Utah's White Rim Trail -- We biked it !

On many visits to Moab, Utah and its surrounding national parks,  Ruthie has looked down into the deep  canyons of Canyonlands National Park and has longed to bike the off road trail, known as the White Rim Trail that is 1,000 feet deep in the canyon.  So this year as part of our RV travels, we decided to book a supported mountain bike tour.  We contracted with Escape Adventures, based on their online literature.

Our bike adventure began with a steep descent down the Shafer Trail.  After a very brief explanation of how to operate our Specialized Stumpjumper trail bike, we headed down the 1,000 feet of switchbacks that wound the way down to the lower plateau.  By the time we arrived at the White Rim Trail, our hands ached from braking all of the way down....but we were excited to bike in the lower  parts of Canyonlands.

With 11 other bikers and our two guides we biked 71 of the 84 miles on our four day trip.  The tour was described as suitable for "families with young children", we found otherwise.  There were a number of 18 percent and higher grades where we weren't embarrassed to walk our bikes.  So we did ask for the promised support of riding in the "sag wagon" over the more grueling parts of the trail.

Although there were a number of steep climbs and drops, rough rock strewn segments, and areas of soft sand, we had an awesome and wonderful ride through Canyonlands.  Biking along the mesa tops, following along the Colorado and then the Green Rivers, camping out under the Milky Way, and as we became more comfortable with our bike riding abilities, we got into cruising down the hills and gliding over the slick rock and small boulders.  The suspension on the Stumpjumpers was quite amazing....just had to trust it.

Back from our four grueling, but awesome days, we got back to our RV parked at the Moab Cyclery bike shop.  Rest time for the next few days before our next adventure.