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Guacamole Tech Singletrack This
page describes loops at the southeastern end of the Guacamole Loop. See
the main Guacamole page for information on
Margarita trail, the Guacamole loop, and Salt on the Rim. There are two
trails: Lime with a Twist is the first to the south of the main loop,
exactly 1.0 miles long. Tied to the southern side of Lime with a Twist is
Holy Guacamole.
Bruce turns back toward Guacamole with
Zion in the background. Photos April 8, 2012. |
| The Holy Guacamole trail itself is 3.4 miles long but must be part of a
longer ride -- at least 10 miles. If you're riding the little southern
tech loop of Guacamole clockwise, you'll find this trail 0.3 miles from
where the smaller technical loop "Lime with a Twist" forks off the east side of the Guacamole Loop. There's
some significantly technical stuff at the northeast corner, so we
recommend it for advanced riders or for upper-intermediates with attitude.
That's a two-foot high chunk of
petrified wood next to the trail. We're looking south, early in the ride.
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The Holy Guacamole trail reconnects to the Lime with a Twist
trail only 0.1 mile from
where it diverted. (So you didn't miss much, but feel free to do a quick
out-and-back to the original trail fork so get it all.) There's 100 feet of absolute elevation change on the
trail, as you descend while following the edge of the eastern cliffs.
Total climbing is about 200 vertical feet.
Joel drops off a sandstone mound. |
| I'm calling the ride we made the big Guacamole Loop. From
the Margarita trailhead, it's 10.5 miles. Although you might think
navigation is complex (and it can be) as you look at the map, the
principle is simple: always fork to the LEFT.
Early in the ride, heading northeast.
Chunk of petrified wood on the left, about 12 inches in diameter. Pretty
easy riding so far. |
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Start the ride by riding Margarita (the stem of the
Guacamole lollipop) southbound. Keep left as you pass three connectors to
"Salt on the Rim" (the West Cliff singletrack). As you reach the
Guacamole Loop, fork left.
Tech riding on the eastern side. Bruce
threads the needle through a 20 foot high by 3 foot wide slot in the
cliff. |
| Just after riding around the long crack and climbing up the
narrow slot, fork left on the southern tech singletrack. This is the Lime
with a Twist trail. Now watch for a
subtle marking between two boulders, 0.3 miles later. Fork left, and
you're on the Holy Guacamole loop.
This trail meanders between mounds,
rather than up-and-over like the southern tech singletrack loop. |
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3.4 miles later, again keep left as you rejoin the southern
tech ST Lime with a Twist. Stay left at every opportunity until you rejoin the Guacamole
loop, then left to Margarita. Now detour onto the West Cliffs ST (Salt on
the Rim) then continue on Margarita back to parking.
The southern side of the loop is
wide-open cruising. Here's Joel heading eastbound, with the cliffs of Zion
behind him. |
| This is a great trail. Joel said our little loop is his new
favorite riding spot in the area. When I first added Lime with a Twist and
Holy Guacamole to the Guacamole Trail page, I was contacted by an angry
person with the BLM. So I took the page down. But after 10 years, as
everybody else finds this trail and it is featured on Trailforks, it's
time to link this page back to the menus.
Looking west as we near the completion
of the loop. That's pastry ridge of Gooseberry Mesa on the left. |
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Guacamole Big Loop clockwise 10.5 miles:
0.0 L onto open rock, Margarita Trail
1.1 Keep L (R = Salt on the Rim)
N37 13.105 W113 07.499
1.5 Keep L (R = return 1 from S.o.t.R.)
N37 12.777 W113 07.447
1.6 Keep L (R = return 2 from S.o.t.R.)
N37 12.711 W113 07.414
2.1 Fork L on main Guacamole loop
N37 12.397 W113 07.232
3.1 Go around crack and climb up slot
3.2 Fork L on South Tech loop
N37 12.178 W113 06.633
3.6 Fork L onto East Mesa ST
N37 11.992 W113 06.600
4.3 East end of mesa, curve back west
Deliciously tech ST coming
up... |
5.5 Back to east side, curve
around south side
6.9 Fork L on continuation of South Tech loop
N37 12.035 W113 06.743
7.3, 7.4 Stay L (the Guac trail is very close on your R)
7.5 Fork L on continuation of Guacamole loop
N37 12.205 W113 07.009
8.0 L on Margarita trail (same fork as 2.1)
N37 12.397 W113 07.232
8.5 Fork L on Salt on the Rim
N37 12.711 W113 07.414
8.6 Keep L toward rim (R = to Margarita trail)
N37 12.640 W113 07.568
9.5 L on Margarita trail
N37 13.105 W113 07.499
10.5 Back at slickrock parking |
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Getting there: From La Verkin, turn
towards Zion National Park on Highway 9. Go 7 miles from the traffic light
where you turned east in La Verkin, through the town of Virgin, and past
the Kolob Reservoir Road on the left. At 7.3 miles, you'll see a dirt road
on the north (left) side of the road (N37 11.874 W113 09.876). This is Dalton Wash Road. Drive north 1.9 miles. As the road
turns to the east past a farm, you'll come to a fork (N37 12.456
W113 08.268). Turn left (north). Go 1.7 miles. As you approach the steep
mesa, there's a wide spot in the road and a fork. The uglier road straight
ahead is the correct one. In winter and early spring, or if the weather has been wet, park
here and bicycle up the mesa. With any mud at all, the next 0.6 miles can
be ugly and dangerous. Immediately as you get to the top of the mesa, the road forks
again. Go right (south) about 100 yards. Look for a big open
slickrock area on your right (GPS N37 13.575 W113 06.852). This is where the ride starts.
Head west across the rock area to pick up the trail as it enters the trees.
We rode the dirt road in from US-9. It adds about 500 vertical feet of
climbing and 4.2 miles each way, but it's a nice warm-up. |
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