I spent the last 3 weeks driving to and from Utah to move a friend to a PhD program at USU. I couldn't stomach being out there and not getting some riding in so I coerced the second friend that drove out with us to take the 5 hour trip down to Moab with me. I have basically no photos except for this one from our water/snack break an hour in:

but it was sweet nonetheless.

We rented two 29er Stumpjumpers from Moab Cyclery, picked them up at 8am when they opened (when almost no one was there, not to mention the majority of the process was completed outdoors, very nice), and headed to the Bar M/Brands trails just Northeast of Moab adjacent to Arches National Park (which is incredible as well). There were a couple other cars in the lot when we pulled up and ran across other riders maybe 4 times in the 3 hours we were out. My friend is also a former runner and had never ridden any MTB before so we had charted out an easy/intermediate route with lots of regroup points. After a relatively easy techy/flowy trail we hit the big easy "family" loop that brought us to the slickrock portion of the trail center. And it fucking delivered. I grew up on roots and loam so this was out of this world, the weirdest mix of punchy, smooth climbs that at times required some trials-y skills to clear and then the steep downhills made it aerobically tough and technically challenging but super fun and somehow doable for my beginner companion. The "family" loop turned out to be super fun on the back half with a bunch of rolling gravel (which I found to be quite painful when I overcooked a turn towards the end of the ride). If you ever get the chance to make it out there I can't recommend it enough. I'm already trying to get together a bikepacking trip to take advantage of the similarly cool trails that apparently exist in the northern part of the state.