At 16 miles and only 2000' of climbing Day 3 of the Moab bike pack adventure was supposed to be our "easy" day but missing springs, missing pavement and a missing chocolate bar meant we still had to earn our way up from Castle Rock on the La Sal Mtn Rd. The morning started pleasantly enough with Trout diligently warding off yet another wave of invisible, radioactive zombies while a truckload of early rising hounds drove by our campsite to start a mountain lion hunt on Fisher Mesa. Note to self; Fisher Mesa is worth a return trip to check out the single track along the rim, and apparently we should be watching out for mountain lions. Day 3 started easily enough with a 5 mile paved plunge down to Castle Rock, a quick refill on the h2o (bottles only (foreshadowing)) in preparation for an easy spin up paved La Sal Mtn. Road, last encountered in reverse when Dash flatted on the descent of the La Sal Loop at Brown Phat III. Sadly easy was not to be as the road had been removed and only a bit at the bottom had received fresh asphalt, so back to the gravel road climbing, but this time with a wicked headwind to the face. Cooler cloudy weather was our savior as Spring #1 on the map was dry, as was Spring #2 and despite some cold rain showers we hit the top of the Porcupine Rim a bit parched. Fortunately we were able to bum some h20 off campers at Mason Draw, the last bit 'o salami took the sting off a misremembered, or mis-packed missing chocolate bar and we whooped it down the UPS trail for our first bit of single track on the trip en route to the Porcupine Rim campground. We inventoried water and remaining food supplies and decided we'd probably survive but Rose and I were on half water rations just to make sure we had enough for oatmeal in the a.m. In our cozy Big Agnes sleeping bags and tent we curled up early to read a bit of the ol' Jack Vance and wonder at our state of filthiness. Late arriving campers at this popular spot, and sandstorms conspired to wake us up early and often throughout the night as sprinkles of fine silt continually worked through the mesh to settle into our ears, eyes and open snoring mouths as we dreamt fitfully of the intimidating double black diamond Porcupine Rim single track descent that would be our final challenge.
At 16 miles and only 2000' of climbing Day 3 of the Moab bike pack adventure was supposed to be our "easy" day but missing springs, missing pavement and a missing chocolate bar meant we still had to earn our way up from Castle Rock on the La Sal Mtn Rd. The morning started pleasantly enough with Trout diligently warding off yet another wave of invisible, radioactive zombies while a truckload of early rising hounds drove by our campsite to start a mountain lion hunt on Fisher Mesa. Note to self; Fisher Mesa is worth a return trip to check out the single track along the rim, and apparently we should be watching out for mountain lions. Day 3 started easily enough with a 5 mile paved plunge down to Castle Rock, a quick refill on the h2o (bottles only (foreshadowing)) in preparation for an easy spin up paved La Sal Mtn. Road, last encountered in reverse when Dash flatted on the descent of the La Sal Loop at Brown Phat III. Sadly easy was not to be as the road had been removed and only a bit at the bottom had received fresh asphalt, so back to the gravel road climbing, but this time with a wicked headwind to the face. Cooler cloudy weather was our savior as Spring #1 on the map was dry, as was Spring #2 and despite some cold rain showers we hit the top of the Porcupine Rim a bit parched. Fortunately we were able to bum some h20 off campers at Mason Draw, the last bit 'o salami took the sting off a misremembered, or mis-packed missing chocolate bar and we whooped it down the UPS trail for our first bit of single track on the trip en route to the Porcupine Rim campground. We inventoried water and remaining food supplies and decided we'd probably survive but Rose and I were on half water rations just to make sure we had enough for oatmeal in the a.m. In our cozy Big Agnes sleeping bags and tent we curled up early to read a bit of the ol' Jack Vance and wonder at our state of filthiness. Late arriving campers at this popular spot, and sandstorms conspired to wake us up early and often throughout the night as sprinkles of fine silt continually worked through the mesh to settle into our ears, eyes and open snoring mouths as we dreamt fitfully of the intimidating double black diamond Porcupine Rim single track descent that would be our final challenge.
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