Fadgen's Adventures: A Moab Thanksgiving!

Double Arch

Dylan has been after me for some time to get down to Moab for both mountain biking and climbing. He kept saying I didn't know what I was missing by not heading down to the desert. Well, with nothing much planned for the long Thanksgiving weekend, Tamara and I decided we'd make it a short multi-sport family vacation.

We took off early Wednesday morning and met up with up Taylor and Dylan at Taylor's place in SLC. After some great Pho for lunch, we made the short 3.5 hour drive from Salt Lake to Moab. The red cliffs were looking pretty good in the late afternoon sunshine, but it was a little late to get out and do anything fun. So, we had dinner and some drinks before calling it a night.

Thursday morning we decided to do the National Park thing and headed over to Arches National Park. Dylan, who had ridden his road bike through the park last spring, acted as our tour guide as we visited the attractions; Double Arch, Window Arches, Delicate Arch - you get the picture. It was all very beautiful on this clear, cold, fall day.

Delicate Arch

I called these the "Sporting Wood" formations

After a long morning/afternoon of hiking through the park, and with a short window before dark, the girls dropped us boys off at Wall Street so we could climb a crack route called, 30 Seconds over Potash. Well, at least he could climb it. I struggled up it the best I could, but by the time I felt that I had a little of crack climbing technique down, my arms were just too pumped. So I called it a day 20 feet from the top as it was turning dark.

Dylan on "30 Seconds Over Potash"

And yours truly trying to follow

That night we had a great Thanksgiving dinner, highlighted by the three pies Taylor baked the day before - apple, blueberry maple and pear cranberry. Delicious!

The next morning was another cold, clear beautiful day as we all headed to Klondike Bluffs for a little mountain biking. Though Tamara, Dylan and I are avid mountain bikers, Taylor just occasionally dabbles in it, but Tamara is just getting over a shoulder injury caused by crashing her mountain bike the previous week. So, with this in mind, Dylan selected an intermediate trail that didn't involve too much slick rock. Though intermediate, everyone still had a blast!

Taylor on Klondike Bluff

Staying warm

Group shot

The afternoon was again set aside for some rock climbing, but this time he took us to The Ice Cream Parlor for some slab climbing. The three non-injured Fadgen's then did a little bit of climbing to round out the day.

We were all feeling a little beat up Saturday morning, but the slick rock was calling! Dylan and I decided to ride Moab's famous "Slick Rock Trail", while the girls elected to head back to Arches NP and hike the Devil's Garden. Tamara and I had ridden some slick rock the previous spring outside of Zion NP http://fadgenfamily.blogspot.com/2016_04_01_archive.html, but nothing like this.

We arrived at the nearly empty parking lot at 9AM. Though it was a brisk 35 degrees, it didn't take long for us to heat up. The riding alternated between technical and easy, and you had to pay attention for the majority of the 10 mile loop. Though I laid my bike over a half dozen times on both rock and sand, no major injuries were sustained. We were pretty spent after completing the 2.5 hour ride, but...

There was more climbing to be done! Another route that Dylan had on his list for the weekend, "Pocket Rocket" https://www.mountainproject.com/v/pocket-rocket/106297965 beckoned. After a quick call to verify that the girls were still at Devil's Garden, we made a beeline down Potash Road heading for the route.

Taylor and Tamara at Landscape Arch

The crux of this route is a roof move right off the ground. After flailing for a bit on this, Dylan easily lead the remainder of the route and set up an anchor. My turn. I'd like to say I breezed up it, but I couldn't even get started. I gained the roof section and had a heel hooked over a bulge, but just couldn't pull the rest of my body up to reach the first hold. Let's just say that I was weighed down by turkey and beer. So after a few minutes of really flailing, I asked Dylan to lower me and called it a day.

That afternoon we took a 3 hour tour and drove the La Sal mountain loop down into Castleton and then on to Fisher Towers. Dylan had climbed Ancient Art in Fisher Towers http://fadgenfamily.blogspot.com/2015/02/ancient-art-stolen-chimney.html in Febuary 2015 and was looking forward to showing the area to us.

It did not disappoint. The geology of this area is very unique and not to be missed. As we hiked around the area in the sunset, the glow from the red mud was stunning. The view of Ancient Art from the ground was equally stunning as well as terrifying.