The week of June 8th was our annual week long 'High Adventure' activity for the Venture Scout Crew. I had been pushing for a week long backpacking trip from Big John Flat to Fillmore but the young men voted on a bike trek instead. After months of thinking I came up with the following 5 day itinerary.
- Eagle Ranch to Tooele, then on to the base of Deseret Peak. Climb Deseret Peak, then bike to Vernon Reservoir, then bike home by way of Eureka, UT.
However after driving the route I found that Vernon reservoir was a 9 mile ride on dirt roads from Vernon and the crossings on I-15 in south Utah county were treacherous and it would have made a 71 mile last day. So instead we biked this route.
- Eagle Ranch to Tooele then on to Grantsville then up South Willow Canyon at the base of Deseret Peak. We climbed Deseret Peak, then biked to 5 mile pass and on to Saratoga Springs where we concluded our ride.
We spent three weeks getting ready for the trek. The first week we did maintenance on the boys bikes. Unfortunately most of them did not bring their bikes so we could check them out. The next two weeks we took rides on the Murdoch trial and up Provo Canyon. We felt pretty confident that the boys bikes were all working then. [Of course three of the boys brought different bikes on the trek than they used in the preparation rides.]
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| Yhann Masbernat riding his mountain bike after prepping on his street bike |
We met on Monday morning at our house. We packed the gear and bikes and drove to Eagle Ranch to start our ride. Those participating in the trek were myself, Alex Jensen my assistant, Stephen Bons my 2nd counselor in the YM Presidency, Haven Ruiz, Spencer Bons, Mark Larsen, Jack Windsor, Yhann Masbernat, and Max Rammell. My son Kevin came along to carry gear in his car and to secure our camp sites.
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| Haven Ruiz; finally able to go to camp because he graduated and doesn't have band any more |
Within the first half mile we had our first bike failure of the trip. Haven Ruiz picked up a staple in his rear tire and had a fill blown flat tire requiring a tube change. We reassembled the group at the LDS chapel in Cedar Fort and continued our adventure.
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| L-R: Alex Jensen, Stephen Bons, Yhann Masbernat, Jack Windsor, Max Rammell, Spencer Bons, Haven Ruiz, and Mark Larsen (remember, it's not a race) |
From Cedar Fort we made the short ride to Fairfield where were were to meet at the Camp Floyd park for our morning snack. On the downhill ride to Fairfield we had our first bike casualty. Yhann Masbernats bike lost a rear spoke that locked his chain, broke his back brakes and finally locked his rear wheel. By some combination of skill and luck he managed to keep from tipping over while riding down hill at 15 MPH. We tried for about 45 minutes to fix his bike but it was no use. That bike was dead.
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| Note the bent and broken spokes. Also the back brake is broken. Had to get a new wheel but the brake was fixable. |
We decided to see if Kevin could pick up Yhann's other bike from his house and bring it to us that afternoon. Fortunately he was able to do that, but Yhann was done for the day and got to ride in the chase car until our afternoon break in Stockton.
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| Max, Haven, Jack, Spencer, and Mark visiting in the shade at Camp Floyd park, Fairfield, UT |
We enjoyed our snack of Otter Pops and Creamies at the park. We had quite a long wait for Yhann and Alex to arrive. I finally had to go pick up the bike and Yhann so we ended up having about an hours break within the first 12 miles. An auspicious beginning.
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| Reminds me of pigs at a trough. We ate standing every day on the road. |
From Fairfield it is a 5 mile uphill ride to 5 mile pass. We decided to have lunch there and give the road to the seemingly never ending line of National Guard vehicles on the way to their summer camp. On the road we ate peanut butter or lunch meat sandwiches with chips and drink boxes. Six young men can eat a lot of sandwiches when they are hungry from a long bike ride.
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| The boys watching the National Guard Caravans pass by |
At 5 mile pass the road turns northwest towards the Merker and Ophir turnoffs. This part of the ride is a series of small hills with no shoulder. On one of the sections Stephen Bons and Alex Jensen witnessed a one car crash. A lady lost control of her car and ran off the shoulder and then over corrected and ran into a mileage sign that kept her from rolling the car. Alex and Stephen helped calm her down and sent her on her way.
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| The group pulling into the Ophir turnoff |
We stopped for snacks at the Ophir turnoff then it was a long down hill ride to highway 36. By now it was early afternoon and the wind had started to pick up from the north. The road from the junction to Stockton is up hill and combined with the head wind it made for a hard ride.
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| The Peloton riding through downtown Stockton |
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| Snack break in Stockton |
From Stockton it was a 7 mile ride to the camp up Settlement Canyon. The total mileage for the day was 46 miles and with the climb from the highway 36 junction everyone was pretty tired. Haven Ruiz let Yhann ride his bike from Stockton to the camp and rode with me the last 7 miles. We spent the evening at the Legion Campgrounds in Settlement Canyon.
We were greeted by this sign that made us a bit nervous but the only wildlife we saw was the squirrel living under the table we ate from. This camp had no water and the facilities were a quarter mile down the hill. Fortunately we had lots of bikes so you could jump on one and quickly get to the bathroom.
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| Jack Windsor and Mark Larsen wait while Yhann cooks pancakes and Bro. Roper flips eggs. |
Three members of our group were working on their cooking merit badge. They planned our menu, made the food list, and went shopping for supplies. Jack Windsor made Quesadilla on Monday evening and Yhann Masbernat cooked us pancakes on Tuesday.
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| Obligate game of 'Ultimate Frisbee' |
Each evening and morning we had a brief devotional where one member of the group would share one of their favorite stories from the Book of Mormon and explain the doctrine that the story helps teach or support. Tuesday morning Alex Jensen shared the story of the Nephites re-capturing the city of Mulek. He then looked at the story from the view point of the Lamanites and how they had allowed themselves to become distracted and had lost their prized goal of the city of Mulek.
After devotional we were off for Grantsville. Kevin took the gear and drove to South Willow Canyon to secure us the campground we wanted. I met the bikers at the Maverik service station in Grantsville where we all enjoyed a doughnut and some juice. We also spent some time working on Yhann Masbernats road bike. Stephen Bons got the brakes and derailers working properly and Yhann had a much easier time after that. I was also able to get the Maverik staff to let me refill our water containers from their hose as we were completely out from camping without a water source.
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Headed for South Willow Canyon. Deseret Peak can be seen on the right of the photo.
L-R: Jack Windsor, Max Rammell, Alex Jensen, Mark Larsen, Haven Ruiz, Yhann Masbernat, and Spencer Bons. |
After an hours rest the group was off on the 13 mile long climb to our camp site. The arrived the the Cottonwood campground tired but in good spirits, particularly because of the bubbling stream that flowed right next to our camp site.
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| Spencer Bons catching some "Z's" after the grueling 2nd Stage |
We arrived fairly early in the afternoon so we unpacked and everyone enjoyed relaxing by the stream. Some people even got in the stream to cool off. We would spend two days at this campsite and everyone really enjoyed it.
