Kokopelli route and rules?

[Matt Schiff]

If the weather warms up in the next few weeks I'm thinking about a Kokopelli ITT. Is the official route the gpx toby has posted or is that gpx the Rebecca Rusch route? Start at the slickrock trailhead, tag the bathroom at the end? What about start time, it seems people leave between 12:00 and 2:30am?

[aaron w]

I'm not sure if the Rusch route is different or not but I've used Tobys file and it is a good one.  I've done this route both ways and in my opinion it's way easier in the moab>loma direction.  That gets the big climbing out of the way in the first half. 

[ScottM]

There shouldn't be any difference between Reba's route and Toby's GPX.  It's the official Kokopelli (usually signed, but not always) from TH to TH.

MC never had any bathroom tagging, I'm not sure where that came from in Reba's video.  Call it the TH parking lot, or the bathroom on either end.  Don't sweat the seconds. 

Does anyone know how much snow fell in the La Sals?  (slash is currently falling?)

[jakomait]

If the weather warms up in the next few weeks I'm thinking about a Kokopelli ITT. Is the official route the gpx toby has posted or is that gpx the Rebecca Rusch route? Start at the slickrock trailhead, tag the bathroom at the end? What about start time, it seems people leave between 12:00 and 2:30am?

Good luck on the Koko Matt!  After doing it both directions and experimenting with start times I have learned a few things out there but I'd hate to spoil your fun of sorting it all out on your own!  What i can say is watch out for snow up high and plan your water carefully.  You can't just wing it for water like you can on the CTR!

[Matt Schiff]

Good luck on the Koko Matt!  After doing it both directions and experimenting with start times I have learned a few things out there but I'd hate to spoil your fun of sorting it all out on your own!  What i can say is watch out for snow up high and plan your water carefully.  You can't just wing it for water like you can on the CTR!

Is there not an official direction and start time? The snow, temperature, and water availability will be checked before I make a run at it.

[jakomait]

Either direction is legit and whatever time you want to start is up to you to strategize.   The elevation at the start and end is quite similar so there isnt much of a difference but if you are looking to go fast you can time the night riding and/or hot desert riding to be to your advantage.  Actually it's more one or the other, heat vs darkness.  Fruita side is definately hotter but flatter and starts off technical single track.  Moab side is big climbs on roads that gets up pretty high alpine.  The standard was a midnight start from Fruita in May to let you get through a lot of the hot desert under moonlight.  My record run planned for minimal night riding starting on the Moab side but the heat almost got me after running too lean on water in the 2nd half.  Fun factor is about the same either way but ending on the Moab side is a heartbreaker dumping down thousands of feet of elevation on Sandflats road.  The pull to detour down Porc rim would be too strong for me to resist now!

[Done]

As far as I know, there haven't been any changes to the route since I posted my GPX file. I've ridden it twice, and cleaned up the track both times.

The only thing that's in my GPX file that isn't necessary for a record is the short out-and-back detour to the Westwater Ranger station. Many folks swing in there to get water, but it's not required.

Good conditions equal fast times. I rode it the same day that Jesse set his record, and the conditions were nearly perfect. It had rained a few days prior, which settled the sandy areas down nicely--but most of the mud had dried up. There was one short section up in the La Sals before hitting pavement that was really muddy. The second time that I rode it, I fought a lot of sand, which makes for slow going. In short, a rainy day followed by a few sunny days would be ideal. Both of my rides were in late May.

Definitely get a plan for water dialed in. I've never used it, but the river is a good backup if you have filter or chemicals that can handle silt. If you want specifics, feel free to PM me.

[Matt Schiff]

Definitely get a plan for water dialed in. I've never used it, but the river is a good backup if you have filter or chemicals that can handle silt. If you want specifics, feel free to PM me.

I'd like to get water from the Colorado river. The plan was to treat with Aquamira and prefilter with some sort of cloth. Others told me it was so contaminated I'd want nothing less than a filter like a First Need that removes all pollutants. Am I really naive in thinking that water isn't so bad for a one time use?

I don't own a filter, otherwise I'd bring it

[Done]

I'd like to get water from the Colorado river. The plan was to treat with Aquamira and prefilter with some sort of cloth. Others told me it was so contaminated I'd want nothing less than a filter like a First Need that removes all pollutants. Am I really naive in thinking that water isn't so bad for a one time use?

I don't own a filter, otherwise I'd bring it

I'm not sure that the Colorado River is any worse than a lot of surface water in Colorado. But regardless of the bacteria/cyst count, the sediment is the real issue when using chemicals. From my understanding, Aquamira can bond with debris, making less of it available for killing bugs. That's why they advise you to increase the drops when the water is cloudy or silty. You'll probably need to add a LOT of Aquamira, and/or figure out a way to pre-filter most of the silt out of the water before treating it.

Water filters are good, if heavy, but they tend to clog up rather easily with silt unless you have a pre-filter.

I usually use Aquamira for long rides. But If I were planning on drinking from the Colorado River, I would probably carry a pump with a pre-filter for the silt. Simpler and less likely to fail.

[todd551k]

Matt, I rode fruita to Moab on the 18th of Oct.  The trail is in great shape.  Some snow off to the side of the road up high, but the dirt road through the La Sals is in great shape.  Currently very little sand anywhere on route other than from the top of the yellow jacket climb down to the river.

[Matt Schiff]

Matt, I rode fruita to Moab on the 18th of Oct.  The trail is in great shape.  Some snow off to the side of the road up high, but the dirt road through the La Sals is in great shape.  Currently very little sand anywhere on route other than from the top of the yellow jacket climb down to the river.

Thanks for the update. I'm looking to take a stab at it this Saturday.

[DanHickstein]

Hey Matt, when/where are you starting on Saturday? I'll be leaving from the Fruita side sometime in the evening (~8 pm) on Friday. I was thinking about starting early Saturday morning (~6 am), but I don't think that I want to ride the high elevation stuff near Moab when it's dark and cold. It seems like the temps are already going to be frigid enough at night even at low elevations.

I was told that this time of year there is basically no water on the course. My girlfriend is heading to Moab Friday evening for the marathon on Saturday, so I'm having her drop me off water and food at Dewey Bridge (probably right near the north end of the old rickety Dewey Bridge). If you want, I'll leave an extra jug of water for you in case the river is too nasty.

Hopefully see you on the trail!

-Dan

[Done]

Water drops might be convenient, but if you want to complete an "official" ITT of Kokopelli's Trail, then you'd better avoid them. The precedent has been clearly established that water drops aren't allowed. This tradition dates all the way back to the first Koko ITTs organized by Mike C.--and has was recently reinforced this spring.

But if you're just out for a ride, and not "racing," then drink up! Many multi-day riders especially depend on drops for good reason--it's DRY out there!

[DanHickstein]

Haha, yeah, I'm just trying to survive Kokopelli's-in-a-day, don't need it to be "official".

Is it even doable in the fall w/o a water drop? Mike told me (via e-mail) that this time of year there was basically no water on the course. There is the ranger station at mile ~40, but is there anything else I could count on?

I have one of these "MSR Hyperflow" filters that has a little pre-filter that sits in the water: is that good enough to produce decent water from the Colorado?

[jakomait]

I dont think the Colorado River will dry up that time of year!  There are plenty of modern ways to make it safe to drink if you want to follow ITT ethics.  So the fall will leave you down to one refill in the middle of the course rather than being able to break it up into four or 5 dry segments.  Harder with only one water stop but considering the White Rim has zero refills its not like you need to cart around a Bob trailer full H2O! 

Dan, I used a MSR Hyperflow for the CO river.  Silt will jam it up over time but for one day you should be able to pump a few liters without it clogging up.  Just dont let it sit after and backclean it otherwise it may never work again!

[DanHickstein]

Oh, my plan was to pull a Bob-trailer full of gallon jugs of water. Do you think that will be a problem on the Troy Built section? Just kidding! But that would be a sight to see!

Hmmmm, with the cold weather I would probably only need to carry something like ~5 liters to make it from the CO River to Moab. Good to hear that you have used the Hyperflow in the CO River. Now I'm torn between the water drop and the Toby-way

I'm just worried that I would get to the river, have my filter clog, and be stuck drinking silty mud-water for the next 70 miles. That would be pretty lame.

Cheers, Dan

[Matt Schiff]

Dan, I'm looking to leave around 4 or 5am on Saturday. I'll be going for a legitimate through ride which means no water drops. It just snowed in the La Sals down to what looks like 8000 feet. I'll probably drive up there tomorrow to check out conditions. I'd be very surprised if other sources of water aren't available. When it rains or snows little streams usually come to life.

[DanHickstein]

Hey Matt, Are you leaving from the Fruita side? It will be good motivation to know that you are out there chasing me. I'll be on the singlespeed, so even with a big head start, you have a pretty good chance of catching me.


Would you mind shooting me a text tomorrow when you check out the conditions? If it's super-wet I might man up and forgo the water drop. I'll message you my number.

[Done]

Good luck, and have fun out there guys! It's a beautiful and magical ride, especially the high sections overlooking Fischer Towers.

[DanHickstein]

Awesome! I'll be sure to bring the camera - I have no idea how fast I will go (sub-24 hours?), but I'm hoping that I will be somewhere fantastic when the sun rises.