MTB'ing

We know, we know...we're terrible at blogging.  It's been about a month since our last post.  But we have a good excuse - we've been in the desert.  Our plans to backpack in Idaho were thwarted by winter, snow and cold weather.  We did arrive at the Sawtooths, but only managed a few nights of camping at lower elevation and day hiking as there was a few inches of snow where we had planned to backpack.  Plus, it was about 15 degrees at night.

Pettit Lake and the Sawtooth Mountains.  The first picture looks fake, doesn't it?

Day hiking in the Sawtooths.

From the Sawtooths, we headed further south in Idaho to Craters of the Moon National Monument.  Fields of lava flows and tunnels from volcanic eruptions 1,000s of years ago.

Climbing through and out of the lava tunnels.

We did manage a short (10 mile) backpacking trip while in Craters of the Moon to Echo Crater and camped inside the crater for one night.  Our little yellow tent in the lower lefthand corner.

Then to City of Rocks National Reserve.  We relaxed here for a few days and did a little mountainbiking.  The area is really known for its rock climbing, not MTB'ing, but it was still a cool place.

 



Continuing our journey south toward warmer weather, we spent about a week checking out Salt Lake City and MTB'ing in Park City, Utah.  The colors were spectacular.

Salt Lake City to Moab, Utah where we met up with our friends Katie and Neal for some great riding.

Riding the UPS trail with Katie and Neal.

Klondike Bluffs.

After the weekend with Katie and Neal, we spent a few more days riding in Moab and hiding at camp from the two day rain storm that came through town.

View from camp in Moab - Hunter Canyon.

Hiking into Hunter Canyon.

Riding Hurrah Pass.

Halloween weekend was spent in Fruita, Colorado with Rachel and Tyler.  Awesome weekend full of great riding and great friends!

Riding the Lunch Loop Trails outside of Grand Junction.

Luke riding the Edge Loop trail off of 18 Road in Fruita.

Back to Moab the next week/weekend to meet up with Luke's brother and his family.  We took a few days off from MTB'ing and went to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.

Arches NP.

Canyonlands NP.

Luke with his nieces at camp.

It's November already and we've been on the road for almost 4 months.  The months are going quickly and, believe it or not, there never seems to be enough time for everything on our list.  We were hoping to make it to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, but the cold is pushing us further south.  It's time to head to Arizona for some more mountainbiking and to visit a few parks along the way.  It's almost 80 degrees in Phoenix!