Kokopelli 09′

This year was a new approach to the Kokopelli adventure that turned out to be an action packed highly relaxing fully supported multiday mountain biking adventure. Those of you that are not familiar with the Kokopelli Trial it is a 150 mile routh the the desert following much of the Colorado River through dusty, twisty, rocky, ledgey exposed single track and jeep road. This route packs some of the most rugged unforgiving yet spectacular terrian I have ridden. I love spending time in this part of the country. Our crew was fourtunate to find campsites with the most amazing vistas right along the Colorado River boxed in by steep canyon walls.

We started our adventure at the Loma Trail head. This year I was much more relaxed.

Jen is on the right our support driver. Steven Mike and Myself on MTB’s. Oh and of course our Kokopelli Mascot dog Roxi.

And we are off here is Mike leading the way on Marys.

Steven just getting done ripping a techy spot on Horsethief Bench.

Wow look at the Colorado Down there!

Notice my pack is much smaller this year. They joy of having a support vehicle is you can carry much less stuff and really rip the trail.

Handcuff Loops is a fun section that included one of a billion cliffs we rode along.

You can see the Handcuff loops down there. If you ever have a chance to ride this section I would recommend it.

We stop for some traffic. You can see the riders off in the distance.

No complaints so far.

Dont ask me what this guy was thinking!>!??

Here is that crazy hike a bike out of the canyon that Salt creek runs through.

Here we all arrive at our totally kick ass day one camp spot. I cant believe how lucky we were to get this cool location. It was in Knowles Canyon Overlook Campground and had amazing views of the canyon below and the Colorado River.

Not a bad way to wake up on day two.

And we are off for Day Two. This was one of the best sections because we were able to hit the Western Rim trail for the first time with perfect weather. Last year we missed it due to no trail markers and strong wind.

I cant begin to tell you how fun the Western Rim trail was to ride. Easily one of the best singletrack options in the region.

This trail scared the bejezeze out of me. We got off trail and it squezed us right up aginst the exposed ledge!

More of the Western Rim

Yes the trail skirts along this cliff

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=

Wesern Rim from Jason Moyes on Vimeo.

This section of the western was highly fun. Whoop de doos everywhere and lots more small drops.

Steven, Mike, and myself stop to have lunch. It was hot and sunny this was the only patch of good shade for miles. Steven and I packed tuna sandwitches. What a bunch of dorks.

Here I am cleaning a nice tech climb section. We decided to finish off the day on the Overlook trail that turned out to be a bitch. It was had to follow and had lots of soft sandy sections combined with rocky ledges and tech sections. It ended up finishing us all off for the day. Good thing camp is only a few miles away.

Day 2 camp site at West Water. Not quite a senic and remote as Knowles but still fun. There was another group of riders taking a guided tour through one of the small tour companies and they had along with them a talented singer/guitarist that played some great songs till bed time then woke us up again the next morning at 7:00am sharp. I slept about 10 yards from the shore of the colorado river.I feel like a I am starting to bond with this river a bit.

Ahh the joys of a supported trip. Fettachini Alfreado! Self Supported I would be eating a frezed drid bag of somthing. All of our meals turned out excellent and our breakfast mostly consisted of breakfast burrito stuff.

So here we are ready to tackle another section of the Kokopelli. Today we had Westwater to Cowskin Campground This was a tough day battling strong head winds and hot sun. It was a constant push for about 30+miles.

We managed to have a blast despite the windy conditions.

Wide open spaces. For some reason this is the most erie section of the Kokopelli to me.

Good ole county road. I drafted mike as much as possible this day.

Here is an old foundation that we came across and took a break in the cellar.

Here we are taking a break from the wind gusts. It was creepy down in this old cellar.

It was nice to have other people carrying the camera on this trip. I got lots of good shots with me in them.

Mike and I pressed on the complete the Yellow Jacket Canyon section. This turned out to be one of the trip highlights.

It was late in the day and I shoud have been beat from riding head on into wind all day but some how I was energized and had a great climb and amazing decent down YJC. Lots of slick rock and really cool sandy section that you can surf over.

I was getting low on water.

Here is our cool campsite for Night 3. This was by far my best nights sleep. I had the rain fly off and fell asleap to the stars. We were not at cowskin but at a campsite by the Delores River.

So we ended up skipping a day on of the luxuires of a supported trip. We were all tired after 3 days straight of riding and the day prior was full of harsh wind. Also we got bad reports that the Polar Mesa section may be closed and still coverd with snow. So we skipped a major part from basically Dewy Bridge all the way to the Beginning of UPS, LPS, Porcupine rim trail.

Rested rechared and full of excitement we got dropped off by Jen at the start of the commonly shuttled Porcupine Rim. Lying before us are some of the best sections of the Kokopelli route, the Kokopelli connector, UPS, LPS, and the classic Porcupine rim trail.

This is the only picture I got on the super fast decent on the Kokopelli Connector Trail. The Kokopelli Connector trail is the trail between Hazard County and UPS. Last year this was muddy but quite the oppisite this year, hard packed, smooth, and scary fast!

Oh lookie here the UPS is official it has its own sign. This section of singletrack is to die for. Whom ever laid out this trail did an amazing job of utilizing the terrain for maximum fun.