The Snow Came....On Christmas!

The snow finally came!  And on a special day, Christmas morning.  Christmas Eve was a brown Christmas Eve, then on the next morning when I woke up, there was 3-4 inches of snow on the ground.  I was pretty excited about it and since everybody didn't want to get up until 10 that morning to open presents, I decided to go ride my fat bike in the new, fresh snow.  I went up Kane Valley Road on the backside of Black Hill.  I was first tracks on the road and it was beautiful.

During Christmas break, I went on more rides on my fat bike and it was very exhilarating. The snow was perfect and the weather was beautiful but very cold.  On the ride Friday, it wasn't bad, but on Saturday's ride, it was 12 degrees when I started then it warmed up with the sun shining and the temperature got to 18 degrees.  After working out for 10 minutes, I warmed up fast.

Duke came with me on Saturday's ride in back of the foothills and he ran right by me the whole way and he enjoyed it, well, it seemed like it.  But he was very tired.  He ran 9 miles.

For Christmas this year, I received a very good item for snow biking, the 45 North Wolvhammers boots.  They are the best.  I really like them and they are very warm.  I can also put cleats on them so I can ride on clipless pedals.  It's so much better to ride clipless and I hope by spraying Pam onto the cleats and pedals(got the idea from somebody else), the snow and ice won't stick on them.  These shoes were very pricey for the elves to make and they don't make very much of these.  So I got really lucky from Santa.  I must have been very good this year!

Bucket List a Success!.....Kind Of

During last August, I had the rest of the year left of things to do, then on for another list for next year.  This time, instead of thinking it in my head about fun things to do, I actually got a paper and written a list, then typed it off the computer.  It went like this:

August
     San Rafael trip with the Tony and family

September
      Corner Canyon bike trails near Draper
      Climb up to Bluebell or Pioneer in Ephraim Canyon on bike
       Round Valley bike trails near Park City

October
       Moab bike trip
       The Wedge Overlook ride?
       Captitol Reef hiking

November
        St. George bike riding
         Take a break from biking(fall break)or take it easy

December
         Continue break
          Get back on the snow bike when it snows!

Well, I completed most of it and there were a few changes due to broken bike in November and just had a few change of plans.  So instead of the Bluebell or Pioneer climb I just did the Flume Trail and Black Hill area on one ride because I wasn't really ready for the Pioneer.  Then instead of Wedge Overlook, I did even a better thing like the 11 mile hike on top of Ephraim Canyon which was way cooler.  I had the question mark after Wedge Overlook because I kind of knew I wasn't in the mood for that.  And finally, instead of St. George bike riding, I did St. George hiking due to broken bike.  That was that one time I hiked up Angel's Landing and I actually enjoyed that more than I would going biking on that weekend.  It was a great trip.  So all the things I did on this list were posted in all the previous posts on this blog.

By taking the fall break, I actually started to ride my bike less and did cross training instead, this winter, I took up swimming.  I went 2 times a week at the local pool after work.  It felt great too, to be in the warm water and exercise mostly my whole body without too much impact.  I did backwards swim one time to the end of the pool then freestyle back, then backwards swim, then freestyle and just kept going for 35 minutes or so.  I still rode my bike on the weekends and a lot during Thanksgiving holidays.  Just whenever I am not at work and there is daylight outside.  It hasn't snowed yet here and it's almost Christmas.  It has in the mountains though and I am hoping we get some accumulation in the valley on Christmas Day like what they said it would so I could get back on my snow bike(fat bike with 5 inch tires).  There also need to be 24 inches of snow in the mountains for them to groom a few roads up in the mountains.  It's snowing in the mountains now but it is very slushy though.  Don't know what will happen this week.  Hoping for the good!

New bike...almost

You know how I explained that there was a problem with the fork, then the headset?  Well, the whole time is was a bad head tube.  It was cracked and it was out of whack. Mad Dog Cycles, where I bought this bike from looked at it and replaced the whole frame under warranty and the Trek Red Shield.  I guess this is the third new frame and most of the parts on it are still 5 years old.  I guess I'll just keep riding it.  I rode it yesterday and it was a great ride.  I loved the feel of it.  I was thinking about selling it but I figured I probably won't make any money out of it and I hate selling bikes and cars off of classifieds and ads.  It never works out and I could never make money doing it because I am a very bad salesman.  I am thinking of upgrading the drivetrain to a 2X10 drivetrain and it should be a good bike.  It would be updated.  Then just ride it a little longer then buy a new bike but probably not Trek.  Then just use this bike as a second bike.

Angel's Landing Hike

Last weekend, it snowed in all of the state of Utah except in St. George.  St. George was warm and pleasant but a little chill in the air, around the 60 degree range most of the time.  So, it was very nice, better than 10 degrees in Ephraim for sure.

I was going to ride my bike in St. George but my bike wasn't ready at the shop.  They found another problem on it and the frame needed to be replaced because of a crack in it.  So, my parents and I decided to still go down there and go see Zion National Park.  I hiked up Angel's Landing while my parents did the shuttle around the park and saw other stuff.

Angel's Landing was a tough steep climb up to it and I've never done it before.  There was a lot of people there.  But I enjoyed the hike up it.  I was trying to go as fast as I could so I could get back before dark.  The view at the top was amazing.

The top part was very scary because of cliffs on both sides and I had to hold on a chain and I thought that part was pretty cool.
 

There were awesome switchbacks on this climb but the trail was all paved, probably because of the water control.  Later that night, my parents and I watched "Interstellar" at the Imax theatre right outside of Zion.  It was an interesting movie and it made me think for days.  It was a very good time and I won't ever forget this trip.

Weekend at Ogden, UT

After doing errands and going to a hearing aid appointment in Provo, I went up to Ogden afterwards to spend the weekend at my sister's.  I took my fat bike with me and yes that is strange because I didn't take my mountain bike for the ride.  My mountain bike has been having problems on the headset and I can't get it figured out.  The local bike shop told me to take it to the shop where I bought my bike and have them look at it.  So I took it at Mad Dog Cycles and I hope they can figure it out.  I thought it was a bad fork the whole time but after I got it rebuilt, the bike was still having steering problems.  So I've been riding my fat bike instead.

The plan was to go ride at Antelope Island which is near my sister's and brother's places but when I got there, it was so windy that I caved and got back into the car and drove off.  It was like 50 mph wind gusts.  I was going to just ditch riding that day but when I got back to the city, the wind wasn't as bad and I figured I could just do a ride near the mountain bench where the wind wasn't as bad at all.  I got back on my iPad back at my sister's place(still don't have a smartphone) to figure out what trail to do because I've never ridden on any trails near Ogden City.  After browsing on the internet, I figured North Bonneville Shoreline Trail looked like the most forgiving ride.

After riding the first mile from the North Ogden Divide trailhead, I was getting satisfied and I was enjoying the ride so far.  The trail was singletrack and it was smooth and fun.

The first part of the trail was all climbing on switchbacks and I love switchbacks!  At the top, I stopped and looked at the view.  The dust down below is supposed to be Antelope Island.  You can't see Antelope Island because of the dust from the wind.  It looked unreal.

The trail ended at Pineview trailhead.  I turned around there and went back where I went.  Actually you can keep going north to another trail that keeps going to Willard.  It's supposed to be more technical and more demanding.  So anyway, the ride back was just a little bit more climbing then it also had more downhill than the previous direction which was fun.  I really liked this trail and I would do it again if I am over at my sister's and brother's places for some spring and fall riding.

The next morning, the wind finally settled down from a hardcore wind stage that had happened the day before after I was done with my ride.  Instead it was a little colder that morning.  But no worries, I had warm gear with me.  It's good, right?  So I rode on this paved rail trail near my sister's place and went for 2 hours of riding.  It was relaxing and very nice.  There wasn't that much people this time at all.  I was grateful.  It was just a nice cruiser and still was a little slower because of my fat bike.  What a great weekend!  I also visited my family more and ate out at a few places with them.  It was fun.

Capitol Reef Hiking

I went down to Capitol Reef yesterday just by myself to do a hike.  Last Fall in 2013 I went there with my parents while stopping there on the way to San Rafael Swell for a family hike.  My mom and I did a short hike and after that, I wanted to come back and do a longer [alone] hike.

So, my plan was to hike on the Frying Pan Trail and hike to Cassidy Arch then hike back.  Then after that, to do Hickman Bridge Trail.

Frying Pan is one the longer hikes in the area and I wanted to do a 10 mile or so hike so I planned the whole day.  It was a great trail and there was hardly anybody on it.  Only one or two people and a group of boy scouts.  Capitol Reef that day was a little crowded as usual but not as bad as the other national parks.  I went on the harder trails and most people there were doing all the easy trails so that's where the crowds were.

It started out climbing up to the top then back down into a wash then crossing the wash and do a very long climb up to another point up to another top.  After that was hiking down to Cassidy Arch.  There were a quite of bit people at Cassidy Arch, they took the easier Cassidy Arch Trail.  My hike was more pretty and had panoramic views of most of the Water Pocket Fold at Capitol Reef.  It was awesome.

Cassidy Arch

After I was done seeing Cassidy Arch I hiked on the Frying Pan backwards to the trail head.  There was more downhill this way.  Then back to the trail head, I decided to cross Highway 24 and hike to Hickman Bridge.  I've been to Hickman Bridge before but that was a long time ago.  It was during a 5th grade field trip and I remember only parts of it.

As I was hiking on the 1 mile long Hickman Bridge trail, I started to remember better on it.  I was thinking about my fifth grade teacher Miss Erickson who died young.  I really liked her as a teacher and she was a lot of fun.  She also talked a lot about Capitol Reef because she used to like to visit Capitol Reef.

I was done with this hike for the day and I was pretty sore.  It was tiresome.  Today, the bones and muscles in my feet are sore that I am having a hard time walking around.  Must of been a good hike.  I got a lot of elevation gain too(2,800 feet).  Before I left at the park, I stopped at the Gifford House and got some pie to take home.  They were enough to feed myself and my parents.  They were so good.  An apple and mixed berry pie.  I love pie!

Best. Hike. Ever.

A friend of mine that is a retired instructor of the college here that taught outdoor classes have been telling this game trail that meanders along the bench of the 9,600' line of Haystack, Middle, and South mountains.  He has been telling me that it would be a great bike/horse/hiking trail if all the dead fall was all cleared up.  So I went up yesterday to check it out.

From getting instructions and directions on how to get there from two different people, it wasn't that hard to find where it starts.  You would have to drive up Ephraim Canyon to the Philadelphia Flat meadow and park where a big yellow sign is that says "no motor vehicles allowed".  They tried to shut down a road there but you can walk on it.  I walked on it for a while until I got to above a chute in Bluebell.

Then on your left is a very visible game trail that looks like the picture above.  My dog and I started walking on it and we were in business.

Two other friends of mine already started to try to clear this trail up a few years ago and I could see where they chain sawed.  There's new dead fall already and they didn't really get that far on the clearing up.  The first part is pretty much a mess and has a lot of dead fall.  And the trail would need a little bit of work also.

After the top of Haystack Mountain part where all the trees are, I started walking on the south face of the mountain where it opens up and has a few aspens trees.  This is the part where the trail gets better.  You are getting into Jimmy's Fork.

Walking along Jimmy's Fork is where the game trail is really wide and more noticable.  All we would have to do is ride it and it would be a sweet bike trail.

Then on Middle Mountain the trail meanders around just like Haystack Mountain and I saw somebody's footprints on this trail.  Probably some hunter.  There were a quite of few hunters up at the top of the mountain since it was opening day of deer hunt.  They were looking down at me with their binoculars probably saying, "who is that crazy idiot doing down there....and that dog".   Well, just going on a hike.

Then the trail gets better and better as I go more around Middle Mountain and down at South Mountain.  The trail keeps going and going and I finally caved and hiked up to the top of South Mountain and walked back along the road back to Philadelphia Flat to my truck.  I was thinking just for now, clear up the dead fall the southern most part of the trail and just ride down from the south face of Haystack or Jimmy's Fork starting there and ride to South Mountain and ride around all the way back to Philadelphia.  That part would be less work and has a lot less dead fall to clear up.  If this trail really existed as a bike trail, or a horse trail, or a hiking trail.  It would be one of the best of the state.  I'm serious.  I couldn't believe how great the trail is and amazing the views were.  The elk and deer knew where they were going.  I think it would be like Park City's Mid Mountain Trail on steroids because of the high altitude and it stays right on 9,600' mark the whole way.  I don't know, it would be great.  It's like a dream trail.  Here's the Strava workout of my hike:  It took a good ol' 6 hours!

Fat Biking on the Dirt

I sent my suspension fork off of my mountain bike to the suspension rebuilders in Colorado and so I don't have a mountain bike for a while.  But I did take out my fat bike for a ride.  It was better than I expected when riding out on dirt thinking fat bikes are only great in snow.  It just turned out it was just plain fun.  I never had a fun ride like this one for a long time and the bike felt really cushy because of the fat tires.  It felt like a full suspension bike with a lot of travel and could go over anything.  So I went out on a couple rides this week.  My last ride was awesome.

I went out at the Black Hill riding area and did some of my favorite trails.  I can't believe I beat my old times on a fat bike and fat bikes are supposed to be slower!  I don't know, maybe they just go over things better.  Well, I went on a couple good rides after work and here is one ride on Strava:

More Therapy...

I have this "Year end Bucket List" I made about 2 months ago and I am crossing most of them off and riding in Round Valley in Park City was one of them.  It's been a long time since I've ridden in Round Valley so it was kind of calling me.  I went yesterday to do some trails and there were some trails I haven't ridden.

It's not really a "great" area compared to other Park City riding areas.  Round Valley is usually the place where bikers go at the first of the year because it's one the few areas that is first free of snow in the spring.  I just missed going up there and it would be warmer than the higher elevation trails even though it was a little chilly yesterday.

I did the figure 8 ride and the climbs were awesome and the downhills were very fun.  I really liked the Rusty Shovel downhill and the Rambler On and Rambler XC trails.  They weren't too steep and I can go really fast.  Also Nowhere Elks and Somewhere Elks trails were pretty fun climbs.  It's not that scenic really but it was nice to go out and ride a bit on some superb singletrack.  My fork has about had it too.  It's been having problems in the last month and a half and it was really bad on this ride that I couldn't turn easily.  It was scary though.  It needs a complete rebuild and I am going to have to send it to a fork rebuilder company this week.  I heard that it usually takes three weeks to get it back and costs around 150 to 200 bucks.  So I will be without a mountain bike for a while.  I guess I will ride the road bike and fat bike, and do some hiking for the rest of the fall season before it snows.  Then take a break and get on a fat bike for the snow!  Hopefully do a St. George trip when I get my fork back.

Moab Fall 2014 Therapy Session

I went for the day to go biking in Moab yesterday on the first weekend of October.  October is usually the month that is the most crowded in Moab.  Yep, there was a ton of people there.  I was planning to camp one night but after I rode for four hours, I thought, it's a 3.5 hour drive home, why not just go home?  So, that's what I did and I did have a great bike ride.  I couldn't find a camping spot anyway.

I did Navajo Rocks ride first when I got there about 11:30 in the morning.  It's up by Monitor and Merrimac buttes where that Dead Horse Point/Canyonlands road is.  It's 6 miles from the turnoff.  I parked there, ate a light lunch then took off.  It was great and the temperature was dead on perfect.  The trail was really awesome and it's a brand new trail that was just barely built last spring.  There was a lot of short sustained climbs that lasted about 3 minutes in most spots and quite a bit slick rock and dirt mixed.

It was pretty technical and it was a well-made trail.  I really liked it and I wish there was more.  The loop itself is 8 miles and I think they are planning to build more trails in this area.  I'm looking forward to it.  It's nice that they are building a lot more bike trails in the Moab area and I can't complain but I can complain about that they need to develop or allow more camping spots in the area.  Or at least more motels, maybe some affordable ones for sure.  If they get more and more visitors each year, they've got think about better lodging.

Monitor and Merrimac buttes in the background on my Navajo Rocks ride.

After Navajo Rocks, I loaded my bike into the truck and drove up to Dead Horse Point and did more riding up there.  I rode there last spring and enjoyed it.  I wanted to do it again.

I went a little faster this time because I already knew what to expect on the trail ahead of me and knew where I was going.  This was fast and fun.  There was quite a bit of people this time.  Especially entry level riders because these trails are a little more easy compared to the original Moab trails.  Dead Horse Point trails are also fun for the advanced riders too.  The views are good too.

After I was done riding the trails, I rode my bike on the highway to the Dead Horse view point.  Which was like 3 more miles.  This was great and I think next time I go to Moab, I am probably going to do the Klondike Bluffs trail system.  I haven't been there in a long time.  We will see.

Corner Canyon Number 2

Yes, went to Corner Canyon again.  I had so much fun last time and for sure I went riding there again but a different route.  It's such a good trail system and the trails are great and butter smooth with an occasion of rocks in a few areas.  It was a very nice Sunday afternoon and hitched a ride with my mother while meeting my little sister in Lehi to switch cars.  My mom used my sister's car and my sister used my mom's car for the week because my sister needed her car fixed down here in Ephraim.  I came along and went on a bike ride while they ate lunch for 2 hours.  It worked out perfectly.

My ride was great, I did some different trails this time.  Started from Coyote Trailhead and went up on Clark's, down Brock's and Ghost Falls.  Then up Canyon Hollow and down Rush Flow Trail.  I love Rush, it's a downhill that last forever and so fun.  Then finally I rode a little bit of BST then met my mom and sister at the Draper Temple.  It was a very fun ride and pleasant weather, a little hot in some spots but there was a lot of trees that gave shade.  There was more people this time but it wasn't that bad and I can't complain because the trails are great.