Wheeler Creek Canyon to Snowbasin

This is the ultimate fat bike ride in the Ogden, Utah area. As an out and back ride starting from the Wheeler Creek Trailhead in Ogden Canyon and turning around at Snowbasin Resort, you'll do 12 miles with 1600 feet of elevation gain. Average grade is a little over 5%.

This ride has many good things going for it...

• Most of the ride is in the shadows of the canyons and mountains so the snow maintains a good consistency even when the air temperature is above freezing. 
• The Wheeler Creek Canyon to Art Nord TH section is heavily frequented by snowshoers, skiers, and fat bikers making for a nice, firm packed trail that rivals the ride quality of a groomed track. 
• Art Nord TH to Snowbasin Resort via Old Snowbasin Road is groomed by the resort Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. 
• Art Nord TH has restrooms that are open through winter!
• The restrooms at Snowbasin Resort are open to the public.

Some issues/annoyances you may run into...

• The Wheeler Creek TH in Ogden Canyon has very little parking and becomes even more limited as the snowpack gets deeper.
• The road through Ogden Canyon can get busy at times making it difficult to get out of.
• Wheeler Creek Canyon is heavily used by dog walkers so don't be surprised if you see heaping mounds of poo baking into the snow every 10 feet.
• Art Nord TH has more parking space than Wheeler Creek TH but fills up rapidly on the weekends.
• Don't even think about parking at the resort on a weekend.

Now that we got that out of the way...

Wheeler Creek Canyon to Art Nord TH is about 2 miles one way, 4 miles round trip. This is a good ride in and of itself for beginner fat bikers.

Wife takes a break

This section has a fairly steady grade with a few, short steep sections. The only real hazard here is the drop into the creek, which should be easily avoided considering the width of the trail.

Heading downhill looking toward Ogden Canyon

At 1 mile, you'll reach the junction for Icebox Canyon. Icebox Canyon trail is usually well packed by snowshoers and quite manageable on a fat bike. I'll cover the Icebox Canyon trail in another post.

You'll reach the Art Nord TH a mile after the Icebox Canyon junction. Now is a good time to use those restrooms because the next opportunity doesn't come for another 4 miles. Also, expect to answer a lot of questions about your awesome fat bike if you stick around here too long.

Art Nord Trailhead

Now that you've convinced everyone in the parking lot to buy a fat bike, let's move on...

From Art Nord TH to Snowbasin the ride will be entirely on a groomed road. Spoiled? Yes. However, I prefer a couple inches of fresh snow on top of the groomed surface. It makes for a less bumpy ride.

Freshies bro

About a third of a mile up from Art Nord TH, you'll reach a magnificent overlook that gives you an awesome view of Mt. Ogden and it's surroundings. If you are going to get an obligatory Instagram shot on this ride then this is the place to do it.

The overlook

Continuing on from the overlook you'll get a short break from the climbing and coast an ever so slight downhill grade for a quarter mile or so. The climbing picks up again as you near the junction for the Middle Fork trail, also to be covered in another post. This junction is my usual halfway point where I stop and eat a Honey Stinger Waffle or half a sandwich.

Caught in a storm near Middle Fork junction

The ride up from Middle Fork to Snowbasin is simply butter. It's a constant, steady grade. Pick a gear and just ride it out. I usually sing out loud whilst taking in the scenery to save myself from being overcome with the boredom of mindless crank spinning.

Almost to the resort, looking back toward Sardine Peak

Better keep your head up or else you'll crash into the gate as you enter Snowbasin Resort. You could turn around at the gate and leave your total ride about a half mile short or continue on into the resort and ride around to the overflow parking where you can find more groomed tracks that spit you back out onto Old Snowbasin Road. My recommendation is to ride through the resort so all the patrons can gaze upon that delicious eye candy tucked betwixt your thighs as they ooh and aww over the girth of your gargantuan tires.

The ice sculpture at Snowbasin Resort

Now enjoy that sweet downhill and try not to freeze to death!

Elevation Profile

Fat Bike Utah: The Blog Reborn

With my recent acquisition of a Motobecane Lurch, the blog will be reborn with tales of adventure and delusions of grandeur! Stay tuned for the first installment: The Southwest Utah Experience...

March 4th Training Ride

I got out to the island today hoping for some snow but it held off until I was ready to leave. Go figure!

Current setup: Aluminum 31.8 On-One Mary handlebar, ESI Chunky grips, SRAM X9 shifters, and Truvativ 110mm stem

Exploring Credit Island

I did some exploring at Credit Island today and altogether I got about 10.5 miles. Trails are too squishy from the snow melt so I had to improvise. Found some sand, some muck, and some peace and quiet. Oh and a tank.

Tech: I've been using a chromoly steel On-One Mary handlebar for the last month and it is a revelation. Loads of leverage and so much easier to handle and lift the bike. I've got 27TPI Surly Nate tires on the front and rear also. I've never known such traction!

The better half gets a fat bike!

She couldn't resist, she had to have one!

First real snow of the season!

We finally got a good snow storm here in the Midwest with roughly 5-7 inches here in the Quad Cities. What's a guy with a fat bike supposed to do with all that snow on the ground?! Grab a buddy and go ride!

A fellow fatbiker by the name of Ray took the day off work to hit as many trails in the area as he could. He conquered Sunderbruch Park this morning and we met up at Sylvan Island this afternoon. The island is a great place to get your bike dialed in for the snowy conditions since you're never very far from the parking lot if you need tools, a tire pump, or a first aid kit.

Since this was my first real snow ride, I had a lot to learn. Here's a few notable characteristics of snow biking I discovered today:

• Off-camber? You will slide or drift.
• Attempt to lean into a corner? You will slide or drift.
• Try to stand on a climb? You will slide or drift.

Ok you get the point. Snow biking seems to be all about sliding and drifting. If you're riding with Ray and I then you can throw giggling and a jolly good time in there too. 

Now there is a few things I learned to mitigate some of the slide/drift tendencies of the snow bike. First, put your seat up so you can get a full leg extension. I couldn't climb very well at all because as soon as I tried to stand up just a little bit for some extra power, the weight shift to the handlebars took too much off the back wheel and it would just slide. With the seat up, I could get good power while still keeping my weight on the back wheel. Also, be persistent when climbing. The back wheel grips pretty well with the right tire pressure(4psi for me) and a lot of weight on it. Second, don't even bother leaning unless you're intentionally trying to induce a drift because that's exactly what you'll get into. I keep the bike up, take it easy, ride slow and have fun. If you're an experienced mountain biker, you'll get the hang of it after a couple miles of fresh powder riding.

Where's the pics?! Oh here they are!

New Years Day Ride!

What a difference a day makes! New Years Eve temperatures were nearly 50° F, but today was much more wintry around the freezing mark with 50mph winds! 

I layered the clothes on and made it out to Sylvan Island for a 7.5 mile ride. Some trees were down due to the wind, but the trails weren't too bad even though we got some rain over the last week.

First ride at Sylvan Island

I got the Mukluk out to Sylvan Island at lunch today. The weather was decent for late December and the trails were fairly well packed even though we got a little rain yesterday. The soil at Sylvan is really good at draining and it's very resistant to rutting.

I haven't ridden the island in a few months. Honestly, I haven't been the biggest fan of the island so I have been avoiding it. However, after today's ride, my opinion of the island has changed considerably.  The island is the only place to ride without messing up the trails right now, and that's probably how it's going to be for the next few months. With all the leaves off the trees and the plant life dormant, the trails are much easier to follow and you can link a lot of the trails together and get some good loops going. In the summer time, I couldn't get any flow going.

I got a little overconfident and made an attempt to ride the beach on the west side of the island. I managed to ride the sandy portion effortlessly but when I reached the silt my back tire dug in and I got stuck. I had to jump off the bike into ankle deep mud and pull the Mukluk out and back up to the sand. This was one of the many giggle moments of the ride.

Much of the difficulty in riding the island comes from the terrain. There are random bricks, large roots, railroad ties and tracks, rocks, and bridges. The Mukluk makes riding this terrain way more fun! It just plows over everything!

Some quick tech: Yesterday, I managed to install my new SKS Grand DAD and Grand MOM fenders to keep the mud and water off me as much as possible. They are working splendidly and installation was a breeze! I also picked up some SRAM X9 trigger shifters to replace the stock SRAM X7 grip shifters. I just can't use the grips shifters effectively. The triggers are way easier to operate and it's fast!

It's here!

Finally picked up the Mukluk today! Now if only there was some snow to play in...

Either way, it's still a blast to ride and will be my primary bike for the foreseeable future. Here's some more pics of it resting safely in my garage...

Got the tool bag on, and the headlight mounted. Still needs a bottle cage or three though.

The Adventure Begins

My first fatbike is on layaway at my favorite LBS and I'll be picking it up next Thursday!

Here it is, 2011 Salsa Mukluk...

Climbing the 2nd Highest Mountain in Southern California :)

EPIC. Yes, epic. Spud leaves for Iowa this next weekend, so we decided to do something of great epicosity for his last full weekend in So Cal - climb a mountain. :) Being that I climbed to the summit of Mt. San Gorgonio (So Cal's highest peak at 11,502 feet) two weeks ago and still wasn't 100% recovered from it, I decided to pick a different peak. But not wanting the climb to be any less epic, we decided to climb to the summit of So Cal's 2nd highest peak - Mt. San Jacinto.

Mt. San Jacinto sits at a staggering elevation of 10,834 feet, and has a prominence of 8,311 feet above the desert areas surrounding it. The steep escarpment of its north face, above Snow Creek, climbs over 10,000 feet (3 km) in 7 miles (11.3 km). This is one of the largest gains in elevation over such a small horizontal distance in the contiguous United States. The mountain is quite rugged in places, with several outdoor hazards that hikers may be unprepared for, including high altitude, severe weather, steep rock faces, and wild animals. Hikers and climbers die or are harmed every year.

The easiest route to the summit (and the one that many people take) is actually to take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to 8,516 feet and hike to the summit from there. Did we decide to take that route? OF COURSE NOT! :D Instead, we started in Idyllwild at Humber Park and took the Devil's Slide Trail. The distance from the trailhead to the summit is 8.1 miles, and the elevation gain is 4200 ft.

We started from Humber Park around 2:30 Saturday afternoon and made our way up countless switchbacks up to the head of Strawberry Valley, with good views of Suicide Rock to the west, to the five-way Saddle Junction. From there, we took the Pacific Crest Trail northward and found a nice spot off to the side of the trail to set up camp for the night. We managed to get the tent set up and our gear unpacked before we lost light.

The camp site was in a pretty good location (not really visible from the trail, etc.), but the wind was BRUTAL Saturday night. Even though we put the rain fly on my tent to help block some of the wind, we ended up having to also put heavy rocks over every one of the stakes to keep the damn tent from blowing away.

Aside from the relentless wind shaking the tent all night, we both managed to get a decent amount of sleep and woke up early Sunday morning to get our start towards the summit. Since our camp site was almost completely hidden from the trail and neither one of us felt like carrying our 40-50 lb full packs to the summit, we packed up the essentials and left everything else at camp.

We continued on the Pacific Crest Trail towards Wellman's Divide. This was probably the nicest stretch of the entire hike. The elevation gain was gradual, the trail was relatively free of debris, and there was plenty of plant life and scenery. In fact, right after starting out on the trail, we got to try something I saw on Man vs. Wild (my favorite show, on Discovery Channel). Many Native American tribes used to clean their teeth by using the rough leaves of the manzanita bush. So, we did the same. :) I have to say, it actually works really well!

A ranger in Idyllwild had pointed out a location on the trail map that MIGHT have water, but said there was no guarantee since it's been such a dry year. We both left about 1.5 liters of water at camp so we had it for the return trip from camp to the trail-head. We both took about 1.5 liters with us when we left for summit, hoping that would be enough in case there wasn't any water along the trail. Well we got to the spot the ranger was talking about and were pleasantly surprised - there was water!

There wasn't MUCH water, but there was enough to refill our water with. A section of hillside next to the trail had fallen away and showed the exposed roots of some California corn lilies. On the hillside above the trail, a whole field of them was growing and had a good amount of water flowing through the soil and onto the trail below. I was lucky enough to have found my water purifier before this trip, so I decided to break it in. :)

I had a plastic grocery bag with me, so we decided to use that to collect the water. The exposed California corn lily roots had plenty of water dripping off of them, so that's where we collected the water from. After giving the water a minute or so to sit in the bag and let any sediment settle, I primed the water purifier and started pumping. I drank the last of the water I had with me and refilled my water container with the purified water. I decided to be the guinea pig and tried the water first. It was AWESOME! In fact, it was some of the coolest, cleanest water I've had in a long time. :) We filled up Spud's containers as well and then hit the trail once again.

At Wellman's Divide, it joined with the trail coming up from the tram station. We took the trail up the last switchbacks to "the summit". Or not... Turns out that the trail ends below the summit boulders. Therefore, after already punishing our knees getting up to that point, we realized we had to scramble up the boulders to get to the highest point. Ignoring any pain and deperately wanting to get to the absolute highest point of the summit, that's exactly what we did. Nearly everyone we saw left their packs at the bottom of the boulders to make the scramble easier. However, since my photo gear was in my pack, I left it on and did the scramble anyway. :D

After having some food and taking some pics at the summit, we headed back down the trail at a pretty quick pace. It's amazing how much quicker you can go when you're walking downhill instead of up. ;) We got back to camp around 3:00 or so in the afternoon and packed the rest of our gear up. After all the hiking we had already done that day, heading downhill with our full packs ended up pounding the hell out of our knees. It seemed like the last sections of trail would never end, but we finally made it back to the trail-head around 5:30 or so and nearly collapsed.

Nothing makes you truly appreciate the conveniences of modern life quite as much as not having them. Water becomes your most-prized possession. You become extremely thankful for EVERY meal. I think some time in nature could do quite a few people good. :) All-in-all, it was an AWESOME trip. Spud and I both pushed our own limits, had an epic climb, and reached the summit of So Cal's 2nd highest peak. :) Besides, between climbing Mt. San Gorgonio two weeks ago and now Mt. San Jacinto, I've marked two more things off my list of 100 things. :) Enjoy the pics and leave me some comments! ;)

Bad Shot of Elevation Marker - 10,834 ft

Spud Watching Over His Subjects...

Contemplation...

Victory

Spud On Top of the World

Spud at Mt. San Jacinto's Summit

Me, Sitting Along the Edge of the Summit

Me, Next to the Mt. San Jacinto Summit Sign

Morning Shot of California Corn Lilies Along the Trail

The ONLY Source of Water on the Entire Trail...