Canyonlands Adventure Ride. May 2-5

CANYONLANDS ADVENTURE RIDE
To help support The Utah Shared Access Alliance and keep open recreation in Utah.


What:
-Indian Ruins, Vast Vistas, Amazing Riding, Mountains, Canyons, Complete Isolation, got your attention! This ride will tour some of the most epic, remote and rugged terrain in southeast Utah. Riders need to be self sufficient from the bike for at least on night of primitive camping.




When:
-May 2-5 2013 (or the 3-5 if meeting in Moab)
Where:
-There are two options on where to start. If you want a three-day adventure the ride will start on May 2nd at Rabbit Valley in Colorado. We will ride the Kokopelli trail into Moab. Anyone that can only make the 3rd-5th we will meet on the morning of the 3rd in Moab, UT. The ride will then finish in Moab on the 5th.
Lodging: The night of the 2nd will be in Moab and for now it is up to everyone individually to find lodging. If there is enough interest I will get a group site at a BLM Campground and we can split the cost ($5-7 per person Id guess).

The Night of the 3rd will be primitive camping in the backcountry, there will be no amenities.

The night of the 4th will be tent camping in a BLM primitive campground. I will provide all the BBQ you can eat as well as all the beer you can drink.



Route:
-2nd Kokopelli trail from Rabbit Valley to Moab.
-3rd Lockhart basin from Moab, through the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park, and over Elephant Hill into Ruin Park.
-4th Over the Mante La Sal through Wooden Shoe Rd to Lake Powell, then up through the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park to the San Rafael Swell for BBQ and Beer. This will be a full day or riding.
-5th Back to Moab, via what ever route the groups wants. Either pavement, or from Green River through Dubinky Wells to Moab, or everyone can head home from there.

Details:
-This is an Adventure style ride and we will be in the wilderness. Riders need to be able to carry enough supplies and gear for one night of camping in the backcountry on their bike. Ridding will be moderate, with a few challenging sections at different areas, but for the most part two track dirt roads. The Kokopelli section and Elephant Hill will the most difficult.

Bike choice is up to you (hey we’re all adults). It would be best for a bike under 650cc, for the difficult sections as described above. However if there are a few larger bikes I will provide an alternate route for the 3-4 difficult areas. I have not ridden anything over a 650cc bike in this area, but I really think if we work as a group there will be no problem getting a bike under 1000ccs through (ie BMW 800 or KTM Adv9xx).

Just as a disclaimer ...This is very remote country and the severity of any problems, either with rider or bike, are multiplied several times. Something minor in other areas can turn very serious and this means both in terms of mechanical problems and injuries. Participants should be accomplished riders with a high skill level, who are sufficient and capable of self rescue. Also riders should try and do this ride with a "buddy" so if they need to bail there is a riding partner with them.

Gas will be limited and we need a range of 180 miles.

Riders need tools and spare parts for basic repairs.

This ride gives you the opportunity to see some amazing county and there is a possibility what we ride could be closed or very limited in the future. Click here for information on this threat.

So how’s that sound!!! Who's in

NIce

Count me in!!!

Great!!!

Just for simplicity we will do the planning in the regional thread....
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=845219

As we get more people we can start talking about who all whats to do the Kokopelli Trail on Thursday into Moab.

Ben

Ok regarding the fuel range. I think I may have over estimated.........

I just got the tracks done from Moab to Hite. The longest leg from the outpost to Hite is 113 miles. Add in range to explore the ruins, reserve etc and I think we will need 150 miles and that will be pretty conservative. Hopefully that will help some people out if they were on the fence about range.


Just a little more info on how I envisioned the days for riding.

-Day one will be about about +- 80 miles from Moab to Ruin Park. Most of the riding is pretty fast and open with the exception of Elephant Hill and area through Canyonlands going into Beef Basin and Ruin Park. This area has a few difficult obstacles and the riding in general is more demanding for about 8-10 miles. I would like to leave Moab no later then 8am and get to the camping spot by about 2-3pm. This will leave plenty of time for people to explore and get some good riding in with the bikes unloaded around beef basin.

-Day two will be the longest day probably 150-170 miles (still working on the complete track) and I think it will be a full 8-10 hours of riding to get into the Swell. All this will be pretty easy riding with amazing scenery. The longest leg to gas will be about 120 miles.

-Day three can be challenging or a mild ride back to Moab depending on what people want and here it would be easy to split into two groups. From the Swell to Green River it is fast graded county roads, sit back and relax kind of riding. Once in Green River we can ride single track through the Dubinky area for an ass kicker finish or stay to to the county roads. Longest leg to gas will be around 80-100 miles.



If people are up to a good day of single track we can unload all the camping gear from the bikes at the Swell and my wife can haul the gear and meet us in Moab.

Hopefully that helps with the range questions.

Hey everyone,

So a little more info on how this ride is shaping up......Most of the stufff is being discussed in the regional post in the rockies, but for any out of towners this is where we are.


There will be two ride options:
-One will be a light, fast moving group who will be riding straight thru to Blanding on day one. Ridefreak (thanks!!) will be heading up this aspect of the ride. There will not be much time for pictures, exploring, etc and it will be a full day of riding and most people are planning on staying in a hotel and eating out in Blanding. The second day they will meet up with the rest of the group for the BBQ and Beers and the remainder of the ride. They can drop off their sleeping bag/tent with a support vehicle in Moab on Friday AM.

-The second option is for those that want to camp off the bikes on day 1 in Ruin Park and leave time for exploring etc. This group will follow the outline I laid out for the ride in the original post. We have a lot of terrain to cover, but with the loaded bikes it will be slower paced than the first option.

Additionally we will try and run at least 3 groups (maybe 4) with 6-7 in each group. This will keep the pace of the entire ride faster, the dust down and let everyone settle into their "grove". We will iron this out more in the future but Ridefreak will be running a group from option 1, I will be running a group from option 2, and then we will see how the ride progresses for the other group.


Based on the remoteness and all the potential for problems I am going to limit the ride to 20 riders. This has got a lot of interest and some people will not know if they can make it till next year so I hate to do this. Between the high potential for problems a larger groups generates and the issues a lot of riders will create for the supported 2nd night BBQ, I dont see much of an option though.

With that in mind I have set up a registration page here so people can pay with a credit card and reserve a spot.

There are several spots accounted for already so anyone that is interested needs to register ASAP. If you replied with an "in" either contact me via PM or register on the above link.

The registration will cover the donation to Utah Shared Access as well as the BBQ and Beer. If we run a supported gas stop in the Swell everyone will need to pitch in for gas on the 2nd night, but we can straighten that out later.


I hope this will give people a few more options, yet still be able to see some great country. If there are any questions either post up here or PM me.

Also let me know if anyone is interested in riding the koko on thursday into moab.

Thanks,
ben

Hey everyone the ride is now FULL. Sorry this was so quick and I apologize if people wanted to do it that did not get in.
Please follow the regional thread, Im sure it will be a good read.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=845219



Ben

Ride is Full. Big bummer.

I've ridden in that area twice in the last year. I loved Kokopelli and Lockhart basin and it would be a shame to see it closed. I'd be willing to donate for the cause. PM me if'n yer interested.

Garrett

Garrett,

It is an amazing place and it would be a shame to loose it.

There is information here about what you can do to help. There is also a Thread in the Rockies about the issues we may face.


If you can donate any money the best way to do that is going to http://www.usaall.org/ and donate directly there. You can read about all kinds of access issues in Utah and what this group is doing to help keep some of the most beautiful and remote places open.


Thanks for the support,
Ben

Thanks Ben!

Ah man, this sounded really good. Think I could get the tracks from you?

would really apreciate the track, i would go if you have room, what if someone backs out < PM me please
thanks

So, is the campsite location in the Swell set yet? If not, I can suggest a few prime locations. I've been visiting the Swell for almost 20 years now. My first trips were taken with hand drawn Dick Brass maps and directions.

Will sag be able to haul bags/tents/pads/beer for those of us too lazy to carry our own? It's still possible that PrairieRider will be able to join the Sag team. Our week long trip to Camp Pendleton just got shortened, so we're going to plan on the entire week in Utah.

So this post was the crosspost from upcoming that I guess got moved to Rockies.

Lets still use the Regional Thread for planning etc here....
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=845219

Hellsickle......

yep we will haul the stuff for you guys into the swell, we can meet Thursday night in Moab for the handoff.

I sent you a PM regarding camping.

Ben

Waiting list?

Waiting list +1
Tracks +1