Canyonlands-The White Rim Trail Day 3, Biking and Hiking

 By the end of the crazy long ride the day before. We set up camp. I made a yummy tri-tip dinner for my exhausted men and bedtime it was. No time for pictures that night but in the morning we had to find our way through the brush to the Green River right next to our campsite.

 Reflections

 The boys were always having fun. Big dinner meant easy bear claw breakfast.

 Shelby chillin in the shade of the suburban. Today would only be an 8 mile ride to our next campsite, but there was a hill to climb.

 There was a trail to some ruins so we parked the sub and bikes and went exploring.

 This was the structure we could see at the top of the hill we wanted to reach. It was a cool trail with quite a variety of terrain. And then the trail ended. If you have been hiking, you know that the peak of any mountain can seem deceivingly close. Our trail ended but we did not want to admit defeat so we decided to climb up some rocks and see if they led to the top...

 This is the rock wall we climbed up.

 The rock wall was the way up!

 Can anyone identify this rock?

 Then we hiked down the hill to a cabin on the river.

 And back we went to finish the ride to our next campsite.

You can see the ruins in the background. 

From the Canyonlands website...

"Constructed roughly 1,000 years ago, Fort Bottom Ruin remains one of the more dramatic reminders of ancestral Puebloan culture along the Green River. Amazing 360-degree views greet visitors willing to make the climb. Just above river level, an historic cabin lends Fort Bottom its name."

This was so worth the hike to see this bit of history!

Canyonlands- The White Rim Trail Day 2, 50 miles

I am ready for day 2, or the longest day. We had requested campsites that were 30ish miles apart, but it is first come first serve and we weren't first back in January so we had a few different options. The option we took was for a long second day. We had also planned for the Shelby to ride the whole trail but brought the boys' bikes so they could ride some of it and when they got tired they could jump in the suburban and join mom. The boys had so much fun the first day riding, they made the decision they wanted to ride the entire trail. This meant a 48ish mile second day and a slower pace for Shelby.

 Lubing the chains for the second day of riding. The air was so dry here it literally sucked all moisture from your skin.

 The pit toilet

 Ezra liked to scare me by climbing on rocks near huge drop offs.

 Jacob may have been a little tired.

 Scaring me again. He assured me that it was steps and not slanted going directly down to his death.

 Cool area where there is definitely a waterfall during monsoon season.

 Still riding

 I spy some Big Horn Sheep.

Some of the wildlife we hoped we would see. Jacob was super excited because he spotted them first and he seems to always miss these kinds of things. I need a bigger zoom on my camera. And yes their horns were BIG.

 Yes I got out of the sub sometimes.

 The boys said these looked like Easter Island heads. They were all over. Sometimes looking like families.

 Lunch on the trail. We knew it would take the whole day to make it to camp so sandwiches and chips on the trail it was!

 And then the climb up Murphy's Hogback. I hung back and watched the suffering as even papa hiked up  and up. This was at about the halfway point. Thank goodness after this it was downhill and flat.

Ezra really wanted to get in with me but didn't. He was the little engine that could. The boys were both amazing!

 Me climbing up Hogback, white, sweaty knuckles and heart pumping (probably not as much as the men though) and then down. Again 4 low was my friend and I have new love for my suburban.

 Cliffhanging.

 The Green River

 The sun was going away as clouds came in and the day got late and there were still miles to cover.

 Shelby and I both had named these two big rocks up on the mesa the kissing rocks.

We did make it to camp after a full day (7/8 hours) of biking and driving. Camp was right on the Green River and the next day was only a 8 mile day. The boys are my heroes. Anyone who has done something like a 50 mile bike ride through the desert on the dirt with crazy climbs and headwinds knows that it is as much a mental challenge as a physical one. These boys conquered, life lessons were learned. We told them when they have something difficult to do all we will have to say is... "White Rim"... and they will know that they can do hard things.