There have been enough postings about the San Rafael Swell in these forums that regular members should be already well acquainted with the area. For the uninitiated, the Swell is a broad desert region that occupies much of central Utah. I've made many trips to the area, often bringing house guests to give them a sample of the desert country without having to drive further to Moab. Some forum members from afar like rfarren have even visited the region, inspired in part by conversations that have taken place here. For all my trips to the Swell, however, I have never before biked down there.
This weekend, however, that would change. For years now, AmyZ and telejon have been telling me tall tales of epic rides and special characters from their trips to the semi-annual Bike The Swell festival organized by the MECCA Mountain Bike Club based in tiny Huntington, Utah. This year, Mrs. Admin and I opted to come along for the fun.
And fun it was. Those weren't tall tales, they were genuine and accurate. The rides, the people, the camaraderie, the food and the scenery can't be beat.
We got a late start, and didn't cross the line from Salt Lake County into Utah County until nearly 8 p.m. Friday night. We knew that we'd miss the Friday evening drawings, dutch oven dinner and other festivities, but that still left plenty of the weekend to enjoy. We flew down dirt roads into the heart of the Swell and didn't arrive at the Wedge Overlook primitive campground until 10:30. Much to my surprise, by and large everyone was already asleep and we did our best to keep the noise down as we unpacked the car and pitched camp.
The moon was full, so after setting up camp we donned headlamps and rode our bikes out to the rim of the canyon. The Wedge overlooks the San Rafael Gorge, also known as the Little Grand Canyon where multi-colored layers of limestone have been carved over the millenia by the San Rafael River nearly 1,000 feet below. Other streams have carved a plethora of side canyons as their waters join the San Rafael, creating a canyon rim that bobs and weaves around points and coves that are nearly too numerous to count. It's one of my favorite places in Utah, and one that's barely known to those from outside the region. In the light of a full moon the sweeping views and breathless silence were nearly ethereal.
It was along this north rim of the Little Grand Canyon that recently retired Emery County sheriff Lamar Guymon, who held the office for nearly 40 years, pioneered the Good Water Trail.
Good Water Canyon is one of the largest, if not the largest, side canyons on the north side of the San Rafael Gorge. Once the trail rounds the corner from the San Rafael Gorge to Good Water Canyon the trail's end point is visible about a mile away as the crow flies, but by closely and carefully following the contours of the canyon rim (sometimes almost too closely) it takes over 15 miles of trail to reach that finish.
The trail has been in general use for several years now, but it's only recently that the landowner, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has recognized its existence. And the Good Water Trail would constitute our Saturday ride.
We paid our registration fees and signed our liability waivers, and folks could not have been any friendlier or more welcoming. We grabbed a quick breakfast from the supplied bagels, fresh fruit and yogurt, along with hot coffee brewed in an old-fashioned percolator on the group camp stove, and we hit the trail. AmyZ, Mrs. Admin and I set off with the group, but only 50 yards in Mrs. Admin realized that the trail would be beyond her fledgling cycling skills and she backed out, choosing instead to join several other novice riders on a former railroad bed that runs along the side of Cedar Mountain, just a few miles to the north.
Almost immediately the trail leaves the jeep road and winds between the road and the rim of the Little Grand Canyon. For the trail's entire length there's barely a straight stretch that's even 50 feet long. Instead, it winds in among the junipers and crosses ledges and dry washes. There's nothing terribly difficult about the trail itself, and it's deceiving in that while it appears flat, all of these little dips and rises add up to over 1,400 feet of elevation gain (and a little over 1,500 feet of elevation loss). There are a few technical spots, but by and large the trail can be completed easily by most riders. When it hugs the rim closely, however, the consequences for error are huge.
How huge? Just ask Lamar. While riding the trail several years back he lost his balance, and while his bike flew inland his body flew into the abyss. When he came to, he found himself wedged between a cedar tree and a rock with his feet dangling over a secondary ledge. Blood filled his eyes from a gash on his forehead and he at first thought he was now blind. The trail's legality at the time was questionable, so he didn't dare call for help. Once he got his wits about him he climbed back to the rim, biked back to his truck and drove himself to the hospital. He didn't return home until several weeks later with a titanium plate in his head.
In fact, Lamar wasn't riding this weekend, either. While placing some boulders in a key location along a trail in August, one of the boulders started moving out of place and Lamar tried to stop it. Needless to say the boulder won, and Lamar now has a pump attached to his leg to maintain the circulation and remove impurities. It will be several more months before he's back on his bike, but he was nonetheless on hand as a committed MECCA member to facilitate the festivities for the enjoyment of festival guests.
Once the trail reaches Good Water Canyon it heads generally (and look at the map, I mean generally) northwest along that canyon's west side.
Riders began to spread out, but we made friends along the way as we stopped to snap photos and leapfrogged each other on the trail. Nick, the college-age son of AmyZ's former co-workers Jerry and Maggie bought it on a rock, and we stopped briefly to try to assist as they bandaged up his wounds. Many times we'd round the head of a wash and see others riding in the opposite direction on its other side, mere yards away.
At the trail's mid-point at the head of Good Water Canyon, Lamar and Joy had a sag wagon positioned to offer rest and water.
It was here that AmyZ and telejon's friends Bill and Pearl caught up to us. They're fast and experienced riders and opted to stay behind in camp for a bit as the others got a head start. They left the sag wagon stop slightly ahead of us, and I made it a personal challenge to try to catch them. Once I did, I made a brief attempt to keep up with them but upon reaching the first lookout point I stopped to wait for AmyZ. At least that was my excuse.
By the time we reached the trail's end at Camp 1 we were beat. Some of the hardcore like Bill and Pearl rode the trail in reverse back to camp, while most others rode the road for six miles back around. Having spent perhaps only a half dozen days in the saddle this summer, I had no reservations about hitching a ride with Lamar, and neither did AmyZ, who's feeling a bit under the weather. Lamar was full of entertaining stories from his years in rural law enforcement, an added bonus for taking the truck back to camp instead of the bike.
Cocktail hour started early on Saturday, and it was followed by a delicious wood-fired BBQ rib and chicken dinner catered by Spoke & Spice Pit BBQ, a new restaurant at 396 S Carbon Ave. in Price. Mrs. Admin enjoyed her ride as well, and the leaders helped her learn more about effective gear selection and proper cadence. It was a win-win.
We built a campfire and sat around for a while, but by 10:30 or 11 we all called it a night. My Friday night's sleep was somewhat restless in the tent, but after Saturday's ride I slept like a baby.
We awoke on Sunday, brewed coffee, ate breakfast and broke camp, then assisted the MECCA members in taking down the dinner pavilion. Sunday's riding was a far less organized affair. Bill and Pearl decided to explore a double-track west of camp, while some others decided to ride the road down into Buckhorn Draw. This is a graded dirt road that is even oiled to keep dust down, and it drops nearly 800 feet from the high desert prairie to San Rafael River at the canyon bottom. This would be an easy ride to do with Mrs. Admin, and Lamar could even shuttle us back to the top.
Midway through the Draw is a petroglyph panel created by either the Anasazi or Fremont people long before the first white explorers visited Utah.
Lamar picked us up at the Sand Rafael Bridge, and after loading up the car we headed to Price to join Bill and Pearl at the Grogg's brewpub for a tasty late lunch. Two hours later, we were back home.
There's little doubt that we'll be returning for Bike The Swell for many years to come.
This weekend, however, that would change. For years now, AmyZ and telejon have been telling me tall tales of epic rides and special characters from their trips to the semi-annual Bike The Swell festival organized by the MECCA Mountain Bike Club based in tiny Huntington, Utah. This year, Mrs. Admin and I opted to come along for the fun.
And fun it was. Those weren't tall tales, they were genuine and accurate. The rides, the people, the camaraderie, the food and the scenery can't be beat.
We got a late start, and didn't cross the line from Salt Lake County into Utah County until nearly 8 p.m. Friday night. We knew that we'd miss the Friday evening drawings, dutch oven dinner and other festivities, but that still left plenty of the weekend to enjoy. We flew down dirt roads into the heart of the Swell and didn't arrive at the Wedge Overlook primitive campground until 10:30. Much to my surprise, by and large everyone was already asleep and we did our best to keep the noise down as we unpacked the car and pitched camp.
The moon was full, so after setting up camp we donned headlamps and rode our bikes out to the rim of the canyon. The Wedge overlooks the San Rafael Gorge, also known as the Little Grand Canyon where multi-colored layers of limestone have been carved over the millenia by the San Rafael River nearly 1,000 feet below. Other streams have carved a plethora of side canyons as their waters join the San Rafael, creating a canyon rim that bobs and weaves around points and coves that are nearly too numerous to count. It's one of my favorite places in Utah, and one that's barely known to those from outside the region. In the light of a full moon the sweeping views and breathless silence were nearly ethereal.
It was along this north rim of the Little Grand Canyon that recently retired Emery County sheriff Lamar Guymon, who held the office for nearly 40 years, pioneered the Good Water Trail.
Good Water Canyon is one of the largest, if not the largest, side canyons on the north side of the San Rafael Gorge. Once the trail rounds the corner from the San Rafael Gorge to Good Water Canyon the trail's end point is visible about a mile away as the crow flies, but by closely and carefully following the contours of the canyon rim (sometimes almost too closely) it takes over 15 miles of trail to reach that finish.
The trail has been in general use for several years now, but it's only recently that the landowner, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has recognized its existence. And the Good Water Trail would constitute our Saturday ride.
We paid our registration fees and signed our liability waivers, and folks could not have been any friendlier or more welcoming. We grabbed a quick breakfast from the supplied bagels, fresh fruit and yogurt, along with hot coffee brewed in an old-fashioned percolator on the group camp stove, and we hit the trail. AmyZ, Mrs. Admin and I set off with the group, but only 50 yards in Mrs. Admin realized that the trail would be beyond her fledgling cycling skills and she backed out, choosing instead to join several other novice riders on a former railroad bed that runs along the side of Cedar Mountain, just a few miles to the north.
Almost immediately the trail leaves the jeep road and winds between the road and the rim of the Little Grand Canyon. For the trail's entire length there's barely a straight stretch that's even 50 feet long. Instead, it winds in among the junipers and crosses ledges and dry washes. There's nothing terribly difficult about the trail itself, and it's deceiving in that while it appears flat, all of these little dips and rises add up to over 1,400 feet of elevation gain (and a little over 1,500 feet of elevation loss). There are a few technical spots, but by and large the trail can be completed easily by most riders. When it hugs the rim closely, however, the consequences for error are huge.
How huge? Just ask Lamar. While riding the trail several years back he lost his balance, and while his bike flew inland his body flew into the abyss. When he came to, he found himself wedged between a cedar tree and a rock with his feet dangling over a secondary ledge. Blood filled his eyes from a gash on his forehead and he at first thought he was now blind. The trail's legality at the time was questionable, so he didn't dare call for help. Once he got his wits about him he climbed back to the rim, biked back to his truck and drove himself to the hospital. He didn't return home until several weeks later with a titanium plate in his head.
In fact, Lamar wasn't riding this weekend, either. While placing some boulders in a key location along a trail in August, one of the boulders started moving out of place and Lamar tried to stop it. Needless to say the boulder won, and Lamar now has a pump attached to his leg to maintain the circulation and remove impurities. It will be several more months before he's back on his bike, but he was nonetheless on hand as a committed MECCA member to facilitate the festivities for the enjoyment of festival guests.
Once the trail reaches Good Water Canyon it heads generally (and look at the map, I mean generally) northwest along that canyon's west side.
Riders began to spread out, but we made friends along the way as we stopped to snap photos and leapfrogged each other on the trail. Nick, the college-age son of AmyZ's former co-workers Jerry and Maggie bought it on a rock, and we stopped briefly to try to assist as they bandaged up his wounds. Many times we'd round the head of a wash and see others riding in the opposite direction on its other side, mere yards away.
At the trail's mid-point at the head of Good Water Canyon, Lamar and Joy had a sag wagon positioned to offer rest and water.
It was here that AmyZ and telejon's friends Bill and Pearl caught up to us. They're fast and experienced riders and opted to stay behind in camp for a bit as the others got a head start. They left the sag wagon stop slightly ahead of us, and I made it a personal challenge to try to catch them. Once I did, I made a brief attempt to keep up with them but upon reaching the first lookout point I stopped to wait for AmyZ. At least that was my excuse.
By the time we reached the trail's end at Camp 1 we were beat. Some of the hardcore like Bill and Pearl rode the trail in reverse back to camp, while most others rode the road for six miles back around. Having spent perhaps only a half dozen days in the saddle this summer, I had no reservations about hitching a ride with Lamar, and neither did AmyZ, who's feeling a bit under the weather. Lamar was full of entertaining stories from his years in rural law enforcement, an added bonus for taking the truck back to camp instead of the bike.
Cocktail hour started early on Saturday, and it was followed by a delicious wood-fired BBQ rib and chicken dinner catered by Spoke & Spice Pit BBQ, a new restaurant at 396 S Carbon Ave. in Price. Mrs. Admin enjoyed her ride as well, and the leaders helped her learn more about effective gear selection and proper cadence. It was a win-win.
We built a campfire and sat around for a while, but by 10:30 or 11 we all called it a night. My Friday night's sleep was somewhat restless in the tent, but after Saturday's ride I slept like a baby.
We awoke on Sunday, brewed coffee, ate breakfast and broke camp, then assisted the MECCA members in taking down the dinner pavilion. Sunday's riding was a far less organized affair. Bill and Pearl decided to explore a double-track west of camp, while some others decided to ride the road down into Buckhorn Draw. This is a graded dirt road that is even oiled to keep dust down, and it drops nearly 800 feet from the high desert prairie to San Rafael River at the canyon bottom. This would be an easy ride to do with Mrs. Admin, and Lamar could even shuttle us back to the top.
Midway through the Draw is a petroglyph panel created by either the Anasazi or Fremont people long before the first white explorers visited Utah.
Lamar picked us up at the Sand Rafael Bridge, and after loading up the car we headed to Price to join Bill and Pearl at the Grogg's brewpub for a tasty late lunch. Two hours later, we were back home.
There's little doubt that we'll be returning for Bike The Swell for many years to come.
