White Rim Trail

The White Rim Trail has been on our bucket list for a while. The dirt road is about 80-100 miles depending on your route and is negotiable with a 4 wheel drive vehicle.  It has beautiful scenery and is fairly remote. There are no services of any kind.
After much discussion, map studying and paperwork we were scheduled for a late October trip. Camping is only allowed at designated areas and many of the spaces go quickly. If you start planning early you can get campsites that are a good days ride apart.  Our campsites were Airport, Murphy's Hogback and Potato Bottom.

I was pretty freaked out by the whole trip.  I was sure I could handle the technical part of the riding but not sure about the miles or the weather.  Bruce and I rode a short section a few years ago as a day trip and loved it so I tried to remember that.
We agreed that anyone who was comfortable with the road would take turns driving our truck as a support vehicle. We loaded everyones gear into the truck so that the riders would not have to carry too much.  We would also have the benefit of our pop up if the weather turned bad.

Yes, there are riders that can do the White Rim in a day but that isn't the kind of trip we wanted. We wanted a more leisurely pace, one that would allow us to camp, hike some and enjoy the scenery. We planned on 3 nights, 4 days riding 23-26 or so miles each day.  We were all pretty laid back, just happy to be there rather than pushing hard.

We checked in at Islands in the Sky Ranger Station and picked up our permits. When I voiced my concern about the weather forecast the ranger reminded me that the unknown is just part of the adventure.
Ok, but that didn't help me relax!

Our group (minus photographer) outside the ranger station at Islands in the Sky 

The morning of our ride we parked vehicles at the Mineral Bottom end of the trail and started down the Shafer Trail.

The little tiny dots on the road are us riding down the Shafer trail.

Shafer trail is an exhilarating downhill ride that is over all too quickly. Bruce drove the truck down and after we were at the bottom I took on the driving.  The first day's ride was about 16 miles to Airport and we passed beautiful scenery and Musselman Arch.

Musselman Arch is cool because you approach it at the top rather than the bottom.

Airport Campsite

We had an easy first day and were up and off early on day 2.  We had Murphy's Hogback to get up before we could rest. The ride isn't very technical but we did have some stretches that were so windy we were off the bikes and hunkered down till the gust passed. Some sections were so beautiful that we would just stop and stare.

Monument Canyon

Washer Woman Arch
We had this picture on our wall for years, finally made it there!

Looks scarier from this view than on the bike.

The trail can be crowded but we saw very bikes and fewer vehicles on our entire ride.  (I was worried, did everyone else see a weather report that I missed?)
The grade was  gradual till we neared Murphy's. Murphy's Hogback is a steep climb and our campsite was at the top. I was much more worried about Bruce driving the truck than the bikes.  The road is narrow and steep and the late afternoon sun was in his eyes making it hard to see.
The guys had a good system. They would ride ahead to watch for oncoming traffic or narrow spots and Thurman brought his walkie talkies so they could communicate.  I was no help because when Bruce would drive a scary (to me) spot I wouldn't look.  We don't have too many pictures of those spots, we were much too busy not looking (me), riding, pushing (me) or driving . Our truck was still pretty new and Bruce was trying to get used to the size and not ding it up too much.
When we all got to the top my relief was tempered only by the thought that we had to go down the other side the next day.

It was getting late when we reached our campsite and we scrambled to get organized. The wind was blowing hard and we were split as to wether inside the camper or in tents would be more comfortable. Kathy and John were in the tent had a good night but woke up covered in sand that had blown into the tent while they slept.  The three of us in the truck didn't sleep much while the truck was rocking and rolling in the wind. The next morning we got an early start. The wind had died down and the it was a beautiful day.

Morning on Murphy's Hogback

Down the other side of Murphy's Hogback

Leaving  Murphy's 

Once we got over Murphy's the driving was easier although the road surface was rougher for the bikes. Knowing that we were over the hardest part I was finally able to relax enjoy the rest of the ride.

Slickrock on the west side of Murphy's

Along the Green River

We had planned to camp one more night on the trail but the weather was looking ominous so we decided to ride out on day 3.  Lots of sandy sections that were fun and beautiful views along the Green River. Hardscrabble Hill was challenging but not any worse than that.

Green River 

End of the White Rim

Up Mineral Bottom and then camped at Horsethief Campground.  That night the weather got colder and we had some snow so we were glad that we cut the ride short.
Would I do it again?  There were many times that I consoled myself by saying that I would never, ever have to be there again but now that I know what to expect, I think I would.  It was great to be out there and even better to share the adventure with friends.