La Salle Loop Road

June 2, 2017

So this was an interesting day. It started with our new normal of late: a 6:30 breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe. This is our third straight morning here, and sadly our last. We were packed up and on the road by about 7:30, heading for the Red Cliffs Lodge, about fifteen miles upriver on the Colorado. It's a pretty elegant spot and not the sort of place we normally seek out, but we're going there because it's the only place significantly east of Moab that I could find. Our destination the next day is Fruita, which is about 75 miles past the lodge with nothing in between.

We could probably manage the ninety mile day from Moab to Fruita if conditions were right, but we also wanted to ride the La Sal Loop Road, a famously fine riding loop. So, that's the plan - bike the La Sal Loop today, ending at Red Cliffs Lodge for a splurge tonight; and continue on to Fruita tomorrow.

The ride started out pleasantly as we biked south out of town on quiet Spanish Valley Drive, passing through the outskirts of Moab and eventually into open range land.

Leaving Moab toward the south for a change, down the Spanish Valley

After a few miles we escape the last of Moab's suburbs and enter open rangeland.

After about ten miles Spanish Valley Drive transitions into the La Sal Loop. We've been climbing steadily but almost imperceptibly ever since leaving town. Now though, the road bends east and into the hills and starts climbing more seriously. Over the next ten miles we gain about three thousand feet, finally topping out at a first summit of about 8,000'. It is steep in spots, but manageable. The scenery gets better with each mile as we break into the open and start getting nice views of the snow-capped peaks.

We turn left on the La Sal Loop Road and begin climbing toward the mountains

A steep hairpin turn on the La Sal Loop Road

Cresting at the first of a series of summits

Not long after this, we get our first inkling that we have a problem on our hands when a passing car stops and the driver informs Rachael that the road is closed ahead. He doesn't have much information beyond that - he doesn't know why it's closed, or if it's passable by bicycle.

So here's our dilemma and our thinking at this point: we can turn around, backtrack the 20 miles to Moab, and bike to the lodge along the river. This puts our ride at 55 miles, and will fit the day easily - especially since it's all downhill back to Moab. Or, we can continue on a few more miles to check out the closure and see if we can get through - something that is often possible by bike at road closures. It's not unusual to be able to get through on a bike when cars cannot.

We decide to continue on, risking adding a few more miles we'll have to backtrack in the hopes that we can continue forward and stick with the original plan.

A few miles later, we come to the barricade.

There is no one around to discuss the situation with. Beyond the barricade the road is unpaved but clearly bikeable. Who knows what the issue is, and maybe no one is even working today. We're in for a dollar already, so we decide to throw a few more chips in the pot. We skirt the barricade and continue on.

Bad news near the summit. We were told that there was a closure sign back at the beginning of this road, at its junction with Highway 191. We came in from Spanish Way though, so we didn't learn of the situation until we were about a mile from here when someone stopped their car to inform us. As long as we were this close anyway we decided to continue on and see if bikes could get through.

No one is around to ask and road conditions don't seem bad, so we skirt the barrier and continue on for a few miles. With our only alternative being a backtrack all the way to Moab, we wanted to see some evidence that bicycles couldn't make it through.

One reward for our stubborn persistence was a fabulous view of the Fisher Towers and down into Cathedral Valley.

We continue on for about two more miles, still seeing or hearing no one. We do start seeing some fabulous scenerythough, after we round a bend and Cathedral Valley and Fisher Towers come into view. We're starting to get a good feeling about this and are starting to like our chances.

Then, we round a bend and see that the jig is up. A work crew confronts us, and tells us that we must turn back. They aren't really interested in the fact that we'll have to backtrack fifty miles now. We have a prolonged but futile discussion, in which among other things I offer to pay them well if they'll drive us to the other side. Eventually though it's obvious that we're out of luck, and I tell Rachael it's time to head back.

Instead, she hops on her bike and continues forward, cycling past the work crew. None of us can quite believe it. I call her to come back, but it's no good - she's going. After she's about fifty yards down the road, I apologetically tell the crew that I can't abandon my wife, and start biking after her.

Two miles of dirt road later we're stopped again, by a different party. This guy does a better job of explaining the situation, is more sympathetic, but makes clear that we can't proceed. There are several miles of heavy equipment work ahead, and it's a liability thing. He's a nice guy and an effective communicator, and makes his case. End of the road.

He says that work will stop for the weekend at six though, and we could get through after that if we want to sit here until then. It's that or bike back to Moab (we're up to a 70 mile day now with that option, but there's enough day left that it's still doable). It's time for lunch anyway, so we decide to sit and think about it.

It's very hot. There's no shade anywhere. It's only about one in the afternoon. Rats.

End of the line. We're banned from proceeding further and given a choice of biking back the way we came, or of sitting by the side of the road until six o'clock when the work crews shut down for the weekend. It's only about one now, but for the moment at least we decide to sit. It's only about fifteen miles to our lodge and mostly downhill, so if we wait until quitting time we'll still have daylight to get there. Unfortunately, it's hot and mostly sunny and there is no opportunity for shade anywhere around. Not the best situation.

About fifteen minutes later he comes back again. He's troubled by our situation, it's clear, and he sees how dumb it is to have us bake here for five hours. He's done some talking around and came up with two other options for us. He has a contractor with him that is willing to drive us through the next several miles in his truck and drop us out the other side, but we'll have to disrupt the work crews as we pass; or we can take a jeep road down through the valley and eventually work our way back onto pavement again. One of the men on the crew has taken this route before and says it's rough but viable.

Both of them are in a surprisingly good frame of mind, actually. They've heard the story of Rachael's rebellion, and of my throwing up my hands and following after her. Rachaael apologizes, and said that Thelma and Louise have been on her mind lately. 'Yeah, you're Louise', one of them chortles, almost with admiration.

We've already disturbed them enough, so we decide to drop down the jeep trail. There are unfortunately a few forks in it, as we can see looking down into the valley, but we talk it through with the one with experience and it sounds fine. We backtrack a mile to the start of the trail, and drop into the valley.

Before long, one of the crew came back with some information about the jeep trail that drops down into the valley. He said we could bike a mile back to where it starts and drop down the valley that way, eventually hooking back into the paved road below the construction work. It sounded much better than baking in the hot sun for five hours.

The trail road goes about as you'd expect. It's generally pretty steeply downhill, so the road surface is often poor - gravelly, rutted, uneven - and we end up walking more than riding, and riding probably more than is wise. We're helped out by an unlikely pair of Road Angels - two course older guys on ATV's who take us under their wings a bit and help us with navigation. I think without them we would have taken the wrong branch, dead-ended, and have needed to backtrack and start over.

Finally, about two hours later, we hit pavement again. Not long afterwards, the crew boss from above passes by and smiles at Rachael, happy to see we have come through. Very nice guy.

The road was only intermittently bikeable, at least with our bikes and technical skills. We spent more time walking our bikes than riding them.

It made for slow going, but along the way we enjoyed some awesome scenery.

We were helped along by this pair of ATV'ers who took us under their wing a bit, giving navigational advice so we didn't stray off onto a dead end Spur. I think they were concerned about us, and stopped by a few times to make sure we were OK and had enough water.

It is wonderful to be back on pavement again, enjoying an exhilarating descent the remaining ten miles to the Colorado River. This may have been the best descent of the entire tour. We both feel like we've taken a bit too much risk today and been a bit unwise but have gotten away with something special.

We reach the lodge about five, and after cleaning up head back to the dining area for our dinner reservation. We are seated on the deck, enjoying weather that feels like an evening in southern France and probably the best meal of the trip. Watching the setting sun reddening the cliffs lining the river brings a wonderful ending to a very rare experience.

Elevation gain: today, 5,300'; for the tour, 47,800'.

Two hours and five frustrating miles later, it was a relief to hit the pavement again. The rest of the ride was a fast coast to the Colorado River.

We splurged tonight and stayed at the Red Cliff Lodge. We chose it because it was the only lodging we could find east of Moab. We wanted to cut down the length of tomorrow's ride to Fruita as much as we could. We ate dinner on the deck, overlooking the Colorado, watching the cliffs redden as the sun went down. A hard experience to beat.

This flycatcher entertained and frustrated me at dinner, repeatedly returning to the same spot on this branch for a few seconds, and then darting off as soon as I focused the camera. I finally got this halfway decent shot by anticipating his behavior. Not sure of the species though - maybe a western wood pewee.

Today's ride: 49 miles (79 km)
Total: 784 miles (1,262 km)

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Susan CarpenterWhat an amazing day!! The knife’s edge of risk/reward. And that rogue woman Rachael - I’ll just have to start calling her Louise.
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2 years ago

Rachael AndersonTo Susan CarpenterI don’t know what came over me and it’s unlikely to happen again but it makes a great story and I’m glad I did it!
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2 years ago