Where the Pavement Ends

PET ride to Wendover

Today Bob, Eli and I went for a ride into the west desert thinking we were going to go shoot a few shells and have a little fun watching Eli work some antelope and wild horses.  The trail was wet and sometimes very gooey.  We headed off the main trail a couple times only to be turned back by deep goop and fear of getting stuck on our own and no winch.  We had never done the whole trail to Wendover and Bob had never been Wendover before so a first for both us.  It was a good day's ride and hiking to get out and stretch.  Sally was with her mom all day.  We did find a small heard of goats and let Eli work them for a minute but they ran away pretty quick something else had to be moving them prior to us.  We stopped at Fish Springs Wildlife Refuge then we stopped at Hot Springs Cave only to find it closed off.  Found an old mine and Bob had to explore he went a little ways into the shaft you could see from the road, signs everywhere so I stayed in truck to keep it running ;)  We headed out through Callao and then toward Ibapah and Gold Hill only to miss both due a turn into Overland Canyon interesting area and layout, remnant of glacial moraines.  We made it to Wendover around 4 pm and headed for home making it in about 2 hours.  Good day trip next time more exploring. 

Weekend at Bear's Den

This report is about taking my dad to one of our very good friends escape areas. We started the trip with the ride to the property taking a couple hours half on dirt. We topped out at Cat Peak and then down to his ridge. We arrived and got things set up. Layne took care of us like kings! We had dinner out on his canyon overlook firepit, watched a couple vids and hit the bed. The next morning we had breakfast and spotted Elk on the other side of the canyon, one very nice Bull! We then went for a ride on the 4 wheelers around the north end of the property and seen some great views. Got back to home base had lunch and got a lesson in archery shooting, Layne tuning his bow for the hunt, he hit bullseyes at 80 yards with wind. Dad had never seen anyone shoot a compound bow and was delighted with his accuracy. We had dinner and went out for an evening ride to the south end of the area and again the views were amazing we hit a spring and it was freezing. Did I mention this was late June. We settled in for another great sunset and a little shower to knock down any dust. Saturday morning we had biscuits and gravy, eggs and bacon, hung out for a few and then went for a ride to the East ridges and seen more animals, checked out more springs. Headed back to base and had a little lunch and then went to a secret viewing area where you could see the panoramic view the San Rafael Swell and many other canyons. Then we went to the top of Cat Peak and seen a 360 view of castle country including the books, Uintas, Wasatch, and swell. All the time there we had little friends coming around and eating seeds, Layne had them eating out of his hands and dad was trying. Dad finally got them to come to him but I had left by then. He and Layne stayed on through Sunday evening. Layne almost couldn't get dad to leave. We had a blast! The country and solitude were refreshing and relaxing. check out the slide show.

Eureka Adventure

Today Bob and I went on a ride down to Eureka and went looking for mines and caves. We found a couple bedding caves for some animal, they were at the top of the mountain. Nothing deep was found. We then took a ride down Dividend Road to the mine found there. We spent a couple hours looking around there and checking out the old mine buildings and machinery. It was cool, took some pics, check out the slide show below. Then we went to try and get over Homansville Pass Road. We got just past the rock quarry only to find some really deep snow. After getting our temporarily dislodged truck moving again we went back into Eureka and picked up a drink. We ventured on and went to Mammoth an old mining town that is still working. Some cool old buildings there. We then went out on highway 36 to Vernon. There was still a bunch of snow out there. We picked up the railroad road and went toward one of rabbit hunting holes picked up Vernon hills road and went east heading toward home. The roads in the area were very dry considering what we just went through. A fun day exploring.

Pony Express Trail

Today Bob and I went out across the P.E.T. looking for Wild Horses.  We ran into some out north of Simpson Springs.  We spotted around 200 head.  The road was good but off on side trails the gray goop was slick and nasty.  We saw probably 2-300 head of Antelope as well a couple Bald Eagles.  We also saw the bombing range very interesting out there, small communities and all.  Don't know if anyone actually lives there or if they just use them as targets?  We made our way north on Erickson Pass Road and then went on Stark Road.  Dugway was interesting!  First time I had been out there, they have fences and more fences surrounding it with signs posted that the area is authorized to use DEADLY FORCE if trespassing.  We turned right.  Stark goes across the south end of the Stansbury Mountains, a place I want to go investigate a lot more of this summer.  Went through a small community called Terra and Willow Springs Lodge.  Stark turns into the Mormon Trail as it drops into Rush Valley.  We turned south and headed home via 36 and P.E.T.  Good ride saw some new stuff and want to go back and explore.