Thread: Baby Steps?

Heading down to Moab the 3rd week of April. I've been seeing some stuff on the web about a new trail down called Baby Steps. Has anyone ridden this trail?? Just wondering what peoples thoughts are...is it a must do?

google came up with

Baby Steps

16.5 miles

A tight, twisty singletrack, ideal for strong intermediate riders. This ride is too new to show up in guidebooks. So take Out There with you, or ask at the bike shops in Moab. Since the trail is still faint, a map and compass might be a good idea.

To get there: Drive 17.5 miles north of Moab on U.S. Highway 191. Turn right on Klondike Bluffs Road. Drive three miles to trailhead.

The ride: Start by heading north on a sandy doubletrack. Take a left at a sign for Baby Steps and ride .75 mile to a marked right turn. Start climbing bumpy slickrock.

At 2.7 miles from the trailhead, take a right onto a clear singletrack loop. The next half-mile is the most technical section of trail, with a few steep descents and rocky ridges.

At 3.5 miles, the trail hits a doubletrack along a fin of creamy sandstone. Turn left. At the top of a hill, turn left onto another marked loop of singletrack; 1.5 bumpy miles later it reconnects with the doubletrack. Turn left, climb a mile to a fork, and turn left.

Climb a short, steep section to a ridge and descend a loose, rocky road to a wide valley. Take a left, paralleling the ridge on a doubletrack.

At a T intersection, go left and climb over the ridge again, then descend and follow the road as it winds back up to the ridge. Sigh in frustration.

Finally, on the ridge, turn left on a wellmarked singletrack that descends the slickrock to the valley floor. Where the trail hits a dirt road, turn left and return 3.5 miles to the trailhead.

Ah! I've ridden this, though at the time I thought it was the Sovereign Trail for some reason. We got lost a few times on this trail. And it took us about 2 hours longer than we expected, so we had that going for us. Also, I remember being extremely hungover.

Anywho, it is fun, techy, and much different than any other Moab trail I've done. There are lots of places to play on the slickrock, and there's a huge crazy expanse of it just off the trail.

I rode it about 2.5 years ago, so I'm sure it's easier to find the trail now, so maybe you don't have to worry about getting lost. You do have to worry about the heat, though. It's really open out there and there is very little shade. I also remember flatting twice and being very thirsty at the end.

That is all.

If that is where I think it is, that sandy doubletrack is really fuckin sandy.

Suppose to be in the Klondike bluffs area. It's supposed to be a new single track, just commissioned officially this month. I've read a bit about it, but was just curious if anyones' been on it. I love the Sovereign single track, if it's anything like that great. I suppose I'll get the lowdown from the locals and give it a go when we're there. Thanks

shiiiit, i am going next weekend, and its on the short list, if we hit it, i'll give you some beta, maybe a pic or two

Right on!