POISON SPIDER MESA, DAY 2.....

hola' lizards, how are we this dreary morn ? cant believe its this cool and dark for this many days in the desert, weird weather here in the state of biking superiority, come on you can admit it, utah has the most of every thing, we even have more coast line than california, yes thats what i said, okay, there is no ocean, and no im not on LSD, not anymore anyway, so what am i talking about ? im talking about lake powell, yep, more coast line than almost the entire west coast, in fact markus and i will be riding a trail at powell on our way to the grand canyon, but thats another story..
above is a pic from across the colorado river, on the way to the poison spider trail head, some day i gotta go up to the moab rim and check out those big ass bubble mountains over there.

the spider is a classic moab ride, it starts at the side of the colorado river and climbs to the back side of the cliffs where "portal trail" starts, which is a sweet piece of single track, for about 250 yards that is, then its , well we will get to that..

this is chris, KJ, and myself starting the climb ( jordan takes great action pics, he likes to hang back and get shots of everyones asses, whats up with that jordan ? ) its a bit of a grunt to get to the top, i think that its a gain of 2500 feet or so, plus throw in taking off and exploring, i never had as much fun as i did this time up the spider, i love riding bikes with these guys...

at the very top of this picture is the poison spider him self, with a better angle you can see the fangs and legs better but you can still see the jist of it. the pic here was taken a little to late, jordan, if it was a poison spider ass im sure you would have nailed it !!!

here is christer tipping it while trying to get up one of the impossible climbs. this is one of many trails shared with 4x4s, and it always blows my mind what those guys crawl over. a lot of people make a big deal over sharing moab with the 4x4s and the atvs and the motos, but i can tell you after being in the mecca a gazillion times i have never had one problem with anyone on any trail, the day we rode the spider we came across a convoy and they let us go ahead of them a number at times. just dont go to town during jeep safari !!

we were almost to the top of the trail when i spied this bubble mountain on the left and i said to myself, " self, you can work your way to the top of that", it took a minute, and it was hairy on the river side with a bad off camber that slid clear to the river hunreds of feet below, but i made it, and the guys followed but had to walk the last part, it was very off camber, those are the jeeps i mentioned.

while we were up there i found a big pit that had been made by the water, it was really deep and on the side of the cliff and i wanted to get into it, not the best idea, i almost fell 90 feet or so feet trying to get into it, and then i couldnt get out, i had to call the guys and they made a mountain biker chain, i had to take off my shoes and socks for traction, but they got me out, " thanks guys !!"

not far from here is the entrance to portal...