Training Log Archive: revy

With our "rest days" out of the way we can get back to the business of mountain biking;)

Exploration ride today on new trails to me... parked near Grafton and rode up the smithsonian butte byway. This was a grunt but only a few hundred vertical meters so was over pretty quick. It still looks pretty crappy for driving vehicles on it. Near the top we joined the new Wire Mesa trail which we rode clockwise. Some sandy and soft bits to start but then got better. The first half was mainly dirt Singletrack which Mike and I rode at a fun racy pace. The second half has more rock features. Overall a good intro to Mesa riding and better and more interesting than I expected (often blue trails in Utah can be a bit boring). Great views of Zion as well from this area.

Next bit followed some unsanctioned and lesser used trails to get over to the Grafton Mesa. Undisclosed was a nice meandering climb, South Wash had a nice descent and then interesting climb, Dig It was OK (can't remember any big highlights). We had to push our bikes to get to the start of the Grafton Singletrack but it was worth it as some fun technical features. Last but not least was Meanderthon which did meander and was hard to follow at times in the sagebrush. Dropped off the Mesa on the old coach road which is now a rocky Singletrack. It is bumpy at times but on an all mountain bike you can roll everything with no issues. Fun descent - overall the whole loop was a worthwhile excursion and certainly merits addition to the regular ride list in Hurricane.

This morning we did the short detour from camp to the Deer Creek Narrows and a lookout over the Colorado River. The Narrows here were spectacular as the creek carves it way through an ever deepening narrow gorge. This along with Thunder Spring were definitely highlights of the trip. After packing camp up we followed the creek for a short distance and rock hopped across the creek before starting the first ascent to Surprise Valley. A fair bit of this was in the shade which was nice. The climb to the Esplanade level went quite quickly - better than I expected. I was feeling surprisingly sad to be leaving the Canyon. Weird emotions... I'm not normally the emotional type;) We resupplied with water at our first drop and continued along the Esplanade. As opposed to the previous climb this flat section seemed to go on forever. My legs were enjoying going uphill more than the flats and downs... eventually we reached our next water cache and started the last climb. I left camp with 2L and picked up another 2L at the caches and finished with 250mL at the car so water planning was just about perfect. This last climb seemed the hottest (also gaining elevation so we had decreasing oxygen going against us too) but as we got higher the wind picked up and helped cool us off. Before we knew it we were at monument point and happy to have climb out of the Canyon. All that was left was an uneccesary 80vm descent to the car - as I mentioned my legs were not enjoying the downs at this point.

All in all a great Grand Canyon adventure. Much less busy than the main corridor though still a popular spot and we saw at least 30-40 other hikers and a big raft group. The drive across the north rim plateau was also quite interesting and we spent prior to hiking down at some nice forestry cabins at Big Spring.

No GPS file today as the watch battery was low.

My one and only previous visit to the Grad Canyon was in 2011 and coming back has always been on the bucket list. Spending at least a night under the rim was also on the wish list. A few weeks before the trip I applied for an overnight permit and was lucky enough to get one for Deer Creek. Our route was from Monument Point to the Thunder River Trail via Bill Hall trail, down Tapeats creek, downriver to the Deer Creek valley and back to the Thunder river trail and out. Most groups seem to do this route in 4-5 days but I thought two days was doable. It turned out that the first day was long (9 hours) but not crazy. Three days would be more pleasant while anything longer seems painful as you would need to dry camp at least one night which means carrying a lot of water.

The Canyon at this point is quite wide with a prominent wide terrace feature called the Esplanade. This made the descent more stepped than closer to the main corridor. The first descent through the Kaibab and Toroweap layers was loose and scrambly in spots then a long 5km flat traverse across the esplanade which was very reminiscent of being in Canyon lands near Moab. This was followed by a steep descent into Surprise Valley through Supai and Redwall sandstone. We cached a litre in the descent for our climb out tomorrow (had cached the first litre at the start of the Esplanade). Surprise valley was quite hot but we both seemed to be handling the heat OK. Pace was steady but not pushing it. I felt like my appetite and fluid intake was good all day. once we crested the small rise and dropped into the Thunder river valley drainage we could see the Thunder river starting dramatically from the side of a cliff. This spring was a beautiful oasis with cool temperatures and shade from the trees growing close to the water source.

After our first lunch break we continued down the Tapeats valley (which looking upstream is quite impressively narrow with steep and high vertical walls). We stayed in the alternate high water route in the west side of the creek. This avoided two creek crossings - there were a few exposed sections but nothing too scary. This section seemed to go on for a while and this was the first time I felt that AR feeling of let's just get this done... :)

We reached the Colorado River after a very scenic trail section through the final Tapeats Creek narrows and stopped for lunch break number two. From here to Deer Creek is not an official trail but the route was straightforward and the last half was an excellent trail. There was some boulder hopping along the river, some scrambling and some traversing above the river. My feet were getting a little sore and my calves were also a bit tight but otherwise felt OK. I was surprised at the amount of water (or lack of) in the river as I always imagined it to be a huge river. No wonder California has no water...

We passed above the Granite Narrows which were quite cool to see and finally crested the col above Deer Creek valley. A short descent brought us to camp which was nicely situated in a cool spot close to the creek. A nice evening with pleasant temperatures sleeping without the fly. Bucket list objective accomplished... :) I said this last time and this trip confirmed it but seeing the Canyon from below is a great experience. Though scenic from the rim you miss a lot of the grandeur from up there.

Yesterday's meal theme was all Mexican - all the time. Luckily it didn't seem to have any lasting after effects today;) We drove to St George yesterday evening and this morning hit my favorite local trail - Zen trail. A short and sweet trail with creatures reminiscent of Gooseberry Mesa without the trees and With more vertical relief creating more downhill segments. The road down to the wash is being upgraded so I am curious if we will see some houses being built there the next time we come here.

Stopped at Red Rock Roasters in Hurricane for a nice lunch and then up to Little Creek Mesa for ride number two. I really enjoyed this ride today - nice weather, nice light, fun riding and I even found the route finding a fun adventure (cairns mark the trail on the rock sections and finding the exits off the rock sections into the dirt trail can also be tricky at times). The trail out to the rim was especially fun today. The last bit of the main rim trail gets a little slow as trail is less flowy and more navigation required. North Rim trail is fast out to the point and then challenging navigation through the slickrock back to the junction. We missed the same junction we missed last time though that was fine a short I wanted to ride the waterfall anyway. The last bit we took e alternate trail but again missed a junction as ended up back on the normal exit route.

Two years have passed since my last desert trip and I thought a week of adventure would be a nice birthday present to myself so here I am back in the SW United States. Luckily I know a guy who seems to have a flexible work schedule and rarely says no to adventure so I've got some good company for the trip...

Looks like we picked a good week to leave as the weather at home has taken a turn towards winter. Today was 23 degrees with no clouds in sight. Today's ride was in Las Vegas on the Cowboy trails. Up on Kibbles and Bits, then both First and Second Fingers and onward to the top. As usual marvelled over the expansive sprawl of Vegas. Fun climb - punchy but that was expected. Second Finger has better views from the end though the route back is lightly travelled. First Finger cold probably be skipped. Chose to go down Bomb Voyage which was a new trail for me. Rated double black but these are American ratings not Canadian ones so we were fine;) I'm curious to see the GPS track (will upload when I get home next week) as the junction was not where I expected it to be (which perhaps explains why Brett and I missed it last time). Fun ride down - loose at times but much better than Bob Gnarly with nice sidehill trail and nice views. Temperature was warm but breeze kept things manageable. Nice to be back in the desert:)

Downriver paddle from the boat launch to the Cartier TH. Current was decent - variable winds though. I was warmer than expected especially when the sun would come out. Fresh snow on the peaks is getting me excited for ski season. Too bad it is usually still several weeks away... going to have to kill some time biking in warmer climates;)

C • Crushed 2