Taking the long way...

to the US Post Office in Moab today via the Shafer Trail and Potash Road, about an 80 mile (130 km) long detour. Pretty scenic though!

View from Island in the Sky down to the White Rim in the inner canyon with the La Sal Mountains on the distant horizon.

The Shafer Trail switchbacks descending onto the White Rim Trail.

The Colorado River is running about 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) right now where median discharge on this date is around 10,000 cfs.

Thelma & Louise Point overlooking the Colorado River.

Potash evaporation ponds and the gently dipping red beds of the Cane Creek anticline (left of center).

Petroglyph panel along Potash Road depicting a bighorn sheep hunt and bear encounter. The bear glyph is enormous and is more than three feet (1 m) across.

The acid test for a newly tuned bike...

is an early morning lap at the Slickrock Trail of course! The shop mechanics at Poison Spider Bicycles in Moab are top notch and do terrific work. Highly recommended (no commission earned).

Large-scale trough crossbeds dominate the Navajo Sandstone (Lower Jurassic (201.4 Ma - 174.7 Ma)) and the coarsely etched foresets in the rock adds texture to the rolling landscape. The lack of joints and fractures in this area above Moab makes it particularly fun to ride but there is considerable vertical relief as this image shows, making the trail challenging due to the steep ascents/descents and off camber riding.

View down Grandstaff Canyon from the Slickrock Trail with Arches National Park on the skyline.

The most capable off road recovery crew...

in red rock canyon country is Trailmater Offroad Recovery and that’s a fact. While I wasn’t in need of their rescue services today, they are conservationists at heart and promote the protection of endangered species in the high desert. So I bought a t-shirt in support of their efforts to protect the endangered Diamond-billed Rock Pecker that was hunted to near extinction due to the damage they cause by drilling holes in the surrounding sandstone.

The recovery fleet of purpose-built wreckers parked in front of the shop on US Highway 191 south of Moab: Old Blue, Trailmater and Mini-Mater (left to right).

Show your support! NO commission earned: T-shirt and Sticker.

Early morning on the Slickrock Trail...

finds one all alone in the cool and quiet part of the day, with potholes filled with rainwater from the day before. Magnificent.

View from Shrimp Rock to the northeast, looking upstream at the Colorado River. A portion of Utah highway 128 and Grandstaff Campground can also be seen.

View north into The Windows section of Arches National Park. North Window Arch can be seen on the skyline right of center and is 5.5 miles (8.9 km) away.

An ocean of rolling sandstone slickrock...

is to be enjoyed on the famous Slickrock Trail. Don’t let the seemingly flat expanse in the image below deceive you but I cranked slightly more than 2,000 feet (610 m) of vertical ascent on the 10 mile (~16 km) trail. I first rode this line in the early 1980s on the upswing of mountain biking and it hasn’t gotten any easier at three score and nine years in age.

GPS track from my Garmin watch, color reflects speed.

Castle Valley Drive has finally reopened...

above the newly constructed monstrous arch culvert near the entrance to the community. It is astonishing that the natural streambed was not carried through the oversized rip-rap that is placed directly in the channel, choking it, rather than simply protecting the side slopes.

The natural cobble bed channel of Castle Creek versus the newly engineered channel choked with rip-rap.

The cherry on top...

of my typical daily 18 mile (29 km) ride is the long and flowy descent on the singletrack from this high point on the trail, about 900 feet (274 m) above my residence in the lower valley. It’s all about the downhill flow!