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PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2011 5:58 pm 
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So, since Barcy hasn't put up any more TR's to tell us what his "ordeal" was out in Gooseberry, a few of us decided to make the drive out to Hurricane and see if we could figure it out.

And it didn't take more than a couple minutes on the dirt road to Gooseberry Mesa to figure that out, at 2am.

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The road was slick as snot from afternoon rains that day. Within 100yds my truck was slipping sideways and all over the road. I finally got the hang of it, but when we saw the big wet ruts beyond the cattle grate at the left turn to the mesa, we turned around and headed for solid ground.

My usual 2am arrival campsite is just outside of town, and has a nice solid rocky road to get to it. We awake to clean air and fresh snow on the mountains.

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Rather than get an early start from camp up on the mesa we stopped in at the bike shop for some advice on where to go / not go due to the rain. We were told the road should be passable by 10am but not as far as our campsite. There were lots of puddles and mud holes but it was night and day compared to conditions at 2am.

We decided to snag our spot first and set up camp, then ride. By the time our tents were up the skies were getting very grey and ominous as a storm approached. We waited it out, and with another one approaching we got antsy and decided to go for it.

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With a bit of rain the road was a mess again. Gman, Bill and James were a few mins ahead of us and skipped the road on a secret singletrack they had found, which we didn't know about.

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No worries though, Goose is mostly rock and what isn't rock is sand, so everything was good once we got on solid ground.

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James and Gman roll onto Bowls and Ledges
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James in the chute
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Gman rolls one of my favorite sections on Gooseberry
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Bjammin gets a pic as I hit an alternate line
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We took the north rim over and connected with Hidden Canyon
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We missed this trail last time, but made sure to hit it this trip
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Billy rounds the corner
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James prepares for the 180
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Hole in the rock provides a cool pic
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James misses a dot
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Rest stop, do we put jackets back on or is this rain going to miss us?
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Nope, it hit us, but only for a few mins
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The rain actually helped on the southeast rim trail, which is very sandy in places
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Dark clouds move east as James pedals on
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View along the south east rim
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Back on the rocks
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Cool rock bridge
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Bjammin follows Gman
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This trail is much more raw than others on the mesa
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But offers a bit of everything
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View to the east
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Zoomed in
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Gman finds some petrified wood, with embedded quartz.
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Moss looking velvetty
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More rock slab
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Gman threads through the rock
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Love the red flowers
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Billy powers up a steep rock slope
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Gman up the final chute
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Quick rest stop to re-group
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Bjammin follows Richard on South rim trail
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Bjammin checks out some cool rock formations
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Richard hammers to make it back to camp before dark
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We made it, barely.
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With the cool weather our shower bags had not warmed up much, so it was a brisk washing. But felt good, and despite the wet wood we got a fire going. With the afternoon rain we would not be able to get out, but at worst we could go ride some more of the mesa tomorrow. So things were not looking too bad at all.




So Barcy, let me take an educated guess at what your ordeal was. You guys went out to ride Gooseberry Mesa. Your killer ride is interrupted by some rain showers. You finish the ride and pack up to leave, only to find the road is a slippery mess and you get stuck up on the Mesa. Sound about right? Either that, or you got swamped with your windows open going through a huge puddle, by an asshole in a jeep mud bogging it in the huge mud holes on the road. (We missed that ugly-ness by about 10ft). So note to anyone heading to Goose: if forecast calls for rain or scattered showers, or thunderstorms, be prepared to spend the night because it takes a few hours of sunshine to dry out the road.


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The following 15 users would like to thank evdog for his or her post:
bajamtnbkr, bjammin, Canaan, Christ D., Eric_B, kreechan, moondogg, mtb wannabe, Red Hot Sloth, Robo, sierragoldens, Slowgrind, Steven Tucker, tfitz, ValE
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2011 6:42 pm 
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Haha, and you were worried about the heat.

Looks like a beautiful blast. Screw you guys!


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evdog
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2011 6:51 pm 
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That is a kick ass TR.

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evdog
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2011 6:57 pm 
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Robo wrote:
Haha, and you were worried about the heat.

Looks like a beautiful blast. Screw you guys!


my three thoughts exactly!
wish I could have made this one.
Great to see such a different atmosphere in Gooseberry pictures


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evdog
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2011 7:25 pm 
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evdog wrote:
James and Gman roll onto Bowls


Probably not the first time on this trip :lol:

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