7-10 Oct 2020
Moab was packed. With road construction, traffic was backed up almost to Arches – and this was on a Wednesday afternoon. Most of the Utah universities canceled classes to reduce the spread of COVID-19, so naturally everyone went to Moab.
The Beef Basin road, where we planned to start our adventure ride, was also packed. Luckily, Dave arrived early and found us a place to park and spend the night. He sent me his location via his inReach just before I lost cell service. Most of those camping in the area were there to climb the nearby sandstone cliffs.
We had six in our group; me (KTM 350), Dave McIntire (KTM 450), Scott Barton (DR-Z400E), Danny Lunt (DR-Z400S), Scott Connors (KTM 690), and Boyd Berry (KLR 650).
Beef Basin – Thursday, Oct 8
We soon left the mountain climber crowd behind as we headed south on Beef Basin Road. The road was fairly fast and scenic as we steadily climbed in elevation. We took a side spur out to Salt Creek Overlook. This was a fun, but rugged trail. There were numerous rocky sections, with lots of 6” steps – both up and down. It would have been a pretty easy ride without luggage, but fully loaded required paying close attention to every move.
We climbed from about 5600’ in elevation to around 8200’, where we stopped for lunch at the turn-off for Beef Basin. The road into Beef Basin descends quickly, and the temperature steadily rose. The soft sand also increased as we entered Beef Basin. Those on the larger bikes had the hardest time in the sand, but everyone struggled to some degree. We visited a few of the ancient Anasazi ruins, but then opted to abide by my family’s mantra; “if you’ve seen one Indian ruin, you have seen them all”. We were anxious to climb back up to cooler temperatures and get out of the sand.
Unfortunately, on our climb back out, Scott Connors tipped over on one of the switchbacks and may have cracked some ribs. I think this was his first adventure ride on his new KTM 690, and he hasn’t yet sorted out ideal luggage arrangements, and the bike is much taller than his old KLR.
Our friend Ross suggested a nice place to camp out on North Long Point. The spot was very dry and exposed to the wind, so we back tracked about a mile to a great campsite in the pines. We were at about 8600’ elevation, so we expected a cold night. It turned out to be a great place to camp. It got cool at night, but not overly cold. We enjoyed star gazing until everyone headed to their tents. I think everyone but Scott had a nice night’s sleep. Scott was very uncomfortable from his injury.
The Causeway & Arch Canyon – Friday, Oct 9
After breaking camp, we headed east towards “The Causeway”. Most of the road was very nice, but there were a few places with deep silt because of the long dry summer. Boyd went down on his KLR in one deep patch of silt.
The scenery was spectacular along this road. I don’t think any of us had been there before, so we were thrilled to enjoy the ride and the scenery.
We then buzzed down into the town of Blanding and a nice burger at the Patio Diner. They had a sign on the door suggesting social distancing. It read something like; “Please stay six feet apart. Our floor tiles are 18” square. Do the math.”
Boyd and Scott decided to ride up over the Abajo Mountains and head for home due to Scott’s injury. They said that road was the highlight of the trip for them. I will have to check that out some day.
The rest of us continued our journey by riding west towards Comb Ridge. We rode a small ATV trail that we enjoyed several years ago called “Whiskers Draw”. It was very tight and twisty. Our mirrors took a beating, but it was a really fun ride.
We then stopped on top of Comb Ridge and enjoyed the view overlooking Comb Wash. To our surprise, there were no other campers up there, so we considered camping there to enjoy the view, but decided to press on and explore Arch Canyon before camping.
Dave and I rode down the old highway 95 dugway that was cut into the side of the cliff. It is a technical ride, with extreme exposure – so you want to pay close attention as you ride this trail. Scott Barton and Danny took the bypass route around to the new highway, with the plan to meet at the mouth of Arch Canyon.
Dave and I got to the canyon first, so we rode up Arch Canyon a few miles to a nice campsite I found while exploring the area on GoogleEarth. I set up my tent while Dave went back to meet Scott and Danny. We stashed our gear in my tent so we could ride up Arch Canyon without all of our heavy luggage. That was good decision. The ride was an absolute blast, with tight, twisting banked turns. It was fairly sandy and rocky in spots, so it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun with our luggage.
We took a break at the top and enjoyed the scenery, including Cathedral Arch. We then returned to camp and had a late dinner. It was a spectacular day!
Elk Mountain & Stevens Canyon – Saturday, Oct 10
We had to ride about 15 miles along highway 95. On a small bike, this is my least favorite type of riding. Luckily, there was very little traffic.
We then rode up the Elk Mountain Road, right between the two “Bear’s Ears”. We climbed quickly, and it was rather chilly up on top, so everyone pulled out their jackets.
The ride along Elk Mountain and Gooseberry Road was beautiful, but we had to watch out for hunters driving way too fast in their pickup trucks.
We returned to our car via Stevens Canyon, which may have been the old road that came through Dugout Ranch. We didn’t encounter any traffic on this road, and it was a really fun ride. It was fast and twisty and we got to watch the scenery change from high mountain forest back to desert and red rock as we descended. It was really fun.
We finished up our ride by following the wash for a few miles. The wash was wet and muddy, but luckily, we didn’t sink in far enough to be an issue. We did have to chase a few cows out of the wash in order to get through. This was fun, but got our bikes and luggage pretty dirty.
We loaded up the trailer and headed for home. On the drive home we reminisced about our adventure and talked about options for next year…
Gardiner Family Adventures 