MEA Part 2

 Part two of our MEA week was spent in Moab, with so much to do in the area I had grand ideas of tackling a couple adventures each day. Getting a family of five moving in any direction usually counts as one of those adventures, so we were left with one decent event per day.

where's waldo

rock

I like this...fun is about to happen

GMan..second one down first rap

  On Thursday morning we headed south of town to Entrajo Canyon, a slot canyon with a couple rappels, it's easy, short, and I knew the route from my very first real canyoneering experience
 4 years ago. This trip didn't go as planned but was fun none the less, the water was really high and super cold. I'll usually suffer through some misery for the greater good of the experience, but this was too much for my family and I to go through without more gear and a bigger commitment. None of us had wet suits and the first impasse in the slot was a pot hole that might have required some work to get all of us through.

BigD

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SuperY  on second rap

Don't fall in water, it's super cold

 Walking away a little defeated, we continued down canyon bypassing the slot section and ended up at the final rappels. This was a welcome surprise and the part I wanted my kids to have some experience with. The raps are short, around 40' and are back to back. I dropped down first, with the kids going down in order of age, oldest to youngest followed by my wife. GMan and Super Y did great, but Big D made me a little nervous when he had to be reminded to never let go of his brake hand. Fortunately he doesn't weigh much, the weight of the rope acted as the brake as well as me standing guard with a fireman belay. On the second rap he did much better. Once back at camp, Super Y and I suited up for a short MTB ride north of town at Klondike Bluffs. While we rode, Lynn and the boys roamed around town checking out all the shops and ran into a couple friends from Mn.

My newest ride...Farley EX

Sunset at Dead Horse Point

 Our final non driving day of vacation was spent at Dead Horse Point State Park. It was  recommended by a friend to check out the sunset here and ride the trails..... I can now recommend this to you as well. The trails, while not as extreme as some of those in Moab, were fantastic. We saw more families and kids riding here than anywhere I have ever been. Despite the initial thought that these trails might be super tame, they were in fact a lot of fun and plenty challenging at speed. The views were absolutely stunning and had us stopping at many points along the trail. After wrapping up the ride we head to the furthest parking lot at Dead Horse Point and cooked up some dinner just before sunset. As the sun was going down a good sized crowd gathered for the show at the west facing overlook, it was impressive and a good way to end our last night in Utah.

Our wonderful van in CO

Our wonderful van after hitting a deer at 70 mph CO, NE border....out of commission and stranded. 

Drove this sucker home the next day after mechanic rigged up the tranny cooler and some blown fuses as well as some work with a sawsall....I duct tapped the headlights in at a Walmart in Grand Island and arrived home at 4:30 am the following day...then went to work

Until next time, D Rider.........................out