The Mobius Trip

[DR. Rock]

and before leaving Swasey cabin we had our ritual afternoon talk about how far we would ride and what our options were for shelter for the night.

"Where are we?"

"The middle of nowhere, actually."

"Where can we stay?"

"Hmmmm.... let me check the GPS... there's not really anything in the way of campgrounds, or certainly not hotels... looks like we'll be cowboy camping tonight, so keep your eyes peeled for a good place to pull off the trail"



"What?"

"I don't like that.

Scorpions. Coyotes. Snakes."

"C'mon... you're joking. It'll be excellent."



"Really, you'll see, it'll be fine."

"What's the riding like next?"

" Well, I don't know for sure, but it looks like we're going down into another canyon for awhile... Let me pull up the Topo map... yep, another wash -- down Eagle Canyon"



"How far?"

"Well, we could probably camp right around here, and tackle the canyon in the morning... it's only a few miles though."



"No, let's ride some more."

"OK, you lead."



I'll let her describe what happened next right about here:

[La Donna Fugata]

You see I was determined to make it to the next town to stay in a hotel . Wilderness camping, not for me . Hence the reason to push forward through Eagle Creek Canyon. Little did I know there was not ONE canyon to traverse but THREE. Shortly after this photo (excuse my noobieness but I do not know how to insert photo here), I dropped my bike .

What followed was not pretty. I had my first major melt down: ...... You've got the picture.

Blame it on the heat, blame it on the terrain, blame it on the time of day, blame it on my noobieness (new word) but I was DONE (for the day that is ).

Needless to say.....we were WILDERNESS CAMPING . When all was said and done, it was one of the most memorable moments of the trip. He has the best ideas "sometimes"

[Klay]

Excellent!

[scarysharkface]

[Bonnie Abbzug]

Originally Posted by La Donna Fugata

You see I was determined to make it to the next town to stay in a hotel . Wilderness camping, not for me . Hence the reason to push forward through Eagle Creek Canyon. Little did I know there was not ONE canyon to traverse but THREE. Shortly after this photo (excuse my noobieness but I do not know how to insert photo here), I dropped my bike .

What followed was not pretty. I had my first major melt down: ...... You've got the picture.

Blame it on the heat, blame it on the terrain, blame it on the time of day, blame it on my noobieness (new word) but I was DONE (for the day that is ).

Needless to say.....we were WILDERNESS CAMPING . When all was said and done, it was one of the most memorable moments of the trip. He has the best ideas "sometimes"

I think you did fantstic LDF! I know how it is to be completely mentally exhausted from riding in challenging terrain for hours/days on end - I've had my share of melt downs too, which always seem really silly after a beer and a good nights rest, but in the moment it's serious business and I'm completely unreasonable. Thank doG for Duke and Dr. Rock, they do a fantastic job of keeping us from going off the deep end!!

I really am enjoying this report! All the more so, because I can sooo relate to what you went through!

[nachtflug]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

If there's one photo that is iconic of the trip (and I knew it would be when I snapped it) it's this one of LDF on the White Rim trail. A potential front-page candidate? ... what do you guys think?

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by Bonnie Abbzug

I think you did fantstic LDF! I know how it is to be completely mentally exhausted from riding in challenging terrain for hours/days on end - I've had my share of melt downs too, which always seem really silly after a beer and a good nights rest, but in the moment it's serious business and I'm completely unreasonable. Thank doG for Duke and Dr. Rock, they do a fantastic job of keeping us from going off the deep end!!

I really am enjoying this report! All the more so, because I can sooo relate to what you went through!

Riding as part of a group can be a challenge, but also rewarding. Riding with your S.O. can be exponentially challenging, and exponentially rewarding. It's not like when a couple of guys get a little sick of one another, or have different riding styles, or expertise, or expectations.... they can just say "Hey, lets meet up here at the end of the day", or "you go ahead and camp, I'm getting a hotel room," no problem. For us, that's not an option.

Don't get me wrong, we are great partners both traveling and everywhere else. But every once in awhile...

Tami, you're right, we laughed about it well before we went to sleep for the night, but at the time, here's what was going on:

I knew that once we left Green River the realistic probability that we'd be able to reach a hotel in Salina was about 1%. For that to happen LDF would have to acquire some major sand riding skills along the way, allowing us to pick the pace up twofold, and even then it would be a long, long day.

All along, I was confident we'd be able to find somewhere to camp, we had adequate water, food, everything. She, on the other hand, had in her head that getting to Salina was possible, and when she realized it clearly wasn't, felt like I had misrepresented both the difficulty of the terrain, and the distance. As a consequence, I was accused of perpetrating an elaborate ruse, a conspiracy of one, to trick her into cowboy camping, which she hates the idea of, but loves to do.

There was also the issue of the camelbak spigot. Her water consumption increases whenever we can't refill. It's like a pacifier. Meanwhile, I go into conservation mode. Sure, I avoid dehydration, but I'm always thinking, keep some in reserve, just in case whatever.

So as she's melting down, she's desperately reaching for her camelbak hose, but it's flipped around behind her so she can't reach it. I try to help. You can imagine how well that went over:

Francine, in your description, you get a "9.5" for use of smilies to tell the story. For a full "10" you'd have to have used this one:



So we had a little "time-out", during which composure was restored, and having resigned herself to wilderness camping, and certainly NOT wanting to stop where we were in Eagle Canyon (tempting certain death by flash flood drowning), she decided to press on 'till we got through the Eagle canyon wash.

[DR. Rock]

I took the lead:



It was almost 5pm, and the light was fantastic.



Francine was so focused on riding, that she didn't realize we passed this until I showed her this photo that evening:



Once we got down into the wash, she took back the lead.



I told her that there really wasn't any navigating to be done, since there was nowhere else to go besides the canyon.



But that's not actually true. There's a trail, and there's the dry stream bed, (the wash). Sometimes they're the same, and sometimes they aren't.



And often you don't know until you start down one fork or the other. Then it's an energy-draining turn-around, back-track, and try the other choice.



But it really was beautiful.



Well, except for the silt. It makes you fall. The aftermath:



I think this was the one where her ankle got pinned, and we had a little scare. All better by the next day, though.

[DR. Rock]

of themselves on a motorcycle, HERE:



Deserves a big and a pat on the back. They've earned it. There is no easy way to get to this point,



and there's no easy way out. There is no bail-out, no go-around. You take your photo, take a sip of water, rinse the grit out of your teeth again, and RIDE ON.

[DR. Rock]

for quite awhile.



the section between the I-70 overpass arches, and the little tunnel that goes under I-70, is just a few miles, but it is some of the gnarliest ATV-trail riding on the TAT up to this point.



LDF tackled it like a champ.



It is one of the few sections that I doubt that a high-clearance full-sized 4WD vehicle could make it through.



I mean, this was ugly, and long.



end of the day...



beyond tired, exhausted.



We stopped to check out a potential camping spot, but it was just a rock ledge.



I checked the TOPO map on the GPS, and saw that just after we crossed I-70 again, we got to some flatter terrain. We pressed on... just. a. little. further.

[DR. Rock]

Heads up. Anyone riding the TAT, who has a photo here:



deserves some major kudos.

[DR. Rock]

well out of earshot of the interstate, this was our reward: The Justensen Flats.



We couldn't get out of our boots, and off the bikes fast enough.



We set up the tent, collected firewood



and enjoyed the most amazing sunset and (full) moon rise.

[DR. Rock]

straight-up. For medicinal purposes only.



Cheers.
all part of my water-conservation strategy.

[DR. Rock]

we stopped here.



"Devil's canyon"! That's what's waiting for us tomorrow.

[scarysharkface]

Wow. Incredible stuff!