Spring Break 2014: Moab Brand Trails

After a rather predictably disappointing continental breakfast in a crowded windowless room at the hotel we headed straight for the Moab Brand Trails just north of town. We were the third, maybe fourth, group to arrive at the trailhead. It was just after 8 a.m. There was a crazy fierce wind blowing so strongly from the south we could hardly stand up, and sand picked up by the wind felt like it might remove our skin. We couldn't set our helmets down or they'd blow away. Socks, jackets, anything could fly. We considered just going into town for a cup of coffee, but decided we'd come to ride, so we might as well do it. Once we were out on the trail among the rocks the wind seemed less fierce, perhaps somewhat buffered by the surrounding hills.

We set off on Lazy EZ, then linked to Deadman's Ridge, a new and challenging one for us, then a short section of Bar B, then Rockin' A, and Circle O. Here's a link to the Garmin log.

There's a lot of wide open space out there. It's a good thing the trails are well marked.

Deadman's Ridge was really amazing -- as long as you're into big rocks, red dirt, and scrubby vegetation. Cindy and Abbey had to think at least twice before riding this freaky descent. I'm afraid that perhaps Quinn didn't think at all.

Deadman's Ridge Trail crossed a ridge of soft red and crumbly sandstone -- is that Navajo sandstone? -- whereas Rockin' A and Circle O traverse huge slabs of light-colored Entrada sandstone, which seems to be much harder, less crumbly, but still quite grippy under foot -- or tire.

With miles and miles of solid rock, staying on the trail could be a challenge, but the trail is well marked with a painted line. See the dashed yellow line in the picture below. Trail signage suggests that riders should strive to ride right on top of line for a warm fuzzy feeling. This would minimize any impact of the trail on vegetation (what there is of it) and also minimizes the likelihood that a rider would ride straight off the edge of a large unrideable obstacle or cliff. And there are plenty of those out there.

Why do they call it Circle O?

It's getting harder and harder to keep up with him.

We finished our ride ahead of noon, and set off in search of a campsite. We still had to search a little, but we found and invaded a nice spot in the Hal Canyon campground along Highway 128. 

Once we had our camp set up Quinn and I finally got his electric RC rock crawler out to give it a try on the Hal Canyon sandstone. There was a good pile of rocks where the canyon passes under the highway near the campground that seemed an ideal and harmless spot for such a thing. With incredibly low gearing, four-wheel steering, a separate motor on each fully locked axles, it's amazing capable. It's very slow, and it doesn't really matter if you roll it. Much safer than cycling.

Because we were camping, it rained all night.