Bloated Skiing

April 20, Little Creek Trail Area

Francine going by a rock cairn necessary to stay on route

We were told that the drive to Little Creek was long and "out there". It was 45 minutes from the house with lots of driving on bumpy jeep roads. It seemed most of our rides took 30 to 40 minutes to drive to, but some involved more dirt. We went clockwise on Little Creek Mesa trail. Attempted to ride out North Point trail, but got turned around and ended up on Little Creek Slick for our way back to the car. Real nice ride. Instead of painting white dots on all the rock, you have to keep an eye out for rock cairns to find your way. It seems like quite a few of them fell over during the winter snow and wind. Occasionally the route finding was a little difficult, but hard to get lost when you have trailforks app on the phone. Fun ride, not much flow but plenty of interesting slick rock. No one out there compared to Moab at this time of year, which would be packed with bikers. 8 miles.

Kevin and squirrel on rock to left of him

Hooked up with Lisa (Parsons) Delfiner and David after our ride. They have been traveling in their converted 4X4 Mercedes Sprinter Van with their 2 dogs for the last 4 months, making it all the way to Florida. They adjusted their travels to Hurricane/La Verkin when they found out our dates, and the weather for the slot canyons in Escalante was not good. They came over for dinner and a late evening before heading off into the hills, in their van, for the night.

April 19, Guacamole Trails, Virgin Ut.

Tom and Lori went home first thing this morning. We are on our own. Made the pleasant drive to the Guacamole Trails. Went out Margarita to Salt on the Rim. Back on Margarita to Holy Guacamole. Then onto Lime to Guacamole. Nice rolling trails on the mesa. 11 miles. Great ride

Francine by pool on Salt on the Rim

Francine on Holy Guacamole

Kevin stretching the hips on Holy Guacamole

Francine on Holy Guacamole

Rest break on Lime trail

April 18, The Jem Trails

We thanked Lori for the shuttle ride to the top of the Jem trails. We descended Dead Ringer to Cryptobiotic to Hurrican Rim Trail for 13.5 miles, plus the 2 miles back to our house.

Francine and Tom on Dead Ringer

Tom on Dead Ringer

Francine on Dead Ringer

Tom and Francine

Tom and Francine on Hurricane Rim Trail

April 17, Lakeside and the Boy Scout Trails, Hurricane Ut.

Where to ride after it rains? Internet told us the Boy Scout Trails. We climbed Lakeside trail to the end. Retraced our steps to Varsity Scout to Boy Scout. and Back out on Lakeside trail to Twist and Shout. These trails don't seem to see much use. It seems they were made by the boy scouts, but we had a fun day. 8 miles.

Francine on Lakeside trail

Tom descending Varsity Scout

Kevin at end of Boy Scout

Tom with Francine in distance on Lakeside Trail

April 16, Zion Park in the rain

Weather forecast today called for rain, so since Tom and Lori have the Senior Park pass for life, we headed to Zion. We had a leisurely morning, and got to the park just in time for the parking lots in the park be declared full. Luckily we got a place on the road and didn't have to exit the park to find one of the paid lots in the town of Springville.

Had a 4 shuttle wait, as there were many others like us, viewing the park in the rain. Many families are on spring break. Can't imagine the circus show this place would be in the summer. We rode the shuttle to the end, stop 9, and got off. Instead of doing the hike at the end that everyone was doing, we opted to hike down river, on a trail alongside the road.

The intrepid rain hikers - Lori, Tom, Francine & Kevin

Riverside trail - not on map - not named

Zion

Lori, Francine & Tom

Hiked to shuttle stop 8 and had a snack. Caught shuttle to #6, and walked to Zion Lodge, the only place offering food in the park. We were glad we packed sandwiches, as they were much tastier than the hot dogs and burgers being sold. The rain started coming down harder, and we found refuge in the Zion lodge, theater room, that they so nicely opened up.

After our lunch, went to the museum for the movie, and Tom picked us up and headed back to our house.

April 15, Wire Mesa, Virgin, Ut.

Tom, hooking up on Wire Mesa trail

Rolled in to our nice rambler in La Verkin Ut. Hooked up with Tom and Lori for our first week. We started the trip with a nice mesa loop called Wire Mesa. Super fun flowy trails with minimal elevation gain. Nice way to ease into the trails surrounding St George.

Tom

Francine

April 13, Eagle Mt. Utah

Cruising the trails at Mountain Ranch Bike Park

After Boise we were searching for decent weather. Salt Lake City had fresh snow right above town. Our usual stomping ground, corner canyon in Draper, was covered in snow. Thanks to Facebook and an active Utah group, word was out that the only snow free trails were near Saratoga Springs, up in suburbia land at Eagle Mt. Expectations were low, parking lot was packed with everyone from Salt Lake City and all the sprawl that it encompasses. Riding was, actually, quite nice. Cranked out one big loop. Sucess.

April 11/12 Boise Foothills

Its springtime and that means it is time to hit the road and get our mountain bike season rolling. This year we are headed to La Verkin Utah to get some seventy degree weather and explore new trails. Sticking to our regular driving schedule we stopped in Boise for decent weather window and to get a couple rides in the foothills above downtown Boise.