G & G Weekend

It was a Guacamole & Gooseberry Mesa weekend.

The weather was perfect - it was hard to believe it's November.

Here's the view from Guacamole:



Alex on Guacamole.



We found a new (to us) trail marked with spray-painted dashes. It was a playground of small but fun and interesting technical moves.

After the ride we camped on Gooseberry Mesa by the windmill. The view of Zion bathed in evening light was spectacular.



I forgot my camera for the Gooseberry ride. We did a figure 8 route starting on Windmill then the Practice Loop, Cattle Grate, God's Skatepark, Hidden Canyon, Yellow, The Point, Rattlesnake Rim, Hidden Canyon again, Bowls and Ledges, then Windmill back to camp.

Here's the group shot on the point:



I did pretty good in Hidden Canyon. Some stunts I finessed smoothly, others I just mashed through, flubbed some. At times I was smooth on the technical stuff, other times not. But I had fun the whole time. I made it down the Rattlesnake, one dumb dab on the way up, then down again - such a fun feature.

The pace was brisk yet relaxed. No bad crashes or mechanicals. Just a good, good ride.

We made it back to camp around 3 pm and rested a bit. Some of us wanted more so we headed east on the north rim trail (Rim Job) and roamed around for a while.

Vicente cooked shrimp and steak paella for dinner. It was delicious. He's from Spain and knows how to cook it right. Check out the gas-fired paella skillet he brought:



Two days of biking, eating, camping, sitting around the fire, talking, laughing, sunshine and starry skies. Good living.