Today was Whole Enchilada, TWE, day!! Well, at least from the Kokopelli trailhead. We had done the research on the drop points and all the shuttle companies were dropping there. This is the one ride that a first-time visitor to Moab shouldn't miss, no matter where you start from. Kara was really excited to check it out and after we stopped by Chile Pepper Bikes the day before to address a brake bleed she suddenly needed, it was comforting knowing she'd be able to slow down when needed!!
The big board at Chile Pepper also confirmed what we already knew: Kokopelli would be the drop point. So, Karin hatched a plan for her and Max to ride up to Kokopelli from home and meet us at the drop point. She's bagging as many miles as she can in preparation for another Triple Crown Challenge attempt this year (Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race & Arizona Trail Race) all this year. Badass.
We arranged for the later shuttle, 10:30a departure, so they wouldn't have to leave super early. Plus, that gave Kara and I an excuse to sleep in a bit, grab a good breakfast in town and ride over to the shuttle.
Quite the commotion outside the house as a steady stream of classic cars rolled by and staged at the park.
We were seated right away and had a great breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe.
Walking back from breakfast we strolled through the auction. Some cool cars here.
I commented that this car looked like a classic pimp mobile, then I saw its name: Pimpala. Haha.
Whoa!! Rode by the Moab Bike Park on our way to the shuttle. Rad!!
Some well sculpted jumps here.
We arrived early, checked in with the shuttle driver and were generally just milling about. Kara thought she heard one of the other drivers say something about driving farther up this morning. I went in the shop to look at the trail board and sure enough the Kokopelli tag had been replaced with Hazard!! Sweet!! We'd be getting dropped off at the second highest trailhead, only Burro Pass is higher and that is closed until July 1st each year.
I relayed the good news to Kara and she sent a text to Karin and Max, who were riding up to Kokopelli to meet us. Max's response was classic:
Hahaha!! He knew Karin would jump at the offer to climb more and he was roped in too.
We saw them pedaling up the road as we drove by. Our driver rolled down the windows and we had everyone on the van yell at them to hurry up!!
We used Coyote Shuttle out of Chile Pepper Bike Shop, Paul, our driver, was fantastic and gave great tips on suspension settings on the way up.
Kara getting the red carpet treatment.
One of the other shuttle companies was finishing their drop off when we arrived. It was the Whole Enchilada Shuttle Co. and I had planned on using them because they were the closest to the house, but they were sold out for the 10:30 shuttle that day. As luck would have it, one of our other friends who lives in Moab, David Wilson, also drives for them. He was there talking with a rider when we got off our van. It was funny running into him up there and we briefly chatted about meeting up after our ride.
It was a little chilly as we waited for Karin and Max to arrive. PeakFinder app.
A train of riders heads up to the high point.
By getting dropped off here, we were able to get a little bit of Aspen tree riding. Photo by Kara.
Here they come!! We only waited about 10 minutes.
Max hanging in there!! Photo by Kara.
I almost cleaned the climb, but had to stop to get the HR in check. I was feeling the elevation too. Meanwhile, Kara leads the crew up to the top.
Taking a short break at someone's future wedding site!! Photo by Kara.
This route covers such a diverse landscape. From Aspens, to high desert scrub down to the red-orange desert rocks.
Taking flight on the Hazard County section of TWE.
Kara finishing off Hazard.
That section of trail is a hoot, but man, arm pump is real. It's just chunky enough to demand attention, some small jumps, bermed turns and just generally fast riding you don't want to stop. Plus, it's really not wise to do so as there aren't many places to easily pull off the trail.
The Kokopelli route overlaps TWE here, but it's just a dirt road. We wanted moar singletrack...
So we rode over to the Jimmy Keen trail. Karin hatched a plan to only ride the fun DH section of Jimmy Keen, then cut back to TWE via jeep road.
It flowed really well out of the gate. Photo by Max.
Can't help but smile ear-to-ear here. Photo by Max.
We were all liking our decision to ride Jimmy Keen. Photo by Max.
Massive sweeping views up here.
Big sweeping turns as we make our way down the slope.
Max mashing.
This was turning out to be a perfect day. Photo by Max.
Rippin' down the dirt road connection.
By coming this way, we were cutting out the one kind of annoying climb on Jimmy Keen.
Meh. Photo by Max.
Zigzagging our way back towards the La Sals.
Back on the Jimmy Keen trail for some easy climbing to finish it.
Back on TWE. Such a fun way to get here.
Looking up the Kokopelli trail.
Kara seems to be enjoying this. IDK, maybe I'm wrong.
The Upper Porcupine Singletrack or UPS trail, has a fair amount of slickrock areas.
The long gaze over Castle Valley. Photo by Max.
One of the early viewpoints of Castle Valley. Photo by Max.
Karin on another slickrock area.
Some fun rollers along the way. Photo by Karin.
Max in full tuck mode!! Photo by Karin.
Photos don't do this area justice. It's a long steep slickrock chute of sorts.
Kara splitting the trees.
Karin coming in hot!!
There's fun at every turn it seems. Photo by Max.
File this under 'the faces of Kara'. Photo by Max.
There actually is singletrack here and it's fast.
Karin on home turf. Not bad, eh? Photo by Max.
Karin & Max, awww.
Kara getting the classic TWE shot.
I had to get one too. Photo by Max.
And one of the crew!!
Hard to believe, we still had to ride all the way down there!! Out by the far cliffs, the clump of dark green is the Colorado River.
Break time over, let's go.
La Sals beginning to feel a bit farther away.
Kara. Photo by Max.
Me being colorful today. Photo by Max.
The infamous Snotch. If you have some time, do yourself a favor and watch 8600', a documentary on climbing the full Enchilada route in one day. Bonkers. Yes, he climbs the Snotch.
It's actually a bit of a challenge to walk down too!!
It's quite intimidating no matter which angle you look at it. Up or down. Kudos to those who ride it.
As for us, we ride after it!!
Max takes some cool photos!!
While pieces of the trail do pop out near the cliff's edge, you can choose to ride as close as you want.
Just another ho-hum shot of Castle Valley.
Max popping out of the trees.
It was fun trying to get Karin to slow down for us!!
She obliged...mostly!! Photo by Max.
Slickrock isn't always slick, actually, hardly ever. Photo by Max.
There's always a dip, short up, rocks or turns. This route demands attention. Photo by Karin.
We've been descending almost the entire way since the start, yet still high on the route.
Kara and the spooky old tree.
Max showing how it's done.
Karin chewing up the chunk.
Kara following her lead.
Oof, taking a break after some rocky jeep road climbing.
That's the dirty little secret of the Whole Enchilada route, there's a 10 mile-ish section, after LPS, where the route becomes a typical Moab area rock infested jeep road. It's fast in bits, but there's also some climbing. In a way, it's more taxing than the singletrack portion.
Karin & Kara enjoying some down time.
Finally nearing the end of the jeep road segment.
Karin had been prepping everyone for a few miles about an upcoming ledge drop that was right in the middle of a fast section of road. I thought I knew what she was talking about from prior visits, but wasn't sure exactly where it was located.
I rounded a bend to find both Karin and Max sitting roadside cameras out, this must be it!! I did a slow roll ride up to check it out. There were two options, the righthand side being a bit bigger of a drop. Now, don't get too excited, these drops were only about a foot to a foot and a half or so, but with some speed, the landing area sloped down.
On my first ride up, I balked at the higher one. I retreated and did the smaller one. It was really smooth, so I went back up to send the bigger one.
Max leading the way off the bigger side. Photo by Karin.
Massive!! :) Photo by Karin.
The Paparazzi setting up for Kara...
Flyin'!! Another classic facial expression too!! Photo by Max.
Soon after our ledge session, we returned to singletrack along Porcupine Rim, the final stretch of TWE.
Starting to crave that post-ride beer!! Photo by Max.
First glimpse of the Colorado River.
Some fun, flowy singletrack to get things going...
...and the required technical rock features to keep you honest.
Better view of the river here.
Rollin'. Photo by Max.
Singletrack and exposure go hand-in-hand here.
A rare photo grab of all three!!
This entire section of trail was incredible, right up until this tricky spot Kara is eyeing.
The views never let up on this ride.
Karin dodging boulders.
Max letting loose on a fast runout.
For the record, the hardtail singlespeed combo was great!!
We were approaching the final big downhill rock obstacle. I had ridden it the last time I was here and planned to do it again. I hopped off the bike to give it a look, check the line, etc. Max was at the bottom ready to record.
I swear, it's pretty intimidating from the top as there is a slightly off-camber downhill left turn near the beginning. I did miss the final turn at the bottom, but did ride the main feature clean. Thanks, Max!!
The final boss of TWE, massive boulder coming out of the wash. My front wheel touched it.
A few water puddles on the last canyon.
Before we knew it we rode under UT128. They are currently constructing an extension to the bikeway, so we had to race along with traffic to clear the construction zone before reaching this point in the photo.
Moar friends!! Post ride drinks at Proper Brewing. Clockwise from me: Pete Basinger (O.G. of bikepack racing), Kirstin and Dave (Nuke Sunrise Bikepacking Bags), Lindsay Nohl (Again catching us after a ride!!), Kara, Max & Karin. Fun!!
I've been fortunate enough to have done this ride multiple times now, it delivers each and every time. It's worthy of the IMBA Epic classification, put it high on your list if you haven't done it. Fall is your best bet to get all the way up to Burro Pass. I've done that twice. The Jimmy Keen addition we did was fantastic. Plus, you can now take an optional route back to town via the Raptor Route, it splits from lower UPS a little bit before reaching the Snotch and is signed: Eagle Eye is the first trail in that route. We'd be riding that on Monday.
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