We awoke from our last night in a hut full of anticipation for the final day of the trip. The route for Day 7 promised excitement with some world class singletrack, incredible vistas as we dropped from the La Sal mountains into Moab, and a grin-inducing 6,600 feet of descending in a little over 27 miles. Discussions of our plan for this day started literally months before the trip, with us poring over videos of the famous Whole Enchilada trail (a world class, 8,000 foot descent into Moab that links up some of the most famous MTB trails in the area, and was an option for the day), and consideration of whether we could realistically tackle the Whole Enchilada on loaded bikes AND “a little tired” after six days of riding. We were still discussing options the night before, but by morning we’d settled on a plan: We would start on the Moonlight Meadows and Clark Lake singletracks, opting to bypass the beginning of the Whole Enchilada, the Burro Pass trail. We’d read that the Burro Pass section was exceedingly steep, loose and rocky, and tackling that on fully loaded bikes seemed like asking for trouble. After Moonlight Meadows/Clark Lake, we’d connect back to the Whole Enchilada route to ride Hazard County, then Kokopelli Trail, and then have options along the rest of the way down. More than likely we would bypass the more technical Upper and Lower Porcupine Singletrack (UPS and LPS) and Porcupine Rim trails. Instead we’d hopefully connect with Foghorn who would be joining us from Moab, and enjoy intermediate terrain on Eagle Eye and Falcon Flow singletracks before finishing the ride into Moab on Sand Flats road. Tater, who had an inoperable dropper post (malfunction the day before) and no interest in any more singletrack, opted for a more direct route (or so he thought) into Moab on Sand Flats Road despite warnings about road construction, so we parted ways at the top of the day’s only (so we thought) big climb, almost 1,000 feet up to the top of Geyser Pass. Then it was GAME ON, with Cactus, Keynote, Feathers and Runt dropping into Moonlight Meadows Trail. The trail did not disappoint, with rowdy, steep descending, some of which we rode and some we decided to hike down, but we had a great time no less. The views were spectacular, riding in mountain forest but starting to catch glimpses of the red rock canyons and mesas of Moab in the distance. It was hard to believe the contrast between the two. After almost 2,000 feet of descending, we had our first big surprise for the day: We had not realized that in order to reconnect to the Whole Enchilada route from the bottom of the Moonlight Meadows and Clark Lake descents, we had to climb almost a thousand feet in less than a mile on a brutal hike-a-bike trail, which I think we all agreed was probably the least pleasant segment of the whole trip. If we’d known this segment was there, we all probably would have opted to ride the Whole Enchilada from the top, and taken our chances with the steepness of Burro Pass. Live and learn! After much cursing, more than just a little bit of hefting our bikes above our heads to clear boulders, and more pedal bites to shins and calves, we made it to the top of the climb, and reconnected to the Whole Enchilada again. Hazard County was an absolute hoot: Still steep but more rideable than the earlier part of the day, flying along in open, sage-covered meadows, with the red rocks of Moab now prominent in front of us. If this is what Moab mountain biking is like, give us MORE! We regrouped after Hazard County at the top of the Kokopelli Trail doubletrack, in high spirits and looking forward to more of what was shaping up to be a memorable last day of the trip. In what would become cruelly ironic, Cactus told Runt as we were rolling out to be careful and that he didn’t want to explain to Runt’s wife how he flew over the handlebars and broke himself. Keynote led down Kokopelli, with Runt in hot pursuit, and Cactus & Feathers right behind. Kokopelli trail was heavily eroded and rutted from the recent massive rains and flooding that affected Moab, and there were some dodgy, very deep ruts in the trail that could really ruin your day. We also had a little surprise, unexpectedly coming across a truck slowly picking its way up trail, and we stopped shortly after that to regroup. And… nothing. No Cactus and Feathers. No sound of bikes behind us. After waiting a few increasingly anxious minutes, we should have seen the guys, so all did not feel right. We decided to start back up the trail, hoping everyone was ok. Sadly, everyone was NOT ok. We came around a turn to see Cactus laid out flat on the tailgate of the truck we had passed a few minutes before, being doctored to by Feathers. One of those deep ruts had bitten Cactus and he was pretty badly banged up. His wheels had fallen into the rut at speed, and at that point he became a passenger. His bike went left and his body went right, and he crashed hard onto his right side, injuring his right shoulder and left hand. We didn’t know the extent of the injuries, but it looked like a dislocated shoulder, and Cactus talked Feathers through the process of resetting the shoulder based on what he learned in a NOLS wilderness first aid course taken in preparation for this trip (the man is a badass). It was lucky that the folks in the truck stopped to assist, because they also helped us transport Cactus back to the top of Kokopelli trail, where the trail crossed a road and it’d be easier to evacuate him to Moab. [Cactus here – Meanwhile, Runt is exactly right. My back tire slipped into a rut followed by the front and I went airborne pretty quickly. My bike computer registered a 12 foot jump at 16 miles per hour. I landed in a hard ‘whump’ and really didn’t slide, so my body absorbed all the energy. I laid there for a moment, assessing and pretty quickly realized that my right arm wasn’t moving with me. I knew Feathers was behind me and he arrived a few moments later. I told him I was OK (meaning my head) but had done some damage to my right side. He helped me roll over in a way that didn’t leave my arm on the ground and a minute later the pickup truck that Keynote and Runt saw came up trail. Feathers, the driver and passenger were all commenting on how it looked like something was poking out of my shoulder. At that point I knew it was dislocated and asked the off-roaders if they could lower their tailgate so we could try and reset the shoulder. As Runt noted, we had learned how to reset a shoulder(and evidently re-align the bone) in an excellent NOLS course, so I talked Feathers through the process. He was awesome. Minutes later Runt and Keynote returned up trail and got me set up with a sling. OK- Cactus out and back to Runt’s post] We managed to get a hold of Foghorn, who had not been able to get a shuttle ride to join us on the trail (which ended up being another stroke of luck given Cactus’ crash), and Foghorn took off in his vehicle to meet us and help get Cactus to the hospital. The good samaritans in the truck stayed with us so Cactus could wait in their air conditioned vehicle while we waited for Foghorn, and 45 minutes later we had Cactus settled into Foghorn’s F150 and on the way down to Moab ER, with Feathers and Foghorn. Keynote and Runt rode the rest of the way down on Sand Flats Road, and met Tater when we finally made it into town, for a ride to the ER to see how Cactus was doing. Tater had also had a bit of an adventure, with a wrong turn that turned his 30 mile ride into a 51 miler, but that’s a story for another day. The news from the ER was not good: The impact of the crash had broken Cactus’ right humerus bone at the shoulder joint, broken the thumb on his left hand, and bruised some ribs, all together rendering him essentially immobilized on both arms/hands. But he got kudos from the Doctors for his direction and Feathers’ execution resetting the shoulder on the trail. Apparently they could not have done a better job in the hospital! Way to go Cactus and Feathers for the wilderness medicine. So… our trip ended on a somber note with Cactus’ crash, and we were all felt terrible for him being in pain and not able to celebrate. We had a subdued final take-out dinner together in Moab after getting Cactus to our condo from the hospital, and then tried to help him get as comfortable as possible (meaning not very comfortable at all) for the night. Tater took off back to Idaho, and Foghorn drove the rest of us to Durango (thank you Foghorn!) to retrieve our vehicles and make our way back home ourselves. Keynote drove Cactus’ vehicle carrying our injured Chef, and Runt followed in his own car, making up the “Hold My Beer” patient transport convoy back to Austin. It’s been a few weeks now since the trip ended, and we’ve had a chance to process the experience. It still sucks that Cactus was hurt on the last day, and ended the trip in the ER instead of triumphantly celebrating the end of an incredible adventure. It also sucks that he’s off the bike and unable to run or ride for 8-10 weeks, and is still hurting. Having said that, it really WAS a spectacular adventure, with a great group of guys experiencing a truly remarkable trip. Writing these summaries and going through the photos has helped keep the experience fresh in my mind, and driven home just how special this trip was. I think I speak for all of us in saying I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to go on this adventure, and am grateful to the rest of our group who made it so special. I’m also thankful for my family, who patiently endured the months of planning and endless chatter with “the boys” as we prepared for the trip, and then let me disappear completely off the grid for over a week. Thanks for reading along, and stay tuned to see what other crazy adventure we dream up next. Hold Our Beers!