I finagled to have my first 3 day weekend off in almost 2 years, as I usually end up on-call these weekends for some freak of scheduling. I traded my time with another employee, and we packed up to go somewhere. A few days before the trip, we still had not nailed down where we were going, but we knew we were going to camp somewhere, hike on sunday somewhere, and sightsee, while the other 2 days, we were unsure.
We ended up picking Caineville, Utah and Capitol Reef for sightseeing. Caineville is about 15 minute from Capitol Reef area, and only about 15 minutes from Hanksville, Utah, which is a gateway to Lake Powell. There is a fairly famous riding area in Caineville called Swing Arm City. I have seen many videos of riding in this area, and was intrigued. So, the suggestion was to bring the motorcycles, and camping gear, and ride saturday and monday, while sunday we would simply drive around and walk around capitol reef area.
We took off way too late on Friday to make it in time to setup a tent. It would have been midnight, once we reached the camping area. So, instead, we detoured to Christy's parents home in Monroe, Utah, which put us some 20-30 minutes out, but was along the way enough that it saved us for that night. We arrived around 9pm. After a quick trip to Walmart to grab some last minute items (seems each trip needs this last stop), we went to their home, and crashed for the night. John and Lu loved it. The kids loved it. It was nice to simply pull up, and crash, even though i was really looking forward to another night in the tent as a family. The next morning, we got up earlier than anyone wanted too, and headed out. We quickly left, without showering, eating, or anything. We grabbed some bfast at McDonalds on the way out. It was sad to not get up and cook, like we had planned, but McDonalds has a pretty good bfast menu. John and Lu had decided to come along with us on Saturday, and ride with us. So, we all headed out to Capitol Reef. We stopped in Torrey, at a Kiva, and walked around it. The kids have been studying indians in school, and really enjoyed the stop. Once we reached Capitol Reef, we drove straight through it, looking at stuffs along the way. On the other side of Capitol Reef, I have never been, and was amazed at the desolation, yet stark beauty of the area. Before we knew it, we were at the camp site. Its a small area off the road, owned by a retired couple that owns property on the other side of the road for some farming. They have owned the campsite for 20 years, and its a bit run down, but still functional. We dont need a lot, nor want a lot when camping, as we are used to camping in primitive areas, so this was, even in its current state, a step up for us. There was a bathroom with showers. And we had the place to ourselves.
We setup our camp fairly quickly, and everyone seemed happy to help out. Once all gear was up, and ready, even the sleeping bags put up for the night, we were able to talk with the campsite owners, and get a bead on where to ride. We decided to drive the trailer and bikes into Swing Arm City riding area, which was about 10 minutes up the road.
Once there, it was even more desolate, bizzare, and open. It truly seems like an otherworldly location. It needs to been seen to appreciate. The massive mesas in the distance. The towering, sweeping piles of sand that have tracks all over them from other adventurers. The area looked like it was misplaced from the moon. We were the only people there for quite a while, and this was perfect for us. The kids could ride for long distances, and still be visible to the parents wondering where they were at. Treyson became a hill climber on this trip, and was so proud of himself. Alyssa finally had a place to practice jumps, and even pushed her little 90 to heights never before accomplished. Kylie got out and was going all over, on all 3 bikes, as she resorted to stealing her siblings bikes various times, as a gag. I took the girls around some large hills, to investigate, and found some amazing structures to gaze upon in awe and wonder.
A storm came up towords the end of the afternoon, and as it approached, we started packing up. We misjudged the timing of the storm by about 15 minutes, as it pounded down upon us with a vengence we have rarely felt by mother nature. Within minutes, we were being pelted with rain in such ferocity, that it seemed to have a mind of its own, and was in a terrible mood. The ground around us turned to a sludge, and we worried that exiting the area would not be possible, as we slipped and slid all over the path back to the road. Once on the better traction of the road, it took forever to slough off all the mud we had collected. We started worrying about the tent and other camping gear back at camp, and hussled to see the damage. Once arrived at camp, our fears were unfounded, as the storm barely touched our camp, our gear, and the surrounding area. All was fine. This ended the bulk of the day for us, as we were wet and muddy. We cleaned up as best we could, covered the biked for their Sunday nap, and had some dinner. John and Lu took off before dinner was prepared. Later in the evening, I took all the kids into town to get some items from the grocery store, ice being premium among the needs at the time. We had a great time going, shopping and returning, leaving mom alone at camp for some reading. Once reunited, we retired for the night.
Sunday morning was a leisurely one, as we arose, and took our time eating and getting going for the day. Naps were had after breakfast, games were played, short walks around camp. All in all, a nice easy morning. Close to mid day, we decided we had better make our way into Capital Reef and do some sightseeing. We stopped along the way at each item of interest, spent some time reading, learning, and more often than not, hiking the surrounding areas. Our little adventurers always seem to find a hill they can climb, and we assault it with vigor, and pictures to prove our actions occurred. We stopped for lunch on the side of the road, and had a great time in a small grotto eating and talking. There is a natural bridge named Hickman's Bridge that we went on. It was a steep climb, with a descent trail to follow. For some of the kids, it became a burden, but we each persevered and made it to the arch/bridge. Its amazing what things are out in nature, and if you will take the small amount of time and effort to visit, you will create memories to last you and yours a lifetime. What a great little couple mile hike we had. Even with the hardships along the way, we all enjoyed it. After hiking, we stopped at some indian drawings along the side of the road. Amazing to be in a place that had humans living and leaving their marks from so long ago. After we had seen a lot of the area, we headed back to our camp for dinner. Again, once at camp, we kicked back and simply enjoyed the together time. The camp area did have more visitors than just us, the first night. But most arrived late in the evening, and left early the next day. We essentially had the entire camping area to ourselves.
Monday morning started early, and hot. The storms had all passed thru, and quickly, we realized this was gonna be a hot one. We cooked some breakfast (one of our favorite things about camping is getting up, cooking hot chocolate, and making a hearty breakfast). We had to tear down camp, as we were going to depart that day, and along the way, ride our dirt bikes somewhere. We still didnt know where yet.
We took off from the campsite, intending to repeat the days events of Saturday, when we drove by Caineville wash. It was a dirt road, and I wondered how far we could drive with all the gear. We turned down this path, and wondered a bit. We ended up near what appeared to be an old airport landing strip, next to the wash. A wide swath of pavement, larger than a road, simply sitting there straight along next to the wash for a few hundred yards. We parked at the end of it, and unloaded the bikes. It was as good a place as any to stage for a ride. The girls and I intended on riding up the road, to see where it went. Trey and Mom stayed back and trey simply rode up and down the weathered airstrip. I jumped down into the wash to goof around, while i waited the girl out. They soon followed me, having believed that I had taken off without them on our adventure. We soon regrouped and headed up the wash, since we were already in it. The wash was wide, and wondered across the valley. It was not easy, but the girls had a fair time riding up it. We spread out, found our rhythm, and simply went where the landscape took us. The vistas were incredible, and each turn seemed to grant us another view into the vast desertscape. Kylie was leading, and took a turn up a tributary that slowly narrowed, until walls were encroaching upon us, but not in any dastardly manner. The towering walls were in such a variety of colors and shapes, that we found ourselves looking at them more than at the trail ahead. A wonderful adventure, we had.
We were gone for over an hour, and upon return, found the temperature had risen into the 90's. We were out of ice, cool drinks, and needed to head home. On our way home, we stopped in Hanksville and grabbed some drinks, gas, and snacks. We got to stop at the rock store that the kids missed last time we went thru to visit Lake Powell. After juicing up, we headed home through Price, along the route that is becoming so familiar to us in our travels lately. We made good time, stopped periodically, talked, watched movies, listened to audio books, and had a great time. Home was reached in a descent amount of time, and great time of day. Unloading is always a chore, but occurred in due course, all the while letting the kids slowly slip back into a normalness of the nighttime activities and get ready for school the next day.
Family Trip = WIN
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Ride Report : American Fork Canyon Single track - 6/25/2009
Thursday evening, Al and myself went up AF Canyon again to ride the trails. We didn't get anyone else to come with us.
We went up to Tibble Fork parking lot. As we were unloading our bikes and gearing up, we could see the rain approaching up the canyon. By the time I was getting my helmet on, the rain was coming down. We thought about simply riding up the road, taking the jeep trail to Forest Lake. But we decided to take single track trail 41 up to 157. As the rain fell, we drove down the road, crossed the dam, and climbed up trail 41. There are several videos I posted on VHoldR.com. (Video1, Video2, Video3, Video4, Video5, Video6, Video7, Video8). We climbed up the trail, and immediately ran into bikers coming down, and a couple dirt bikers undecided which direction they were headed. We passed them, and continued climbing up trail 41. At one point, I got mired in a bog, having picked the wrong line to get thru it. After spending some energy and frustration here, we continued on. Not long after, we ran into 2 other riders. We hung with them all the way thru trail 41, helping each other thru quite a few muddy obstacles. Once we reached trail 157, it seemed like we had spent way too much time on trail 41, and were worried about the time left before dark, and our ability to complete the circuit. Our worries were unfounded, as the rest of the loop was done quickly. We climbed up trail 157 until it intersected with trail 40. This was a rather quick section, that showed off a beautiful view of both sides of the mountain crest we were traversing. Once we crossed trail 40, we headed down. Close to the top of this trail, we encountered some quads that were on some trail that seemed to be closed. Later, we encountered some trail portions that seemed to have been widened, and I even went down a newly dug road of off the single track. It was in this area that we saw an incredible amount of trees that were being harvested. Stumps and logs were laying all around us. I'm not sure what was going on in this area, or if it was legal. It had me worried. We encountered some horesman coming up this trail, and despite my best intentions, I still startled the horse with my brightly colored, quick moving dirtbike, even in the off position. The front tire slipped and skidded down a few inches, startling the hose. Sorry horsey! We continued on down trail 40, which is quite a rocky narrow trail. I've come up this trail before, and it is quite difficult. Going down is differently difficult. We made it thru more muddy areas, thru chutes of dirt with rocks scattered about randomly, and the occasional large tree root providing extra added flavor. We soon started encountering small stream crossings. These watery obstacles are small at the beginning, and only fool you into a false sense of security; the big water crossing is yet to come. Unfortunately, we didn't get this portion of the trip recorded on video. I musta forgotten to turn it back on. My Bad. The river feeding into Tibble Fork is rather large, and wide, at lease compared to the other river crossings we had just gone thru. I almost made it all the way thru the river, but didnt dump in, which is always in the back of my mind. Ad I climbed out of the river, and up the last part of the trail, i slid off to the right of the railroad ties. As Al passed me, he had to point out the incorrectness of my line choice. At this point in the ride, i was off the trail, wet almost everywhere, and very satisfied that we had a great time. As we were loading up, we saw 6 other groups of riders loading up from their rides as well. We spoke with a few of them, and it seemed that everyone had had a great time riding the amazing trails of AF canyon.
We went up to Tibble Fork parking lot. As we were unloading our bikes and gearing up, we could see the rain approaching up the canyon. By the time I was getting my helmet on, the rain was coming down. We thought about simply riding up the road, taking the jeep trail to Forest Lake. But we decided to take single track trail 41 up to 157. As the rain fell, we drove down the road, crossed the dam, and climbed up trail 41. There are several videos I posted on VHoldR.com. (Video1, Video2, Video3, Video4, Video5, Video6, Video7, Video8). We climbed up the trail, and immediately ran into bikers coming down, and a couple dirt bikers undecided which direction they were headed. We passed them, and continued climbing up trail 41. At one point, I got mired in a bog, having picked the wrong line to get thru it. After spending some energy and frustration here, we continued on. Not long after, we ran into 2 other riders. We hung with them all the way thru trail 41, helping each other thru quite a few muddy obstacles. Once we reached trail 157, it seemed like we had spent way too much time on trail 41, and were worried about the time left before dark, and our ability to complete the circuit. Our worries were unfounded, as the rest of the loop was done quickly. We climbed up trail 157 until it intersected with trail 40. This was a rather quick section, that showed off a beautiful view of both sides of the mountain crest we were traversing. Once we crossed trail 40, we headed down. Close to the top of this trail, we encountered some quads that were on some trail that seemed to be closed. Later, we encountered some trail portions that seemed to have been widened, and I even went down a newly dug road of off the single track. It was in this area that we saw an incredible amount of trees that were being harvested. Stumps and logs were laying all around us. I'm not sure what was going on in this area, or if it was legal. It had me worried. We encountered some horesman coming up this trail, and despite my best intentions, I still startled the horse with my brightly colored, quick moving dirtbike, even in the off position. The front tire slipped and skidded down a few inches, startling the hose. Sorry horsey! We continued on down trail 40, which is quite a rocky narrow trail. I've come up this trail before, and it is quite difficult. Going down is differently difficult. We made it thru more muddy areas, thru chutes of dirt with rocks scattered about randomly, and the occasional large tree root providing extra added flavor. We soon started encountering small stream crossings. These watery obstacles are small at the beginning, and only fool you into a false sense of security; the big water crossing is yet to come. Unfortunately, we didn't get this portion of the trip recorded on video. I musta forgotten to turn it back on. My Bad. The river feeding into Tibble Fork is rather large, and wide, at lease compared to the other river crossings we had just gone thru. I almost made it all the way thru the river, but didnt dump in, which is always in the back of my mind. Ad I climbed out of the river, and up the last part of the trail, i slid off to the right of the railroad ties. As Al passed me, he had to point out the incorrectness of my line choice. At this point in the ride, i was off the trail, wet almost everywhere, and very satisfied that we had a great time. As we were loading up, we saw 6 other groups of riders loading up from their rides as well. We spoke with a few of them, and it seemed that everyone had had a great time riding the amazing trails of AF canyon.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ride Report : American Fork Canyon single track - June 23 2009
We went to salamander flats, and unloaded. Took trail 159 to Summit, then went down 252. We crossed Cascade Springs road here. We went up trail 252, connected with 157 again.
At the junction to Pine Hollow trail, we stopped to decide if we wanted to go down that path, and back up, or simply continue back to the trucks. Until this point, the trails had not dealt us any hardships, and we had a bit more light to play with, so we decided to take the detour down and back up Pine Hollow trail.
There are a couple events along this trail that are tougher than other trails have offered us so far. The first two events are some switchbacks that can be interesting to navigate. There is also a drop with tree roots that is easier going down than it is going up. Near the end of the trail, closer to the parking lot, you come out on the side of the mountain, and can see down into the canyon floor. This perspective lends to an interesting ride, as your attention is drawn away from the trail, where it most definitely needs to be. The last event is a slab of rock that barely provides a trail to traverse. None of these events are unsurmountable, by any means, but they do demand a bit of respect and attention. On the way down, one of our group decided to slide off the trail 6+ feet. He struggled getting the bike back on the trail by himself, but was successful. On the way back up the trail, crossing the slab of rock proved a challenge to 2 of us, and almost unsurmountable by the third. He decided to jump off the bike, down the hill some 20+ feet, and let the bike follow. The ensuing struggle to lift the 250 beast back up the hill took all 3 of us to accomplish. I wish i had some of that wonder woman rope in my pack to assist with the lifting efforts. Too bad I didn't get that portion on video. But I did get the entire ride, up until about 15 minutes before that mishap occurred. Check them out here.
http://vholdr.com/node/31863
http://vholdr.com/node/31877
http://vholdr.com/node/31901
http://vholdr.com/node/31883
After regaining our footing with both humans and bikes on the designated trail, we went back up Pine Hollow trail, connected back with 157 and made our way back to Salamander flats.
Good times were had by all. No humans nor bikes were harmed in the filming of this adventure. Only sloppy mud caked onto the bikes and sore muscles on the human riders is the only evidence of our ride. Well, that and some tire marks left on the mountain side.
At the junction to Pine Hollow trail, we stopped to decide if we wanted to go down that path, and back up, or simply continue back to the trucks. Until this point, the trails had not dealt us any hardships, and we had a bit more light to play with, so we decided to take the detour down and back up Pine Hollow trail.
There are a couple events along this trail that are tougher than other trails have offered us so far. The first two events are some switchbacks that can be interesting to navigate. There is also a drop with tree roots that is easier going down than it is going up. Near the end of the trail, closer to the parking lot, you come out on the side of the mountain, and can see down into the canyon floor. This perspective lends to an interesting ride, as your attention is drawn away from the trail, where it most definitely needs to be. The last event is a slab of rock that barely provides a trail to traverse. None of these events are unsurmountable, by any means, but they do demand a bit of respect and attention. On the way down, one of our group decided to slide off the trail 6+ feet. He struggled getting the bike back on the trail by himself, but was successful. On the way back up the trail, crossing the slab of rock proved a challenge to 2 of us, and almost unsurmountable by the third. He decided to jump off the bike, down the hill some 20+ feet, and let the bike follow. The ensuing struggle to lift the 250 beast back up the hill took all 3 of us to accomplish. I wish i had some of that wonder woman rope in my pack to assist with the lifting efforts. Too bad I didn't get that portion on video. But I did get the entire ride, up until about 15 minutes before that mishap occurred. Check them out here.
http://vholdr.com/node/31863
http://vholdr.com/node/31877
http://vholdr.com/node/31901
http://vholdr.com/node/31883
After regaining our footing with both humans and bikes on the designated trail, we went back up Pine Hollow trail, connected back with 157 and made our way back to Salamander flats.
Good times were had by all. No humans nor bikes were harmed in the filming of this adventure. Only sloppy mud caked onto the bikes and sore muscles on the human riders is the only evidence of our ride. Well, that and some tire marks left on the mountain side.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Bunker Hill motorcoross track in June 2009
As we approached yet another weekend in June, the weather folks were telling us that it was gonna be cold and rainy. Kinda like a typical day in April. We've had so many of these, that we have given up on Summer actually arriving, and any use of our boat will have to wait for warmer times.
In the meantime, we are still in riding season. 50-75 degrees is almost perfect weather for riding. With the dirt having been wet by the showers from above, no dust should impede our vision either. So, the choice is obvious. Dirtbiking. Somewhere.
During the week, we talk about going to 5 mile pass, Price track and then Delta Track with neighbors. Friday, after work, I come home, and load up all the bike onto the trailer, and put the trailer in the garage for the night. It has all we need, but food, drink, our bodies and a truck to pull it, all of which will be added on Saturday morning.
We get a lazy start to the day, not rising before 9am. We take our time getting ready, and actually drive off a little before 11am. Plans were to go by 10am, get there by noon, ride until 2-3, and return back to our valley. We had a concert to goto in a park near Saratoga Springs at 8pm.
On the road, we make a quick pit stop at the neighbors house, as his vehicles are no where near ready or loaded to go, and are still sitting idling by in front of his house. After knocking on the door, we find out that they had canceled plans, and were not going at all to ride. Bummer. We took off anyways.
As we are want to do, as we head south, we have to make our pilgrimage to our favorite store of the entire world, RockyMountainMC.com in Payson. We needed a couple small things, a helmet for Lyssa and a couple items to return. We place a will-call order for the items we wanted to get while on the way, thus minimizing the time spent in the store, yet still getting products we needed. However, Lyssa's head proved to be a problem, and 4 helmets and an hour later, we left the store with the items we needed. Convincing ourselves that we were partway already to Delta, we left in good spirits. The weather was cloudy all the way to Nephi, but we avoided the morning showers that were promised by the weatherman. After Nephi, we climbed over some hills, saw cowboys rustling cattle, and headed into the next valley. Here was when it started raining. And if i didnt know any better, i would have said that the clouds had scooped up the entirety of Utah Lake, and proceeded to dump it upon us, the entire way to Delta. About an hour of road travel and the entire time we were drenched. Just outside of Delta, it stopped raining. Once at the track, no rain was in sight of our nearby surroundings.
We rode and rode and rode. Kids were on the little track, and Dad on the big track.
Each kid had a good experience on riding, even Treyson got some seat time on the flats as he went round and round the parking area, as far as he could go. Alyssa rode so long, her legs and hands hurt. Kylie has a hard time sharing the track with other kids anxious to pass her. We all ended up learning and riding and having a good time. Dad got to use his new helmet cam, and hoped that it would work properly. It actually recorded some great video that I will post later.
As we were packing up to go, it looked like rain would soon be upon us again. It wasn't until we took off, and were safely in the vehicle, that we got pounded with rain again. On and off, most of the way home, we were inundated with deluges from above. Sometimes, we could skirt the storm, others, the road led us directly into its path.
On the way back, we went from Delta to Eureka to Goshen and then to Saratoga Springs. About 20 minutes before the concert, we checked the directions on Facebook to see where the place was at. Thats when we learned that it was canceled, due to rain. We stopped by our friends the Lyons home for a bit. While there, the rain started up again, and again, we thought the heavens had opened up their floodgates, and were outpouring its contents in its entirety. I have lost count how many times we got dumped on, and dumped on hard. All our gear was so wet. Luckily, the Lyons lent us a tarp to cover our gear bags.
We went home, and dumped the trailer in the garage, to await a day this week when we would actually wash all the muddy, items within.
some more pics in my facebook album
videos on ContourHD website
In the meantime, we are still in riding season. 50-75 degrees is almost perfect weather for riding. With the dirt having been wet by the showers from above, no dust should impede our vision either. So, the choice is obvious. Dirtbiking. Somewhere.
During the week, we talk about going to 5 mile pass, Price track and then Delta Track with neighbors. Friday, after work, I come home, and load up all the bike onto the trailer, and put the trailer in the garage for the night. It has all we need, but food, drink, our bodies and a truck to pull it, all of which will be added on Saturday morning.
We get a lazy start to the day, not rising before 9am. We take our time getting ready, and actually drive off a little before 11am. Plans were to go by 10am, get there by noon, ride until 2-3, and return back to our valley. We had a concert to goto in a park near Saratoga Springs at 8pm.
On the road, we make a quick pit stop at the neighbors house, as his vehicles are no where near ready or loaded to go, and are still sitting idling by in front of his house. After knocking on the door, we find out that they had canceled plans, and were not going at all to ride. Bummer. We took off anyways.
As we are want to do, as we head south, we have to make our pilgrimage to our favorite store of the entire world, RockyMountainMC.com in Payson. We needed a couple small things, a helmet for Lyssa and a couple items to return. We place a will-call order for the items we wanted to get while on the way, thus minimizing the time spent in the store, yet still getting products we needed. However, Lyssa's head proved to be a problem, and 4 helmets and an hour later, we left the store with the items we needed. Convincing ourselves that we were partway already to Delta, we left in good spirits. The weather was cloudy all the way to Nephi, but we avoided the morning showers that were promised by the weatherman. After Nephi, we climbed over some hills, saw cowboys rustling cattle, and headed into the next valley. Here was when it started raining. And if i didnt know any better, i would have said that the clouds had scooped up the entirety of Utah Lake, and proceeded to dump it upon us, the entire way to Delta. About an hour of road travel and the entire time we were drenched. Just outside of Delta, it stopped raining. Once at the track, no rain was in sight of our nearby surroundings.
We rode and rode and rode. Kids were on the little track, and Dad on the big track.
Each kid had a good experience on riding, even Treyson got some seat time on the flats as he went round and round the parking area, as far as he could go. Alyssa rode so long, her legs and hands hurt. Kylie has a hard time sharing the track with other kids anxious to pass her. We all ended up learning and riding and having a good time. Dad got to use his new helmet cam, and hoped that it would work properly. It actually recorded some great video that I will post later.
As we were packing up to go, it looked like rain would soon be upon us again. It wasn't until we took off, and were safely in the vehicle, that we got pounded with rain again. On and off, most of the way home, we were inundated with deluges from above. Sometimes, we could skirt the storm, others, the road led us directly into its path.
On the way back, we went from Delta to Eureka to Goshen and then to Saratoga Springs. About 20 minutes before the concert, we checked the directions on Facebook to see where the place was at. Thats when we learned that it was canceled, due to rain. We stopped by our friends the Lyons home for a bit. While there, the rain started up again, and again, we thought the heavens had opened up their floodgates, and were outpouring its contents in its entirety. I have lost count how many times we got dumped on, and dumped on hard. All our gear was so wet. Luckily, the Lyons lent us a tarp to cover our gear bags.
We went home, and dumped the trailer in the garage, to await a day this week when we would actually wash all the muddy, items within.
some more pics in my facebook album
videos on ContourHD website
San Rafael Swell big bike ride in June 2009
My buddy Al has a family camping trip that occurs each year in June. A few months before the trip, he invited me to tag along. We would be going down with other family members on Friday, in their sleeping quarters, and ride on Saturday in the Swell. After a few discussions, he opened up this trip to more people. I invited 6 or more folks to come with. In the end, after plan changes in Al's family, as well as other friends schedules changing, it ended up being Al, myself and Marcus going down in Al's motorhome.
The trip started with Al showing up with the coach on Friday morning, and leaving it at our house. I gave him a ride to work that morning, and after work, returned to home, and loaded up my gear. Marcus showed up with his trailer, which we put on the back of the coach, and loaded the bikes. He an I met Al in Provo, and we were off, like a 'herd of turtles', as my dad would say.
We had a fairly uneventful trip down to the swell, stopping in Price for food, motorhome/trailer lighting parts, and some gas. The only exciting thing to happen on the way down was the constantly back seat driving that occurred, mainly by yours truly. It turns out that Al cant drive the motorhome in a straight line, but insteads takes an approach of constantly jiggling the wheel as he drive. Either that, or it was so windy he could barely keep the coach on the road. I choose to believe the former.
Once in the Swell, we followed our maps in the dark to the camp spot that Al picked out on google earth. We are, of course, computer geeks. Having selected a suitable habitat for the next foreseeable future, we approached it in the dark, and dirt, with trailer in tow, and motorhome trying its best to climb and dip in the barely there road we had chosen. With flashlights being used from the inside of the coach to augment the coach's lighting, we ended up finding our spot, even without the gps indicators our cell phones no longer had, since we had long lost signals once we climbed out of the valley from Green River to the Swell.
The spot that he had found was great. A secluded little valley with small hills of rock surrounding us, we were cozy and protected from the monsters that lurk in the dark. One of these monsters in the night was similar in noise to a bird, but probably a lot larger in stature, though we never really saw it. Its incessant chirping went on into the night, the only sound that broke up the silence that camping outdoors typically offers. With no TVs, no cell phones, no kids, we were left to our own to sleep and rest up for the next day's adventures.
We woke up Saturday morning, and cooked up some Dutch Oven bfast.
After getting geared up and cleaning up the minimal mess we made outside the coach, we got our bikes ready and took off. We were camped off of exit 131, and near dirt roads, headed to Swazeys cabin. We headed over to the freeway and went under the freeway. We stopped at some indian drawings on the side of a cliff.
The morning ride was all done up north, and the goal was to hit Devils Racetrack.
We went road down a trail we call Kent's Landing, on the way to Fix It Pass, down the wash, and up Devils Racetrack, then back to camp.
At the coach, we revitalized our gas and bodies. We had some lunch, sat on the couches in the coach and relaxed a bit. It was a nice break. Once ready to go again, we went down cut roads and washes, using our intuition and maps to find our way to the start of Red trail. PArt way through Red trail, we hit the cut-off to 5 Miles of Hell. Here we took a few pictures to prove we were there, and then we walked in a bit of 5MOH.
We decided to ride in a bit. We did maybe 1/2 mile in, and then went back out, having left 1 of our 3 outside the entrance. Once all back together, we continued on Red trail. Got our butts kicked, but got out alive and only missing a kill switch and a bent clutch lever. We took Blue back to the cut roads, and headed back to camp. It was a long day, and we were tired, and satisfied.
After riding in the Swell, we returned to our camp. We were beat. We took off our gear, and loaded up the bikes onto the trailer. After securing all our gear into the camper, we headed out. It was late in the afternoon, and we were close to dinner time. Price was too far away for dinner for one in our party, and we decided to go into Green River to satisfy the need. We headed to Ray's. Once in Ray's, we didnt see a place to sit down, for our party of 3, except for scattered seats at the bar. Feeling that the wait would be too long, we decided to try Ben's next door. No one was there, which should have clued us in to something... Suffice it to say we didnt have a great eating experience, but we did get filled.
So, now, its late, after 8pm, maybe closer to 9pm. We head out into the night, headed back to our homes. We were cruising along, when I heard a new noise in the engine. I am not a mechanic, but i do have a keen sense of hearing and smelling. Often to my dismay, I sense things as they change in these two senses. I speak up that i hear something in the engine that sounds a bit off. We stop talking and listen. Sure enough, belts sound like they are making different noises than they normally do. As we listen to the symphony of cacophonies being issued from the old motorhome engine, it gets louder and louder, more shrill even. One of our party mentions that his car did the same thing, and when he sped up, it would seat the belt better, and cease the noise. As we kept driving, speeding up a bit, the noise soon ceased. Almost immediately after that, we heard a couple loud thumps within the engine compartment, hitting the lid between us and it. It was as if some creature was trying to get out. As soon as we heard the thump, the temperature gauge decided to get active, and see how far to the right it could swing, and how fast it could reach a new position of reporting. This was when the driver realized that we needed to stop, and stop now! This is not an easy feat for any motorhome, and our old coach was no different. We slowed down, tried to pull off the road the best we could, and came to a disappointed halt to our trip home. Stranded along the side of the road, we were 20+ miles outside Price.
The three of us work with computers for a living, and riding is our hobby. Fixing mechanical engines is not something we are adept at. We, nonetheless, set about digging in to see what happened, how to fix it, and weigh our alternatives. It was about 10:30 on a Saturday night, in the middle of nowhere, with only 1 cell phone that was active. 3 computer geeks trying to fix an engine with no spare parts. Luckily we had some help from other people that we could call and gain more knowledge from. 1 vehicle stopped to assist us, and was able to tell us that for the next mile and a half, there was no better place to pull over. We felt that we would not make the trip of a mile and a half, even limping along with the missing belts. We called a tow truck. Almost 2 hours later, we were finally on our way to Price. We were deposited in the Walmart parking lot, knowing that from there, we could get to parts stores in the morning to get the pieces we needed.
It was at this point that we learned from the tow truck driver that Price was going to be excperiencing a city wide power outage most of the morning. This was going to affect most businesses, as they had decided to not even open at all on that day. The next morning, the driver of the motorhome took off to look at the stores, and 2 advertised that they would not be open. 1 didnt advertise either way. He decided to call in a favor from a friend from Spanish Fork. After a couple calls to parts stores, he got a list of products we would be needing, and had his friend go get them. The friend then drove out to us to install them. Once in Price, we realized that a few of the items would not work, and we needed different items. So, some of us set out with the newly arrived mode of transportation to hunt down a parts store. Luckily, one had just opened, and had power. So, its now after noon on Sunday. And a parts store is open, and within walking distance. We swapped some product with others we thought would work and tried them out. After doing this a couple times, we finally got all the parts we needed, got them installed, and fired up the motorhome. Viola! Success! After 15+ hours of worry and planning and discussions, we actually had a movable vehicle with us and our gear on our way. We returned to the road and headed home. Its around 2 or 3 in the afternoon now, and we have missed most of any of our morning Sunday activities. We were happy to be on the road again.
As we traveled home, we talked about all the other things that could have gone wrong. We were happy to have been blessed with just the 3 guys with this failure. What if the driver had been going with his wife and kids? What if, what if, what if...
We were grateful to have cell phones, and people to research information the internet. We were grateful that 1 family stopped to see if we needed help, and was able to assist us in making a vital decision. We were grateful that we could park in Walmart lot until we could get it working again. We were grateful for good friends that could swing by stores and get parts and deliver them to us, 2 hours from their home, and that they would do that in the middle of their weekend. We were grateful we brought tools and had the brains to use them, somewhat, to solve the problem. We were grateful for a store to be finally opened and provide us the needed parts to fix the engine.
We are grateful for a great weekend of riding, and a safe resolution to a catastrophic engine failure. We are grateful to be home, safe and sound with a great story to tell, and an awesome adventure that ended in all smiling.
The trip started with Al showing up with the coach on Friday morning, and leaving it at our house. I gave him a ride to work that morning, and after work, returned to home, and loaded up my gear. Marcus showed up with his trailer, which we put on the back of the coach, and loaded the bikes. He an I met Al in Provo, and we were off, like a 'herd of turtles', as my dad would say.
We had a fairly uneventful trip down to the swell, stopping in Price for food, motorhome/trailer lighting parts, and some gas. The only exciting thing to happen on the way down was the constantly back seat driving that occurred, mainly by yours truly. It turns out that Al cant drive the motorhome in a straight line, but insteads takes an approach of constantly jiggling the wheel as he drive. Either that, or it was so windy he could barely keep the coach on the road. I choose to believe the former.
Once in the Swell, we followed our maps in the dark to the camp spot that Al picked out on google earth. We are, of course, computer geeks. Having selected a suitable habitat for the next foreseeable future, we approached it in the dark, and dirt, with trailer in tow, and motorhome trying its best to climb and dip in the barely there road we had chosen. With flashlights being used from the inside of the coach to augment the coach's lighting, we ended up finding our spot, even without the gps indicators our cell phones no longer had, since we had long lost signals once we climbed out of the valley from Green River to the Swell.
The spot that he had found was great. A secluded little valley with small hills of rock surrounding us, we were cozy and protected from the monsters that lurk in the dark. One of these monsters in the night was similar in noise to a bird, but probably a lot larger in stature, though we never really saw it. Its incessant chirping went on into the night, the only sound that broke up the silence that camping outdoors typically offers. With no TVs, no cell phones, no kids, we were left to our own to sleep and rest up for the next day's adventures.
We woke up Saturday morning, and cooked up some Dutch Oven bfast.
After getting geared up and cleaning up the minimal mess we made outside the coach, we got our bikes ready and took off. We were camped off of exit 131, and near dirt roads, headed to Swazeys cabin. We headed over to the freeway and went under the freeway. We stopped at some indian drawings on the side of a cliff.
The morning ride was all done up north, and the goal was to hit Devils Racetrack.
We went road down a trail we call Kent's Landing, on the way to Fix It Pass, down the wash, and up Devils Racetrack, then back to camp.
At the coach, we revitalized our gas and bodies. We had some lunch, sat on the couches in the coach and relaxed a bit. It was a nice break. Once ready to go again, we went down cut roads and washes, using our intuition and maps to find our way to the start of Red trail. PArt way through Red trail, we hit the cut-off to 5 Miles of Hell. Here we took a few pictures to prove we were there, and then we walked in a bit of 5MOH.
We decided to ride in a bit. We did maybe 1/2 mile in, and then went back out, having left 1 of our 3 outside the entrance. Once all back together, we continued on Red trail. Got our butts kicked, but got out alive and only missing a kill switch and a bent clutch lever. We took Blue back to the cut roads, and headed back to camp. It was a long day, and we were tired, and satisfied.
After riding in the Swell, we returned to our camp. We were beat. We took off our gear, and loaded up the bikes onto the trailer. After securing all our gear into the camper, we headed out. It was late in the afternoon, and we were close to dinner time. Price was too far away for dinner for one in our party, and we decided to go into Green River to satisfy the need. We headed to Ray's. Once in Ray's, we didnt see a place to sit down, for our party of 3, except for scattered seats at the bar. Feeling that the wait would be too long, we decided to try Ben's next door. No one was there, which should have clued us in to something... Suffice it to say we didnt have a great eating experience, but we did get filled.
So, now, its late, after 8pm, maybe closer to 9pm. We head out into the night, headed back to our homes. We were cruising along, when I heard a new noise in the engine. I am not a mechanic, but i do have a keen sense of hearing and smelling. Often to my dismay, I sense things as they change in these two senses. I speak up that i hear something in the engine that sounds a bit off. We stop talking and listen. Sure enough, belts sound like they are making different noises than they normally do. As we listen to the symphony of cacophonies being issued from the old motorhome engine, it gets louder and louder, more shrill even. One of our party mentions that his car did the same thing, and when he sped up, it would seat the belt better, and cease the noise. As we kept driving, speeding up a bit, the noise soon ceased. Almost immediately after that, we heard a couple loud thumps within the engine compartment, hitting the lid between us and it. It was as if some creature was trying to get out. As soon as we heard the thump, the temperature gauge decided to get active, and see how far to the right it could swing, and how fast it could reach a new position of reporting. This was when the driver realized that we needed to stop, and stop now! This is not an easy feat for any motorhome, and our old coach was no different. We slowed down, tried to pull off the road the best we could, and came to a disappointed halt to our trip home. Stranded along the side of the road, we were 20+ miles outside Price.
The three of us work with computers for a living, and riding is our hobby. Fixing mechanical engines is not something we are adept at. We, nonetheless, set about digging in to see what happened, how to fix it, and weigh our alternatives. It was about 10:30 on a Saturday night, in the middle of nowhere, with only 1 cell phone that was active. 3 computer geeks trying to fix an engine with no spare parts. Luckily we had some help from other people that we could call and gain more knowledge from. 1 vehicle stopped to assist us, and was able to tell us that for the next mile and a half, there was no better place to pull over. We felt that we would not make the trip of a mile and a half, even limping along with the missing belts. We called a tow truck. Almost 2 hours later, we were finally on our way to Price. We were deposited in the Walmart parking lot, knowing that from there, we could get to parts stores in the morning to get the pieces we needed.
It was at this point that we learned from the tow truck driver that Price was going to be excperiencing a city wide power outage most of the morning. This was going to affect most businesses, as they had decided to not even open at all on that day. The next morning, the driver of the motorhome took off to look at the stores, and 2 advertised that they would not be open. 1 didnt advertise either way. He decided to call in a favor from a friend from Spanish Fork. After a couple calls to parts stores, he got a list of products we would be needing, and had his friend go get them. The friend then drove out to us to install them. Once in Price, we realized that a few of the items would not work, and we needed different items. So, some of us set out with the newly arrived mode of transportation to hunt down a parts store. Luckily, one had just opened, and had power. So, its now after noon on Sunday. And a parts store is open, and within walking distance. We swapped some product with others we thought would work and tried them out. After doing this a couple times, we finally got all the parts we needed, got them installed, and fired up the motorhome. Viola! Success! After 15+ hours of worry and planning and discussions, we actually had a movable vehicle with us and our gear on our way. We returned to the road and headed home. Its around 2 or 3 in the afternoon now, and we have missed most of any of our morning Sunday activities. We were happy to be on the road again.
As we traveled home, we talked about all the other things that could have gone wrong. We were happy to have been blessed with just the 3 guys with this failure. What if the driver had been going with his wife and kids? What if, what if, what if...
We were grateful to have cell phones, and people to research information the internet. We were grateful that 1 family stopped to see if we needed help, and was able to assist us in making a vital decision. We were grateful that we could park in Walmart lot until we could get it working again. We were grateful for good friends that could swing by stores and get parts and deliver them to us, 2 hours from their home, and that they would do that in the middle of their weekend. We were grateful we brought tools and had the brains to use them, somewhat, to solve the problem. We were grateful for a store to be finally opened and provide us the needed parts to fix the engine.
We are grateful for a great weekend of riding, and a safe resolution to a catastrophic engine failure. We are grateful to be home, safe and sound with a great story to tell, and an awesome adventure that ended in all smiling.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
2009 April Spring Break
This week was our spring break and bi annual trip as a family. We were going to goto Bryce, but the kids said that they wanted to go camping and dirt biking instead. So we planned a trip to 5 mile pass. We have a favorite camping area to stay at.
The area is near trees, nearby tailings with large hills to climb, and near a flat area where the little kids can have a great time riding.
For this trip, we borrowed a motorhome from my friend Al. He was very gracious in allowing us to use this toy. We treated it as our own. Sunday before we went out to camp, we picked up the large vehicle from Al's home, and brought it to our house. It was nice to have it at our house to load and pack at our leisure. Monday was a warm day, and we were able to load some things into the motorhome. Tuesday and Wednesday were terrible weather days. In between rain storms, we would run out to the motorhome and load it up with items. Some of the items we loaded into the storage of the motorhome, instead of the back of the truck, because of the rain and possible snow. I laugh at that last description, because there was no possible snow by Tuesday night, it was actual snow. We were unable to load up the motorcycle trailer, because it was going to rain and then snow. Instead of heading out Wednesday afternoon, in the insane snow storm that dumped 6 inches on us, we just stayed at home, with everything loaded in its various places in the motorhome and motorcycle trailer. Instead of spending the night out at 5mile pass, and possibly getting more snow, we stayed home, and planned on going the next day.
That night (Wednesday night), it snowed even more. Before we were able to leave, I got on top of the motor home and removed the 6 inches of snow on the roof. More snow was removed a second time from the back of the truck. The wood that we had picked up on Monday for the fire, had been rained on and snowed on a few times, making it useless for the fire. This was unloaded and stored on the driveway. The sun was up, the weather was getting better, the snow had stopped, and we hoped for a large enough window to get finished packed and get out to the camping area. The weather seemed to be cooperating with us so far. We got loaded up and headed out around noon. We stopped by the gas station and loaded up the LP and gas, which ran about $130. There was still snow everywhere we could see, and yet we were loaded up to go dirt biking in the desert.
Once we got out to 5mile pass, we setup our camp area as much as we needed too, with the fear that it might still snow or even rain that night. Much of the camping supplies were left in storage in its various locations. The kids bikes were unloaded and they were allowed to start riding. They ride a bit, then play in the trees, build some forts and 'houses' within the trees, they climb the nearby hills, they simply have a blast out there. Thursday was a bit cold, and most of us hung out dressed up warmly, and tried to play. Some of us went inside for most of the day. The night was cold, but the lure of a fire drew most folks out into the cold to do the mezmorized dance nearby the fire. I, for one, love to make and enjoy the fire of camping.
The next day, it was a bit warmer, and we played a lot more. Dad's actually got out and did a couple big bike rides and had some fun. I learned that my shoulder is not up to 100% from before, as a hill I have bested before, got the best of me this time. After lifting the bike up a bunch of times, i was noticeably tired and affected physically. I was still able to ride better than I had hoped, but not as amazingly as I had hoped.
Saturday was a lot warmer than the previous days, which had some of us complaining already about the heat. It was mostly dry wherever we went, with small puddles of water in the lower places on trails. Rarely though were these encountered. When we got up higher, we did see a lot more water and mud. One trail even seemed like it was made up of a slick layer of goo with a river running thru it. We stopped for a bit and watched rock crawlers attempt to climb some serious rack walls. We had 2 big bike rides on Saturday. One of the tips even led us to two trails we have never ridden before. The area amazes me when we can find a new trail, after all the other trails we have ridden over and over before.
The first day, Treyson wanted to ride his bike. We rigged it up with the training wheels and the rope governor. We used a rope with a handle to attach to the back of his bike so that someone could run behind him and control his progress in the wrong direction, should such an event occur. At one point, Christy broke the rope, and we decided to try him out without parental control. We would go along with him on a flat area and tr to get him to ride a small pattern over and over. When got good enough for this, we 'd expand the area. At one point on Saturday, he ended up doing some 40 loops on a large area until he was so sore and tired, he couldn't ride anymore. He has improved so much over these last few days of riding. At one point, he wrecked, ending with himself under the bike, between the training wheels and the front wheel. He was crying and scratched up on the back, and thru the tears, answered the question 'do you want to go back, or do you want to keep riding?'. He wanted to keep going. So we did. He was so proud of his accomplishments.
Alyssa had a small wreck that tweeked her handle bars and broke a cable control for the throttle. We fixed it up, and she was out riding again soon. Kylie rode a lot as well, but looked like she was outgrowing her bike. We'll have to revisit this again sometime soon.
All in all we all had a great time. The motor home heated us up in the night. We ate outside all of our meals, as we love o do. We had fires each night and loved sitting around and talking. We looked at the stars and showed constellations and stories. The kids even told scary stories to each other.
Friday night, as I was sitting by the fire late at night, we saw a UFO. It was a bright blue light that seemed very close and lit up the entire camp area briefly. Looking up, and to the east, we saw a bright blue light travel across the sky and burn out quickly. As the excitement caught us, I exclaimed that I wanted to see more. A few minutes later, we were treated to another similar event, on the other side of the sky. We have no idea what it was, but enjoyed the experience.
After spending 3 full days and 2 full nights out there, we returned home late Saturday night. It was too late to unload, so we took some items in, and went to bed. Today, most of us just laid around after church, and chilled. It was a great trip with lots of fun had by all.
The area is near trees, nearby tailings with large hills to climb, and near a flat area where the little kids can have a great time riding.
For this trip, we borrowed a motorhome from my friend Al. He was very gracious in allowing us to use this toy. We treated it as our own. Sunday before we went out to camp, we picked up the large vehicle from Al's home, and brought it to our house. It was nice to have it at our house to load and pack at our leisure. Monday was a warm day, and we were able to load some things into the motorhome. Tuesday and Wednesday were terrible weather days. In between rain storms, we would run out to the motorhome and load it up with items. Some of the items we loaded into the storage of the motorhome, instead of the back of the truck, because of the rain and possible snow. I laugh at that last description, because there was no possible snow by Tuesday night, it was actual snow. We were unable to load up the motorcycle trailer, because it was going to rain and then snow. Instead of heading out Wednesday afternoon, in the insane snow storm that dumped 6 inches on us, we just stayed at home, with everything loaded in its various places in the motorhome and motorcycle trailer. Instead of spending the night out at 5mile pass, and possibly getting more snow, we stayed home, and planned on going the next day.
That night (Wednesday night), it snowed even more. Before we were able to leave, I got on top of the motor home and removed the 6 inches of snow on the roof. More snow was removed a second time from the back of the truck. The wood that we had picked up on Monday for the fire, had been rained on and snowed on a few times, making it useless for the fire. This was unloaded and stored on the driveway. The sun was up, the weather was getting better, the snow had stopped, and we hoped for a large enough window to get finished packed and get out to the camping area. The weather seemed to be cooperating with us so far. We got loaded up and headed out around noon. We stopped by the gas station and loaded up the LP and gas, which ran about $130. There was still snow everywhere we could see, and yet we were loaded up to go dirt biking in the desert.
Once we got out to 5mile pass, we setup our camp area as much as we needed too, with the fear that it might still snow or even rain that night. Much of the camping supplies were left in storage in its various locations. The kids bikes were unloaded and they were allowed to start riding. They ride a bit, then play in the trees, build some forts and 'houses' within the trees, they climb the nearby hills, they simply have a blast out there. Thursday was a bit cold, and most of us hung out dressed up warmly, and tried to play. Some of us went inside for most of the day. The night was cold, but the lure of a fire drew most folks out into the cold to do the mezmorized dance nearby the fire. I, for one, love to make and enjoy the fire of camping.
The next day, it was a bit warmer, and we played a lot more. Dad's actually got out and did a couple big bike rides and had some fun. I learned that my shoulder is not up to 100% from before, as a hill I have bested before, got the best of me this time. After lifting the bike up a bunch of times, i was noticeably tired and affected physically. I was still able to ride better than I had hoped, but not as amazingly as I had hoped.
Saturday was a lot warmer than the previous days, which had some of us complaining already about the heat. It was mostly dry wherever we went, with small puddles of water in the lower places on trails. Rarely though were these encountered. When we got up higher, we did see a lot more water and mud. One trail even seemed like it was made up of a slick layer of goo with a river running thru it. We stopped for a bit and watched rock crawlers attempt to climb some serious rack walls. We had 2 big bike rides on Saturday. One of the tips even led us to two trails we have never ridden before. The area amazes me when we can find a new trail, after all the other trails we have ridden over and over before.
The first day, Treyson wanted to ride his bike. We rigged it up with the training wheels and the rope governor. We used a rope with a handle to attach to the back of his bike so that someone could run behind him and control his progress in the wrong direction, should such an event occur. At one point, Christy broke the rope, and we decided to try him out without parental control. We would go along with him on a flat area and tr to get him to ride a small pattern over and over. When got good enough for this, we 'd expand the area. At one point on Saturday, he ended up doing some 40 loops on a large area until he was so sore and tired, he couldn't ride anymore. He has improved so much over these last few days of riding. At one point, he wrecked, ending with himself under the bike, between the training wheels and the front wheel. He was crying and scratched up on the back, and thru the tears, answered the question 'do you want to go back, or do you want to keep riding?'. He wanted to keep going. So we did. He was so proud of his accomplishments.
Alyssa had a small wreck that tweeked her handle bars and broke a cable control for the throttle. We fixed it up, and she was out riding again soon. Kylie rode a lot as well, but looked like she was outgrowing her bike. We'll have to revisit this again sometime soon.
All in all we all had a great time. The motor home heated us up in the night. We ate outside all of our meals, as we love o do. We had fires each night and loved sitting around and talking. We looked at the stars and showed constellations and stories. The kids even told scary stories to each other.
Friday night, as I was sitting by the fire late at night, we saw a UFO. It was a bright blue light that seemed very close and lit up the entire camp area briefly. Looking up, and to the east, we saw a bright blue light travel across the sky and burn out quickly. As the excitement caught us, I exclaimed that I wanted to see more. A few minutes later, we were treated to another similar event, on the other side of the sky. We have no idea what it was, but enjoyed the experience.
After spending 3 full days and 2 full nights out there, we returned home late Saturday night. It was too late to unload, so we took some items in, and went to bed. Today, most of us just laid around after church, and chilled. It was a great trip with lots of fun had by all.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
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