was a nurse, and had seen smaller. Another card game got going with Carl resuming his winning ways. The players changed around a bit. Denise, coached by Larry, ran the table twice, but eventually lost to Darren. The games ended when the cook team kicked the card sharks out of the shade. We found another patch of shade behind Mike and Denise's Walla Walla rig for happy hour conversations.
We finally had a real leisurely morning, hitting the road about 9:00 AM. Since we were leaving Canyonlands National Park, we had to find an at-large campsite for the night. A dusty, but short ride along the river brought us to the Mineral Bottom road. An excellent riverside camp in a beautiful grove of cottonwoods was located in Horsethief Bottom. Since we had huge trees to set up under, the orientation of the sunshade wasn't important. On the way Larry blew a tire, and had to hitch a ride for the last few miles. There was also a pleasant river beach that was perfect for bathing near by. After lunch most of us biked up-river to the Julian Inscription in Hell Roaring Canyon. While we were gone Larry biked up the Mineral Bottom road. Another card game ensued, and Dave again won.
After a sumptuous steak and baked potato dinner, Dave and Kay sang a couple songs for us: The Desert Song (which Dave wrote), and then They Call the Wind Mariah, with Mike joining in. What a beautiful end to a wonderful journey! Larry, Darren and Carl all decided to ride up Mineral Bottom road to the top and to the ranger station in the morning (about 25 miles). The rest of us had already decided to wimp out and ride up in the trucks. Later, the wind kicked up, and a bit of rain chased everyone to their tents.
The last morning, where did the week go? We were supposed to have a leisurely morning but were on the road by 8:15 AM. After a good night's sleep and time to ponder the 2000' Mineral Bottom climb, Carl was the only one serious about riding out. He left about 6:00 AM. Once we hit the paved road to the park, Dave took his bike and rode downhill into Moab, about 25 miles. Kay delivered Larry and Darren to their cars, passing Carl at the park entrance. Carl was the only one to ride the entire loop, but this does not diminish the accomplishments of Bill, Marty, Larry, Darren, and Dave who rode every day. Most of them also hiked every afternoon.
We all regrouped back in Moab at the Lions Park for group photos, trailer swapping, gear shuffling, and final good-byes. A good time was had by all.
