Gooseberry Mesa- Spring Break

Our bike ride at Gooseberry Mesa was possibly my favorite part of the trip. The mesa is somewhat remote and it took us a while to get there and the road wasn't pretty, but it was SO worth it and I would LOVE to go back! Rising up to the north you could see the massive red sandstone sentinels of Zions NP. Oh the views were spectacular! I am so mad at myself for not getting pics, but I had lost my phone and didn't want to take my camera on the trail. Jason snapped a couple shots before we took off on the trail, but they don't really show much of what we saw. Jason's bike was broken so he hiked around with Sadie and Sam while the boys and I biked.

Soon after we started biking Cole and I both had to go to the bathroom....#2. (Traveling is always hard on my digestive system.) So we decided to turn around and go back to the van since we didn't have any TP. We got back to a locked van and Jason and the kids were no where to be found, my cell phone was lost, and our walky talky wasn't working. So we decide to head up the trail again and just go as far as we could and hope the bathroom situation didn't get more serious. Part way up we found Jason hiking around with the kids and by that time the urge has gone for both Cole and me. So we decided to go for it.

Cole opted to take the most difficult route...the south rim trail. I was kind-of wishing he would have chosen North Rim, the easier route, but now I am so glad he didn't. The trail was SO fun, had lots of variety, mostly slick rock and best of all I LOVED the physical challenge of the trail. It was way too technical for me, but it was good for me too. The boys did great, but it was really a tough ride for them as well. In one section, called God's skate park, I clipped a tree and thought I was going to hit into the rock wall on the other side of the trail....oh, it scared me and hurt a little too....so I gave a little yell. Aidan, who was just ahead of me. jumped off his bike so quick and ran like lighting over to me. His face showed such worry and concern. It was maybe the cutest, sweetest thing ever! Fortunately, I had saved myself from too much injury and we were on our way again. We biked a few hours before Cole's urge came back. About that same time we had a choice. Continue on South Rim trail which was marked EXTREME DIFFICULTY in red or take the Hidden Canyon trail marked Most Difficult. We opted for Hidden Canyon hoping we could get back to the road quicker and then the road would be a quick trip back to the van. It was still another 2 miles of difficult trail back to the road and Cole was not feeling the best. Just as we thought, the road section was super fast and he made it back to the van just in time. Jason had started to get worried since he hadn't seen us in a while and we had no phone.....We got back just as the sun started to go down. Cole and Aidan both had to go in the trees and I made it all the way back to camp without needing to go....a minor miracle. I really did NOT want to go in the trees or the pits! Yuck!


The fields of purple flowers were beautiful on our way back to camp.