Gooseberry Mesa, finally....

finally made it to Gooseberry Mesa. In case you're wondering, Gooseberry Mesa is just southeast of Hurricane Utah, east of St. George and just outside of Zion National Park. I've been wanting to ride there since I first heard about it some 8 years ago. The riding there was outstanding - technically challenging and with fantastic scenery. It was an 11-hour drive from Santa Fe and worth every minute of it.

Day 1 was an 18-mile romp along the north rim of the mesa to a huge descent on the Grafton Mesa downhill. Five minutes into the ride, our ride leader Quinton, owner of Over The Edge bike shop in Hurricane, rolled this insanely steep and chunky roller. I was impressed, and resolved not to follow him too closely....


A group shot:


I didn't get any other good pics as I lost my front brake early in the day and was quite focused on not crashing.


Day 2 was more Gooseberry, this time the south rim and the challenging Hidden Creek trail. The South Rim of Gooseberry Mesa was the best riding of the whole week - tricky ups and downs with amazing scenery everywhere. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pics. Dave "Slower than Snot" Nice took some pics for me but they all sucked. Thanks anyway Dave.

Day 3 was Little Creek Mesa, where more sweet scenery and singletrack awaited us.

A rock bridge:


Some vandals preceded us:


Another rock bridge:



It was on Little Creek Mesa that I used up my good luck for the entire decade:

I was just riding along the rim and nicked a little branch. My rear derailler sucked up into the spokes and self-destructed. Big bummer. I was preparing to walk out and was pulling the busted bits off the bike when Steve-O from Canada rolled up and said "I have a spare derailler. Take it".

When does THAT ever happen? In 10 minutes I was riding again. Unbelieveable.


Although I love riding with other mountain bikers, getting everybody geared up and organized and delivered to the trailhead can take a long time. By Day 4 I was ready for an early-morning solo jaunt. Gould's Rim to JEM trail to Hurricane Rim was right outside of town.

A long climb led to some views:


and some flowers:


JEM trail was so fast and flowing and fun I never even considered stopping for photos. It dropped down to the Hurricane Rim trail overlooking the Virgin RIver canyon. Awesome scenery and a fun flowing trail.


I took a day off of riding to explore Zion National Park. It was time well spent. I took a lot of photos but few of them were worth sharing. The Park is so overwhelmingly amazing that you have to see it for yourself to beieve it.


Those that preceded us cut these footsteps into the rock to make it easier to get to the water:


Magnificent!


The trail to Observation Point went through a beautiful slot canyon.



The only thing I saw that day that wasn't beautiful was the gift shop.


On my last day in Utah, some new and old friends and I rode Rockville Bench, also known as Slickrock Swamp.

SteveO flashing the peace sign.


This is me on the edge.


Phil from Canada:


Me again


After riding everything at Rockville, we agreed that we needed more, so we drove over to St. George and hit something called Church Rocks.

As usual, it was steeper than it looks.




I could have stayed and played in southwest Utah for many more days, but my path from there led to family and friends in California. I'll post pics of my riding there in a week or two.

Thanks for looking!