We all slept with varying degrees of success throughout the night, except for Gaylord and TommyH who  of course shared the luxurious sleeper compartment. We rolled into the central time zone and soon the sun was coming up as we rolled into the BEAUTIFUL Omaha Train station. Word was there is a BIG renovation project going on with the result hopefully being a mini Chicago type Union Station. Lot’s of land based infrastructure improvements as well as rolling stock and system improvements needed on America’s passenger railroad system if they ever wish to be competitive with airline and car travel.

We headed to the dining car and had a nice breakfast as the trained rolled through the western Iowa landscape. The train was about 2 hours late and all bets were off when we might actually arrive in Chicago. Then a four hour bus ride to MSN. It ended up we were traveling for over 36 hours to get home, arriving about midnight Friday. A loooong journey.

 

OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS:

The trip turned out to be a rousing success. And no wonder with all the planning sessions (READ: beer drinking) we had! Of course the credit goes to Greg who did a fabulous job with the planning and pulling all the details together. The condo, hotel, truck transport, biking, hiking, outfitter and food were all wonderful. Compared to Wisconsin, the terrain, grades and elevations were a new experience to may of us mountain bikers. The openness of the terrain, canyons structure, natural bridges, arches and especially the vistas of the Utah landscape was nothing short of STUNNING. Next time, some may fly to save some time . . . of course when being retired, what’s the rush!

A big part of the trail experience and success was contracting with Escape Adventures and the services provided by our camp master, Merrick. We all agreed it would have been a very much different experience without Merrick there at the end of the day to do the cooking and dish washing. He is a great young man and I’m sure will excel in his journey through life in whatever future endeavors he pursues.

The mbbt gang that went had a great time and will relive the adventure many times over beers at Funk’s, where we will undoubtedly start planning the next one!

Safe Riding!

Ridin’ Rick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we would board the Amtrak and head back to our worlds in MSN. At 6:00am word from the railroad was the trail was running an hour late. Considering we at one point were running two hours late and the train made it up depositing us in Grand Junction right on time, The one hour delay is hopefully no big deal.

So, in the mean time . . .

. . . let’s have a BIG breakfast!

Since we had several hours to kill be participated in the most popular American recreational activity  – shopping!!! We descending on several bikes stores who must have thought at least one of us was in the market for a new bike, but alas, just looking. Greg is one of our more ‘senior’ riders, in the sense of the number of miles under his belt over the years. Here he ties up with one of his old riding buddies, the Bikus Trantisourus.

With all of us being in the senior age category, age demands respect (or are they trying to get us out of the way) so we get preferential senior treatment and go to the head of the boarding line. Terry’s big smile? at 50 he is not yet one of us but reaping the benefits!!!

The train comes to a stop many times during the journey due to westbound freight traffic having track priority on the track. Here we come head to head with our sister train heading west, Train 5. There was an ‘issue” on board Train 5 so we both came to a stop and once it was resolved away we both went. One eastbound one westbound.

The train stops for 5 minutes in Glenwood Springs and the train station is right across the street from the local brewery. TommyG attempts a repeat of his 5 minute track race to procure a growler of local brew. Unfortunately, as you can see in the photo the street was torn up due to road construction and he would have had to run around the block to get to the back door and into the retail area. On the eastbound trip he made the trip with only 1 minute to spare. This added detour would have probably put him over the 5 minute window and he would have been left sharing his growler of beer with fellow rail passengers still on the loading dock. So . . . no eastbound growler this time!!! A sad mood hung over our car until we all headed to the Lower Level Lounge to drown our sorrows.

If one really wants o see some wild areas, not assessable by car, the train is REALLY the way to travel, especially through the Rockies. Kodak moment around every corner as you climb through canyon after canyon.

Our eastbound conductor was more chatty than our previous westbound conductor as he pointed out points of interest along the way. Early in our climb into the mountains he pointed out Deadman’s Curve where in the past there had been two accidents on the road around the top of the mountain. This one involved a mother and her daughter in the mid 1980’s. They were both killed when the mother drove off the road curve and her orange car rolled down the hillside.

In the early 1970’s, this station wagon with three teenagers in the car miss navigating the curve, drove off the road and rolled 50 feet. Luckily, all three escaped with minimal injures.

Most of us had dinner in the Dining car including a nice mixed salad, medium rare steak, with garlic mashed potatoes, a split of Cabernet followed by strawberry cheesecake. Soon . . . zzzzzzzzzzzz!

Today we move on from Moab.

One last stop for breakfast at the Love Muffin . . .

. . and the Eclektica restaurants. Some ate at the condo. Then . . .  time to pack!

As we made one finally sweep of the condo we discovered Gaylord had forgot his ‘puff’. Here is the ‘G’ rate version of his demoing the use of the puff.

We say good bye to Moab until next year . . . maybe the Maze in Canyonlands?

BillyB signs the group in on the Corona Arch. We are in  the federal register!!!!

At this altitude things were really blooming . . .

 

. . . even the cactus!

Visitors in even the most remote areas of BLM property seem to feel they need to leave their personal statement in the form of constructing a cairn. Here is one in a tree . . .

. . .  and here is an area of MANY personal statements. Could have been made my an mbbt contingent. We have a lot to say!!!!

Corona Arch . . . over 150 tall. People bungee jump from the top of it (some not successfully) and planes have flown though it! See mbbt video here.

20th century petroglyphs

Wow . . .some people knowhow to travel!!

After our Corona Arch tour we headed back to Moab for lunch at the infamous Milt’s Drive Inn. Then a quick drive out to the Slick Rock area . . .

. . . where those in the know say it was no more difficult than the Lil Canyon single track we ran.

Soon we were on the road along the scenic Colorado River on the way to Grand Junction where we would stay for the night and catch the train for Chicago in the morning.

On the way to our hotel, we dropped our bikes and checked luggage at the Amtrak station  in Grand Junction. No need to use the restroom to change into our travel clothes . . . just do it on the street. We are old guys who is going to arrest us!!!!!

One less thing to worry about in the morning. And the Amtrak staff were happy too!

Nice digs at Spring Hill Suites!

Local wheels  available to get around town, for only $35. Cheaper than a taxi!

Happy hour at the hotel and then time to eat.

Relaxing   . . .  and winding down from the adventure part of the trip.

Some went northern Italian and some went to the brew pub.

Gaylord helping out a local with a riding lesson along the way . . .

. . .  and BillyB making friends.

Yum!!

Gaylord’s pear gorgonzola salad . . . YUM!

TommyH has Osso Bucho . . .

Our dining neighbor Jennie and her three week old granddaughter, Kiara. Very sweet!

Christy delivers the goods . . . .

BillyB makes the right decision . . . !!!!

Time for sweet dreams in Grand Junction. Tomorrow we board the train!

Today was a hiking/biking day for the gang in Moab. Some hiked at Dead Horse State Park and some bike what ended up being the most technical and probably most fun ride of the whole trip, Gemini Bridges.

 

mmmmmm . . . nine old guys all taking the same photo . . .

. . . but what a photo as we see part of our route of the last 4 days from above.

This group was making a new wall in an area most of us were happy not to get too close! Tough job . . . but someone has to do it!

Part of the White Rim Trail we biked over.

At this point, two of the group went hiking and the rest of us headed for the 24 mile Gemini Bridge downhill. A rock and rolling technical downhill ride.

Riding towards the La Sal Mountains and the Lil Canyon single track trail.

BillyB heading over the top of the rise . . .

Let’ boogie . . .

 

 

. . . well maybe not that fast!

. . . top of the world!

After our hearts stopped pounding from our run down Gemini Bridges we took the 13 mile paved trail back to Moab. BillyB says good bye to the trails of Moab . . .  until the next trip!

One last time to load the bikes . . . and disassemble at the condo. Clean up and off to supper at the Desert Bistro.

A gift from the Chef . . .

A delightful pear walnut salad . . .

Gaylord’s salad wrapped with cucumber slices!

Greg’s’ gourmet mac and cheese with pheasant sausage.

Rick’s gorgonzola encrusted beef tenderloin . . .

Gaylord’s bison with chipotle pepper!

How about another martini, Tom . . . ?

Let’s all have a piece of Bailey’s Irish Crème cheesecake and call it a night. Sweeeeeet dreams!

Today was a day of regrouping with many loads of laundry washed, bikes washed and fixed, dust and sand being emptied out of luggage and just resting. The day also included a hike in the Arches National Park.

Started the day with the old man’s shuffle to the Peace Tree restaurant . . .

. . . where Gaylord had the Green Eggs and Ham . . .

. . . and Greg had the burrito that was enough for lunch too!

TommyG gives BillyB a lesson in washing clothes, who has never done a load in his life!!!!!

Then it was a time for a hike out to see Landscape Arch

Hoodoos along the way . . .

Happy group of hikers . . . at Landscape Arch.

On the way out to . . .

. . . recovery time for Terry who took advantage of the hot tub which was right outside his and BillyB’s suite.

Some watched the final March Madness game while those with more sense went out and had a nice steak dinner!

. . . and at least one left their camera at the steak restaurant and hopes it is still there!

Vesper martinis all around . . . .

. . .followed by an aged New York strip steak with caramelized onions, creamed spinach and roasted potatoes. A stop at the Moab Brewery for gelato topped off the evening!

 

WE ARE OUT OF CHOCOLATE AND PASTIRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merrick gets the blueberry pancakes and sausages ready for the hungry crowd . . . see here movie here!

We go through the coffee by the POT! It takes about 30 minutes to brew another pot so we had to enlist our resident scientist/chemist to dole out the 8oz per drinker until the next pot is brewed!

Dave and I thought the tour was down right civilized due to our request for Half and Half being filled!!!

The “Priest’s Member”, as it is locally called, was our sundial to begin pedaling. When the sun it the top . . . we had to start riding.

. . . but not before one more cup of coffee!

Time for the lunch Deli . . . nice spread!

Greg had maps for everyone and we’d have a morning meeting explaining the route. Key factor . . . stay on the road!!!!!!

As we head out . . . Merrick starts his usual morning wind down and more importantly probably his QUIET ALONE time, because we are on the road!!!

The long and winding road . . . . .

OK, Let’s head up the hill we were talking so smart about last night during happy hour.

The start of the climb with our camp in the background.

Our biking resulted in the same experience as the riders last night had . . . walking the 20% grade

But what a great downhill to the river.

Canoes, kayaks and rafts  along the way . . .

. . . heading towards our biggest climb of the trip, Mineral  Bottom.

. . . it took us an hour to get to the top as we moved up the seven switchback. Several years ago a downpour washed out the climb and thee Fed’s spent over $3 million dollars reconstructing it.

One BIG climb!!!

. . . here comes Merrick, but everybody made the climb.

Once we got to the top it was another 15 miles of a steady 3 mile uphill. We finally hit the high point for the day. The old half of us took the sweet 25 mile downhill into Moab.

DaveK heads out on the first stretch of an 8% 7 mile downhill. Bonzai!!!!!

A great view of the LaSalle Mountains AND the desert. Quite a combo!

Once we hit Highway 191 we connected to the 15 mile paved trail that led us to Moab.

Smooth as a baby’s but or Gaylord’s head!!!!!!!!!!!

We all tied up back at Moab Cyclery and had a final beer with our host extraordinaire, Merrick. We wished him the best in his life ahead. We moved on with the rest of our trip and he moved back into his van!!!

Terry missed the group photo because, in his usual caring manner, he was at the City Market buying the group more beer. He bought more beer than anyone on the trip and drank the least!!!

Merrick had not ridden the White Rim Trail with a group for three years. Not sure if he actually had to refer to the manual for this ride but we’re sure he added an addendum for his peers on how to deal with 10 old guys from Wisconsin!!!!!

Pizza right out on the trail . . .

Ready . . . set . . . go

. . . the vultures descend.

. . . lunch on the veranda.

We had such a big lunch that Merrick proposed taking the group on a survival tour . . .

. . . into the abyss.

BillyB, our mbbt mountaineer, was the only one who followed Merrick down the long channel.

Once the water reached chest height and Merrick had to pull out BillyB after he went in over his head, they came out.

Back on the trail to Potato Bottom campground.

The river was a welcoming site on a hot day . . .

. . . but too cold for a bath. Dave takes a birdbath in the hand bath.

BillyB was our mountaineer and George and BillF were our trip scientists and meteorologists. George tuned into the weather each evening and morning to give us the update.

Chips and salsa at 5:30pm . . .

. . . as we watch Merrick add his ‘secret sauce’ to the pork tenderloins.

Ready to eat . . .

Mushroom salad with pine nuts . . .

Happy hour . . . it’s five o’clock somewhere!

As we face west we see our climb for the next day. Several riders pass through the slot as we sipped our vino and beer . . .

. . . we finally figure out the approach. It looked steep.

The call for dinner brought us out of the spell . . . couscous with raisins . . .

Dinner is served.

Seating for five. A little too spicy for BillyB.

A double decker dessert . . . in the desert.

Blueberry and strawberry rhubarb.

Gee . . . I wonder is anyone is interested in dessert?

. . .and maybe seconds, too.

Merrick was usually up at day break and got the coffee going. he would put out a cold breakfast spread for those up early. Cold cereal, pastries, and fruit. Once the whole gang was up he would make a hot breakfast. While we ate he would put out the lunch deli for us to make our bag lunches to eat along the trail

Terry was an early rider and enjoyed a little shredded wheat. The hat, gloves and down jacket are not for show. It was cold in the morning until the sun peaked over the mountain tops.

Our group liked their sweets. The pastries and chocolate always went first. Followed reluctantly by the fruit.

Even with the rough terrain and all the twisting and stretching of the vehicle chassis the two dozen eggs came through unscathed with not even a cracked shell.

Breakfast burritos this morning.

Once everyone started folding their burritos, Gaylord didn’t realize it was BURRITOS and not just eggs and salsa.

Done with breakfast and packed up . . . let’s hit the trail!

Taking care of 9 old guys and on semi-old guy can be taxing not affording the time for Merrick to even set up a tent. He just sleeps out on the ground. Actually he always sleeps out and go caught in the snow storm we experienced earlier in the week.

We hadn’t even left camp when the ravens arrived to clean up after us. The park policy is, you bring it in you take it out. The ravens insure nothing is left.

Down the trail before another BIG climb.

Rule #1 when riding the White Rim . . . don’t get too close to the edge!

The scale of things is amazing . . . it’s hard to pick out the riders that are in the lead, even when they are just across the valley.

Dave demos why you ALWAYS want to now what is in front of you  . . .  long ways down here if one is day dreaming. Would be your last dream!

Kodak moment around every corner (Merrick was young enough not sure if he even knew what a Kodak is/was)

Another splash of color in the brown, gray dessert.

What goes up . . .

. . . luckily also gets to come down.

Sore hands from power braking!

Merrick on the trail behind us driving SAG.

Greg, making sure the flock sticks together and doesn’t get too spread out.

 

 

Between the rock, loose gravel and the GRADE, some are just too hard to get up. Easy to tell it’s going to be one of those as the first rider ahead dismounts. When we do make it up one and fee puffed up, we think of Merrick who rode the whole White Rim Trail in 13 hours on a single speed fixie. It’s taking us 4 days!

A steep ascent usually involves a discussion about how great we are to have gotten up it . . . even if we had to walk!!

Steep ascents mean fast descents as BillyB heads down at breakneck speed!

Not much wildlife to be seen during the day although if you look close enough it’s there. Lots of critter tracks.

Got to stop long enough to smell the roses . . . and it’s a good time for a rest.

Is that Merrick ahead . . .

Trail lunch today by Chef Merrick . . .

Packed up and ready to go. Once we left, Merrick did the dishes, packed all the luggage and loaded all his cooking gear. He usually caught up to us about an hour into our ride. He always had a smile and water for us and followed our group until the last hour of the day when he would shoot ahead to set up camp.

Today started out with a good climb to stretch the legs as we headed up the canyon wall.

One thing that is hard to get used to in the open west is the scale of BIG – EVRYTHING seems larger than life and goes on forever! See circle to get a view of TommyH against the wall of a canyon.

Soon we arrived at Musselman Arch, which you can see behind these Musselman wanna be’s . . . .

. . . Gaylord, who is afraid of heights, surprised us all as he dismounted  his bike and walked to the 6 foot wide arch, as if the 300 foot drop off over the side of the arch was an illusion! Greg arrived and, having had no intention of walking over it, proceeded right behind Gaylord. The rest of us quivered in our cycling shoes!

Greg decides to take a walk on the wild side too!

Click here to see the movie. Be sure you are seated!

Every time you think it can’t be outdone, check with Merrick. I asked him if other clients had been ‘brave’ enough to cross the arch. Several did handstands and walked across the arch on their hands and he himself rode across the arch doing a wheelie the whole way on his bike! Ahhh . . . to be young again. Of course, he does have several hundred thousand dollars of past medical bills and many broken bones to tell the story!

Not much green in the high desert except along the river banks. BUT, lots of cactus.

A good landscape photo should have something in the foreground of the shot to give a sense of scale. You will notice most of these shots do have a foreground subject. Not so much as a part of the photo but because I was too chicken to get to the edge!

We cycled on and eventually stopped to enjoy the lunch we had packed that morning. BillyB thought it would be a good place to stretch out a bit. A family of cyclists passed us by and the 16 year old daughter cried out, “Are you guy’s OK?”. Fine we said, just old!!!!

Merrick arrives with goodies and water! He carries 220 gallons of water onboard so cooking, doing dishes and a sun shower are always available!

One of the permanent restrooms encountered in every campground and along the trail place at strategic locations. Camping is allowed by permit only in the Canyonland’s and in only certain locations. No open fires really put a damper on our previous trip evening campfire routine. Of course, there is nothing to burn anyway. Merrick used a propane stove to cook and a self contained charcoal set up. He could not put the charcoal  bed of the stove directly on  the desert floor and had to carry all the coal refuse out with the composted food.

Away we go . . . up . . up . . and more up!

One of the few splashes of color on the desert floor.

For those interested, and enough were not, a nightly shower was available. Two gallons of air temp water tempered with two gallons of boiling water allowed for a great HOT shower. Here Gaylord demos an “G rated” version of a shower with a view. Complete with rubber tub liner! He brought is own luffa puff!!!!

Our routine quickly developed to finding our individual camping spots, setting things up, stowing away and getting ready for the evening. Then is was time for beer, lawn chairs and sitting in a semi circle for the magic of our nightly cooking lesson from Merrick and our self generated world problem solving session. The more we drank the easier life seemed .  Ah . . . to be retired, except for Terry, but he is thinking of it.

Here Merrick prepares the noodles for tonight’s lasagna dish. He can accommodate any type of food allergy or eating issue including cooking a veggie lasagna for a Friday Lenten observer. He once had a tour where between vegan, gluten vegetarian and several other requirements basically cooked three dinners every night for a week. The only two rules he has in camp are no religious or political discussions, though I believe he was quite amused by our constant chatter about nothing!

Another night of rooms with a view.

Right next to my tent!

Preparing tonight’s appetizer . . .

. . . onion stuffed, balsamic mushrooms with melted Parmesan cheese!

Merrick used Dutch ovens a lot for cooking and really had the system down to a science. Here is his ‘double oven’.

One meat and one veggie . . . nice guy!

It gets chilly, actually ‘cold’, in the high desert once the sun drops behind the mountains. Dave was definitely our leanest (READ: Least FAT) rider (by a LONGSHOT) and as you can see here stayed bundle up when the temps dropped into the thirties at night. He climbed into his sleeping bag at night with pretty much everything on that he had brought along!

No campfire . . . but Gaylord warms his hand over the Dutch oven lid.

Time for our nightly dessert in the desert! Tonight . . . red velvet cake with butter frosting!

Enough for seconds too.

Greg, our trip leader, served as the perfect host as he made the nightly rounds with his peppermint Schnapps. Went great with hot chocolate!

Ranger Dan stopped by to check our camping permit’s and to inspect the food. He spends several days out in the bush camping at night. Nice work if you can get it!

 

After month’s of planning sessions it was finally time to get on the road to the trail.

Of course the most important provisions were loaded first onto the truck, our four boxes of beer! As Merrick later told us the second most important thing in the desert is water . . . the FIRST is beer!

Nobody felt like cooking breakfast so we headed to the Moab Diner for the “Mountain Biker Special” sure to guarantee a quick downhill due to the large portions!

Moab Cyclery and Escape Adventures would be our provider for the adventure and we met at their headquarters to load our gear.

We met up with Merrick again for a final briefing and soon he and Tim helped us old guys up into the vans and away we went for a 10 mile ride to the trail head.

Like most old guys, some had to take care of a few personal issues before we loaded up. No modesty with this group!

Our official ride start photo. Got to count heads everyday to make sure we didn’t lose someone!

The first four miles were gravel road but as we turned the corner here was our first slot canyon to descend. Probably one of our steepest of the whole trip. The hearty breakfast and steep descent put our brakes to the test. Probably 18-20% down hill.

Puck Pass was VERY aptly named . . . As we approached the downhill, I heard George say “Oh Boy!” in a tone somewhere between excitement and horror!!

 

We soon encounter the White Rim, a trail we would be riding the next three days. All jeep trails, we encountered 4 wheel drive vehicles of just about every type and several groups of motorcyclists.

Our first nights camp Shafer Campground. Merrick passed down luggage from the truck and off we went to find our own pieces of heaven . . .

. . . where every room had a million dollar view!

Merrick had a great setup for cooking, one we would have had great difficulty reproducing for ourselves, if we had decided to go totally self supported. It was by far the best decision we made of the whole trip – hiring a company like Escape Adventures to toat our luggage, provision us for our meals, do the cooking AND surprisingly washing the dishes too!!!

First night out . . . fresh grill salmon . . . .

with a feta, tomato salad, boiled baby red Parmesan potatoes – yeah baby, bring it on. Always enough for seconds if you were still hungry!

Who was always first in line . . .

. . . the same person who was last in line. BillyB licks the fudge brownie mixing pan!

TommyH uses the foot pump hand washing station provided by Merrick and company. Very handy!

Believe it or not human waste is a HUGE issue on the park. With the arid desert climate, nothing ever deteriorates and in the last twenty years, as the number of visitors increased, so did the number of slit latrines. So much so that people were continually digging up what someone had left behind not too long ago. The Park Service has installed these outhouses that are first rate! No smell and very clean. I asked Merrick how often they need to be pumped and he said never! The bowels of the pits have a type of beetle that takes care of all the waste. Don’t fall in!

The Canyonlands National Park has some VERY strict culinary safety regulations that all provisioners must follow, such as: no food can be rewarmed and served twice,  so any leftovers are tossed; all food waste must be composted; dishes must be washed in hot water, then rinsed in two clean water baths and air dried. No toweling off of dishes. When the rangers come around for their visits, they use thermometers to test the inside temp of the coolers and the temp of any uncooked meat. Wooden cutting boards can be used for serving only. All food prep must be done on plastic boards that are sanitized. Merrick was very particular in his food prep methods and did an excellent job . . .

. . . which of course gave us more time to be happy. Here TommyH is twice as happy because of his red wine AND Everclear alcohol he mixed with Crystal Light . . .

. . . and George enjoyed his rum STRAIGHT out of the bottle EVERY night!