Three Days in Moab Continued: Exploring New Trails

Continuing on from the first half of the Moab trip, after we rode Porcupine Rim the first half of day two (about 15-18 miles once you get back into town), we headed to the Moab Brewery to refuel and relax for a couple of hours.  For three day trips, we always make sure to have enough energy and down-time inbetween rides because the second half of day two isn’t nearly as much fun otherwise.  Unlike our 4-day trips, 3-day’ers are all about maximizing time on the bike and making the most out of our long weekend.

For the evening ride, we decided to check out the world-famous Slickrock Trail, and knowing we were going to shoot a little bit, we waited until just before sunset to get the best light.  Slickrock is famous for the grippy, white-dashed sandstone track that allows you to climb (and descend) steeper hills than you’ve ever imagined.  The landscape is out of this world, and the views are incredible.  We started out with a quick spin on the “Practice Loop”, which is fun in its own right:

From there, we moved on to the main trail, but due to fading light we didn’t end up riding a ton of miles.  Lesson learned- make sure you leave a little earlier than you think you need to!

I have to admit, this next shot was actually an accident… it wasn’t until I showed Bill (the rider) on the camera’s LCD screen that he noticed his reflection in the small pool of water.

Typically on the third day, we like to hit a newer trail system that’s on the “way out” of town, so it gets us going in the right direction on the way home.  For our 3-day Moab trip, this meant exploring the relatively new Navajo Rocks area.  I can confidently tell you that after riding here for a few hours, we’ll definitely be back.  Navajo Rocks is an awesome mix of geology, singletrack, slickrock riding, and fun play areas.  You can’t go wrong here!

Playing around on some of the slickrock domes gives you an opportunity for some really cool shots:

As you head around to the northeast side of the loop, things change and the riding is very different.

Riding off into the horizon with the Monitor and Merrimac rock formations looming above:

And finally, one last shot from Navajo Rocks, with the snowy La Sal mountain range far off in the distance: