Today we set off on an 8 day road trip around some of the great sights in southern Utah, and northern Arizona, commonly known as "the southwest". Our first destination was the town of Moab 3.5 hours southeast of Salt Lake City. Moab is located close to a couple of National Parks and some very well-known mountain biking trails including the famous Slickrock Bike Trail - which Mark just had to check out while we were there! After picking up a good rental bike (a Yeti 575 that Mark was curious to tryout) we headed out to the trail.
As you can see from the sign, the trail is not for the beginner or faint-hearted (hence Heather hiked the 2 mile "practice loop" trail while Mark rode 9 miles of the "main loop"). 
"Slickrock" is the term the early pioneers gave to Navajo Sandstone formations in this area because their metal-shod horses freqently slipped on the barren rock. The trail is marked by a series of painted white lines that undulate up and down the sandstone domes and fins and includes some challenging climbs as well as some short sections of red sand.
The temperature was in the low 90's (33C) and the heat radiating from the rock and sand made the hike/bike even more challenging.
Apart from the beauty of the red rock and sparse vegetation, there were some great views of interesting outcrops and and the nearby La Sal mountains, whose 12,000ft peaks were still showing traces of snow despite the warm temperatures.
Water has carved some deep gorges in the sandstone. This is the view from the trail at Echo Point looking down Abyss Canyon formed by a tributary of the mighty Colorado River.
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