Monday, November 12, 2012

Kokopelli's Trail GPX Track

I've through-ridden Kokopelli's Trail twice, both times self-supported. The first time took me 24 hours, and the second took 26 hours. Not very fast compared to the fast guys, who do it in 12-16 hours, but still fast enough to have a great, soul-searching adventure. There are very few things to compare to riding a bike in the desert through a full cycle of the sun!

Although Kokopelli's Trail is reasonably well marked, riding it with a GPS significantly simplifies route finding. While churning through the darkness of night after so many hours of riding, there's something very reassuring about looking down at the little line on a GPS, and seeing that you're still on the route. I've literally felt like I was riding in spirals a couple of times!

The last two times that I've ridden Kokopelli's Trail, I've used GPX tracks that I found online. While they worked, they weren't terribly accurate in places, and they lacked waypoints for water and other significant features. So, I sat down last week to clean up my tracks, add waypoints, and to otherwise prep them to post here on my blog.

Please note that I've included the short out-and-back deviation to the Westwater Ranger Station. There's a spigot by the maintenance shed, which is a crucial water source for most self-supported through-riders.

As an added bonus, I've also included a PDF profile of the entire route.

Simply right-click to download the file, unzip, and enjoy. There are two GPX files in the zipped file, one that's a single 7,000-point track (for newer GPS units), and one that's got 10 tracks of 500 points each (for older GPS units). Both files also have a bunch of waypoints.


If you have questions, discover errors, etc., please post a comment below or contact me offline. Thanks!

Disclaimer: This is not an official Kokopelli's Trail track file. I'm posting my personal GPX file simply as an additional planning and research tool for your enjoyment, comparison, etc. It may contain huge errors that send you over treacherous cliffs to your premature death. Use at your own risk. Have fun, and be careful out there!
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8 comments:

  1. UnknownNovember 23, 2012 at 10:51 AM

    Thank you for sharing your file.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Toby GaddNovember 23, 2012 at 11:31 AM

    You're welcome, Robert! I hope that it works for you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. reabbottedMay 9, 2016 at 9:57 AM

    Thanks for providing this. The water waypoints are super useful. I know it's been a while, but I'm curious about the "H2OR" at the Dewey bridge. Where is that water source?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Toby GaddMay 9, 2016 at 10:03 AM

      Dewey Bridge crosses the Colorado River. You'll need some way to filter/treat it--but there's a WHOLE lot of water!

      Delete
  4. UnknownMay 14, 2018 at 1:26 PM

    Toby, how much water did you carry with you? My sense is that you filled up at Westwater and at Dewey. Is Salt Creek unreliable? At Dewey, did you pre-filter the river water (for example, with cheesecloth) before filtering it proper? What about the section between Dewey and Moab - is Hideout campground the first source after Dewey?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Toby GaddMay 14, 2018 at 2:34 PM

      Between a hydration pack and bottles, I carried about 1.5 gallons. It's hot dry out there!

      I filled up and drank a couple of times high in the La Sals, where there are a number of springs. Last fill at Westwater Ranger Station (there's a spigot on the main building). While many people fill at Dewey, I don't because the water is so cloudy. Hideout sometimes has water, and I did fill a bottle there on my first ride, but it wasn't really necessary. At water stops, I also drank as much as I could.

      Delete
  5. AlanApril 28, 2019 at 11:51 AM

    what is drillhole?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cookie MikeOctober 29, 2019 at 7:15 PM

    Toby's GPX files are almost as good as his chocolate!

    ReplyDelete

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