GAR
Active Member
Here is a pic of trail 194 going to Forest lake (I think) from Monday night. It looked pretty deep and I didn't dare try it by myself. We can check it out though, might be exciting to try
The upcoming moto ride/quick report.
- Thread starter MattL
- Start date
Here is a pic of trail 194 going to Forest lake (I think) from Monday night. It looked pretty deep and I didn't dare try it by myself. We can check it out though, might be exciting to try
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
that DOES look quite deep. Have you ridden up there much Grant? I've got a very cool loop to show you tonight. Bring a rain jacket, it might get a little rainy. I can't wait.
Cascadia
Undecided
- Location
- Orem, Utah
I'll be there. Just trying to decide if I want to bring the ktm or the trials. I'm leaning towards the ktm since I haven't had it on a trail yet.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
Always a good problem to have
Cascadia
Undecided
- Location
- Orem, Utah
Wow!!! What an interesting night! The 2 hour ride that turned into 5. 
Cascadia
Undecided
- Location
- Orem, Utah
Steves better at trip reports. Let's just say; logs so we turned around, snow so we turned around, bike wouldn't start, different bike wouldn't start, rain, winds, hail, a bike without a headlight, a bike runs out of gas, 15 miles on road, same bike runs out of gas, 2 guys on one bike.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
I've got video footage of you and rick cuddling on your bike tyson.
Super fun night, thanks guys. I'm definitely glad I took the trials bike tonight, I never would have made it on a regular bike.
I haven't been this sore for a long time. I'll post up a little report tomorrow.
Super fun night, thanks guys. I'm definitely glad I took the trials bike tonight, I never would have made it on a regular bike.
I haven't been this sore for a long time. I'll post up a little report tomorrow.
Cascadia
Undecided
- Location
- Orem, Utah
I'm sore too. I went to get in the shower and my body decided it wanted to sit down and have a hot bath instead. It actually got warmer once there was 2 of us on there. Especially since I was in shorts and no gloves. Thanks for the fun ride though. Wish we could have seen more of it in the light.
- Location
- SPANISH FORK, UTAH
Sounds like an adventure....
I didn't get off work until 6:00 so I ran up Payson canyon and ran two trails, Bennie creek and jones ranch. My brother in law rode with me, we went up Bennie creek, and down jones ranch. We saw some elk and a bunch of deer, Payson canyon is still my favorite place to ride, it has awesome single track and it's not as rocky as AF canyon. You can cruise pretty fast some of the spots.
I didn't get off work until 6:00 so I ran up Payson canyon and ran two trails, Bennie creek and jones ranch. My brother in law rode with me, we went up Bennie creek, and down jones ranch. We saw some elk and a bunch of deer, Payson canyon is still my favorite place to ride, it has awesome single track and it's not as rocky as AF canyon. You can cruise pretty fast some of the spots.
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
Last week I rode jones ranch on the ttr and rode down Shram on my mtn bike. I agree Payson is awesome. Way less people too.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
I don't think anyone knows that AF is open. We didn't see a single other dirt biker there. We've gotta get as many rides in up there before memorial, when it becomes packed after that.
I would love to try out Payson sometime.
I would love to try out Payson sometime.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
Last night's trip report.
- Part 1 -
We met at 5:45 at Tibble to head up the trails. We initially planned on running Forest Lake and Mineral Basin, but since we got news that everything was open, we decided to take trail 40 to the ridge (157) to above forest lake to pole line pass.
We had Tyson on his new to him KTM 250xc-w, Grant (GAR) on his KTM 520, me on my Gas Gas Raga trials bike, and Rick on his Montessa 4rt trials bike. We headed off towards trail 40. After crossing the bridge, we headed up the trail. The trail was in great shape. I expected deeper water crossings, but they were about the same level as Sept/Oct of last year. Halfway up trail 40, the road splits and you can head left for trail 39, or go straight up 40 where the switchbacks start. We chose the switchbacks. There were two downed trees on the switchbacks, but the trunks were only about 6" tall, so we were able to get over them without issue. We still hadn't seen any snow. About 75% of the way up the switchbacks we came to about 7-8 fallen trees. The trunks sat about 3' off the ground, so there was no way over them. Someone had made a shortcut trail around them, but we don't believe in making our own trail, so we turned around and headed back down the switchbacks.
I was determined to ride the ridge trail to Pole Line Pass, so headed back to the junction with trail 39. We took that trail up. It was a long, steep climb in a little dug out trail. It was like a little bobsled run about 6" deep and a foot wide. We all made it up without issue, and decided to take trail 39 further on up to 157. On the way there were several downed trees, some quite big, but we were able to lift the bikes over them. On one downed tree we saw a half decomposed elk about 2" off the trail. It was so camoflauge that we could smell it, but we didn't notice it 'till after we passed it. Rick almost put his foot in it. To this point, we still had not seen any snow, and aside from the 10-15 downed trees that we got over, the trails were in great shape. In fact, the trails were in better shape than at any time last year. I think the fact that horses hadn't destroyed them in the mud helped.
After some more technical rocky climbs, we arrived at the top of 157. It was a beautiful view. We didn't see another person on any of the trails all night. We hit a snow bank about 1/4 mile before the spur down towards forest lake. The snow banks kept getting deeper and deeper. We parked the bikes and hiked on foot to see how bad the drifts were. After two drifts that were about 2-3 feet deep, we decided we wouldn't be able to ride the bikes. If only we had a shovel to clear the snow a bit. That's when the fun began...
- Part 1 -
We met at 5:45 at Tibble to head up the trails. We initially planned on running Forest Lake and Mineral Basin, but since we got news that everything was open, we decided to take trail 40 to the ridge (157) to above forest lake to pole line pass.
We had Tyson on his new to him KTM 250xc-w, Grant (GAR) on his KTM 520, me on my Gas Gas Raga trials bike, and Rick on his Montessa 4rt trials bike. We headed off towards trail 40. After crossing the bridge, we headed up the trail. The trail was in great shape. I expected deeper water crossings, but they were about the same level as Sept/Oct of last year. Halfway up trail 40, the road splits and you can head left for trail 39, or go straight up 40 where the switchbacks start. We chose the switchbacks. There were two downed trees on the switchbacks, but the trunks were only about 6" tall, so we were able to get over them without issue. We still hadn't seen any snow. About 75% of the way up the switchbacks we came to about 7-8 fallen trees. The trunks sat about 3' off the ground, so there was no way over them. Someone had made a shortcut trail around them, but we don't believe in making our own trail, so we turned around and headed back down the switchbacks.
I was determined to ride the ridge trail to Pole Line Pass, so headed back to the junction with trail 39. We took that trail up. It was a long, steep climb in a little dug out trail. It was like a little bobsled run about 6" deep and a foot wide. We all made it up without issue, and decided to take trail 39 further on up to 157. On the way there were several downed trees, some quite big, but we were able to lift the bikes over them. On one downed tree we saw a half decomposed elk about 2" off the trail. It was so camoflauge that we could smell it, but we didn't notice it 'till after we passed it. Rick almost put his foot in it.
To this point, we still had not seen any snow, and aside from the 10-15 downed trees that we got over, the trails were in great shape. In fact, the trails were in better shape than at any time last year. I think the fact that horses hadn't destroyed them in the mud helped.After some more technical rocky climbs, we arrived at the top of 157. It was a beautiful view. We didn't see another person on any of the trails all night. We hit a snow bank about 1/4 mile before the spur down towards forest lake. The snow banks kept getting deeper and deeper. We parked the bikes and hiked on foot to see how bad the drifts were. After two drifts that were about 2-3 feet deep, we decided we wouldn't be able to ride the bikes. If only we had a shovel to clear the snow a bit. That's when the fun began...
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GAR
Active Member
yup, that about sums it up. logs, falling over, more logs, snow, falling over, more logs. I missed the 2-up action though, you must have been pretty close to the trucks when he ran out.
It was a blast though, good times for sure. I can't wait to go out tomorrow!
Steve, were do you get a chainsaw on string that you mentioned? It might be a good idea to carry one in this early season.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
- Part 2-
We knew that we wouldn't be able to continue down 157 and drop down in to Forest Lake. We looked around the snow banks we were standing in, and there were mountain lion footprints all over in the snow. Fresh ones. (I assume they were mountain lion prints). So I was rather motivated to turn around and head back. The trails bikes were a breeze to turn around on the trail, but the bigger KTMs took some muscle. We finally got the big bikes turned around and headed back to the saddle. We had to decide the best way to get home from there. It was about 8:45 and darkness was rolling in.
We looked at our map and decided to take trail 181 around to Holeman Flatts since it was a lot less distance. Plus, thinking of picking our bikes up over all those downed trees wasn't too motivating. As we headed up 181 we hit a tree sitting 2' tall across the trail. Rick and I hefted my trials bike over the tree, and I went on to scout the trail. 1/4 mile later, I hit more snow banks. Apparently the top trails that are on the north face are still covered in snow. So I turned back and returned to the saddle.
At this point, the clouds started rolling in. We saw sheet lightning in the distance. and realized that we were standing on the highest part of the mountains around us. It started sprinkling a little, and we were anxious to get back to our cars. It had been a grueling 2.5 hours on the trail and we were exhausted. We had two options:
1) backtrack the entire trail we had just done.
2) backtrack part of the trail, and pop out at little deer creek road --> cascade springs --> summit --> down the road --> tibble
We were still undecided, but we knew we wanted to get out of there with all the mountain lion tracks and the thunder and clouds rolling in. Fortunately we all had great cell coverage up there, so we were able to call our wives and let them know we'd be home late and not to send a search party. Rick said "well, it looks like I won't be going to my birthday party tonight." We asked who's party it was and he said "mine." Sorry Rick! We made you miss your own birthday party.
It started to rain a bit, and it was time to get out of there. We all started to head off, but noticed Tyson wasn't moving. The higher we climbed, and the hotter his bike got, the tougher it was to start it. Even the electric start wouldn't do it. He sat there for about 15 min trying to start it with a combination of kicking and magic button. He'd get it to turn over a few times, then die immediately after. I suggested we try pop-starting it, but with a Rekluse that isn't an option. By this time it was dark. Grant tried kicking for a while, no luck. Eventually Tyson got so frustrated that he started kicking it harder than I've ever seen someone kick a bike. Eventually it started and we were on our way...
We knew that we wouldn't be able to continue down 157 and drop down in to Forest Lake. We looked around the snow banks we were standing in, and there were mountain lion footprints all over in the snow. Fresh ones. (I assume they were mountain lion prints). So I was rather motivated to turn around and head back. The trails bikes were a breeze to turn around on the trail, but the bigger KTMs took some muscle. We finally got the big bikes turned around and headed back to the saddle. We had to decide the best way to get home from there. It was about 8:45 and darkness was rolling in.
We looked at our map and decided to take trail 181 around to Holeman Flatts since it was a lot less distance. Plus, thinking of picking our bikes up over all those downed trees wasn't too motivating. As we headed up 181 we hit a tree sitting 2' tall across the trail. Rick and I hefted my trials bike over the tree, and I went on to scout the trail. 1/4 mile later, I hit more snow banks. Apparently the top trails that are on the north face are still covered in snow. So I turned back and returned to the saddle.
At this point, the clouds started rolling in. We saw sheet lightning in the distance. and realized that we were standing on the highest part of the mountains around us. It started sprinkling a little, and we were anxious to get back to our cars. It had been a grueling 2.5 hours on the trail and we were exhausted. We had two options:
1) backtrack the entire trail we had just done.
2) backtrack part of the trail, and pop out at little deer creek road --> cascade springs --> summit --> down the road --> tibble
We were still undecided, but we knew we wanted to get out of there with all the mountain lion tracks and the thunder and clouds rolling in. Fortunately we all had great cell coverage up there, so we were able to call our wives and let them know we'd be home late and not to send a search party. Rick said "well, it looks like I won't be going to my birthday party tonight." We asked who's party it was and he said "mine." Sorry Rick! We made you miss your own birthday party.
It started to rain a bit, and it was time to get out of there. We all started to head off, but noticed Tyson wasn't moving. The higher we climbed, and the hotter his bike got, the tougher it was to start it. Even the electric start wouldn't do it. He sat there for about 15 min trying to start it with a combination of kicking and magic button. He'd get it to turn over a few times, then die immediately after. I suggested we try pop-starting it, but with a Rekluse that isn't an option. By this time it was dark. Grant tried kicking for a while, no luck. Eventually Tyson got so frustrated that he started kicking it harder than I've ever seen someone kick a bike. Eventually it started and we were on our way...
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sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
- Part 3 -
The night before this trip, I had stayed up 'till 1:30 AM installing my headlight on my trials bike. It's a good thing too, because the sun had set and it was dark. Unforutnately, Rick didn't have a headlight on his trials bike, so we sandwiched him between me and Tyson and he borrowed our lights. This works really well on a double-track, but on a rocky alpine singletrack with wet rocks and dirt, it doesn't work so well. We slowly crept our way down trail 157.
By this time it was a steady rain. Nothing torrential, but enough to make the rocks slippery and get us wet. Most of us were prepared with a lightweight shell. The temps were still quite warm, despite it being 9:30 and dark. I set my bike down to put my jacket on. When i picked the bike up, I couldn't start it for a minute. If I lean it to the right, it won't flood. If I lean it down on the left side, it'll flood and take a minute to start. After about 3 minutes, I got it going. We worked our way down and I decided that it'd be best to head down to little deer creek road and take the road all the way back.
Things were going well. Slow, but well. We hit the steep, loose, rocky section of trail 157 above 40. As we got down that, it had stopped raining and we were making good progress. We met up with the little deer creek fire road (the part at the top of the 40 switchbacks). From there we headed down the dirt road. It was probably 10 PM at this time. The road opened up enough so that Rick could ride side by side with me and borrow the light from my headlight. We were doing great, then Rick stopped moving forward. We asked him what was up, and he was out of gas. Not bad for a .5 gal tank. I had added 1.5 litres to my tank through the night, and he hadn't added a thing yet.
Since he rides a 4t, we were able to take gas from Grant's bike and fill a fuel bottle and transfer it to Rick's bike. .75L of fuel later and we were ready to go again. As we head down, grant realizes he left his backpack up on the trail, so he heads back for it. We meander down the fire road and hit the road. From here we were able to pick up the pace a little. I hadn't realized just how far down the Cascade Springs road we were. After about 15 min on the road in 6th gear (45mph I'm guessing) we reached the fork with SR92 past the summit. We rode the little 1/4 mile singletrack up to the summit, then headed down the road towards our cars. Part way down the road was a downed tree blocking all but a foot of the road. We passed tractors and trail repair equipment and made our way down. It was getting pretty cold, but it was an absolutely beautiful ride. I'd never ridden the summit road on a motorcycle before, and it was breathtaking.
We made it down to the fork in the road and Grant headed for home and the Rick, Tyson, and I headed up towards the tibble parking lot. Tyson and I turned back and we couldn't see Rick. We assumed that since his headlight was out that was just right behind us. We stopped and couldn't hear him. We went back and he had run out of gas AGAIN. So we stashed his bike in the bushes and hid it well, and he rode 2-up on Tyson's bike up to the parking lot. It was now about 11 PM at the Tibble Fork Parking lot. We were all cold but safe. Our bikes were good shape, and nobody was hurt. We loaded up the bikes, picked up Rick's bike on the way down, and headed home.
All in all, one of my favorite rides yet. I can't wait to get some more night rides under my belt up there. It's going to be hard to not want to ride up there every single night. Next time I'll take a pocket chainsaw and possibly a shovel for the snow. I'm guessing that in the next week or two the snow will be gone and we can ride all the way across the ridge trail. Thanks for reading...
I've got lots of GoPro footage. Who knows if I'll ever edit it...
The night before this trip, I had stayed up 'till 1:30 AM installing my headlight on my trials bike. It's a good thing too, because the sun had set and it was dark. Unforutnately, Rick didn't have a headlight on his trials bike, so we sandwiched him between me and Tyson and he borrowed our lights. This works really well on a double-track, but on a rocky alpine singletrack with wet rocks and dirt, it doesn't work so well. We slowly crept our way down trail 157.
By this time it was a steady rain. Nothing torrential, but enough to make the rocks slippery and get us wet. Most of us were prepared with a lightweight shell. The temps were still quite warm, despite it being 9:30 and dark. I set my bike down to put my jacket on. When i picked the bike up, I couldn't start it for a minute. If I lean it to the right, it won't flood. If I lean it down on the left side, it'll flood and take a minute to start. After about 3 minutes, I got it going. We worked our way down and I decided that it'd be best to head down to little deer creek road and take the road all the way back.
Things were going well. Slow, but well. We hit the steep, loose, rocky section of trail 157 above 40. As we got down that, it had stopped raining and we were making good progress. We met up with the little deer creek fire road (the part at the top of the 40 switchbacks). From there we headed down the dirt road. It was probably 10 PM at this time. The road opened up enough so that Rick could ride side by side with me and borrow the light from my headlight. We were doing great, then Rick stopped moving forward. We asked him what was up, and he was out of gas. Not bad for a .5 gal tank. I had added 1.5 litres to my tank through the night, and he hadn't added a thing yet.
Since he rides a 4t, we were able to take gas from Grant's bike and fill a fuel bottle and transfer it to Rick's bike. .75L of fuel later and we were ready to go again. As we head down, grant realizes he left his backpack up on the trail, so he heads back for it. We meander down the fire road and hit the road. From here we were able to pick up the pace a little. I hadn't realized just how far down the Cascade Springs road we were. After about 15 min on the road in 6th gear (45mph I'm guessing) we reached the fork with SR92 past the summit. We rode the little 1/4 mile singletrack up to the summit, then headed down the road towards our cars. Part way down the road was a downed tree blocking all but a foot of the road. We passed tractors and trail repair equipment and made our way down. It was getting pretty cold, but it was an absolutely beautiful ride. I'd never ridden the summit road on a motorcycle before, and it was breathtaking.
We made it down to the fork in the road and Grant headed for home and the Rick, Tyson, and I headed up towards the tibble parking lot. Tyson and I turned back and we couldn't see Rick. We assumed that since his headlight was out that was just right behind us. We stopped and couldn't hear him. We went back and he had run out of gas AGAIN. So we stashed his bike in the bushes and hid it well, and he rode 2-up on Tyson's bike up to the parking lot. It was now about 11 PM at the Tibble Fork Parking lot. We were all cold but safe. Our bikes were good shape, and nobody was hurt. We loaded up the bikes, picked up Rick's bike on the way down, and headed home.
All in all, one of my favorite rides yet. I can't wait to get some more night rides under my belt up there. It's going to be hard to not want to ride up there every single night. Next time I'll take a pocket chainsaw and possibly a shovel for the snow. I'm guessing that in the next week or two the snow will be gone and we can ride all the way across the ridge trail. Thanks for reading...
I've got lots of GoPro footage. Who knows if I'll ever edit it...
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sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
I just searched "pocket chainsaw." I'm going to order one just in case.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...39508&ci_sku=39508&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/to...e=google_pla&gclid=CIjD1eekirACFYeo4AodXV0GOA
http://www.campmor.com/pocket-chain-saw.shtml?source=CI&ci_sku=27001&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}
I'm going to PM Tacoma. I know he has helped with the tree clearing up there, so I wonder if he has any recommendations.
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sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
Regarding pocket chainsaws, this article compared them nicely.
http://survivalcache.com/sabercut-saw/
I just ordered a saber cut 24"
http://survivalcache.com/sabercut-saw/
I just ordered a saber cut 24"
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
When and where are we riding tomorrow?