In true Utah style, it was raining / snowing in April and a huge accident on Hwy 6 added a couple hours to our drive. Luckily, we had a cabin reserved at a campground in Moab and even in the middle of the night we were able to get into our weekend digs. Tiny little cabin with two full-size beds (bring your own bedding). One tiny little wooden tv tray style table, tiny garbage can and an electric heater. Bathrooms/showers down the road a little bit. A bit crowded inside the cabin once James' mountain bike joined us in the room. It had to defrost from the layer of ice and grime from the snowy drive.
Saturday April 30 - Mountain Biking / Hiking
First thing, pick up Brian's rental mountain bike from Poison Spider. Load up the bikes and head out to the chosen trail head.
Brian and James at Gemini Bridges trail head
Brian and Tiffany photo op!
The Jessi James Gang
While the guys were mountain biking. Tiffany and I went exploring. A quick drive through downtown Moab for gas and a wander into Arches National Park. We planned to do a hike out to an arch that I'd never hiked to before, but we only had half an hour or so before we needed to pick up our men.
Tiffany and Jessi at Tower Arch Trail
Meanwhile, the guys were exploring the Gemini Bridges trail.
James - mountain bike trail guide
The Slayer
The view on Gemini Bridges Mountain Bike Trail
The view from Eagle's Perch near the Gemini Bridges mountain bike trail
Somewhere near this overlook, Brian's rental bike broke. The part of the bike that connects the pedals and the "go". So no matter how Brian pedalled, the bike would not be propelled forward. He could go downhill just fine, but had to push the bike across the flats and any uphills. Tiffany and I ended up driving up the bottom of the Gemini Bridges jeep trail until we connected with Brian and James. Then loading up the bikes to get back to Poison Spider. We were over an hour late turning the bike back in, but because of the broken bike there wasn't any penalty for that. In fact, Poison Spider refunded Brian's rental fee. Great customer service there!
Sunday May 1 - we chose to do a little hiking in Arches National Park before the long drive back to NSL and on to Idaho Falls (for B&T)
We chose Delicate Arch - not a terribly long hike, but the arch is on everything - license plates and billboards. Plus, Tiffany had never been. And I really like the very, very short side trail over to some Indian petroglyphs.
Tiffany and Brian at Delicate Arch
Brian and James at Delicate Arch
Brian jumping over a rock cairn (I think Tiffany made him jump those rocks a dozen times before getting the perfect picture).
Jessi and James - Delicate Arch trail. I need to watch my feet while hiking, because I tend to trip on things if I'm checking out the scenery. For a little while, I decided to follow James' footsteps down the trail. Of course he noticed his pink shadow and began hiking in small loops and jumping over rocks and small cracks for me to follow him. We both had a good laugh when he walked backwards for a few steps and I tried to copy.
It was a very fun hike, a very fun trip. Always glad when family can join us for adventures.
Sadly the weekend was over. Thankfully we all had an uneventful drive back to our respective homes. Let's do it again! This has to count for our April and May dates because James is leaving for Alaska and summer work in just a few short days.