Growing up as a twin you kind of take for granted that your playmate/best friend is pretty much always around. Paul and I rode bikes, hiked, played soccer and all the other youth sports together. He was on the CHS football team, I had zero desire for that. I ran an extra season of indoor track that he did not our senior year in high school.
Toss in the fact that we enjoy the same sports/activities, went to the same college and, until 2013 (minus the short time Paul lived in Texas after college), never lived more than 15 miles from each other. Needless to say we spent a decent amount of time doing stuff together.

Well after Mia and I moved to Oregon obviously those things changed. We’ve ridden and hiked together when I have been back to New Hampshire and I have taken him on rides near our home in FG when he has come here.

I had Mia drop me off at the MAX station on Friday morning with my suitcase and bike. First, I had to work most of the day and then hop on the Red Line to PDX airport and the short flight to Salt Lake City. Paul had a bit longer of a day coming in from New Hampshire and while we both landed within thirty minutes of each other, it felt like 8pm to me and midnight to him.

We picked up our Jeep POS rental (I would never buy one of these after spending 5 days in it) and stayed a short overnight in a Tru by Hilton near the airport. Saturday morning we hit the road for the 4ish hour drive to Moab!

This is the third time I have driven this SLC to Moab route since 2016. Not much new to report other than the paving project from last year is still ongoing! Just further east towards Price, UT now.

The rental was a bit south of downtown Moab proper. Would have liked to be within walking distance of stuff but beggars can’t be choosers. No complaints about the place and the views of the La Sals were stunning.

After unpacking bikes and building them back up we headed north out of town to the Bar M Trails for a shakedown ride. It was hot, wide open with very little shade but extremely different than anything I ride on a regular basis.

On Sunday we headed out to Dead Horse Point State Park for a high elevation (for us) ride on a simple but beautiful loop from the visitor center parking lot. Less than 900′ of elevation over 14-15 miles with some killer views. First, we had to stop at Doughbird in downtown Moab for some donuts and coffee though.

After stimulating the economy at the gift shop we hauled ass back to the rental house, dropped off bike and then boogied on over to Arches National Park.

This being my third time in Moab I had to make it a point to get to either Arches or Canyonlands. The last two times I was here was for the San Juan Hut trips. We didn’t exactly have a bunch of free time on those trips. I wasn’t going to miss out this time though!

Definitely an experience I will not forget. Arches is pretty darn fantastic. I will definitely be back here with Mia someday. There is a campground just before Devils Garden that I would love to stay at in much cooler weather than what we had. It would be supremely awesome at night!

Monday was THE day. Paul and I booked a shuttle up to Burro Pass so we could ride The Whole Enchilada. This would be my third time on these trails, first time without bikepacking bags, and first time with a full suspension bike. What a difference it makes not being loaded down with camping gear and not being brutalized on a hardtail (yes I am getting old).

Burro Pass tops out at 11,150′ in elevation before precipitously dropping off the back side for a few miles of gnarly singletrack. I would have to say it was more beat up than when I was out here in 2016.

I was pretty cooked by the time we got back to the river and still had to ride 5 miles back in to town. In hindsight, it was probably the start of me getting sick. I flew back on Wednesday with a sore throat, cough and lost my voice. Felt like garbage on Thursday and Friday and pretty much didn’t move. At home Covid test said negative, but I think it was wrong. Regardless of whatever I have/had it knocked me six ways to Sunday. The one silver lining is I was still able to ride all days and didn’t kick in until the travel day home.

We had a huge dinner at Moab Brewery after such a long day of riding. I was stuffed by the time we left there.

For our final riding day we headed out to Navajo Rocks for a short loop with some of the more traditional slick rock riding the area is known for. It was crazy windy this morning. Gusts in the upper 40mph range! Could feel times we were getting pushed along the trail with some killer tailwinds.

We walked around town on Tuesday afternoon doing the “tourist things” and getting lunch at Zax. Great sweet potato waffle fries with my pulled pork sandwich. Spent the evening packing up bikes and making sure we were ready to hit the road early for the drive back to SLC airport.

It was nice to spend time with Paul and not have to worry about kids, spouses or much of anything else really. We are hoping to get in a trip like this at least once a year. Right now it is trying to figure out where we want to ride next. Pisgah, NC? Grand Tetons? Bentonville, AR? Who knows?

Thanks for reading,
-Pete & Paul