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.