What Are You Looking For? Observations from the Road.

Jay and I had four main goals when undertaking our vanlife adventure.

1. Visit National Parks;
2. Hit up mountain bike trails across the country;
3. Explore the U.S. in general, and while we're doing that; 
4. Scope out potential new places to live when vanlife came to an end.

My brother-in-law and his fiance bought us one of the best gifts anyone could have given us last Christmas which was an annual pass to the national parks. Considering each park carries an entrance fee of generally $25-$35, that adds up really fast.  As we're on somewhat of a limited budget for the year, we wouldn't have stopped at half of the parks we did if it wasn't for the park pass.  Of course, we would have purchased it for ourselves if it wasn't gifted to us, but it was nice not to have to shell out the money for it, especially when a significant amount of money was being dumped into the van build and getting our house ready to sell during that time.  One thing to consider is that you order the pass online and it gets mailed to your address. I don't recall that it's something you can buy at any national park office on the spot so if you're planning on traveling, order the pass before you hit the road so you have it in hand when you leave.

I like to people watch and one of the things I have enjoyed doing while traveling is to observe other people's experiences and reactions from my single, one sided point of view. I want to know what folks are looking for when they are out in nature. My first observation as a whole is the large number of rental RV’s we’ve seen around the country and the amount of people traveling in camper vans like ours. As we moved further towards the west coast, we encountered more and more RV’s and vans. It’s evident that a lot of people want to explore our beautiful country and they want a more personalized experience in lieu of booking hotel rooms or staying at resorts, none of which are bad options.

The national parks are hotbeds for visitors, especially in the summertime, obviously. You usually really need to plan ahead if you want to stay at one of the campsites, many of them booking up a year or more in advance.  Since we only decided to do van life last September and had no idea what travel trajectory we were taking, we made no campsite reservations at any of the parks and opted instead for drive throughs or short hikes in some of the parks.

It’s really a beautiful experience to see the amount of people, all ages, all nationalities, all everything that want to see what our national parks have to offer from sweeping views, canyons, waterfalls, wildlife, mountains, wildflowers, all of it. Some just seem to want the perfect selfie stick picture in front of Half Dome or Old Faithful, others want to just sit in the middle of a field and stare in wonderment at what is sitting before them - a big slab or rock or a waterfall. While some seem mesmerized by what is before them and may feel minuscule in the midst of, say, the Grand Tetons, others want to climb and conquer the rock wall of El Capitan in Yosemite. You can almost definitively pick out the Type A and Type B personalities of the various groups - not really those that cower and those that conquer but those that are content to just sit and revel in the grandeur that is before them and those that want to climb the highest peak to get a better view.

I know there are some people that don’t necessarily like spending time outside or in nature. I’m the sort that needs to spend at least a part of my day outside, whether it was taking a walk at lunchtime when I was working, jogging before work, mountain biking after work or just sitting on my back stoop in the evening for a few minutes. I gain energy from the trees and grass and love watching birds and squirrels do their thing and I think a lot of people feel that same energy and seek it out. We want to be surrounded by things that are bigger than us that have been fixtures in the world for hundreds and thousands of years before us to help us understand that when we don’t seek out these experiences, we can obsess over small, inconsequential things in our life and lose track of what is important. All lessons that need to be learned can be found in nature and time spent there can be a time of reflection, relaxation and recharging. In this silly world of social media likes and unrealistic Instagram pictures or Pinterest projects, nature shows us that it doesn’t need any of that to be something people flock to and want to experience because it’s pure and beautiful whether it’s cracked, worn down, scorched by fire or eroded by wind and rain. It moves and changes on its own time and does what it needs to do to survive and thrive or it knows when to gracefully fade away and incorporate itself back into the ecosystem.

  

Three Things. What I miss and don't miss about my prior life after two months of vanlife.

I wanted to keep track of where my head is during our vanlife excursion and document whether my mindset changes while we continue further into our trip with what will be just under 12 months on the road when all is said and done.  As far as Jay and I know, vanlife will be a temporary lifestyle for us and we've even talked about selling the van next year to help afford other ventures we're considering going forward, but we still have quite some time in this current set up and we’re not trying to rush anything just yet.

It’s been just over two months since we started traveling. Here are three of the more major things that I miss and don't miss about my old conventional, home owning, 9-5 legal secretary mindset.

Things I Don't Miss

• Home Ownership.  I bought my home in 2006. We lived in our house for 13 years and from day one, literally the day we got the keys, we started renovating and making changes. Initially the changes were cosmetic so we could move in and not stare at children's crayon drawings on the blood red dining room walls or look at blue tile in the shower stall that had been partially re-grouted with brown grout to (not) match the rest of the white grout.  We had about a month before our lease ended in our apartment and spent the time sanding and refinishing the floors, painting the entire house, pulling down the shower tiles and installing a cheap but 100% nicer than what we had plastic shower surround system, and replacing the kitchen cabinets with Lowes' ready made cabinets, flooring and countertops. Over the next 13 years, we took on project after project, most of which were major endeavors that involved gutting full rooms and putting them back together, tearing down a gigantic brick hearth where a wood burning stove sat to uncover the original coal fireplace and completely reconfiguring and renovating our kitchen, adding a half bath and renovating our master bath - the bathroom happening the last 2 weeks before the house went on the market.  There were many other projects over the years, and don't get me started on the shed remodel and the landscaping work.  While the work was rewarding, it was constant and never ending and if we still lived there, I have no doubt it would be continuing to this day. The house was beautiful when we sold it and despite leaving behind a bomb ass kitchen (which had been renovated only a year earlier) and new master bath that I never even got a chance to soak in, I wanted out and I wanted to never look back. I was done with it and with the constant feeling that we need to keep improving it.  I was done with the dark thoughts in the back of my head that involved possibly needing a new roof in the next few years or possibly needing to replace the main sewer line which was almost 80 years old. I was just done. I don't miss it one bit and I don't miss Richmond, Virginia either. Great city. Great breweries and restaurants. Great festivals. Great. I'm over it. 

• My Job.  I worked as a Legal Secretary in various law firms for the past 19 years. Prior to that I worked for GEICO insurance and prior to that, when I first started working at the age of 16 and through the first few years of college, I worked as a receptionist at JCPenney. I've always worked for big corporations and always had a desk job. Unfortunately, I've been told I'm a really great secretary. I say unfortunately because it's not very inspiring or necessarily aspirational. Working in the corporate world, however, offers certain things. There's stability there, benefits, vacation and sick plans and the general safety that goes along with that and the responsible, super pragmatic (boring) part of myself was ok with it and really didn’t seriously consider that there were any other options for making a living that would apply to me personally.  I was super fortunate to consistently have really great bosses and co-workers. What I disliked was the work itself. At one time, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer and almost applied to law school, but Jay encouraged me to work in a firm first before making any major life changes and incurring massive school loan debt and I'm glad I took his advice. I won't get into the specifics about what sucks or doesn't suck about being a lawyer from my observations and from working with them all these years, but I will just say that most of the time, reading legal b.s. is just that - b.s. It doesn't grip my soul and it doesn't excite me and as much as I tried to read Virginia code books, I would get through a paragraph or two and be bored to tears and resume my internet surfing. Most of the day, I had to give myself pep talks to keep me going but generally I felt that my soul was diminishing everyday and that I was wasting my life and was going to die at my desk under a stack of documents and redwelds. It was a job of constantly moving paper from one area to another and documenting whatever you did to save your ass should things go south. What I did enjoy was making my kick ass attorneys' days a little easier and I appreciated being appreciated by them. I enjoyed helping my co-workers out with personal or professional gripes and generally enjoyed being some sort of an asset in the general sense to an organization. The specifics of the job, however, were mind numbing.

• Major Stressors. I've always been a bit of a stress ball and an anxious and more serious person, which is why (I believe) I suffer from chronic digestive distress and probably one of the contributors to being diagnosed with a mild case of Crohn's Disease in 2015 (not to mention having several genetic markers for it - this is a big topic that I might address in another post and I know I probably shouldn't make blanket statements about such a serious disease, but it's also my disease and it's a very individual disease). I knew my life needed to change in a big way. I needed to make a grand gesture and not merely implement small incremental changes that I could easily gloss over or forget to enact. I needed to let go of things from my past and things that were stressing me out and that included my house, my car, and most of my possessions. I needed to let it all go and start my life over as much as I could. I needed to shed physical items and mental hindrances (the mental part is something I've been working on for years).  Of course stress still exists in my life as it's a natural part of any life, but my stresses have lessened and have changed into ones that don't have such a tight grip on my soul or my digestive tract.

Things I Miss.

• Showers. Shower time for me has always been a luxury. It’s like a spa moment every time I step into the shower stall. I never took showers or municipal water sources for granted and would often silently thank the universe that I had access to fresh running water to not just drink and wash dishes and laundry with, but especially to wash off any grit, grime, bad mood, or whatever from my body, hair and mind.  After a sweaty run, a long bike ride, a day spent renovating your house, working in your yard, walking to the mailbox, waking up in the morning, whatever - nothing beats a hot shower, especially if you just opened a new bar of soap or have a new bottle of shampoo to use.  We don't have a legit shower in the van and I miss it.  We have implementing 3 basic methods for washing up. One is the wipes system using not baby wipes but the adult version of baby wipes. This is good for light clean ups where we haven’t been sweating profusely from a mountain bike ride or hike and just need a quick freshen up. The second method is the plastic bucket method where we fill a small sink sized Tupperware type container with water and soap and take sink baths with a washcloth. (This method was also used when our master bathroom was gutted and we didn’t have a shower at home and it’s quite effective and efficient.) The third method involves setting up a collapsible tall stand up tent out of the back of the van and hook up a shower hose to our 30 gallon water tank and take the closest thing to a real shower we have available. This is the most futzy method and most time consuming. Additionally, we can't just haul out the shower tent in a Walmart parking lot. This is generally reserved for post mountain bike rides where we are parked in the woods at a trailhead or on a forest service road of some sort. The last time we used the tent shower was when we stayed overnight at the Bonneville Salt Flats which was a totally cool place to sleep and tent shower. 

• Regular Yoga Practice. Pre vanlife, I had a routine of waking up around 5:15 a.m. 4 days out of the workweek and either going for a half hour jog or a firing up Yoga with Adriene on YouTube and starting my morning with her soothing voice and calming practice. Sometimes I'd also throw in a pre-bedtime practice and usually do something on the weekend as well.  I brought my yoga mat with me but it's difficult to practice while traveling. Many of the places we post up for the evening don't have cellular service, much less WiFi or we're spending the night in a parking lot somewhere. Jay was able to download a few videos for me so I have some on standby when I get the opportunity but it's much less than I would prefer. I have, however practiced yoga in some great places, with kick-ass backdrops like on the banks of the Mississippi River, at a park in downtown Squamish, BC, and on BLM land in Colorado and Wyoming. I'm looking forward to getting back to a regular practice next year.

• Cooking. I have always loved finding and cooking recipes. When I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease I really began searching for ways to improve my diet and work to reduce my symptoms. I had been following Meghan Telpner's website www.meghantelpner.com for a few years and finally enrolled in her Culinary Nutrition Expert Program last year in her Academy of Culinary Nutrition. www.culinarynutrition.com Meghan also has Crohn's disease and has been symptom free for I believe over a decade after implementing dietary changes to her life. She's a nutritionist, business owner, creator of an online nutrition school and overall powerhouse of an individual. I learned so much through her program and dedicated a good portion of my weekly routine to meal planning, prepping and eating delicious, healthy and healing whole food meals. Cooking in the van, however, is limited. Space is limited, energy sources are limited and there are constraints everywhere you look. This hasn't been an excuse to slack off with healthy eating but our meals are no longer elaborate affairs. We simply don't have the room to store many of the extras that I had incorporated into my diet when I had a standard kitchen. I do what I can, but I'm pretty bummed about not being in the kitchen. 

There you have it. Some ups. Some downs. Nothing unsurmountable and nothing that's permanent one way or another. Before I know it, our travels will be over and I'll be back to cooking up a storm in the kitchen, practicing yoga whenever I want and washing my hair whenever I damn well please. Until then, I'm focusing on all the positives this interlude is providing me and the space and time to figure out a new lifestyle going forward that serves my soul in its highest form.

And Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep...But Where?

One of the main questions and I noticed van life folks are asked is where do they sleep every night? I’ve watched plenty of YouTube videos and read blog posts from travelers to answer that same question so that when it came time for me and Jay to hit the road, we’d have some idea of what to do.

The iOverlander app seems to be the Bible of overnight sleep findings, along with useful information like where to find water fill up spots, dump stations (if you’re in an RV and have those hook ups), laundry facilities/showers, Boondocking sites and fee campsites and we’ve used it religiously for the past two months. We’ve found our own spots along the way as well.

Here’s the rundown of where we posted up for the night during our first 30 days of travel, complete with pictures below of more memorable spots.

• June 18 - Cracker Barrel (I didn’t indicate in my notes where the heck we were but we started our journey from northern New Jersey and stayed in Iowa the next night so somewhere in between those two spots.) 
• June 19 - Boat loading parking lot on the banks of the Mississippi River, LeClaire, Iowa* 
• June 20 - Cracker Barrel (Again, no idea where we were but somewhere between Iowa and Badlands National Park.
• June 21 - Badlands National Park, Sage Creek Campground*
• June 22 - Cabela's, Rapid City, South Dakota
• June 23 - Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota - off a service forest road
• June 24 - Cabela's, Rapid City, South Dakota
• June 25 - Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming*
• June 26 - Castle Gardens, Wyoming* We had just passed through a small town called Ten Sleep, Wyoming and stopped at a brewery outside of town which allowed campers to stay overnight and also offered showers, but then I saw Castle Gardens on iOverlander and knew we needed to check it out. It's located on BLM land and was about 7 miles from the brewery. It was magical and we absolutely loved it. There were maybe 4 or 5 campsites but we were the only people there. It was magical. Did I say that already? 
• June 27 - Castle Gardens, Wyoming* Liked it so much, we stayed an extra day.
• June 28 - Shadow Mountain, Wyoming (across the street from the Grand Tetons National Park and up an 8 mile dirt, rocky, shitty road)
• June 29 - Downtown Jackson, Wyoming (Screw driving back up Shadow Mountain - we stealth parked on the street on the same block as a brewery and I had a lovely jog the next morning through downtown)
• June 30 - Sage Creek Trailhead, Montana* (a random find along a beautiful stretch of road)
• July 1 - Walmart, Bozeman, Montana (Beautiful mountains surrounded the Walmart and the sunsets were incredible. It was also nice to have access to grocery shopping, rug shopping for the van and bathrooms)
• July 2 - Walmart, Bozeman, Montana
• July 3 - Cabela's, Post Falls, Idaho (This is just across the border from Spokane, Washington and we stayed in this spot during our time in Spokane because it was closest to the mountain bike trails we were riding)
• July 4 - Cabela's, Post Falls, Idaho (Happy 4th of July! There was a truck stop/bar establishment just down the hillside from the Cabela's and they shot off fireworks for hours.
• July 5 - Cabela's, Post Falls, Idaho (Much quieter night than 4th of July, thank god)
• July 6 - Taneum Canyon, Washington 
• July 7 - Snoqualmie Casino, Washington (We were treated to the sold out musical stylings of international superstar sensation Karen Tong who was in concert at the casino and we could hear it (unfortunately) from the parking lot. My ears aren’t developed enough to appreciate her rendition of music. Sorry Karen.
• July 8 - 13 - Staying with family in Seattle, Washington who have a baller 3 story house with decks on each level overlooking Puget Sound. Showers every day and accessible laundry. This was pretty stellar but we actually missed sleeping in the van.
• July 14 - Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, BC* (Stayed in the parking lot near the tennis courts and “chip and something” golf course - kind of like mini golf and golf golf but not really. The parking lot in and of itself was nothing special but the park and gardens in the park were absolutely gorgeous. I enjoyed a morning jog through the park and discovered all of the hidden gems it held. Also, there was a bathroom nearby.
• July 15 - Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, BC
• July 16 - Deep Cove, BC* (Beautiful spot near the marina. Such a quaint town. Loved it.)
• July 17 - Deep Cove, BC
• July 18 - Mamquam River Forest Road, Squamish, BC (There was nothing remarkable about this spot and we ended up moving to town for the rest of our stay in BC)

A few observations about that first month - I had some of my best sleeps in Cracker Barrel restaurant parking lots. Go figure. Maybe it’s the knowledge that if you desire, I could have a warm, delicious breakfast in the morning just steps from what is now my new home on wheels. Cabela's is a nice store with nice bathrooms. We purchased things we didn’t really need but really, who doesn’t need another flannel shirt, Croc sandals and licorice? Some Cabela's have free water fills, dump stations, and horse corrals (yup) which is awesome. 

It’s weird accepting on a personal level the first night you’re sleeping in a Walmart parking lot (for those stores that allow overnight camping), but there are usually lots of other camper vans, RVs and just people living out of their cars who utilize that accommodation. I really appreciate the stores that allow travelers to stay in their parking lots. It’s also nice to stop in and pick up some groceries and give the Natureshead toilet a break. 

It’s also been eye opening to realize how many people live in their vehicles. Not a camper van or an RV but in their car. This may be by choice but it may not and staying in Walmart parking lots and moving around every few days may not be the choice these folks want to have to make. Maybe they don’t want to travel the US; maybe they want the same house to come back to and sleep in every night. I respect where people are in their lives. Life is difficult and you do what you need to in order to survive. I hope those that find themselves with no choice but to live in a tent under an underpass or in their car or broken down RV pull through this challenging time and find themselves in a better place soon. I know that I am extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to travel and to sleep in a big box store parking lot by choice and I don’t take that for granted.

Also of note is that not all Walmarts, Cabela's (or Bass Pros) or Cracker Barrel's allow overnight parking, or they may have at one point but have since cracked down on this privilege. I see both sides of the coin on their decisions but it's a shame when the stores have had to cease allowing overnight parking because some folks have abused the store's graciousness.

Here are some of the overnight highlights:

LeClaire, Iowa, Mississippi River

LeClaire, Iowa

Badlands National Park, SD. There was a prairie dog field next to our van.

Badlands National Park. Sage Creek Campground.

Castle Gardens, WY This place was amazing.

Castle Gardens, WY

Sage Creek Trailhead, MT

Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, BC

Queen Elizabeth Park. Their locks of love installation.

Queen Elizabeth Park

Deep Cove, BC

And That’s a Wrap. Ride Report: The Whole Enchilada, Moab, Utah

If you’ve heard anyone speak of mountain biking in Moab, Utah, you’ve probably heard them mention two trail systems - Slickrock and The Whole Enchilada.  Since my husband and I were only planning on staying in Moab for a day or two, we didn’t bother researching other trails to ride and went right for the gusto, booking a shuttle to take us to the trailhead for The Whole Enchilada (WE). Unless you have buddies that can help shuttle you to the trailhead, or you’re a masochist who wants to ride up to the trailhead, the easiest way to start the ride is to hire a shuttle. While we drove from Park City, Utah to Arches National Park near Moab, our crappy AT&T cellular coverage miraculously worked long enough for Jay to find out that there were 3 spots remaining for the 7 a.m. shuttle the next day through The Whole Enchilada Shuttle Co. and we went ahead and booked our spots. 

I didn’t really know much about the ride except that it’s a big ride and a long day on the bike and the views are supposed to be phenomenal.  Normally, with the knowledge of a big mountain bike ride in my immediate future, especially one where I wasn’t familiar with the terrain or what to expect, I would be feeling the gray clouds of uncertainty moving in over my confidence on the bike, despite the fact I’ve been riding for 20+ years. I would bury myself in self doubt and work myself into a frenzy of nervous anxiety which would result in some sort of intestinal distress. But, for whatever reason, maybe because it was balls hot in Utah and after spending the past two months in the cool 70 degree weather in the Pacific Northwest, this east coast girl, who is normally used to living in satan’s lair of hot summers, otherwise known as Virginia, had lost her ability to handle the heat which had possibly restricted my normal overactive sense of doom. I was probably a bit dehydrated as well and my brain receptors weren’t firing on all cylinders. 

With our plans cemented for the next day, we spent a few hours driving through Arches National Park and taking a couple of short hikes while downing more water and electrolyte tablets than I probably had all year.  Arches is beautiful by the way. The sand dune arch (not its official name) was one of my favorites because it reminded me of some Indiana Jones movie (and it was in the shade).

In all honesty, and really, why would I lie about this, the only concerns I had about the ride at that point were the heat, whether we could carry enough water and the early wake up call. Since starting our mid life crisis/temporary retirement from the working world, we haven’t had to set an alarm for over 3 months and neither Jay nor I were looking forward to a super early morning. I know. I’m an asshole, but you get used to what you get used to and for the moment, we’re not used to getting up before 7 a.m. anymore, (or even 8 a.m.), let alone having all of our bike shit together and at a set location by that time.

The next morning, we managed to pull ourselves together and arrived at the rendezvous point by 6:45 a.m., thus totally winning at life at that moment. From my understanding, and what I read after the fact, the shuttle will take you to Burro Pass Trailhead or Hazard Trailhead, depending on road conditions. We were sitting in the back of the van, so I didn’t hear the whole conversation but I did hear the driver mention that because of some poor road conditions, we couldn’t make it to the Burro trailhead and he was going to drop us off at Hazard. From Burro, you’re looking at a 32 mile ride, starting at 11,600 feet of elevation and a 8,000 foot descent and from Hazard, it was about a 27 mile ride, starting at about 9,500 feet of elevation with a 5,000 foot descent. I think that math works out. That knocked 5 miles from our ride which was totally a relief to me. 

It took about an hour for the van to ascend the road to Hazard Trailhead. I still wasn’t too concerned about what was in store for the day for 3 reasons. First, the bike ride was mostly a descent, which yes, could be a total disaster filled, white knuckled, brake pad busting ride, but I didn’t feel like that was going to be the case. Second, despite opting to stay in a Super 8 hotel the night before in lieu of baking in the van, I unfortunately slept really poorly in the beautifully air conditioned room and I used the hour drive to try and catch up on some rest. Third, I kept  repeating positive mantras to myself about how I was fortunate to have even woken up that day and to have the opportunity to ride something new and have this experience in general and that I was basically a rock star and totally capable of riding this trail all the way back to the Super 8 where a real shower waited for me with real shampoo.

We pull up to the trailhead passing grazing cows and their calves and watched a mamma and her calf trot/gallop/run through tall grasses as if auditioning for a western movie or maybe a Hallmark Channel movie, which I much prefer. I was able to focus on that idyllic scene instead of the anticipatory vibes of a long day on the bike that was going through the 9 of us that booked the shuttle that morning. 

After gearing up, Jay and I were the last to leave the parking lot trailhead which is my preference. I didn’t know what the climb was going to look like and I hate having people behind me cursing because I’m such a slow and technically deficient rider, especially on uphill sections.  I try and pump up my enthusiasm for what’s ahead of us and let out a fist shaking “Let’s Do This Shit!” to Jay who is still fidgeting with his gear. We start on the trail which is dry and rocky and begin the  ascent which in terms of gradient isn’t too bad but there are rocks everywhere and I suck at any type of climbing that isn’t smooth and under ideal conditions. I hit my pedal on something and fall over in one of those slow speed falls. We’re about .3 miles into the ride. Let’s Do This Shit has been replaced with just “Shit.” I right myself and we continue and thankfully the climb is less than a mile in length before we reach a plateau that gives us our first glimpse of the sweeping valley views that will grace us during the rest of the ride. 

It takes a few more miles before I settle into some sort of riding rhythm but I repeat my positive self speak and remember the words of a friend who did a 100 mile bike race once who told me that for long efforts, you just have to bring your lunch box and consider it a work day. You have so many hours you need to put in and you just need to put your head down and do the work. I appreciated this recalled conversation, not because I wanted to treat this ride as a job, but because it was in fact a long day and treating it as anything but and not accepting what was in front of me would make me panic and perform poorly. 

Everything anyone has said about the views on the Whole Enchilada is absolutely true. We stopped several times along the rim to take pictures and just take in the valley from different viewpoints as we moved along the ride. The terrain varied from sand to dirt to rocks to slick rocks, rocks at an angle, rock slabs and wall like rides down rocks. At times the trail meandered inches from the side of the cliff, leaving no room for error but I rode most of it and didn’t cower in fear. I walked to the edge of the cliffs and peered at the view below and was brave. I rode over and down rock faces I never would have considered on any other ride. It was a pretty great ride.

And then came mile 19. We had stopped around mile 13 for a quickish lunch break and I still had enough snacks to feel comfortable with finishing the last 8 miles, but I was running out of water. I had filled my 72 ounce water bladder full before we left and had a water bottle on my bike with an electrolyte tab in it. I also had the foresight to throw in a can of fizzy water in my backpack. But by mile 19, I was half way done with my water bottle and all done with my water bladder. It was about 12:30 p.m.  and we had been riding for 4 hours. The Moab sun had been beating down on us all day with little opportunities for shade and I was almost out of water. This is when slight panic and the crabbies took over.  I was so thirsty, probably moreso knowing my water supply was limited and interestingly and irritatingly enough, the trail became progressively more difficult for the last few miles. Sharp rocks jutted out onto the already narrow trail which left no room for fuck ups on the one side. I ended up walking more and more sections and slowing down to a snail’s pace, in probably a more dramatic fashion than necessary. There was a steep hike a bike section that just added to my increasing irritation.  

I kept reminding myself that each step or pedal stroke would bring me that much closer to the end. I concentrated on picking up my speed when I could and by the grace of the universe I rounded a corner and saw a parking lot and the end of the trail.  The parking lot wasn’t the one we started from and we still had about a 4 mile road ride back to town but we were off the trail and I could relax a little, plus there was a water fill up station at the parking lot. 

The post ride shower at the Super 8 was glorious and I slept well in that air conditioned room that night.  Jay and I both commented that if we lived in Moab, we wouldn’t necessarily ride the WE too often or maybe even at all. We were really glad we did it but the logistics of getting to the trail, the total sun exposure and the monotony of the terrain and length of the trail isn’t something I necessarily need out of most of my mountain bike rides. It took us just under 5 hours with a few breaks for pictures and snacks.

Would I recommend it to anyone thinking about it? Yes. Is it a must do? Not necessarily but I’m not sure you can beat the views. Would I do it again? Still thinking about that answer.

The  Whole Enchilada Shuttle Co. was great. We arrived 15 minutes early and the shuttle was already in the parking lot loading bikes onto their van. The driver was friendly and open to answering any questions and did a quick check before we left the lot to make sure we all had helmets and water. The cost per person to shuttle to our trailhead was $30, but the price can vary  depending on what you’re riding and where you’re being dropped off. They also offer shuttle services to other trailheads. I would highly recommend checking them out if you find yourself in Moab.  www.wholeenchiladashuttles.com 

Enjoy the views.