Tour of the Wasatch Plateau

In late June, I rode 225 miles along dirt roads and trails of the Wasatch Plateau.

The Wasatch Plateau is essentially the central spine of Utah. Linked below is the GPS file of the route I took:

Early Start in South Fork of Hobble Creek.

Riding single track of Fourth-Water Creek.

On my way toward the Tie Fork drainage on ATV track. Fully loaded riding but exciting news.

About a quarter through the big climb out of highway 6 canyon up into Northern Skyline---about 4000 feet at 10%+ grades. It took hours on the heavy bike.

Finally up the climb to the rolling high country on smooth gravel.

Late afternoon on highway 31, at the turn-off for Southern Skyline.

Due to forest fires on either side of the range, highway 31 was closed. I encountered this ranger on patrol. We chatted for quite a while and gave me a bunch of water. Always nice to have a trail angel....

The Wood Hollow Fire to my west gave a solitary show for me. Its the most awe-inspiring sunset I've ever seen.

Woke up early. Rode hard.

Only the first few miles of Southern Skyline are graded. Lots of rough climbing ahead.

All day long, little 300-500 footers with stiff grades, riding the spine of Utah.

Snow Lake had a snow bank.

After two days of riding my route demanded that I drop off the high country and into the town of Salina to get groceries. The low country was a hair dryer. Hot and brown.

I wasted no time getting a table and Mom's Cafe, bike parked where I could see it. The waitress kept trying to hand me the check---trying to get my stinky self out of her table---but I kept ordering more food.

Cheap motel in Salina, Ut. The heat of Salina required a 4AM roll-out. The final day and many thousand feet of climbing on rough terrain awaited. I was finally less nervous. I knew I could do it at this point.

Riding under I-70 in Salina Canyon. A couple more miles to the start of the ATV track.

The world is waking up for breakfast and I'm already in the high country, safe from the heat.

No more gravel road. Its all ATV on the third day.

Late morning, and I've reached the hanging valley of Mt. Terrell pass. I started riding at 4am at 4,500 feet, now 11am at 10,000. This is probably my favorite section of the trail.

Over the pass, looking down into Hilgard mountain (left) and Flat Top (far right). My route will go down the valley in the foreground, turn left and round Hilgard, then follow the back side of the far ridge by Flat Top to end the day.

The high country headwaters to the Freemont that runs through Torrey, Ut.

At the confluence of several creeks, I sit in the meadow to eat and pump water. A few more smaller climbs to finish the day.

Rounding Hilgard mountain and one sees the high country now borders the vast southern Utah red rock desert. Far below lies the north end of Capitol Reef National Park.

Friendly folks on the trail. He told me it was going to rain soon. Five minutes later it did.

The final five miles of my planned route turned to faint rocky trail. Lots of hike-a-bike. For future travelers inspired by this ride, stay on the official Great Western Trail ATV route, NOT the Great Western hiking trail. 

A day after my ride, in Capitol Reef, picking ripe apricots in the Fruita orchards.

Relevate Designs Seat Bag, Gas Tank, Sling, and Jerrycan

I just got my Relevate bikepacking bags in the mail, including the Viscacha seatpost bag, top tube-mounted Gas tank (fore bag), and the Jerrycan (aft bag), as well as the simple Sling handlebar-mounted strap for attaching my sleep pad and a drybag full of stuff.

Together with the Salsa-Relevate frame bag that I've already blogged, I can carry an huge amount of gear and food. For the backyard dry run, I just stuffed a 40 degree down bag and bivy sack in the rear, and a silicone tarp in the drybag to add some volume. I definitely have enough room for a real backpacking cookset and stove, a few days worth of food, tools/tubes/pump, 4 liters of water in the frame bag. The toptube mounted bags should cary some easy-to-access essentials like sunscreen/lip balm, gps (if I get one), energy bars, etcetera. I'll cary a small backpack with my warm clothes and I should be set for long range touring.

Just like a quality backpack, little details like tie-on points, inner stability clips. The attention to detail and overall lightweight design is far better than any cludgy job I could come up with:

That rear-mounted dry bag held together with 5000 straps sort of worked---This photo is from a few years back on the Great Western Trail.

The Gas Tank carries lunch, basically.

The attachment points for the post bag are beefy. Its essentially a three-foot long-ish roll-up drybag. The Jerry Can will be perfect for camera/gps and other essentials.

I got the simplest Sling handlebar carry system. The more sophisticated ones were out of stock. It works well enough. I'll need to put a few more straps on to attach it to the fork crown and the drybag+sleep pad will be snugly suspended in front of my head tube.

The verdict: I don't have one yet, but yes, I know the bags will work way better than anything I can put together myself. The bags offer the only real option for riding trails and carrying a full backpacking kit. There is no other way to do it without skimping on something, or carrying an utterly large back pack.... 

Stay tuned for my first overnighter with the rig in a few weeks.

The Great Western Trail: Salt Lake to Boulder--The Gauntlet Thrown Down

I am throwing down the gauntlet. I've been researching and compiling a Great Western adventure. The last one was Mantua to Layton on the worst of possible game trails (see link on sidebar). This new version starts from Salt Lake City and heads into the mountains on single track trails, ATV paths, four-wheel drive roads, and gravel roads, all the way to Boulder, Utah. The route should take 4-5 days with two resupply points.

The first leg of the tour goes through the northern Wasatch via Mill Creek canyon to the Crest, over Brighton and down into Provo Canyon, back up to the southern Wasatch at Vivian Park through motorcycle paths. Camp somewhere in the mountains and head over a pass and down on forest service roads to cross highway 6 at Trucker, Utah (ghost town), and then south on the famous Skyline Drive (see below Google Earth image).

Ride the Skyline drive till you want to camp somewhere, and ride it the next day for about 100 miles, till you meet the fork for the Great Western Trail ATV (GWT) route. Take the route down a huge elevation drop till you run into I-70 and ride about 10 downhill till you are out of the mountains to the town of Salina, Utah. At Salina get a motel, buy a whole pie for yourself at Mom's Cafe, and watch crappy cable TV for as many days as your legs need. When you are ready, head back into the mountains via the I-70 frontage road till you meet back up with the GWT. Head south east on the GWT ATV trail network for 80 miles or so till you roll into Teasdale, Utah. Rest. Go south of Teasdale on 4wd roads up Boulder mountain to Donkey Reservoir and take various forest service roads and trails that rim Boulder mountain till you drop down onto the highway 12 and ride it out a few miles to the Hell's Backbone Grill in time for dinner.

There are a few mystery sections that sources say there is a trail/road there, but I could not spot it on Google earth. And there looks like there are two passes that may include some helacious cross country bushwhacking for a mile or so. More research needs to be done. I have already ridden about 1/4 to 1/3 of the route, and for some of the other places I have a good sense that they are going to be great riding. From Boulder, one could easily ride on Hell's Backbone road all the way to Escalante, and from there keep going on the recently devised Trans Utah Escalante to St. George route listed on bikepacking.net and the brainchild some St. George riders at 2-epic.com.