Zions...

It's so beautiful in Zion's. If you haven't ever been, you need to go. The pictures aren't actually from the inside of the park (we didn't want to pay the $25 fee this time), so they are all from the outskirts. Obviously, the inside of the park is even more beautiful.

Anyway, Jason and I decided to do a quick road trip down there this weekend. We went with our dear friend Nolan, and we met up with his sister (Shay) and brother-in-law (Bill) down there. They were kind enough to let us stay at their place. They have such an amazing view! Bill is an avid mountain biker (and I mean avid...he's already logged over 1100 miles on his bike this year!) so he knows all the great trails in the area. He wants to start up a mountain bike tour guide for the area, so if you are ever in the area let me know and we can hook you up with him.

Friday night we went up into the park after it closed and stopped at the halfway point on the switchbacks up to the tunnel. It was dark so you could only see the silhouettes of the giant monoliths, and then nothing but stars. There were so many critters making noises that it was a bit distracting, but in a good way. It was super cool. We hung out there for about 45 minutes and just enjoyed being away from the world. We stayed until a park ranger stopped and made us a bit nervous. I think he thought we were trying to go for a midnight bike ride down the canyon (we had our bikes on the bike rack on the car). After that, we just decided to call it a night. It was late anyway!

The next day was a very interesting day. It was my first mountain bike experience! Jason, Nolan, Shay, and Talon went for a bike ride on the Jem Trail. If you are a new biker, this is the trail you want to start on! It was so beautiful. Too bad I couldn't focus on the scenery! I was too busy trying not to eat dirt! I was pretty successful. I had a few moments where I was lucky I didn't fall, but for the most part I did pretty well. I'm just glad it wasn't like the last time I tried biking... This was a much better experience! I can't wait to go back down and ride the Jem Trail again.

Later that day, Jason and Nolan decided to go ride the "big kids trail" aka a trail that no one but the really skilled should go on (and Jason has ridden it several times before). It's called Grafton. Anyway, they usually ride this trail using the big downhill bikes that are beefier and made for this type of trail. Unfortunately, this time they were on their regular cross country bikes that don't have as much travel in the shocks. Jason is kind of an animal when it comes to mountain biking and does some crazy trails. This particular trail is really rocky and has some sharp drop-offs. Why do these details matter? Well, because Jason decided to see what it was like to fly off these cliffs. He hit a rock wrong and didn't have his weight in the right place, and he basically rocket launched off his bike and fell 30 feet off a cliff. No biggie, right?!? Luckily for both of us, he was in a lot of gear for protection. He had his full-face helmet, elbow guards, and shin guards. It kept him pretty much safe from the elements. However, his leg didn't stand a chance when it came in contact with a rock during his fall. All his weight landed on his left leg and then he tumbled for several more feet. Luckily, his injuries weren't as bad as they should have been. He rode the rest of the trail and met me at the road where I picked him up and took him to the hospital. He got some x-rays and some good painkillers. They didn't show any breaks in the foot area, but they didn't x-ray his calf and that is where it is really hurting him. So in a few days we might have to go get some more x-rays. Hopefully not! Anyway, I'm just glad he is safe!

After that experience, we decided to just hang out and have a low-key weekend. We read some books and relaxed. Jason was bummed he couldn't go on the "epic" ride the boys had planned, but we'll just have to try again next time!

This is the Jem Trail that I rode (this is the last part of it...it's a 7 mile trail so it would be a bit long to film). The guy in this video is Bill. He goes much faster than I do:

Lower JEM trail from Jon Gustavson on Vimeo.

This is Grafton that Jason rode. Once again, this is Bill showing us how it's done... The song swears...It's Rage Against the Machine. Not sure you would expect less from them, but that's just a heads up:

Pioneer DH trail HD from Jon Gustavson on Vimeo.

Even with the trip to the hospital it was still a very fun weekend. I was very hesitant to try mountain biking (I had seen Jason's battle wounds from previous rides), so I wasn't sure i would like it. However, I ended up having a great time and had a lot more fun than I thought I would. The scenery was beautiful, and the company was fantastic. I can't wait to go back!