Farley Goes to Moab and the Mighty Palouse, Day 6: Girls' Hike and a Check-up for Farley

I caught an awful cold and laryngitis on the way to Lake Powell with my friend Yvonne a few weeks ago.  I was over it before this trip but apparently gave it to Marc.  Who gave it to Other Mark while they shared the Casita before Jo and I arrived.  Then he also gave it back to me.  Somehow, Jo's been immune to it so far.  But three of the four of us at this campsite sound like hell, stuffed up and coughing. Lucky for Wayne and Cindy, they're staying at a cabin in town, far away from the germs.

Today Marc and Wayne rode Porcupine Rim.  I opted out.  Partly because I was so exhausted yesterday, partly because I was scared. They finished with just one crash between them--Marc's.  One of his knees is a little banged up.

I had called the most highly-rated auto repair place in town yesterday to see if they could take a look at the clunk coming from under Farley on bumps.  They said they could get him in at noon today.  So Jo and I dropped him off while Other Mark shuttled Marc and Wayne to their ride.  Then we hooked up with Cindy for a girls' hike to Hidden Valley.  With directions from Marc and Other Mark, who did the hike last week, we still didn't find the petroglyphs.  Turns out we didn't go far enough.  But it was a good climb to a gorgeous meadow, one not like anything else I've seen in Moab.

Hidden Valley. 

And it turns out all Farley needed was to have his lower shock bolts tightened. Best $50 spent.  It was a little expensive for such a simple fix, but the peace of mind that the wheel isn't going to fall off is worth it.

Farley Goes to Moab and the Mighty Palouse, Day 5: The Best Trail Ever, but Not the Best Day Riding It

Today Other Mark shuttled Wayne, Marc and me to the start of Mag 7, my favorite trail in Moab.  But sometimes, you just aren't feeling it and I didn't ride it very well.  I stopped and got off too many times without even trying the things that looked challenging to me.  Plus I got a flat. We finished the ride and then rode the eight miles back to town, which is mostly downhill but today was also into a headwind the whole way so it was still work even though I was exhausted.

Marc loves to have his
picture taken.  On Mag 7.

Me, at a moment of not being

a chicken-shit.

 
As we went toward the bridge over the Colorado River, here was a guy sitting there on a huge rock with what looked like some long poles or ropes.  I said, "Hey, whatcha got there?"  He said he had a slackline and if we waited a minute, he'd be getting on it.  So we waited and watched with amazement.  It was windy and looked especially challenging.

Dude slack-lining the Colorado River.

We biked on to the Moab Brewery where the tap beer is Utah-awful (Utahful?) but the house-made root beer is good.  As are the 25c wings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  After eating to our stomachs' content, we loaded our bikes into Other Mark's truck and headed back to camp, where we celebrated with Halloween masks by the fire.  P.S.  No trick-or-treaters ... 

When you don't get trick-or-treaters,
you have to make your own fun.

Farley Goes to Moab and the Mighty Palouse, Day 4: Not Every Day Is Exciting

After a lot of hemming and hawing and about what to do for far too long, we decided to head into town for some free wifi at the visitors' center so Marc could read the sports news.  I happened to see a poster there for Day of the Dead celebration in the afternoon, and then I ran into Other Mark and Jo at the bookstore, so we decided to all go over together.  It was a pretty big celebration, with alters, candles to be lit, an educational area about death rituals in many different countries, and much more.  Unfortunately there wasn't any food available a la carte, and we weren't hungry enough for a $10 platter. I must say, though, that what Other Mark and Jo bought looked incredibly tasty and authentic.

Day of the Dead festival

One of the altars. 

Awesome mariachi band from Salt Lake.

After the festival, Marc and I headed up to try a new-to-us trail on the edge of town, Mill Creek Rim.  We unloaded the bikes, got all ready, headed up the trail, and then couldn't find where it went up to the ridge.  We looked everywhere.  It was supposedly a blue intermediate trail, so you'd think it would be pretty easy to find. Not like we should be climbing straight up a pile of rocks. We gave up and went back downtown where Marc read a little more at the visitors' center and I rode my bike along the length of the river trail.  Got to see some parts of Moab I'd never seen before!

Some parts of Moab

(this is the dirt part of the
river trail) are just like home.

Cool bench near the youth garden on the bike trail.