Moab 5/26

I’m writing from the last campsite on Sandy Flats Road, the Juniper site—recommended by the ranger as the best campsite, primarily because it’s 7 miles down the road and not as many people use it.

I camped last night on the first campsite on Sandy Flats, right by the Slickrock trail.  It was nice—lots of cool rock stuff to play on.  After the rain quit (it rained super hard), and as the sun set there were some folks 4 wheelin’ near the campsite.  I envied their ability to climb with ease to high points, but realized that I, too, could climb the rocks with relative ease.  I grabbed the camera and ran into the desert. [uh, it's not letting me copy these pictures, sorry]

I stayed out until it got reasonably dark, hoping to see some critters, but every time a truck or a motorcycle would make a racket the wildlife got quiet.  One Wheeler carried a gang of what sounded like young-ish girls.  They screamed and whooped and hollered and shouted as the 4-wheeler inched its way up a rock.  The absurdly slow movement of the truck coupled with the excited and sometimes fearful screams was actually pretty funny.

So I imagine tonight will be much quieter, and perhaps I will get to see some coyotes and whatever else is out here. 

Today I ran some errands—bought sunscreen, fixed bike, bought helmet, and headed up towards my campsite.  I was planning on a hike, but as I passed the trailhead for the infamous Slickrock trail, I had to pull in.  It was a good choice, too. The ride was about 15 miles, and took maybe 3 hours including a really long stop to help someone with a broken chain, or rather, to wait for them to finish using my tool to fix his chain.  He seemed to be having difficulty, so I offered an extra SRAM powerlink.  It’s like a chain link but can be attached without a tool.  We chatted, and it was a pleasant, although long, break.  In the end he handed me a dollar bill of some sort.  I refused but he insisted, and I’m not going to refuse money more than two or three times.  I didn’t look at the bill then, but turns out it was 10 bucks!  Sweet.

Ha, one dude told me they knew I had a chain tool when I pumped my way half way up the hill.  Pumping is when you gain speed by pumping the terrain, and the slickrock is prime for it.  I was flattered.  Good pumping is key to going fast with minimal effort, which I enjoy.

After the ride I reorganized my truck bed, then headed up here, and that’s where I am now.  (I’ll publish this later)

(added later:)

I didn't see any coyotes, but it was an awesome campsite.  I did a little riding nearby, explored the rocks, explored the desert.  There were canyons everywhere, lots of cool plants, and awesome lichen.  Here are pictures:

The Juniper site:

Storm developing:

pretty canyon:

juniper bush

Pretty sun: