A couple of our mountain biking friends from San Diego moved to Virgin, Utah last year. Since we were traveling by the area I contacted them and as luck would have it, they had an RV spot at their new house here. So we are hanging out with them for the week doing a bunch of bike rides in the area.
Gooseberry Mesa
Derek and I last rode the Gooseberry Mesa trails in 2010 and before that we’d ridden them a few times. This didn’t stop our excitement because I like the fun slickrock sections that require skill. This is definitely not easy riding and requires attention or you’ll get hurt. We rode a loop of North and South Rim, Yellow, and Practice and had a great time.
Kolob Terrace
It poured overnight so we decided to let the trails dry out and instead, rode Kolob Terrace out into the corner of Zion. Oh the views!!! Originally we planned to ride up a gravel road that ties into the pavement and take the pavement down, but figured it for muddy. So, 16 miles out and then when the thunder clouds started to spit rain, we turned and flew down. 3600′ of climbing in that 16 miles netted us so many interesting views and we were going slow enough to greedily take them all in.
Mormons settled this area in 1857 and Kolob, in Mormon scripture, is the closest star to where God resides. I’m not sure about all that, but it was pretty.
Pretty area – cool landscape