A few weeks ago we did a ride from Highland to St George, all off-road. I called the trail the “Dixie Trail” in honor of our pioneer ancestors that headed south to settle southern Utah. The Dixie Trail roughly followed route 89 south, for a total of 555 miles. We planned on 2 days; but ended up taking 3 days after a couple of set backs. Read about our Dixie Trail ride here.
Well, we were back at it recently. Only this time, we decided to go south-to-north and stay on the west side of the state. There are endless possibilities to map out a westerly route, but after hours of studying maps, I settled on a route I called the “Union Pacific Trail.” I’m a casual railfanner, so following the Union Pacific trail line from where it crosses into Utah from Nevada, and then heads north towards Vernon made perfect sense.
We lost a couple members of our Dixie ride, but gained a couple of new ones. I was giddy that my youngest son, whose 13, could join us. He’s a good driver and this route is perfect for him. My Mom also joined our chase-crew with my daughter. My Dad and oldest son from the Dixie ride also returned!
We started out early Friday morning. It was raining cats and dogs and cold in St George. We headed north, staying, west of Snow Canyon and Gunlock. We made good time to our first major checkpoint just west of Enterprise. However, the cold and rain were catching up to us. I had 4 layers on by this point and was still cold and wet. But we maintained a positive attitude and soldiered on.
I had just purchased a new machine, and it’s my first machine with a full windshield. Let’s just say that the whole day we were pretty blind seeing out the front. To see, we’d hang our heads out the side and send it, faces cold and wet! However, my two boys in our other machine, while they didn’t have a full windshield and could see, were soaked and much colder. So, it was definitely a trade off.
From Enterprise, we headed west on pavement, then back on dirt north towards the state line with Nevada. This is where the train enters the state. From here until our stop for the day in Milford, was straight and fast alongside the train tracks. The trail wasn’t too muddy – we were doing our best to not leave many tracks. But we still managed to get covered in mud. And more so, we were just wet and cold. But we maintained good spirits as we raced into Milford and the Travelodge motel. We arrived and promptly parked the razors, got our room keys (thanks to our chase team for checking in!), cranked up the heat, and stripped everything off. I was chilled to the bone! It was early enough that we enjoyed a nice nap and then walked across the parking lot for dinner at the diner. Some meat loaf and a slice of pie cheered me right up and I was ready to sleep!
Day 2:
The next day we finally saw blue sky! Our ride today took us north out of Milford along the Cricket mountains and into Delta. From Delta, we headed north and then east, around the dunes, and up towards Vernon Reservoir. We made great time and unlike our previous adventure, had avoided any mechanical issues so far. After the reservoir, we cut back over to the train tracks and followed them north towards Faust. It was here that we finally saw our first train! It is also where we said goodbye to the UP line and turned east towards 5-mile. Sensing we were getting close to being done, our blue machine finally decided to throw us a small challenge and blew up its belt. Upon opening the clutch cover and peering inside, it looked like a bomb had detonated. Belt fragments were everywhere! Strands were wrapped around the primary clutch and rubber chunks were clogged all the way through the clutch exhaust. Anyways, that was fun to clean up. We got back on the road and at 5 mile left dirt and wound our way through Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs, and Lehi on pavement back to my home in Highland.
Our total mileage was 395 miles! With a blown belt being our only “problem”, it sure felt great to finish this ride. There wasn’t as much drama as the Dixie Ride, but between the rain, cold, and mud, we sure had a good time!
Our chase truck (my mom and daughter) had a blast as well. They did some rock hounding for Wonderstone in Vernon. And they did their own off-roading in the mud, with the trailer!
I’m already planning our next long rides. Maybe an “edge to edge” (Nevada state line to Colorado) or a “Spud Run” to Rexburg to visit my son. Other ideas for themes are welcome!
