So last summer after finals a buddy and I drove from Auburn to SLC to go Mountain biking and hiking in some national parks. I drove straight the first 23 hours straight from Auburn (some sketch driving at 4 a.m. in Missouri) and about 26 of the 31 it took us to get to Salt Lake. After leaving at 4:00 P.M. Friday I finally wheeled into our hotel just outside of LCC in Salt Lake at 10:30 P.M. Saturday.
The next morning we woke up at 9:00 feeling like new people and headed out to ride Snowbird. We came in under cover of rain and darkness and my friend didn't get to see the glory that was the Wasatch. So the next day by the time we pulled into the parking lot at Snowbird his jaw was sitting in the floorboard. We pretty much were confined to tram laps on Chips run because of lots of construction and maintenance but also got a lap in on Wilbere ridge (not much different). The weather was absolutely perfect with sunny skies and a slight breeze at about 55-60 degrees but the tram was closed early due to a little bit of hail; we relaxed in line where everyone was shocked that we had driven from Alabama WITH our bikes instead of renting, news flash college students are broke!
The next day was another beautiful one and we drove over to Deer Valley where they had lots of trails open. We rode laps till about 2 (my preordained leaving time, gotta be on the road to get places) We then cruised down to the ghostly empty parking lot threw the bikes on the car pulled road food into reach and reviewed safety procedures as we took off for Moab.
We drove about 3-4 hours to Moab. It was an experience for sure, not only is Utah a crazy looking state the total mormon dominance (outside of SLC and Moab) is a very interesting thing to witness too. We set up camp that evening just above slickrock trail as the sun was setting. There was a huge sandstone ridge behind our campsite and we hiked the 5 or 600 vert to the top and enjoyed the stars. If you've never seen the stars on a clear dark night in Moab your missing out! The next morning we woke up early and road the tenth of a mile down to the trailhead. I'd been advised to ride the 1.5 mile practice loop first so we did; then we rode the 13+ mile trail. When we got done we were both wiped out. We ran out of water about a half mile short of the finish (thought I'd brought too much) and I ran out of trail snacks about 2 miles before the finish (once again thought I brought plenty but the desert sun will take it out of you) We then went up and chilled at our camp with some hammes hiding from the sun in our hammocks under the juniper bushes. That night we enjoyed some more hammes and safety and hiked back up to the ridge tired and feeling somehow more reverent and in touch; after about 20 minutes atop the ridge with the wind gusting cooly I felt like I had definitely attained some state of Zen! I slept that night in my hammock strung between our bikes, when I inevitably pulled them over I just slept on top of the sand in my hammock. What an awesome day and night!
The following morning I woke up as early as I could and ran into town for some food, water, and ice at the corner store. I then kicked my buddy out of his sleeping bag we hurriedly put our camp and all our possessions back in the Honda Civic. We flew through arches hiking out to Delicate arch and visiting some other highlights; we then took off for canyonlands and flew through the park stopping at each point to sprint by hundreds of foreign tourists get a few sick pics and run back to the car jump in and pass a couple more on the wrong side of the road on the way to the next objective. We immediately reviewed safety procedures again and took off on the 4 hour drive to Bryce.
We got to Bryce JUST before sunset; biked to sunset point and enjoyed a spectacular view. We biked back to our campsite in the dark, enjoyed a wasatch brew and went to sleep. Waking up and taking down camp early (5:30) the next morning in Bryce was tough but not after glimpsing it's amazing beauty the day before. We drove our bikes to bryce pt and locked them and then drove back down to sunrise pt and hiked from there to the hat shop then back up to bryce point and jumped on our bikes back to the car. About 7 miles of hiking and a mile and a half bike to the car. We once again flew through the park experiencing ridiculous view after ridiculous view until reaching Rainbow Pt. the highest point in the park where we turned around.
After predrive safety checks we took off for Breck. We got off the interstate in Frisco after 12 hours or so of driving expecting to be near Kite lake park. After another 3 and a half hours of driving at almost 4 am in the morning we finally reached our destination and passed out. The next day we woke up early and headed to breck; we got to the mountain at about 10 but had to wait an hour as right as we reached the base lift a hail/rainstorm blew through. (definitely not August in Auburn!) After a few laps we rode past the lift sadly but at breakneck speed and scorched down to the bottom parking lot where we grabbed food products out of the trunk put the bikes on the back of the car and began the 24 hour drive back to Auburn. After about 13 straight hours of driving I finally called it quits in Tulsa; Slept from 3 am to about 9:30 in tulsa and got up and drove the last 12 hours back to Auburn getting in around 10 P.M. 5500 miles and 9 days later we were both very satisfied and tired!
The End of an Era...We are Shutting Down the Messageboard
The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
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The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.
We really hope you all will join us on Discord and think you will like the platform. Use the invite link below to join.
https://discord.gg/skisoutheast
Tr Mountain biking...Auburn->Salt Lake->Moab->Breckenridge->Auburn
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Brewskis
- Beginner
- Posts: 95
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:19 am
@k2josh 231006 wrote:And not a bike in any damn one of them...I saw the pieces of a bike...TR overkill=TR fail...
I have to agree..after waiting and waiting for this thread to load completely and then scrolling and scrolling and scrolling looking for the bike pictures and not a one.
I have to agree..after waiting and waiting for this thread to load completely and then scrolling and scrolling and scrolling looking for the bike pictures and not a one.