Bunker Creek and Blowhard

Christian B., Ed, Jocelyn, Carlos, Kenny, Randall,?,?, David, Dorian, Chere, Bruce Blais, Mark McCann, Ron R., Jeff, Jimmy, Rich N

I got a surprise call from Ron in Vegas one afternoon in September. He was calling to invite me to ride with the Las Vegas Mountain Bike group at Brian Head. I had missed their annual trek to Brian Head in July do to the fact I was headed to Georgia for a work conference. I had pretty disappointed. I rode with these guys last August up at Brian Head and had a ball! Ron had received a call from Bob the owner and operator of the Brian Head shuttle service to let him know he was retiring. Ron talked Bob into one last hurrah and it was going to be October 1^st. They planned on driving up early morning hitting Bunker Creek followed by Blowhard and head back home. I didn’t hesitate! Both rides were new to me and I had heard Blowhard was a mountain biking MUST. We made arrangements for them to pick me up at Starbucks on Red Cliffs Drive at 8AM. 

It had been a bit stormy and cold the few days before our ride and I was concerned we may not get to ride. On Saturday morning you could see a few clouds sitting over the mountains so I packed layers with my bike gear and headed out on my bike to Starbucks for a cup of coffee before they picked me up. About 8:10 I sent a text to determine their ETA. Hmmmm, mental note to self: When arranging schedules with people in Las Vegas make sure you are both using the same time zone. They were still on schedule to pick me up at 8:00 AM Vegas time which is 9:00AM St. George time. I just sipped my coffee slower and enjoyed the morning on Starbuck’s patio. 

In all there were 17 riders. We met Bob in Cedar Canyon at the exit to Blowhard. We loaded all the bikes onto two trailers and headed off to the start of Bunker Creek. I have only ridden with these guys once before and obviously they felt I could handle riding with them or they wouldn’t have invited me, but not knowing them I get really nervous riding, don’t ask me why some crazy anxiety issue I have that I wish I could overcome. The anxiety comes from being new at this only 4 years riding now, I know from last year there are several in this group that are amazing riders the last thing I want to do is hold the group up. It has also been awhile since I had even been on my bike. Work has been insanely crazy and I have been logging 60+ hours each week. No time for play so I was feeling rusty. 

We unloaded up at the top of Brian Head and started off for Bunker Creek. Before we even made it to the trail head I crashed twice. Good lord! Seriously this was ridiculous. The first fall came as we were dropping down a hill, David was right behind me and I took a wrong line on a double track road ending up in a deep overgrown tire rut. I was doing ok but knew David was passing so I couldn’t come back up onto the main trail until he was out of my way. As soon as he passed I made my move and instead of making it back up on the trail I tumbled across the ground. Everyone blamed it on David. Hahaha really not his fault but I guess he has a history of taking out riders as he passes them. Second time was as I rounded a corner right next to the edge of a steep drop off. I was riding to fast on a loose dirt and gravelly rock corner as I made the turn my back tire slid right out from under me.  I was shaking like a scared kitten. A little frustrated from falling twice in quick succession I took a time out. Not a bad place to stop and pull yourself together. I took a few pictures of the gorgeous view and had a mental talk with myself about the need to stay in control, slow down and ride at my speed not their speed. 

Bunker Creek

We made it to the trail head and off we went! The colors in the trees were amazing, such vibrant gold colors against the blue sky. I was in heaven. 

We took the left fork which means you go right at the fork (go figure). The trail was rough in spots with short steep declines.

As I came around the corner on one steep decline I saw a rider down and in obvious pain. It was Jeff my driver. He had come around the corner his back tire slipped, he put his foot down as he fell making his ankle roll under the weight of him and the bike. This happened not even a mile from the trail head. Bunker Creek is a 12 mile downhill ride. We did have a doc on the ride with us and between him and Jeff they braced his ankle the best they could with what was on hand. Funny thing is everyone had recently removed their first aid kits; they ended up wrapping it with a tube and duct tape. Jeff is one hell of a trooper he rode best he could downhill and slowly walked the uphill sections. This makes me cringe now because after he had it x-rayed we learned he had broken his tibia and fibula. 

The trail smoothed back out again when the right and left fork met up. The rest of the ride was uneventful from this point it was pretty fast flowy downhill.

Blowhard

I let Jeff know if he wanted to head home I understood. There were three of us that road with him in his truck. He was really cool about it and said it could wait and told us to enjoy our ride. Bob dropped us off at the top at the top of Blowhard Mountain. I am stealing the description of this trail from Utahmountainbiking.com

“Blowhard Mountain is an advanced-technical downhill trail, usually ridden one-way with a shuttle vehicle. The trail drops 3300 vertical feet over 7 miles, for an almost 12% rate of average slope. One section near the top is particularly steep, averaging 22% slope over a mile. This is a challenging and tricky trail, delivering some great views and real bragging rights.

Brochures from shops and resorts at Brian Head may give you the impression that intermediate riders can do this trail. Well, maybe. But I wouldn't recommend Blowhard for the casual rider. This trail has a steep mile -- not "fly down the trail, take some air" steep, but "hang your butt behind the seat, work the brakes carefully, skid the tires through loose rocks while bouncing over roots and rock outcrops in constant terror" steep.”

Oh my hell! I am ever grateful for personal protection and a firm believer in helmets. Before this ride I bought a new pair of elbow pads and after this ride I think my next purchase will be a full face helmet. The description is not lying when it says hang your butt behind the seat in constant terror! This is by far the most technical trail I have ever ridden. Yes, I rode it! There were several sections at the top that I rode and when finished turned around to see others behind me walking their bikes or passed guys already walking and I RODE it!!! Slow and steady with my ass end hanging over the back tire, it was that steep. I loved it!!!

Terrifying as it was the thrill of knowing once you start a deep decent like that you can’t stop or it will hurt is as good as any drug out there. I rode the majority of that trail with a few drops that I didn’t feel comfortable doing or tight switch backs that included large rock obstacles. I fell only one time again the back tire slipped out from under me and down I went. My only complaint about Blowhard is it was not long enough!

Keyhole/Pine Creek

Monica, Mark, Larissa, and Andy

I hooked up with a group attending ACA Zion Canyon Festival to go through Keyhole and Pine Creek. This was my third time through Keyhole and second time through Pine Creek. Mark and Monica are from Las Vegas and Andy and Larissa are from Flagstaff.


Last rappel in Pine Creek. 100 ft most of it free hanging. I did 100X better on my second time through. More relaxed and better prepared.

Church Rocks

With moving into the new house I have really become lazy. There is no other way to put it. I use to ride, hike, run or bike at least five times a week. I sorta hit a wall after moving and have become a sloth and it is showing. I am attempting to get back into the routine of doing some physical activity more than just once a week, in a mad spurt of ambition to follow through with this goal I decided to check out Church Rocks. I woke up Saturday morning with the intent to sneak out and go for a solo ride. I must not have been quiet enough because soon Sarah was in the car with me. I am always thrilled to have the kids go ride with me.

We started at Heritage Park in Coral Canyon riding the paved bike trails up to the water tower. Getting Sarah that far was like pulling teeth. She is a great little down hiller but desire her to put any effort into it and you might as well stack peas with your nose.

After resting at the top and talking her into going to the bottom on the other side of the water towers, we battled our way through the jungle of branches and found the tunnel that goes under the freeway. It was eerie trying to ride through the tunnel with its rounded walls you better have good balance and control on the bike. Sarah put her legs out and pushed along. We decide that we had been swallowed by the rabbit hole.

On the other side it was slow going, very rocky. We had to carry our bikes over the rocks and up the trail. We rode for about 200 ft before crossing the wash again which meant carrying the bikes. Of course none of this was sitting well with Sarah. I got a lot of eye rolls and “can we go back” statements. Not knowing the trail at all and not really seeing any relief from her frustration with the trail we turned around and headed back to the car.

Sunday I got up earlier and was quieter as I pulled out of the garage. I decided to take a different approach to the trail head. I parked not far from a Maverick station just off the freeway and headed past a do not trespass sign down a dirt road that looked like it went right to the tunnel. I did have to climb over a fence but made it to the tunnel with considerably less effort than parking at Heritage Park. I made good time through the wash and was on my way. I found the trail to be rather nice. Finished the whole loop in about 45 min. With the exception of the hill you have to climb to get up on to the slick rock I felt the trail would be a nice ride for the kids. It just so happened that we had no school on Monday.






I dragged everyone out of bed early Monday morning with the promise that we would eat at Bear Claw for breakfast after the ride. I was pretty confident that we could finish the trail in 1:30 min. For the most part I think the kids enjoyed this ride. They still complain way more than is necessary especially Sarah. We completed the ride in about 1:45 min not bad. We headed to Bear Claw for breakfast but it was over run from out of towners. After discussing our options we headed to Jazzy Java’s one of our favorites for breakfast. Highly recommend their croissant French toast!

Pine Valley Mountain

The last Saturday in August Sarah had made plans to hang out with her new friend Brooke and Rod was free from his weekend job. The heat was getting to us all so out of self-defense we drove up Pine Valley Mountain to hike. I think the original goal was to hike the Whipple trail but I was in slow motion and we didn’t even make it to the trail head until 12:30. We ended up just winding through the pines trees at leisurely pace and enjoying the cooler temperatures. We found a nice place to eat a snack and simply decided that it was time to turn and go back.  We stopped in Veyo for a late lunch and bought some famous Veyo pies. 

First Day of School

Sarah, Millie, Spencer and ELISA

Can you believe Spencer is in high school? They both started new schools this year. Someone push the pause button. I need sometime to digest the fact that I have two teenagers. 

The Narrows

Jen and Ken

Long before I started my crazy outdoor adventures, long before the notion of living in St. George ever crossed my mind and long before I knew slot canyons existed Jenni asked me if I wanted to do a Narrows trip with her. This was sometime after we moved back from Tennessee but before Kaylee my littlest niece was born.  I think she told me it was a long hike through a canyon down in Zion. At that time I had only been to Zion once when I was about 10. It sounded interesting enough and I agreed to go. Kaylee is now 5, I seem to have some high adventure trip planned once a month, I have been living in Southern Utah a little over a year now, I am addicted to seeing slot canyons, and have bought two annual National Parks passes that have mostly been used to traipse through Zion. 

Allen and Michelle

We started planning this trip back in January. Originally we were going to go in May but this did not work out. This turned out to be a good thing because the spring weather in Zion was extremely wet and the Narrows route was closed anyway. 

Jenni wanted to do an overnight trip meaning this would be my first backpack trip. I have been on one other backpack trip with Erin when we were little girls but we didn’t plan any of it so I count this as my first. I have been working up to a backpack trip for some time now. Buying sleeping bags and camp gear that works for car camping and backpacking. I had all the items but still hesitated to actually plan a trip. 

Spencer, Chere' and Jenni

We did our research and booked camp 4 & 6 for August 19. I learned to pack as light as humanly possible, bought a few more dry bags, dug out the ski poles, and rented Spencer and I 5’10 canyoneering shoes from Zion Adventure Company. 

Chris

Kerry

I love my in-laws dearly but I know them very well. Jenni had a goal of being to the trail head by 7:00 AM  but 18 years of experience has taught me that no matter how hard they try and they do try, I need to be ready on the off chance the day’s events start on time but to factor a cushion into the equation. Don’t ask me how this equation works but I have it roughly figured out in my head and usually have my arrival times synced with the true schedule. I estimated we would be at the trail head by 11:00 AM given the fact we still needed to stop by the back country desk and pick up one of the permits. In actuality we were deposited at the start by 1:30 PM.  

 

Spencer and I ate an early breakfast leaving us very hungry by the time we started the hike. This made for a grumbly tummy as we headed out but I was chomping at the bit to get going. We made it to Behuinin Cabin about 45 minutes later.

Spencer demanded food before we started hiking in the river. I suppose it is not in my best interest to starve a 5’11" 200 lb 15 year old so I gave in. 

Roughly two hours into the trip Ken developed one hell of a blister from his shoes plus his ankle, that was recovering from an injury, rebelled from hiking over the rocks in the river. 

Ken, Me and Jenni 

This slowed our pace down a bit. We made the National Parks boundary by 6:00 PM. Spencer and I both had 3 liter of water in our packs and it was about here that he ran out. I still had plenty but he kept drinking my water. The back country desk told us not to filter water until the confluence of Deep Creek and the North Fork.  This was a much debated topic amongst our group. I chose to listen to the rangers and did not stop to filter water until we reached the confluence at 7:45 PM. 

After 7 hours of hiking we finally made it camp site 4, unsure of how much further it was to Camp site 6 and we made the decision to all camp at site 4 because we were losing daylight fast. 

Everyone started throwing their sleeping gear out on the shore of the river and making dinner. I hate to admit this but I was mildly freaking out every time I saw a spider.  I really hate them, I know that they will not hurt me (for the most part) and I try to reason this out in my head. It just was not working for me. Everywhere I looked or stepped or tried to sit down to cook our mac-n-cheese there were at the very least 6 daddy-long legs. Honest to god I didn’t know how I was going to lay my head down and sleep. It is so irrational and stupid to be afraid of a spider but I can’t help it and the fear is worse when I am tired or stressed.  I managed to get dinner cooked and eaten but as soon as dinner was cleaned up I ran up the trail in the dark to get a break from the spiders. You just don’t see as many in the trees. I know they are there you just don’t see them. I am glad I ran off because I found a much better place to lay my head for the night. The ground was flat instead of slanting towards the river and psychologically I can’t see the spiders there so they don’t exist. Right?

It wasn’t long before the whole crew followed my lead and we were all settled in for the night. My mummy bag was cinched up around my face and I felt semi safe from the eight legged freaks. That was until it became too hot to stay safe.  I finally gave in pulled my arms out and lay awake starring at the night sky.  Lighting? Did I just see lighting? I asked Spencer and he replied rather annoyed “Mom, stop it!” But I know I saw what I saw. I laid there for quite some time watching the dark night through the trees wondering how long it would take for my sleeping back to be soaked through and that I really I didn’t need an epic first backpacking trip. The storm must have been pretty far away as I never heard any thunder and the lighting strikes were pretty far apart. For the record I wasn’t the only one who noticed. At least the worry of getting dumped on took my mind off the spiders because eventually I drifted off to sleep. 

Well we all have to do it unless you are good at holding it for two days.

We woke up at 7:30 and started getting ready for the day. All the morning duties and I do mean ALL  were accomplished.  We started hiking about 8:30 AM. Travel was slow for some in our group do to blisters, previously injured ankles and bad backs. Sounds like a bunch of old people on a hike. Wahahaha!  All laughing aside I did feel for those in pain.   

We made Big Springs by 11:30 AM. Spencer, Jen and I were pretty far ahead of the pack so Spencer and I took a little swim. It was COLD and extremely refreshing.   

Watching the rest of the group walk through the river Spencer and I were glad we had rented our 5’10” shoes and had walking poles. For the most part the shoes keep all the little annoying rocks out, support your ankles and grip the rocks.

Chere', Jen, Jenni

I think we stopped for lunch around 1:00 PM. The last picture I took was at 12:30 I get tired of pulling the camera out. And it was about that time we started running into the droves of people hiking up the canyon.  I also started floating through the river any chance I got to give my tired muscles a break from walking over all the rocks. Spencer followed suit. We had a blast! Later we learned a hole was worn into the dry bag that held his sleeping bag. Good thing they are machine washable. The sleeping bag wasn’t soaked but it wasn’t dry either.

Jen, Spencer and I were the first three out of the canyon around 4:00 PM. Jen and I dropped our packs and left them with Spencer while we hiked back up the river to find the rest of our group.

I was really proud of Spencer. The two of us kept an excellent pace, packed exactly enough food, and created one hell of a mother/son memory.

Looking forward to our next trip!

Wasatch Crest to Mill Creek Canyon

SLC Mountain Bike Meetup

On with the adventure! High on my list of rides I have always wanted to do was Wasatch Crest. Lucky for me while we were camping at Pineview the Salt Lake City Mountain Bike Meetup group had plans to ride from Wasatch Crest to Mill Creek Canyon on Saturday. This is a 13 mile ride starting at Guardsman Pass. From the pass you climb up the infamous Puke Hill or in my case hiked my bike completely out of breath BECAUSE the altitude was kicking my arse!

You know I live at 2,800 ft and the top of Guardsman is 9,900 ft. Plenty of glorious oxygen up there to be had but I simply can’t use it. Yep that is why I hiked, that is what I am blaming it on. Give me a few more weeks and I would rocket up Puke Hill like the rest of the world was standing still. What you don't believe me??


Lucky for me the rest of the group needed a rest as well by the time we reached the top.

Amazing views! To my surprise there was even a little snow left from winter.

From here we followed the trail which runs along the ridge between Big Cottonwood Canyon and Park City.

Desolation Lake

Just above Desolation lake is a rocky little feature called The Spine. Let just say you better know how to handle a bike if you start this one because once you commit you better not quit! I watched several riders pick their line only to be defeated. Leaving little bits of themselves crusted on the rocks to commemorate their passing. It is brutal.

The Spine

However, Marty from our crew successfully navigated this bad boy!

photo by Mike Bisignani

I have ridden part of this the trail once before with the Bogley boys and was really looking forward to flying down it this trip as my skills have greatly improved. Sadly I took a left when I should have gone right and missed the best part of the downhill. No worries I still had a blast! All I can say is this was on the list and it is STILL on the list. I think this ride will have to be a permanent must do each year or at least anytime I am in Northern Utah and the trail is rideable.