Utah & Colorado MTB Trip
Day 9 Gateway Colorado and John Brown Canyon

We rose to another delicious breakfast. After packing up our tents and dry bags we began a screaming descent off the Uncompaghre Plateau towards the town of Gateway. The road descended very quickly. My hands grew tired from the constant braking. At the bottom the road followed a dry creek bed. We emerged onto the first paved road we had seen in three days. We followed the paved road a mile or two to the town of Gateway.

Gateway, is a one-horse town in the middle of nowhere. The center of activity was a dilapidated combination general store, restaurant and 3-room motel. The place had a public phone. Since, I hadn't had an opportunity to call my family since leaving Moab, I used this opportunity to call home. Of course, nobody was home, so I left messages on several answering machines. I could see some dark clouds rolling in and heard thunder off in the distance. I didn't realize it at the time, but those messages could have been the very last communication my family ever received from me.

After our guides gassed up the Suburban, we continued our ride. We exited the paved road and entered John Brown Canyon. As we rode the sky grew darker and darker. Then the rain started. We rode in the rain. At first it wasn't too bad. But, the rain got progressively worse. Being a strong climber, I was ahead of the group. Finally, I said to myself "this is ridiculous". I sought shelter underneath a big overhanging boulder on the side of the road. All of a sudden, Steve Fenn goes flying past me in the Suburban blasting the horn. I remember thinking to my self "this is odd". About this time I noticed a rumbling sound that lasted too long to be thunder. The sound got louder and louder. All of a sudden, I said "Oh Shit!" out loud as I realized what was happening. I scrambled out from underneath the boulder and climbed up the talus slope as fast as I could. I climbed about 10 to 15 feet when a wall of water crashed down the creek bed and flooded the road below me. It was like a miniature tidal wave. Steve Fenn came flying back down the road in the Suburban. I waved to him, but he didn't see me.

I couldn't see how deep the water was in the road. I also didn't know if another larger surge might come roaring down canyon. I wasn't going to take that risk. I stayed on the talus. By this time the wind was howling at hurricane force and the rain was pouring down in sheets. I dropped my Oakley sunglasses. They instantly swept away in a river of mud. I didn't dare attempt to retrieve them. The temperature dropped quickly as the cold front passed. I got very cold. At this point I knew I was in a very serious survival situation. I sat exposed and shivering wondering when I would be struck by lightning, buried in a mudslide or die of hypothermia. I decided to try to find the group. I stumbled along the talus parallel to the road towards the bottom of the canyon. After about 150 yards, my path was blocked by another steam coming straight down the side of the canyon. I was trapped. I sat shivering for what seemed like an eternity. Actually it was only 45 minutes to an hour. All of a sudden the rain stopped and the sun came out. I was never so happy to see the sun in my life.

Happy to be alive!

I walked down to the road and looked for my bike. I feared my bike had been swept away. I found my bike next to the big boulder about 2 Ft. from where I had left it. About this time, Steve Fenn and Dave showed up in the Suburban. My bike was covered with all kinds of muck and crud. I was very happy to be alive and still have a bike. Obviously, Steve Fenn was very relieved to find me. Dave took this picture.

Steve Fenn put my bike on the rack and drove back to where the group had waited out the storm. I changed into warm dry clothes. This section of road was much higher than the creek bed (unlike the spot I got caught in). The group waited out the storm under a large canopy while I froze my butt off on the talus.

Huge boulders blocked the road.

Steve Fenn decided that the damage to the road had been too severe. We could not climb John Brown Canyon. We turned back to Gateway. I was physically drained. I rode with Steve Fenn in the Suburban. About 1/4 mile down the canyon, huge boulders the size of washing machines that had been washed into the road blocked our path. We could not go up, we could not go down.

We had lunch and waited for someone with heavy equipment to clear the road. After about an hour, a grader appeared followed by 15 logging trucks. The grader cleared the boulders and we joined the back of the caravan. It took the grader another two hours to clear the road back to Gateway. During this time we talked to the loggers and some hunters who happened to be in the canyon. The loggers had been cutting aspens in the LaSals when the storm hit.

We found ourselves back at the general store, restaurant and motel with the loggers and the hunters. Steve Fenn called Western Spirit headquarters in Moab to figure out a plan of action. While this was going on, I found a hose and cleaned the muck and debris off my bike. Steve Fenn arranged for a van to pick us up in the morning and drive us around the mountains.

We camped on a ranch near Gateway. It was a pleasant spot once we cleared the cow pies out of the way. Some nice trees shaded us. Steve Fenn arranged for showers at the motel in Gateway. It was nice to get a real shower after a week in the woods.

Back at camp Steve Fenn and I talked about what happened in the canyon. When Steve drove by honking the horn, he was looking for me. He didn't see me because I was crouched under the large boulder. On the way back he didn't see me waving to him on the talus. I don't blame Steve Fenn or Western Spirit for what happened. The loggers told us that they had never seen John Brown Canyon flood that badly before. Some of these guys have been cutting timber in the mountains for over 30 years. The locals in Gateway said the storm dumped over 5 inches of rain in less than an hour. It was a freak storm. As I told Steve, "If I wanted a boring vacation, I would have gone to the beach." I came on this trip looking for adventure and came back with one hell of a story to tell my grandchildren. My biggest mistake was leaving my rain gear in the Suburban after Steve Fenn told us to keep it handy. I didn't wear my rain gear because I thought I would get too hot during the long climb. In hindsight, I would have been better off if I'd been wearing my rain gear.

Continue to Day 10

Introduction
Day 1 Porcupine Rim
Day 2 Slick Rock Trail, Gemini Bridges and Dead Horse Point S.P.
Day 3 Colorado National Monument
Day 4 Jughandle Loop
Day 5 Telluride Colorado to Last Dollar Pass
Day 6 Uncompaghre Plateau
Day 7 Uncompaghre Plateau
Day 8 Uncompaghre Plateau
Day 9 Gateway Colorado and John Brown Canyon
Day 10 Sand Flats Road to Moab
Day 11 Arches National Park