Bikepacking the Kokopelli Trail

After a solid overnight drive from Phoenix to Moab, and a quick 4am breakfast at the only open establishment in Moab at such time – Denny’s, and a quick change to biking gear, we were picked up by our shuttle driver to take us to Loma Colorado – roughly a 1 1/2 hour drive in a car (or 3+ days as our mountain biking trails would take us).

En-route we dropped a few gallons of water jugs at a convenient place near Dewey Bridge by the Colorado River – a spot we’d plan on crossing 2 days into our 3 day planned ride, and a backup spot in case someone would take our supplies.

Arriving in Loma it was dark, cold, and a bit anxiety and excitement as to what awaits.

Quickly after a brief wrong turn, we were exploring amazing scenery, with the sun rising behind us, and us zig-zagging next to the Colorado River on some of the most amazing single track in the US.

There were even a few tough spots where you’ll get a good upper body workout as Jeff can attest to here

After some fun single track, hike-a-bike, and downhill dirt roads, it was finally time for some lunch. We found a great spot somewhere after crossing into Colorado.

While eating lunch, we discovered an optional detour from the trail to see some cool canyons and rocks – of course why wouldn’t we detour and add a few miles to an already long ride. Hence we ended up cruising Western Rim which was absolutely amazing.

We did a few more miles and ended up at West Water Ranger station where the rumor had it there was a water spigot, and some good camping. Rumors were correct.

The next day, waking up at 7am, after 12 hours of sleep we all felt well rested. Note that yesterday we had been awake for 36+ hours, ridden 50+ miles with bikes packed to the max, in technical terrain – we deserved some good rest for sure!

We had a few easy dirt miles ahead of us, some paralleling railroad tracks, some climbing, some rocks, and some gorgeous biking by the Colorado River. We even celebrated Matt’s birthday at lunch.

The trail markings were starting to be more visible than the first day. The first day we had the GPS maps and route out a few times to find out way. It is however funny when you cruise by in one of the most remote sections, and see a sticker from your Local Bike Shop in Phoenix.

We explored some amazing rock formations, found our water stash, crossed the Colorado River, and climbed climbed climbed… All the way until we were done for the day, and decided to setup camp.

Next day we biked some steep roads, rocks, mountains, and more breathtaking scenery was absorbed.

This was also the day we’d start traversing the La Sal mountains; we had seen the snow from the distance, and this was slowly getting closer. Lunch with adult beverage was consumed in the light rain and clouds at this altitude.

We kept climbing and got some great overlooks of the valley below, and the pretty fall colors that we don’t typically see too much of in Phoenix.

After a false summit (or 3?) we finally hit our decent into Moab. We rode along Porcupine Rim on some fun fast swoopy single track with a ledge 3 ft next to you dropping a few hundred vertical feet down. Kept you on your toes, especially when riding a bike that is loaded with gear!

We started the Sand Flats Road decent into Moab just as the sun was setting, and made it to downtown Moab where we had left the car, just in time for darkness to settle in. Found our camp site for the night at the local campground, enjoyed a shower for the first time in 3 days, and went onwards to a local establishment to over-consume in calories, including an order of adult beverages that our friend Tim had called in for us (thanks!) and a customized Sundae that I had been crawing on the trails.

156 miles of beautiful trails on a bike that weighs over twice of what it normally does, while traversing two states in rocky terrain and varying climates, camping for three days, with good friends was an amazing experience. This will surely not be my last bike packing trip.

For anyone looking to do the Kokopelli trail; I suggest to not underestimate the physical endurance level required, and the climbing part with a heavy bike. Storing 2 gallons of water per person by Dewey Bridge is a smart move, and with 2 x 100 Ounce Camelbak Bladders and a 1 liter emergency Platypus, you should be OK on water and wouldn’t need a filter as long as you load up before, and at West Water .