on the loveliest of spring days, my neighbor and I rode our eMTBs on the original entrance road - Willow Springs Road - a 20 mile (32 km) out-and-back from the highway. The nicest day of the year, so far.
Balanced Rock and the snowy La Sal Mountains. Look closely for Turret Arch in The Windows.
Eye of the Whale Arch. What a crazy landscape this is!
but only several inches of snow has fallen in Castle Valley, though the high country has been elevated to 90% of median snow water content for this time of year. It hasn’t stopped me from patrolling the trails and all the tire tracks be mine.
below Castleton Tower. Coexist.
this autumn have kept the trails in a very rideable and enjoyable condition in Castle Valley National Park. Where is everybody?!
UPDATE: I rode 118 miles last week and hardly saw a soul, except for rabbits, mule deer and birds.
mountain bike trail near Castle Creek, where a seasonal unravelling of matrix-supported gravels had failed from the edge of a high fluvial terrace. May have to modify a short section of the trail this coming spring.
in the backyard mountain bike park below Adobe Mesa, after a brief overnight snow squall. Wonderful.
on the trails and jeep roads in and around Castle Valley.
My neighbor on his eMTB can be spied near the center of this image.
without me realizing it a few weeks ago. Since September 2020, over the last three years, I have ridden 10,188 miles, the cumulative mileage from my stable of eMTBs. That’s 41% of the Earth’s circumference! Yep. They’re big fun.
on both my early morning and evening rides. It’s a wonderful time to be out on both ends of the day.
Self portrait early this morning during the cool, calm and quiet dawn.
Casting a long shadow as sunset approaches.
I enjoyed this lovely view on the long descent back into the lower valley.
was made this afternoon on the newly acquired Trek Powerfly FS 4 Gen 3 eMTB. Here’s the requisite brochure shot.
Link: Trek Powerfly FS 4 Gen 3
but I had to get out to survey the back yard.
Click on image to enlarge.
so far this year, with trail conditions being nearly perfect, coupled with sunny skies, calm winds and temperature ~ 50° F. I managed two outings today, 17 miles (27 km) in the morning on the RadRover 5 and 14 miles (22.5 km) in the afternoon on the Trek Powerfly (with about a 2,800 foot (853 meter) cumulative ascent). Fantastic and energizing day!
before hitting the local trails again, still a muddy and rutted mess from all the moisture we’ve received this winter.
The RR5 after yesterday’s challenging trail inspection.
between myself and the local mule deer on the recently fallen snow that dusts Castle Valley. Sunny and calm but chilly at noon, and sublimely quiet.
There’s a well camouflaged mule deer between my bike and the nearest green juniper.
set the scene for a nice eMTB exploration of the area southeast of Round Mountain in uppermost Castle Valley. Quite the uphill climb (1,945 foot ascent) but the views are stunning, and the downhill run is big fun.
View south-southeast towards the La Sal Mountains, with Willow Basin on the left and Bald Mesa above Porcupine Rim on the right.
View northward, down valley, with Round Mountain on the left.
Portion of GPS track showing the area explored southeast of Round Mountain (lower right in image) on Google Earth.
north of the Colorado River was explored with my neighbor today on our eMTBs, following a rough jeep track on the edge of the high escarpment. The ~13 mile ride was spectacularly scenic, sunny and comfortably warm. Priceless.
Panorama looking south, with Dewey Bridge on the Colorado River in the center of the image. (Click on image to embiggen.)
Typical southern Utah billboard.
Descending Kokopelli’s Trail above Dewey Bridge near the end of the three hour outing.
on my recently refurbished RadRover 5, now approaching 4,300 miles (6,900 km). The vinyl explorer is seen below, with aluminum cargo found discarded along the road.
We’ve had a week of stunningly beautiful days. Here’s the view today, at high noon, looking south from the base of Parriott Mesa.
My Trek Firefly eMTB continues to be super fun and now registers 1,091 miles (1,756 km) on its digital odometer.
in Castle Valley with my two neighbors. Endless big fun on our eMTBs.
has been achieved on my green RadRover 5, notching the first 1,000 miles on this eMTB during my morning inspection of the wetlands. Time to recharge the battery, too.
