We made it to the campsite just across the street from the famous Slickrock mountain bike trail at midnight. Setup our tent and were asleep by 1230am. It's amazing how much faster setting up camp is when you're only setting up tent for two people!
We woke in the morning to this beautiful site.
This was our first night on our new sleeping pads which we bought from Sierra Trading Post (my favorite online retailer for all my outdoor gear needs). For years we have used an inflatable mattress which inevitably fails on camping trips after a few months of use. We wanted something which would last longer and still be comfortable for car camping. We landed on the ALPS Mountaineering Summit Sleeping Pads for 2. They are self inflating through two small tubes on the top of each pad so you can set how firm you want to sleep. Once you have the firmness set, you can close the tubes then be ready to be whisked away to dream land! The two sleeping pads have velcro which can be used to attach them together for one large pad to cozy up inside your favorite extra wide sleeping bag. Once we figured out the firmness we wanted we both slept great. They roll up and are able to be packed away in a bag. They are not really light enough for backpacking but car camping they were absolutely perfect. I highly recommend.
First item on the agenda was to ride the Slickrock trail together. In all of our years we have never ridden it together. We had a lot of fun but by the end of the 3 hour ride we were exhausted and it was getting hot!
First item on the agenda was to ride the Slickrock trail together. In all of our years we have never ridden it together. We had a lot of fun but by the end of the 3 hour ride we were exhausted and it was getting hot!
Despite some brake issues on Hanni's bike and a torn sidewall on my bike we were smiling all the way.
Usually we are not for selfies but when there is nobody else around and you have to document there are no other options.
After Slickrock we jumped in the car and quickly headed south to Monticello to attend the LDS Temple. It was a really cool experience. And another opportunity for a selfie!
We returned to Moab for a good dinner at the Moab Brewery and spent the rest of the evening walking around town and of course we couldn't pass up a shake at the Moab Diner.
We planned to camp at Lower Onion Creek which is right on the Colorado River north of Moab the second night so we could float the daily stretch on our SUPs the second day. That night we both slept great so we woke up early to pump up the boards and get on the river. Since we started so early we had the river all to ourselves. It was glorious!
The views in Castle Valley are second to none!
The rapids on the daily stretch are quite calm but being on a SUP makes them just that more fun. Here's Hanni floating through New Rapid.
We took out just after White's Rapid and quickly started to process of getting 10 miles upriver. It's a very technical process which I like to call hitchhiking. Only about 10 cars drove by before one decided to pick me up (Hanni stayed with the gear). It was a nice German family (coincidence, I think not!!) of a father and his three teenage boys on their way to California. The father grew up kayaking so he told me he knows the plight of needing to hitchhike back up river. We had a great time talking about kayaking and SUPing before he dropped me off at the car.
Hanni and I realized we had enough time to get back into town for Sacrament meeting if we hurried so we quickly packed up the gear and drove into town.
On the way out of town we stopped at a Moab favorite, though it was our first time trying it out, Milt's Stop n' Eat which is on the road to the Slickrock trails. We highly recommend it. Very tasty burgers!
We made it back to Pueblo at 7pm so my mom could head back north for a trip to the Pacific Northwest. We had an absolutely wonderful time on our trip. It was a great way to celebrate 11 wonderful years of marriage. I love my wife!
