|   Road Trip Report | Paul B
Apr 22, 2002 8:43 AM | | Good friend and 24 Hour teammate Greg announced he was getting married the old fashioned way -- Vegas style, at the Excalibur. He giggled when he announced he had scored one of the coveted 4/20 wedding dates. We couldn't decide if that date would make it easy or hard to remember his anniversary.
Las Vegas is an easy 5 hour drive from Phoenix, so showing up was no problem. Even less of a problem was loading the bike on the truck and hitting some rides in the area. Long-suffering bike widow Susan wanted to get out of town, loves Vegas, and swore up and down that she wouldn't mind if I vanished into the back country for several hours at a time.
First stop, Boulder City to ride Bootleg Canyon. Funny thing about this town: Just 15 minutes past the AZ border north of Hoover Dam, it's practically in AZ. By way of comparison, fellow guidebook writer Gregg Bromka includes in his Utah guidebook Monument Valley -- very clearly in AZ, but there it is in his Utah book. He says it rounds out that part of the state. Well...I'm now officially naming Boulder City a part of AZ, and am contemplating putting it into my next book -- it's practically in AZ, right?
Anyway, the trails at Bootleg Canyon are nice, real nice. First off, it's an official "mountain bike park." There's easy parking and a SHOWER at the trailhead. It's featured via Xtreme photos in Bike Magazine all the time. Lots of downhill courses, a dual slalom track, lots of tricky XC riding. Groovy. The view sucks: This is the bleakest, most desolate chunk of lava rock you'll ever ride in, on, and around. If you take one of the trails back, back, back and behind the caldera of the old volcano, you can get a nice view of Las Vegas; another trail gets you a view of Lake Mead. The riding itself is sufficiently interesting that you don't take your eyes off the trail very often. Couldn't find a map, have no idea what trails I took. Definitely worth a repeat visit.
When I wrap up my first ride in Bootleg Canyon, I've got about an hour to kill before the bike widow returns to pick me up, so I go scouting the weird maze of tracks that wind around below the big-ass BC painted on the side of the mountain. Some scary stuff! Some of the trails are cut about 6" into the edge of very steep drop-offs, and then the trail turns and goes straight DOWN the steep drop-off at some insane grade. I think my odometer said I hit about 40 at the bottom of a couple of them, just before shooting straight up the other side. Crazy.
Probably 100 yards from the trailhead. I'm buzzing around the last lip of the last hill and see a couple bikers above me -- the first I've seen all day -- on a Saturday afternoon! -- which is mind-blowing given that BC is supposed to be the very, very best biking in the whole state. I look up. The bike decides to dump me unceremoniously into the lava rock. Sonofabitch! A 45 second ride from the trailhead, and I've plowed my knee into frigging LAVA ROCK.
It's not pretty. Lots o' blood. Lots and lots. A big, nasty gash across the kneecap. More blood. Beneath all the blood, a pretty good stretch of especially deep trail rash. The rash hurts way more than the gash.
Sigh. Back on the bike, pedal into town to the Sav-On drug store for supplies. Call the bike widow and let her know that I'm whimpering in the public restroom with a bottle of peroxide and some triple antibiotic ointment.
Contemplate a trip to the hospital. Forget it, I've got a wedding to go to.
A short nap and additional triage later, we're at the Excalibur. They've got weddings every 30 minutes in the Canterbury Chapel. The whole previous wedding party seems like they have the serious munchies. Good thing they film the whole ceremony; I don't think most people attending a 4/20 ceremony are going to remember much of it.
Day two. We're out of the stinking hole that |
| Yet another Passion post cut off | Pirate Girl
Apr 22, 2002 9:16 AM | | What happened to Day Two? Ah well, you're probably out spending all that dough you won in Vegas anyways ;-)
P-) |
| WTF? | Paul B
Apr 22, 2002 9:50 AM | | Anyone know what the "official" max length of a message is now?
p. |
| Road Trip Day 2 | Paul B
Apr 22, 2002 9:25 AM | | Day two. We're out of the stinking hole that is Las Vegas and headed to St. George, UT and parts east for a day at Gooseberry Mesa. It's just a couple hours to St. George, then another hour-or-so (in theory) through Hurricane and on to the mesa. I've got a trusty Falcon guidebook with me, so what could go wrong?
Well, at least we found the Smithsonian Bluff Scenic Byway on our first try. Gooseberry Mesa road is not at all marked. In fact, someone has posted a "Camp-o-Ree!" sign at the correct turnoff. But before we figure that out, the bike widow and I drive damn near to Zion via the byway, turn around, go nearly all the way back to the highway, and roll the dice on a promising-looking turnoff that heads directly toward Smithsonian Bluff.
The pickup gets stuck in a sand pit.
For the next hour, the bike widow and I collect several hundred pounds' worth of big rocks and try to bury them under the rear wheels. The sand is so soft that, when the wheels catch the rocks they actually spit out the back. I hike back to an abandoned cabin, tear down a wall, and bring back some old wooden planks. The planks, along with my fat ass and some rocks in the bed of the truck, get us cut loose from the silt and back on our way.
Eventually we find the Camp-o-Ree! road and give it a shot. Why not? It's already 4:30 and I've pretty much blown the day on driving and backcountry survival. The road, of course, leads to Gooseberry Mesa.
4:30 and the sun is already getting low. I look at the book again, get a feel for the map, change as fast as I can, refresh the dressings on my knee (still draining), and haul ass toward the Point Trail.
Oh damn is it hard.
Lots of slickrock. Beautiful, wonderful, fun, tricky slickrock. The trail is amazing, really world-class. The views -- sorry, no camera -- of Zion and Smithsonian Bluff are staggering. But, being tricky slickrock it means I'm puttering along at 5-6 mph, tops, while I try to not kill myself.
Bikers are leaving the park in droves, whizzing in the opposite direction to beat the sunset. Oh yeah...that. I make it out to the overlook point, the very farthest western edge of the mesa, and take in the sunset. Wow, truly. Another return visit.
About getting back, fast. I know the slickrock trail is a non-starter. Too hard, and I'll break something important if I try to run it fast. I wander around the point overlook for a good 30 minutes looking for more white dots on the rock, but nothing. Somehow I stumble onto Gooseberry Mesa Road, a moderately gnarly dirt road that should theoretically lead back to the trailhead. Switch out the dark shields for clear shields, and I'm off as fast as I can pedal.
The bike widow has the cell phone in her hand, trying to find a signal so she can call search and rescue. Sorry, honey!
Rather than staying the night in Hurricane (igh!), I make the executive decision to push through the night to Phoenix. Shouldn't be more than about six hours.
In short: awesome 2-day trip. I would've liked to have gone back to Las Vegas and caught Red Rock Canyon (today, this morning in fact) but work and responsibilities has dragged me back.
I'll definitely be putting together a camping/riding trip with friends. Highest possible recommendations for both Bootleg Canyon and Gooseberry Mesa.
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