mctrails 38 Posted June 28, 2010 It was a first of the season ride in the Tushar mountains near Beaver, Utah. These early season rides can usually be pretty difficult because the trails have not been cleared of dead down fallen trees, there will be places where the snow has not completely melted, lots of mud and the creeks and rivers are raging. All that was intensified this year due to the extreme winter they just had. Lots of snow this last season contributes to make all of the above conditions even more severe. Sounds like the makings of a great ride to me. Oh yeah, the weather forecast was for rain and extreme storm conditions the three days of our ride. Perfect! Friday, June 11, there are 8 of us on the ride this day. Bill, Ozzy, Don, Robert, Nick, Jason, Jeff and me. We are riding down to Beaver and back to the cabin. As expected conditions were sketchy as described above. At the first significant water crossing Bill decides to lay his bike over in the middle but saves it from drowning by holding it just above the waterline while a bunch of the crew jump in to save him and the bike. The bad part is Bill got soaked. Since we were only a few miles from the cabin he went back and put on dry clothes while we waited. After that things went a lot smoother but it was still a lot of work getting through slimy snow/muddy sections and working around many, many fallen trees. It was pretty obvious in many places that we were some of the first riders on the trails this season. We eventually made it down to Beaver and had lunch at the Kan Kun restaurant. After lunch we went to Beaver Sport and Pawn which is an amazing place. They claim to have the largest inventory of guns and fishing tackle in Utah. Along with that they have clothes, camping gear, surplus items, tools and all kinds of pawned items. A very impressive place with a lot of stuff. We spent a while in there just checking everything out. A couple of the guys were looking for waterproof gloves and such. After our shopping excursion we headed back up the mountain on a different trail (Paiute trail 05.) This is the one we would come down tomorrow on our trip to Richfield. This trail was a little better until we got near the top of the mountains when it was more of the same downed trees, snow and mud. Not much rain today, just a few sprinkles here and there. We eventually made back to the cabin and everyone dried out, cleaned up and relaxed before dinner. Robert, Nick, Jason and Jeff were staying in a nearby condo but came by the cabin to enjoy a wonderful steak dinner we fixed. Thank you to Bill for some of the tastiest and tenderest steaks I ever had! The days ride covered 66 miles. For those interested in the route we rode some trails near the cabin then headed down highway 153 towards Beaver. Went south at Little Reservoir and south on trails to Paiute trail 68 west to Beaver and trail 05 back to 153 and back to the cabin. For day 2 ride Jim arrived at the cabin first thing in the morning to make the group 9 riders. After we got everyone together we headed down the highway to the trail 05 trailhead and did a group start photo. Most of us took trail 05 down the mountain except Bill and Ozzy. Bill’s back was sore from his creek diving adventure the day before so wisely decided to start out easy this day. Riding was pretty intense for a while as we encountered some fog along the top of the mountain. Somewhere along the way Nick did a dive into the mud in one of the many slick areas. We met Bill and Ozzy at the predetermined spot and headed back northeast along the foothills of the mountains. On this route we hit some of the biggest water crossings of the trip. Talk about raging creek crossings! We all made it through many of them and continued on to Cove Fort for fuel, lunch and to dry out a little. After lunch it was north on various dirt roads and trails to Kanosh and then east on Paiute trail 06. At some point before we reached trail 01 the group split up. Robert, Nick, Jason and Jeff broke off and headed back to their condo. The rest of us took trail 01 north and then trail 04 down into Richfield to the Holiday Inn for the night. It rained a lot on us and we were pretty wet and muddy by the time we arrived. I guess Robert’s group had quite a ride back as they hit rain and snow and had to blast their way through many raging water crossings on trail 74 going down to highway 89. At the bottom the trail was completely washed out and they spent a lot time making a rock bridge to cross Deer Creek. For our group it was a 113 mile ride this day. The last day of the ride started out with Ozzy visiting the local urgent care center to have his eye checked out. He scratched it the day before while putting on his jacket and was still very painful. After determining it was not serious and getting some pain meds he and Dan decided to take the easy routes back to the cabin. Don was very sore from a hard bottom out he hit the day before. This left Bill, Jim and I to make our own adventure back. We started the ride by exploring some play areas along the west side of interstate 70 following trail 70 south. We then headed up the mountain on trail 11 and took trail 495 south to trail 10. It was extremely slippery and wet along trail 495 so at trail 10 we decided to head back down the mountain and stay with the trails along the valley. At Joseph we took trail 22 south to Marysvale for lunch at the Garage Pizza place. During lunch it started raining but didn’t last for long. After lunch we took trails 77 and 35 south to Junction and trail 33 to highway 153 and back up the mountain to Bill’s cabin. It rained and hailed pretty hard on us across the top of the mountain. After getting back and cleaning up it continued to rain with it occasionally turning to snow (on the 13th of June!) This days ride was 88 miles long. Another GREAT offroad motorcycle adventure in the beautiful mountains and valleys of south central Utah! Many, many thanks to Bill for inviting me along. As always a great group of folks riding some of the best trails in the world and having a good time. It doesn’t get any better than this. For more awesome pictures of our adventures go here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted June 28, 2010 Mann I wish I could join you guys on one of those big trips... You guys always seem to do it right; big miles, intense trails, epic views and fine meals. Ozzy doesn't have the attention span to post ride reports, but get him in a truck and he'll brag all the way to the desert about how much fun he had. Thanks for the post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ozzy 0 Posted June 28, 2010 This is why I let Alan write the reports No water pics? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenosan 2 Posted June 29, 2010 I was in the area doing a ride on Hell's Backbone and Box Death Canyon last week. I wish I knew you guys were there. I was riding out of my house in Page, Az. I spend a lot of time riding in Southern Utah. Let me know the next time you guys come up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daijones 0 Posted June 29, 2010 Great report, looks like a real fun place to ride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mctrails 38 Posted June 29, 2010 This is why I let Alan write the reports No water pics? Did you try the link? I only got 3 but they are at the first and most dangerous crossing we hit on Saturday. It took us few minutes before we decided it was better than backtracking a bunch. There were signs saying such things as DANGER!, END OF TRAIL but we didn't think it meant us. We crossed this creek about 6 or 7 more times but where it crossed the road that was still intact. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hobiee 28 Posted June 29, 2010 This is why I let Alan write the reports No water pics? Did you try the link? I only got 3 but they are at the first and most dangerous crossing we hit on Saturday. It took us few minutes before we decided it was better than backtracking a bunch. There were signs saying such things as DANGER!, END OF TRAIL but we didn't think it meant us. We crossed this creek about 6 or 7 more times but where it crossed the road that was still intact. was it dangerous because it was fast moving? it looks small and maybe a little deep, of course being there and seeing the pic are worlds different. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mctrails 38 Posted June 29, 2010 was it dangerous because it was fast moving? it looks small and maybe a little deep, of course being there and seeing the pic are worlds different. Very fast moving and uncertain what the bottom looked like because it was dirty water. We kind of knew it was mostly if not all rocks and not sure how deep. We decided it looked worse than it probably was and like true adventurers we went for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted June 29, 2010 Looks like a ton o' fun..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ozzy 0 Posted June 29, 2010 Utah never disappointes. The best was after the first water crossings we got farther and farther away from the cabin and it seemed around every other corner there was another water crossing. It got to the point where you just blasted thru hoping 1of the 9 didn't drown there bike. Then a few miles from the hotel we hit the (mud) and showed up there covered in it. The worst part was the meds I got for pain didn't work, and I couldn't keep my eye open and had to ride 50+ miles home in the pouring rain with 1 eye while getting passed on the interstate by semis. Pic 18 shows what some of the trails looked like. Talk about flat out perfect riding conditions, miles of 2 track just wet enough to get that 4-5 gear 4stroke BRAPPPPPPP. When your bike is jetted perfectly there's snow on the ground and your fan is still coming on because your wringing it's frickin neck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
