Winter Paradise

By starting the new year, I've been doing some snow fun on my fat bike into new places.  Just yesterday, I went up to Fairview/Huntington Canyon and tried this trail I was thinking about since last winter.  I finally went up there and I was not disappointed at all.  It made me want to keep going up there every weekend for the rest of the winter.

This is a groomed snowmobile trail at an elevation at 9,000 feet, so it's pretty high up there and that is where the snow is really good.  This trail is the Miller Flat/Joe's Valley Road.  I just went until Miller Flat Reservoir and it's pretty much mostly downhill.

To Miller Flat Reservoir is 3.5 miles, I wanted to keep going but I knew the more I went down, the more climbing I had to do on the way back.  So this was just a test and turned around and started climbing back up. 

I really enjoyed the climb actually because it wasn't really all climbing.  The climbs lasted about 3 or 4 minutes then the trail flattened out a little bit for a while then climbed again.  It just kept going like that on the way back.  At the parking lot near the highway, there was a scouting event going on, they were having some kind of XC ski race and there were a lot of scouts.  They were just in that area by Huntington Reservoir area circling around.  I got a lot of good replies about my fat bike from the scouts.  Like, "that looks fun", or "does that bike work", or mostly, "cool bike!"  Well, it's a cool area to ride and there were no one out there as I went further by Miller Flat Reservoir.  Next time, I will go longer. 

Two weeks ago, I had to go up to Ogden area to help my little sister to carry her digital piano up to her apartment.  So I took my bike with me and thought I'd do a ride in Ogden Canyon since I hear that there are some good fat bike riding there.  The day before I went there to ride, there was a fat bike race in Nordic Valley Ski Resort(Frosty's Fat Bike Series).  It was actually located in the golf course by it where they groom XC ski trails.  I did the course on the next morning after the race.

It was actually a fun course.  I followed the bike tracks and markers.  The course was 2 miles and it just weaved all over the place and there were hills all over.  That made it fun and now I can say, "golf courses should be bike tracks".  Never thought the day would come that I would ride a bicycle on a golf course.  It was awesome.

After the big snowstorm during Christmas break, I'd thought I could pack down a trail near home.  I thought of the top part of the Flume because it's mostly flat and it's always shady because it's located on a north face of a mountain.  I thought it could be good snow all the time.  I tried this idea, dragging an old car tire with a rope while snowshoeing.  

I then rode the trail two days later and it was pretty hard.  The trail just needs to be packed down more from snowshoers and fat bike riders.  Since I am the only one that rides on this trail, it was pretty hard, but after the bridge. it got easier and I pretty much cleaned most of the trail.  I hope I can ride it again some other time.

So on that ride on the Flume, I rode up the canyon road from the hydroplant up to the A frame house and then did that top part of the Flume and back then climb up some more on the road to Major's Flat, then rode down.  Duke came with me on this ride.  It was a good ride and it was pretty cold, in the single digits, then warmed up into the teens.

I happened to find this photo on the internet someplace and I really hate this photo.  It looks so miserable.  I really hate indoor stationary bikes and this is just so wrong to see it out on the ice and snow.  It hurts my eyes to see this.  It made me realize that I love riding my fat bike in the snow!  It is a great sport and makes it very worthwhile.  I am just so grateful that I don't have to ride a stationary bike anymore and I have bikes for all seasons to ride outside.  And once you get used to the cold and have the proper clothing, I guarantee that it will get fun!