Moab Part 2 - The Klondike Bluffs (Baby Steps)

On our second day in Moab we awoke to partly cloudy skies and cold temps, somewhere in the high 20's to low 30's. Although we were all eager to ride, it was hard to get motivated because of the frigid air. We basically hung-out bundled up in our big puffy jackets waiting for the first rays of light to shine down from the cliff walls above our camp. Being one of the impatient ones, I hiked across the road to where some sun shone down to ground level, so I could warm up like a lizard on the rocks. Once I had absorbed enough energy I returned to camp to cook breakfast and pack up my gear for our day of riding.

Cool morning temps

Sitting in the sun, waiting for the sun to land on our campsite

Tait gets in some pre-ride maintenance

The adventure for the day would be on a trail called "Baby Steps", a newly laid piece of singletrack in the Klondike Bluffs riding area. From camp it took us about 1/2 an hour to reach the trailhead at the base of the bluffs. As we geared up we all looked up at the sky hoping that the clouds in the distance wouldn't give us a wallop like it had the previous day while riding the Moab Brand Trails. Since it was sunny and relatively pleasant, I dressed fairly light but made sure to pack extra clothes just in case things got nasty. Before long we were off on the trail, which was actually a pretty sandy jeep road for the first 3/4 of a mile. When we reached the actual start of Baby Steps I realized that I had forgotten my Camelback back at the car -- I couldn't tell it wasn't on because of all the camera gear I was carrying! After admitting my flub and apologizing for holding the group up, I hightailed it back to the car to gather my much needed accessory.

Figuring out where the hell we're going

The trail map for our ride, which can be found here
(along with other Moab trail maps)

A 1/4 mile out the gate, let the derobing begin.

Randy likes sand...

The first half of the ride would have us climbing up the bluffs with an occasional short descent. The trail was super fun, with a good mix of slickrock and technical rock jumbles. The scenery was equally spectacular, with contrasting colors of gray rocks, red dirt, and blue skies littered with puffy white clouds. The group was riding strong, with me pretty much near the back of the pack; both my lungs and legs were feeling the high altitude climbing. Since I was really trying to photo document our trip, I spent most of my time jumping out ahead while the crew regrouped. After setting up for photos at a technical feature and/or good view, I would snap off photos as everyone passed by, and then load up my gear, followed by playing catch up. As terrible as this sounds, I actually enjoy it since it allows me to combine two of my hobbies.

The crew starts off on Baby Steps

Mountain peloton

Sandra splits some rocks on the way up Baby Steps

The red dirt contrasted nicely against the blue skies

The crew rides under another cool rock formation

My view approaching the same rock

A typical view of the Klondike Bluffs landscape

EGP enjoys the weather, while it lasts

Kim & Randy continue up Baby Steps

Arthur, all smiles as we approach the intersection
with the Klondike Bluffs jeep road

Soon we reached an intersection where the Klondike Bluffs Trail dove off to the right; although we wouldn't be headed that way we took a minute to eat and relax before continuing up Baby Steps. Looking at the clouds building up in the western sky indicated that it was only a matter of time before we got hit with some weather. Fortunately it didn't appear to be of the same magnitude of the prior day.

Checking out one of the many well-placed trail maps along the
route. It would actually be pretty hard to get lost around here.

The gals get in a snack before marching on

The next part of the trail continued its way up the hill with one pretty steep pitch that got the best of me when I couldn't quite get my front tire over a rock or my foot out of the pedals...resulting in a nice little spill. After brushing off the dust, I continued up to where the others were awaiting my arrival. Just on the other side of the pass was a steep descent with some tricky rock maneuvers to spice things up a bit.

Tait enjoys one of the more

sustained climbs on the ride.

The rest of the crew making the climb

Arthur leads the descent down the other side...

...with Coonabomber closely behind

At the base of the descent, the trail tee'd into a dirt road that traversed northwest for a little over a mile before starting to climb back up the bluff from the backside. During this traverse the weather decided to turn to snow flurries, but nothing a light jacket couldn't fend off. The climb ended up being pretty steep but also pretty short and soon it ran straight into a trail known as "Little Salty", which we passed up for more ups and downs along the top of the bluffs.

Sweet, another squall!

And another short climb

After another mile or so of jeep trail we reached our first big descent of the ride, down Baby Steps North. This section ended ranking pretty high on the fun-o-meter with singletrack that made its way over and around rock features as it descended down the bluff. As I balanced on the pedals using mainly my quad muscles, the burn really started kickin' in, forcing me to switch between a seated and locked knee position, certainly not optimal form for a trail like this. By the time we regrouped at the intersection with "EKG" I was pretty spent from the day's ride. The rest of the crew were discussing whether or not to extend the ride climbing up "Mega Steps" (for another ride down Baby Steps) or simply head back to the car. My vote was the latter, and I ended up being the sole vote for that option. With that I bid a good ride to the crew and headed back toward the parking lot via the "Dino-Flow" Trail.

The real fun begins, down Baby Steps

Randy and Tait, somewhere along the Baby Steps descent

Tait gives chase on Baby Steps

Sandra, forgetting all about the 10
minute snowstorm that just passed

Sandra finds more sweet terrain on Baby Steps

Kim, enjoying the ride!

Sayin' goodbye to the the crew, before
starting my solo journey back to the car

Dino-Flow ended up being the nail in the coffin, as I pretty much bonked, even with the assistance of an energy gel shot. The trail was a mix of light technical moves, short up & downs, and soft dirt/sand (which is what really took its toll). During the ~4 miles of this southeast traverse back to the car I found myself stopping about every half mile just to catch my breath, which validated my decision to cut the ride short.

Since I had planned to get in a hike at Arches National Park, I loaded my gear and headed back to camp before the others had finished their ride. While driving back I passed the entrance to Arches which was now under a huge cloud that was dumping sleet. I was actually a bit relieved as it would give me an excuse to stay in camp and rest my worn body parts. By the time the others returned from their ride I had already melted into my reclining camp chair with a beer and some reading material. Apparently almost everyone else had gotten sufficiently wrecked by the additional riding, so I wasn't alone in my suffering. That night we sat around the fire to gossip and stay warm, luckily we didn't get snowed on like we had the previous night...

Huddling up to discuss the day's ride

The end to another great day in Moab!

Moab Part 1 - The Moab Brand Trails

The trail map, found here

Since Moab really needs no introduction to the mountain biking community, I'll get straight to the story. It had been three years since we had made our first journey to this mountain bike mecca in the desert, and when that trip was over we all agreed that we wanted to return. Fast forward to spring break 2012, and our crew had plans to do just that. From Corvallis we would have Sandra & Tait, and from Eugene we would have Kim & Randy, Roland, Davey, as well as Emily and myself. Furthermore we would be meeting up with some old friends who are ex-Oregonians in Salt Lake City, Arthur & Emily, who we were all looking forward to seeing again. Since it's ~20hrs one way, we planned to stay for an entire work week, as well as the two adjoining weekends. Just as with three years ago, the weather forecast looked somewhat spotty, which can only be expected for this time of the year. Not to be deterred, we stayed the course, and headed south on a Saturday morning.

Since there was really no need for us to caravan, each couple took separate vehicles leaving at different times. We would meet up and stay the first night at Arthur & Emily's house, before departing the next morning and finishing up the final 4-hour push to Moab. The drive from Eugene was long indeed, with some very interesting weather to spice it up a bit. Near Twin Falls, ID we ran into a pretty heavy storm of sleet and snow -- for some reason this is not how I had pictured spring break! Luckily the squall didn't last for too long, but even so, by the time we reached Salt Lake City, Emily was ready to be done driving. When we finally got to our crash pad for the evening, everyone else was pretty much ready to hit the hay, and I really couldn't blame them, since it was pushing midnight.

Gettin' gas in Nowheresville, Oregon...
or are we in Idaho at this point?!?

Isn't there a cartoon out there starring this thing?

Spring break, here we come!

The next morning we all awoke feeling rejuvenated and ready to hit the road. Arthur played cook and made a mean batch of pancakes while the rest of us filled our faces. After everyone was well nourished we hit the road. Once again we hit some snow on the drive, this time going through the pass between Salt Lake and Price. Although the snow was heavy, it was also a bit wet and wasn't sticking to the roads, which was good since we were in the Corolla with no supplemental traction devices. With a quick stop in Price for lunch at Subway, we motored on, reaching Moab around 3pm. The group decision was to find a campsite, setup camp, and then head-out for a quick ride (hoping the weather would hold out).

Basecamp on our first leg of the journey

Sweet, more nice weather!

Getting closer...

...Woohoo!

Randy waits for a decision on whether to ride or setup camp first

After scouting a couple of campground options we finally decided on Granstaff, at the bottom trailhead of Porcupine Rim. The site we put our flag in was nice and big, perfect for our equally large group. Setting up the sleeping quarters went fairly quick and soon we were back on the road, headed to the newly developed singletrack trail system, the Moab Brand Trails.

Okay, this will work!

By the time we reached the trailhead for the Brand Trails the weather had gone from fairly pleasant to basically a snowstorm -- Ah, life in the desert. Hoping that the storm was more of a squall, we piled on our winter gear and headed down the trail. As we hung a left on "North Forty" the sleet and wind really kicked into high gear, and we also appeared to be pedaling into the belly of the beast as the sky in front of us was pitch black. After about a mile Kim, Randy, and I had had enough and turned back while the rest of the crew powered on. The ride back to the car was just as miserable, with the cold wind blowing so hard it was giving me an earache as well as making it hard to stay on the trail. Back at the parking lot I quickly loaded my bike on the car and jumped in for shelter while I waited for the crew to finish their mission. Before long the storm subsided and the sun came out. Just as I was starting to get a little FOMO, Emily pulled up and said that they had just finished North Forty and were planning to do another loop. With that I quickly grabbed my bike off the top of the car and headed back to the trailhead with Em.

Setting off into the unknown at the Moab Brand Trails

A quick climb right off the bat

Hmmm, that looks like more than a squall...

"Okay, you guys have fun, I'm headed back to the car now."

For this loop we turned right onto "Lazy" where we rolled along some super fun and mildly technical singletrack. It took a bit to warm up the legs and get into a flow, and even once I had, I still couldn't quite keep up with the crew, which is understandable since I hadn't been on my bike in over four months. Luckily the crew was good about waiting up and also allowed me to jump ahead to take photos. Since we were burning daylight we finished our loop using "EZ", which had a very similar character, but riding along the base of the bluff as opposed to on top.

Shall we try this again?

The gals starting another short climbing session

A typical view on the Brand Trails

Taking it "EZ" back to the car

Sandra enjoys a bit of sun on EZ

Yay, clear skies ahead!

Reaching the car again, we packed up the gear and bikes for the evening and headed back to camp for some grub and relaxation. Kim and Randy cooked up a delicious gypsy stew and then we all sat around the fire discussing what we had just ridden as well as what we planned to get on in the following days. At one point in the evening we got sleeted on again, which had the consistency of Styrofoam and about the size of BBs. Before long we had about a half inch covering the ground, which allowed for a very pathetic snowball fight – it was actually quite entertaining. One by one we tired out and retired to our respective sleeping quarters.

Another squall on the road back to camp

The clouds seem to move pretty quick in the desert

The calm before the storm

The buildup to the snowball fight

About 20 minutes after the snowstorm

The last day of the trip, we actually went back to the Brand Trails to get in some more miles before we headed back north. This time we rode EZ over to "Deadman's Ridge", which supposedly serves up the best techie stuff of the whole trail network. We were not disappointed and found ourselves riding some incredibly fun ups & downs with lots of rock gardens and slickrock. About halfway through Deadman's we did a quick detour on "Bar B", which started out as doubletrack, taking up about half the trail's length. The singletrack on Bar B seemed just as good/difficult as Deadman's, which we hooked into once again after finishing up Bar B. The second half of Deadman's continued its technical nature all the way to the paved bike path at which it ended. The bike path made for a great cool-down spin all the way back to the car.

Emily gets in some climbing somewhere on Deadman's Ridge

Apparently people get hurt riding in Moab

A typical scene at the Brand Trails parking lot

In summary, I would have to say that the Brand Trails proved to be a great system of intermediate trails (depending on where you're from), and a perfect warm-up for the harder stuff in Moab. They are also relatively new and a welcome addition to the growing number of singletrack trails in Moab, not really what area was known for in the past -- they really complement the classic jeep road trails (e.g. Porcupine Rim, Amasa Back, etc.) and make for a more complete package.

To be continued (it only gets better from here)...


Some head-cam footage of our ride at the Moab Brand Trails:

Lower Canyon Creek, Oregon (3.11.12)

For some reason I always seem to forget about Lower Canyon Creek as a legitimately fun class IV run that's relatively close to Eugene (about an hour away) and is often at a good level. Furthermore, it can be combined with the upper section (one of the best class Vs in Oregon) for a long day of sustained whitewater -- for a trip report of Upper Canyon Creek, go here.

On this particular trip, we actually used it as a back-up after getting shut down at Wiley Creek by the road gate, and at the Soda Fork of the South Santiam by low water. For the record, the Upper Soda Fork probably had enough water but after dropping and scouting the crux section, we decided that it was basically a piece of $hit consisting of multiple pin/piton spots throughout its entire length. At one point during the scout, I remember hearing Nate Merrill say, "Well, I haven't seen one drop I'd want to run...", which I really couldn't come up with an argument against.

Scouting the crux section of The Soda Fork -- A big thumbs down

We had also considered running Upper Canyon, but we had a relatively large group that consisted of mixed ability levels, not the best combination for a run of that level, especially since we were running low on time. I was actually quite content with running the lower, as I was already a bit tired from hiking with my boat and sometimes it's nice to have a low stress day on the water. With that, we loaded up and headed to our new destination.


When we got to the takeout, we ran into a couple of Corvallis boaters who had just finished up the run. They stated that it was at a fun level, although a tad low (for the record, we had ~300cfs on Pat Welch's calculation gauge). Since we were already in our boating gear, we wasted little time dropping off the car before heading to the put-in. The trail from the road to the put-in is a bushwhack affair, and was actually developed by some Corvallis boaters who wanted to do the run without having to commit to the much harder upper portion. This trail deposits you about 1/4 mile below the crux upper drops, "Terminator" and "Day of Judgment". Since I wanted to take pictures of the crew coming through one of the first big rapids of the lower, I quickly scrambled down the trail to put on. Once at the water's edge, it appeared that the level would be a nice medium-ish flow.

Our flow for the day, ~300cfs

Aaron takes a moment at the put-in

Joni, happy to be putting on a creek with water

After sliding into the water I headed down solo to setup. The first of the bigger drops is about an 1/8 mile downstream and starts as the creek makes a sharp left-hand bend. I quickly ran the lead-in before eddying out on river-left above the last ledge. I wanted to give it a quick scout as well as see if it would be a good spot for photos. After determining that it probably wasn't the best spot, I started hiking back to my boat, only to see that the crew had caught up and were already dropping in. Resigned to my current position, I quickly ran back down so I could flip off a couple pics as they ran the final ledge. After everyone had come through I put my gear away, jumped in my boat and headed down. The last ledge is actually a fun little boof, that's typically run center-right.

Anna runs the last ledge of the first big drop

Alex follows up with a nice boof off the bottom ledge

Just below this first drop the creek continues wrapping left through a small boulder garden that I always find hard to run cleanly. After navigating this stretch we continued down through a fairly long section which was mainly class II with a couple IIIs. The next major obstacle was Osprey, the most difficult/dangerous drop on the run, and a class V in anyone's book. The first thing that is worth noting on this one is the lead-in. It's basically a shallow gravel bar that feeds directly around some guard rocks and into the main part of the drop. Therefore, if this is your first time down, be very cautious as you approach it, since you could run out of eddies, forcing you to run it sight unseen. The next thing to be aware of is the hole at the bottom of the drop is extremely retentive and also feeds underneath the massive boulder guarding the right side of it. This is a very dangerous spot for a swimmer, and I've seen some very good boaters get served here -- in one case, having to be pulled up from underneath the rock with a rope that he grabbed just before going under. That said, it is certainly runnable and has been many times, just make sure to scout thoroughly (including from below) and set good safety. I've never had a desire to run Osprey, and probably never will, so I shouldered my boat and started hiking without even looking at it. Both Aaron and Nate gave a look for a few minutes before finally conceding and portaging as well. One last note, regarding the portage, it's usually done on the right and should be done with caution, as it's quite slippery with the route along a sloped wall -- a fall here would deposit you in the crux of the drop feeding directly into the troublesome hole.

Portaging Osprey

Just below Osprey are a couple of really fun ledge drops. The first is typically run down the left through an S-Turn slot, where I had headed down to setup for pics once again. After signaling the line to the crew and watching them drop through I quickly ran the drop and blew past the others to setup for the next one.

Alex drops into the fun S-turn slot

Joni, on the same drop

The following ledge drops about 6' or so between a rock outcropping on the left and a cliff wall on the right. Everybody plowed though this one right down the middle with a water-boof over the small hole at the base. This is also a really beautiful section of the creek, and worth taking in the view.

Nate lines up the second ledge below Osprey

Bobby takes his turn

The crew regroups below in the beautiful canyon setting

Once past these ledges, the creek mellows again for an extended period of time through II/II+ water. Just as with Osprey, it's very easy to get complacent in the calm stretch, which at one point feeds into another significant hazard, "Constrictor". Once again the creek floats down a shallow section before dropping though a narrow slot, over a small 2' to 3' ledge, and into a boily cauldron, which feeds from well downstream. I have heard of people running this drop successfully, but never seen it myself. Definitely use caution here and once again make sure to set safety if you do decide to give it a go, a swim would be pretty dangerous. For the rest of us folks, a couple eddies and easy route around it facilitate a portage on the right.

Soon after Constrictor the walls closed up a bit and we entered the last gorge section. One of the first drops happens at a left bend where the creek goes over a small ledge (best run on river-right) and enters a narrow moving pool, which funnels into a log jam. This hazard is hard to spot from above and may even be covered over at higher flows. This jam has been here for at least a few years which is why I knew of it. Since the drop above tends to flip boaters I decided to take out above it and make the easy hike on the left. The portage around both the upper ledge and the log jam is very easy on river-left.

Looking down toward the logjam, which
can be seen in the middle of the picture.

Nate choices to make the portage a little more fun

More fun class III water followed until we reached the last major drop of the run. Actually a two-part drop, we all ran the first ledge down the fun sliding boof against the left wall. The right line goes as well, and is also quite fun -- it looks like you're going to slam into a piton rock at the bottom of the ledge, but you end up sailing right over. It should be noted that the run-out does have some pieces of wood in the water, but really isn't an issue as long as you're in your boat. Furthermore, this particular section seems to always collect wood, so scout accordingly.

Joni fires up the fun ledge drop against the left wall

Aaron gets an auto-boof off the same ledge

Below the initial ledge and run-out is another small ledge with a couple of rocks to navigate above it. I actually got bobbled just above the ledge and flipped coming off. Even though I rolled up pretty quickly, the water was pretty effing cold and it gave me a nice ice-cream headache.

Joni enters the second part of the drop

Anna lines up on the final ledge

The next bit of water to the takeout is pretty uneventful class II/III. There is one more mini-gorge starting just up from the Highway 20 road bridge that crosses over the creek (the take-out). The goal here is to catch the one to two boat eddy on river-right just above the bridge. If you miss this eddy, you go to the penalty box and are forced to take out a hundred yards or so near the confluence with the South Santiam -- not a big deal, just a little more hiking. Speaking of the South Santiam, you can also choose to follow it down to a take-out at Cascadia State Park. This sends you through one of the coolest stretches of that river, a long narrow gorge through vertical/overhung walls. The gorge is not difficult (mainly class II), but does have some pretty swirly water and a tricky hole that forms somewhere in there at higher flows.

Looking upstream from the take-out bridge on Hwy 20

Since we were all a bit tired and running out of light, we decided to take out at Hwy 20. After climbing up the steep bank, we loaded up and headed out. We did make one stop in nearby Sweet Home for some Mexican food at Los Dos Amigos -- not the best, but certainly passable. Once again, Lower Canyon Creek is a great run that would be perfect for aspiring creek boaters, or veterans, if looking for a nice low-stress run through a beautiful canyon coupled with some fun whitewater.