Hut 6 to Moab

We ate breakfast, loaded our packs, locked the door to our last hut and headed back to the trail. The morning started with a climb and at one point had an incredible lookout point. We took a break and a couple pictures before moving on. Several miles past the lookout we came to another huge down hill. The descent must have been about the same as the descent in to Gateway, this time the road was paved. The descending pecking order was significantly different from the climbing order, with the exception of Mike who was always leading.

Within minutes we had traveled down to the bottom of the hill. Several people with speedometers had recorded speeds between 45 and 50 miles per hour. We were faced with the decision of riding the road back to Moab or climbing some more so we could take the mountain trails back in to Moab. After riding for 6 days none of us wanted to ride the road back to Moab so we took a left and headed up the hill. Once again we found ourselves climbing, but this time we knew it would be one of our last climbs and our payoff would be riding downhill back to Moab.

As we crested the climb we found ourselves at the entrance to the Kokopelli trail and at the same spot our guided ride had started a few years back. We took a quick rest, chatted about what we had been through and discussed our plan to go forward. It was decided we would take Kokopelli back to Moab and possibly ride Slickrock. With a new found energy and sense of accomplishment the group headed out on to the trail. It wasn't more than a couple minutes before phrases like "does this look familiar", "is this where we turned" and "I don't remember this part" were being bantered about. The group condenses was to re-group and send a couple scouts out on the different legs of the trail. One leg went downhill, one up, and one to the right. As the scouts headed out on their respective trails to see if any of them looked familiar the rest of the group hung around. Mike noticed that his rear tire was worn through and the tube was starting to become exposed so we performed a quick tire swap. Ironically this was the only day we had cell reception so we took advantage of the opportunity and called Moab Cyclery to see if they could help us determine which trail was the right one. Sure enough they gave us the help we needed. 

When the scouts returned we told them we knew where to go and in no time we were pedaling, bouncing, and jumping our way down the Kokopelli trail back to town! After a quick break to fix a couple flats we were pounding down the trail. The trail merged on to a rocky gravel road and the group was again flying down the hills. The ride for the next hour went like this. Ride, flat tire,  ride flat tire, ride flat tire...we must have had 4 or 5 flats within 10 minutes of each other. As we descended the hill we could feel the temperatures changing; 80 degrees became 90, 90 became 100 and by the time we got to the trailhead for Kokopelli and Por-key-pine the temps were in the low 100s. We pedaled the road through the park, passed Slickrock and stopped at Baby Lion's Back. We told Mike how great the climb up the hill was and that although it looked impossible you really could do it because the composition of the rock yielded incredible traction. Mike dropped his pack and proceeded to climb Baby's back. You have to remember that we had been riding all morning (in addition to 6 days) and that Mike's bike had a double ring in front, not a triple. Never the less Mike continued to amaze us with his strength and endurance as he climbed the rock. Mark then followed Mike's lead. Dropped his pack, put his head down and pedaled like there was no tomorrow. Mark made it up on his first try! On the way down Mark entertained us with his incredible impression of Nate. One stoppie after another has he descended the rock.

The day was drawing to an end and we wanted to get in to town so we could stop by Moab Cyclery and thank them for their help so we jumped back on the bikes and started a pace line back to town. As we exited the park someone suggested we take the path that drops us right behind Moab Cyclery back in to town. As we rolled along this path it was like a surreal transition  back in to civilization. We passed kids playing in parks, a school, people walking on the path, cars and homes. All of these are sights we had not seen for almost a week.

We ended up at Moab Cyclery where everyone bought souvenirs & Gatorade. We also took a couple pictures of ourselves to serve as a memento of our journey.

After our break at the bike shop we headed over to the hotel, got our rooms, cleaned up and headed off to dinner. The venue for dinner was Eddie McStiffs. After a couple well deserved beers, some ribs, steak, salad and burgers we reminisced about the trip that seemed to have started months ago. With the video camera rolling we talked about the highs and lows of the trip, the things we would do different, and the fact that we all made it with out a single crash and that as a team we helped each other through some of our most difficult times.

Following dinner we ran around town buying magnets, t-shirts, and other trinkets for our families then retired to the hotel to get a good nights sleep. Al and I were in our room for about 30 minutes when Mark came to the door and said something that reminded me I wanted to review some of the video. I can't begin to describe the panic I felt when I realized I didn't have the video camera. It was lost. 4 days of video and a brand new miniDV camcorder.....lost. A frantic search of the room ensued to no avail. Al, Mark and I jumped on the bikes and rode back in to town retracing every step, every store, talked to the store managers and employees. No one had seen the camera. People remember seeing me with it, but no one had seen it since we left. I was distraught. The camera could be replaced (although explaining the loss of the camera to my wife would be a challenge), but the video from the last 4 days. The video from the first part of the trip was sent home from Gateway, but the last days had some great footage and our reminiscing over dinner.

We left my name and cell phone number with each store and asked them that if the camera happened to show up to please call. We rode back to the hotel to ask the others if they had seen the camera. None of them had seen it. Once again and now with a larger entourage we headed back in to town to question everyone again. As I walked in to one of the stores the manager produced a bag from behind the counter and said she had been trying to call me because right after I left a little girl brought the camera in. Her story didn't make a whole lot of sense because it was now about 9:30 and we found it hard to believe a little girl would be wondering the streets by herself this late. None the less we had the camera back.

With that last bit of drama we ended the trip.