Utah!

  Doesn't my bib just say it all. What's up? What is up? All has been quiet on the blog front but not the western front. To celebrate my Dad's impending ortho graduation yes Grandma Cindy my Dad will graduate! Moms never cease to worry we went on a 11 day trip to Utah (use or lose thoses vacation days). I know what your thinking! Utah? What's in Utah? Don't worry I had no idea either. MInd youm I am only 8 1/2 months old. My Mom didn't know either. The answer is amazingness. Seriously.

That's my Mom at Gooseberry Mesa. St. George/Hurricaine was our first stop. We stayed 3 nights with friends in a VRBO. VRBO's with friends are the way to go. I practiced my crawling and did some backpacking while the others rode.  The terrain was comparable to that of Mars. I think it would hurt my knees to crawl there so I utilized the back pack.

 

They call it slick rock because horses metal shoes would slip. Turns out the rubber of bike tires sticks. They should change the name to sticky rock. The trails is marked cleverly by white paint on the rock.

 

Gooseberry Mesa is probably my favorite trail because there are a bunch of loops that come out from the mesa. This allowed my Dad and I to meet up with my Mom on several occassions.

 

Each time she rode by I waved my arms and yelled "Whoo Whoo" and attempted to bounce in my backpack. Think of what I could do on a bike with suspension.

This photo was taken near the Virgin Dam by a trail called Jem. Jem was a jewel of a ride with lots of loop de loos, up and downs, zig zags and of course amazing views. If you are from San Diego and want a  mountain biking field trip I strongly recommend the 7 hour drive to St. George. There is tons of great riding to be had. It's like going on a ski vacation with no lift ticket required and no waiting in line. I'd know too because I went on a ski vacation 6 months before I was even born!

Tha's my Dad at the South Rim overlook at Gooseberry Mesa. Now ...are you still wondering why anybody would vacation in Utah for 11 days? Yes, that is a goat in the street.

After 3 nights in our comfy VRBO we headed to the Canyon Lands. We spent 4 days/3 nights on the White Rim trail. The trail is basically the Rim between the Colorado and the Green River. It is 110 miles and does not require technical riding skills. It does however require technical driving skills, some serious 4 wheel drive, and a lot of water.

 

The scenery of the trail is amazing. This is an excursion I would recommend to all levels of riders provided you have support or people who like to ride in Jeeps. Water is the limiting factor of the ride. It does require some planning as once inside the park there is no water and weather can be extreme. For us it was extremely hot.  Some people do this ride in a day. If you were interested in doing that you'd be more efficient riding at night. That would rob you of the scenery though and unless you had seen the trail a dozen times I wouldn't recommend it.

Ok so the first night on the trail wasn't extremely hot and I had my chance to be a Patagonia ambassador. Some people dress there children up for pageants. My parents dress me up for expeditions. I'm hoping for a lifetime sponsorship.

We finished the White Rim Trail. After three dusty nights I certainly didn't complain about sleeeping in a real bed and showering with walls! Actually I did complain a little bit about going to bed. Moab has a reputation for being mountain bike mecca and it lived up to it's reputation. I'm not sure about the trails but I did enjoy the community pool. The temperature was just right. The Porcupine  trail was a group favorite. After 3 nights in Moab it was time to start heading home. To break of the drive we headed to Bryan Head. Stopping at Thunder Mountain for a quick ride. As usual it was epic. I alternated hiking with my parents. I didn't complain about the altitude one bit. The It was also cold. At 11,000 ft it was 33 degrees when we stopped at the Cedar National Monument.

 

What an incredible experience. There is so much to say about this trip but I must leave off here because I have to balance my time between blogging,  commando crawling, swinging and swimming....and don't forget story hour.