Recently in Events Category

Comments are now being taken by the USFS for the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho. Almost all options show 0 acres open to OHV use. Please send in your comment now.

How to Comment

Written, facsimile, hand-delivered, oral, and electronic comments concerning this project will be accepted for 45 calendar days following the printing of the legal notice in the Lewiston Morning Tribune.  The publication date in the newspaper of record (July 17, 2009) is the exclusive means for calculating the comment period for this project.  Those wishing to comment should not rely on dates or timeframe information provided by any other source.

Written comments should be submitted to the project Team Leader at the following address:

Kamiah Ranger Station
Attn:  Lois Foster, Travel Planning IDT Leader
903 Third Street
Kamiah, ID 83536

Electronic comments must be submitted in a format such as an email message, plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), or Microsoft Word (.doc) document to:

comments-northern-clearwater@fs.fed.us

Email comments must include the commenter's name, and the words "Travel Planning" should appear in the subject line of the message.

It is important that any comments you provide are substantive and specific; some suggestions for making effective comments are on the Travel Plan section of the website on the "Effects and Comments" page.

Appeal Eligibility

If you wish to comment, it is your responsibility to submit them by the close of the comment period.  Those who provide comments during the comment period are eligible to appeal a decision on this project under 36 CFR 215.13, as published in the Federal Register regulations.  If you have further concerns, please contact the Team Leader, Lois Foster, at 208-935-4258.

Specifics are as follows:

090710_travel_plan_summary.pdf

On Sunday, I met a group at the One Man Band Diner in Spanish Fork. Breakfast was great. The restaurant was a combination of Village Inn & the Training Table.

From that point, we drove up Spanish Fork Canyon (Hwy 6) east toward Price about 20 miles.



The Garmin Mapsource tracks are attached: TieForkCanyon.gdb
The SPOT .KML for use in Google is:TieFork.kml

Tie Fork Canyon is easily a combination of the 76 Trail (Kimberly) along the Paiute and the Skyline drive above Bountiful. Large pines and Aspen cover the mountain, providing plenty of shade; small water crossings abound as well.

Along for the ride were Arnie Cooper (aka Coop), our trail guide, Jim and his wife Laura (I believe). The three of them were all on 700cc KingQuads, and I on my trusty Kawasaki Brute Force 750i (Fuel Injected).

So, if the weather cooperates and provides for a day without thunder/lightning and rain, I'm going to ride along and through Ophir Canyon. There are some side canyons that I've never been on and if the snow is gone and weather permits it should make for a great ride.

If you'd like to come along (lead or follow), PM me.

Since I'm now on vacation until June 1st, I thought I'd again try to get up Ophir and Jacob City.

I started off at the back side of Ophir City (down in the bottom of Ophir Canyon).

First, I attempted to ride to the top of Jacob City (LEFT <north>) from the valley below. At less than .25miles from the top, the snow drifts were far too deep to pass.

I then went back to the valley and attempted to go to the top of Ophir (RIGHT <south>) from the valley below. It's completely open and passable. Unfortunately, while up top, a thunderstorm blew in and caught me up top.

What a great day of exploring and riding!

Staging was set for 0900-0930 on Saturday 16 May. Upon arrival, there were already several trucks unloading ATV's of all types. As it turned out, Chris Brimhall (aka Ghost Rider) had brought down most (if not all) of the Northern Utah ATV Club to ride the same route.

Just before 0930, m74me (Dennis) and Britt & Bill arrived. Just as we were leaving, another couple Edward and Rossalind asked to join our group.

At exactly 0930, we pushed out and began our (what would end up being 90 miles) ride.

The first obstacle was a mountain climb with significant rocks and obstacles on the way up. We broke out the winches, muscled the machines up and pressed on. No damage, no injuries. So far, so good.

Our first break came about 15 miles into it. We stopped near "Great Place for a Crappy Cache" and explained to Edward and Rossalind (who have never geocached) that there was a public toilet behind a tree. They couldn''t believe what they saw. A full sized toilet, right there in the open desert!

Britt & Bill looking to the South as 24+ ATV's from the Northern Utah Club came through:









Edward and Rossalind coming back from the geocache "toilet":

At this point, we banked East toward Black Rock Canyon and began winding our way up. Upon reaching a cattle watering hole, Dennis (m74me) determined that he had torn a 3/4" gas in the sidewall of a rear tire. It was to plug (for him), and time to place a geocache at this location (by me).

The group at a break near the watering hole:

Note: I've never ridden or been to this location, but the BLM is now going to actively enforce motorized restrictions in this area. If you'd like to sign the petition against closure & enforcement, you can be heard here.

Start: N 40 14 10.79  W 112 09 43.12 (south side staging area)
Rock Crawling: N 40° 12.203 W 112° 09.607
Ridge line: N 40° 11.134 W 112° 08.738
Hill Climb:  N 40° 09.718 W 112° 09.490
12 Mile Pass:  N 40° 05.591 W 112° 09.896
Black Rock Canyon: N 40 02 44.66 W 112 09 14.17
Meadow Ride: N 40° 01.899 W 112° 11.519
Mill Canyon (if there's interest): N 40° 01.518 W 112° 13.984
High Point: N 40° 00.207 W 112° 11.815
Eureka Sinclair: N 39° 57.272 W 112° 07.197
Chiulus Pass: N 39° 57.363 W 112° 07.778
Rock Crawl: N 39° 58.224 W 112° 07.718
Allen Ranch Road: N 40° 02.137 W 112° 04.290

..then back toward Five Mile Pass.

Who's coming for the ride?

So, I've decided on a long ATV ride for this saturday. If anybody wants to come along, feel free to join.

I'm going to stage on the South side of Five Mile Pass, ride through some of the side canyons, head through 12 Mile Pass, toward Allen Ranch Road, up into the East side of Black Rock Canyon, through the canyon, out the West side of the Tintics, into Eureka for fuel, then up Homansville, North back toward Five Mile Pass.

PM me if you want to join and I'll provide basic GPSr coordinates.

Specifics:

• ~75 miles round trip (bring extra fuel)
• Some rough sections (winching may occur). I will gladly assist those without winches.
• Long stretches where decent speed may be available
• Geocaching opportunities
• Steep climbing in Mill Canyon (if we decide to go up)
• Great views for enjoying lunch and/or breaks
• Potential for small snow drifts, but these should be passable
  

After riding 50+ miles through the Eureka/Tintic mountain areas yesterday, we loaded back up and rode up to the top of Jacob City. While we were able to reach the top, the entire ridge line is still covered in 2+' of snow.

I attempted to plow through anyway, but the snow was soft and my machine would only dig in.

So, for now, I'm postponing this ride until all the snow has cleared (for safety and to prevent rutting up the trail).

If anyone has interest, I'd be game in making another 50+ mile Tintic mountain ride. Black and Mill Canyons are now open and passable via ATV, but probably not yet for motorcycles.

A few photos from yesterday:

Craig (co-worker) and Danielle (sister-in-law) after coming back down from Mill Canyon (Craig's motorcyle couldn't make it up and he dumped it at least 3 times):

Took today off and went riding.

Decided to start off by seeing if the MercOphir Canyon trail (so named by me) was open and clear to the top; it was!

Unfortunately, the North facing slope (down hill) was still covered in 2' of snow and I could not ride down into Ophir itself.

A few photos (until my video is available on YouTube) at the top: