Saturday, November 19/2011

Ken's Lake

Left it is

Company

What way do we go?

We are headed out to do Sand Flats Road today.  It is considered an easy trail being graded dirt, packed sand and patches of slickrock.  Sounds good to me!!  We had to access this trail off the LaSal Mountain Loop which is pavement for much of the way.  Once we got to the upper elevations, (today's highest was 7922 feet) we encountered snow on the road.  Being from Saskatchewan, this was not much of an issue and it was already starting to melt in several places.  There were still a few icy patches and of course they had to present themselves on 10mph switchback corners!!  I thank my lucky stars they were not on shelf trails because I probably would have been in full panic mode and unconscious!!  Have I mentioned that I hate shelf trails!!
We accessed Sand Flats Road and were rewarded with incredible views of red sandstone cliffs and rugged desert vistas.  We had wonderful views of Spanish Valley and the Canyon Rims Recreation Area. There were some shelf roads along this trail and I practised my deep breathing techniques and simply closed my eyes and hung on!!  John kept telling me to "get a grip" - well,  I had a grip - on the seat!!  Could he not see my white knuckles!!
We eventually got off Sand Flats Road and accessed Porcupine Rim Trail which in turn spit us out on Fins and Things Trail.
Fins and Things Trail has got to be one of the best 4x4 and ATV trails in the Moab area.  It offers gorgeous scenery (acres of slickrock, juniper and sagebrush) and incredible 4x4ing and riding.  It gets its name because the slickrock looks like "fins" on the back of a dinosaur.  The trail is mostly riding slickrock (much like a rollercoaster) with sections of deep sand in between the rocks.  It is rated as a 3 out of 4 for level of difficulty and requires one to have more than a minimal amount of skill to safely negotiate this trail.  There are steep (and I mean steep) ascents up the slickrock as well as steep often stair-step descents off the rock.  It is not for the faint of heart and yet I enjoyed this trail immensely.  I would do it again!!
As we left the area, we saw a sign saying Lionsback Campground and it was only then that I realized that we were near the infamous Lionsback trail.  I would like to see this one day and who knows, maybe I will!!

The Fins

Heading home through Moab

US 191 N

Back at camp

Another awesome day!

Back at the bus, we collected a bit of dead sagebrush and had a bonfire then, supper and bed.  It was a good trip and the jeep ran well - no broken parts (that we know of!!)