Red Mountain

About twice a year I get myself psyched enough to ride the Red Mountain Trail. I never go with anyone else because I don't want to hear them complain like little girls the whole time. The trail is kinda rough, check out this first pic.

It's like riding up a flight of stairs with loose bowling balls on it. The bad part lasts for about 2 miles and it will put the hurt on you in a hurry. As soon as you are thru the worst of the climbs you get to the sand. David Hasselhoff and the Baywatch girls thinks that the sand up there is deep.

After the suffering has subsided you end up looking into Snow Canyon. The canyon literally starts at your feet and opens up in front of you.

The way that the white stone fades into the red sandstone is absolutely beautiful, I took this next picture to try and show the size of the thorn that I had to pull out of my rear tire . What you can see better is the interesting way the red sandstone left stripes on the white stone as it erodes away.

That thorn was a monster. You can see that I had to get out the pliers to pull it out. Thank goodness for tubeless tires and Stans miracle formula.

This shot is looking back towards Pine Valley Mountain from the other side of Snow Canyon.


Did I tell you that this trail is rough?



Up on top is a huge area with exposed capstone around the outside edge and a sandpit in the center. This is what the top of the Red Mountain looks like. On the left hand side of the picture, if you look really close, you can see the Black ridge and Bluff street right below.
Due to time constraints I did not have enough time to ride out to the lookout over Ivins/Tuacahn. Maybe next year. On my way back it actually started to snow, it didn't last and I made pretty good time. By the time I was done my hands and shoulders start to ache from all the maneuvering that is demanded by the terrain.

All in all it's a great ride........ don't ever ask me to take you.