Jacques the Rock: Exploring the Paiute & Fishlake National Forest Trails

Arrived Marysvale, Utah 6/6/2017. The territory is familiar to me, it’s the location I was at last year when I blew up the engine in my RZR 800. RZR has new engine, I’m ready to go.

My riding adventure started out slow. It was so windy that folks stayed in their motor homes. I couldn’t find anybody to ride with, so I went out on my own which is not something I care to do, however I only went out about 10 miles or so and turned around. I figured if I had to I could easily walk 10 miles back to camp. I had water, food, medical supplies, extra clothes and camping supplies in addition I let the owner of the park(Terri) know which trail I was head out on Terri ( I listed all of this to put my kids at ease).

On Friday (June 9th) I was invited to a BBQ sponsored by Terri & Jim the Park owner, which gave me the opportunity to meet folks. I met a couple from Bremerton, Washington and they invited me to join their group ride on Saturday, which lead to me being invited to their evening pot-luck. I had a great time riding with the group.

Fremont Indian State Park Ride was over 93 mile long and 7 hours on the trail. We hit an assortment of trails, nicely maintained, rocky, river crossings and hill/rock climbing. I would give it an A+.

Real Cowboys tending to cattle up in the high range

SIlver King Mine

In the summer of 1897, Brigham Daniel Darger married Pansy Perihelia Brow and moved into this cabin located at the mine. They lived downstairs and 6 to 10 hired miners lived upstairs. Originally , the only way into the loft was by an exterior staircase on the west end of the cabin so the newlyweds had privacy.

The remains of this log cabin are a mystery. The door is not very tall and the wall did not extend much higher then they are now. The absence of manure and the presence of chinking between the logs inside the cabin suggest that it was not a stable or corral

http://www.marysvale.org/history/silver_king.htm.

Sunday (June 11th) we got hit by 20 to 30 MPH winds, makes it a little dangerous to ride, wind kind of pushes our Quads. I decided to do my housework, dusting and laundry. Relaxed and Read the remainder of the day.

Edna Peak Trail # 77. Last years ride to Edna Peak (elevation 11,640) was so beautiful, I decide to explore them again.

On my 1^st attempt I took the route on north side of the ridge and got as far as Hennessy Point which provided amazing scenery and I was able to see Edna Peak.

Edna Peak

On my second attempt I took the route on the south side of the ridge and again I was stopped by snow at Alunute Ridge. Even though I was unble to complete the Trail # 77 loop, I was not disappointed. Both attempts provided some amazing trail riding.

Big John Flats. Today’s ride took us northwest towards the Gold Mountain Pass. Trails were well maintained. We took a few side trails that provided us some climbing challenges. Visited and old tree that is said to be over 300 yeas old, not sure how they figured it out. The top of the mountain was real windy, so we didn’t stay long. We had plenty of opportunity to take photos of the great. Once again we had to turn around because the trails were snowed in.

Old tree

Lunch break Three Creek Reservoir

Monroe & Manning Meadow (Lunch at Bullies). Our goal today was to ride to Monroe and have lunch at Bullies. We were told they had gret burgers, yep they did. The loop we took provided us with plenty of photo opportunities.

Anelope Mine & Indian Gulch. Short ride today, we decided to go explore old mines. Went up to Antelope Mine and Indian Gulch to do some rock hunting. I don’t carry a gun so I didn’t have protection from rattlesnakes I’m not much of a rock hunter but I did find a nice snow fed stream to enjoy. It was interesting to listen to Darrill telling us of the different rock formation.

Antelope Mine

Darrill, Cindy and Val

Indian Gulch Ken, Darrill and Cindy

Oak Flats. The Oak Flat route gave us the opportunity to ride on some 50-inch trails. Since my Polaris RZR is 55 inches wide, I rode with Ken. Darrill was our guide for the day. He has been riding the Fishlake National Forest for over 15 years. He is like a walking encyclopedia on trail data. The main trail we were heading for was Number 89. Well worth the effort.

Darrill & Ken

Trout spawning at Manning Meadow

The dreaded 50 inch gates

Fathers Day celebration at South Forty RV Park, Marysvale, Utah. Today’s (Saturday) celebration started with breakfast, and then we hit the trails for a Papa Bear Poker run. Total ride was 75 miles, which took us 6 hours to complete. After the ride, we were served dinner, and then the celebration continued with a gathering the fire pit at Bud & Ann's place.