J.E.M Trail TR 8/23/08

[theking648]

Me and my friend Statton meet up with Kent and took off to Tackle the JEM trail. the route we took it was ok going up until we got to the highway then the real burn kicked in. it was very uneventful going up Kent and me tried out a few side trails and practiced our bunny hops and wheelies. I almost lost it doing a wheelie. Once we were on the highway it was a very hard 2 miles up to the Top trailhead of JEM. :eek2:

I do believe the downhill was totally worth it I pulled off a few little jumps and didn’t crash. The switchback section is something I’ll never ride on my bike. Once in the clear it was a very cruise downhill with twisty paths and tiny jumps. When we got to the dirt road again I wasn’t paying and attention and almost endoed off a small drop. :lol8:
The next section past the road wasn’t too bad it had a few climbs up small rock gardens but was nothing that held me up. toward the end of the trail we had some nice but scary cliff riding

This was a great trail but I would never do the loop option again. I’ll do a shuttle vehicle next time.

To get full story and pictures visit my website in a few days. .

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030238.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030222.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030228.jpg
Statton^

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030234.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030235.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030232.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030242.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030243.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030246.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030247.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030248.jpg
Kent^

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030250.jpg
Me (Dave)^

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030251.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l280/theking648/JEM/S5030252.jpg

I would like to say, Congratulations to Statton on completing a tough trail and Thanks to Kent for joining us.



RIDE ON! :ride:

Dave Johnson.

[Kent K25]

I'm the one thanking you guys. I need to get to know more of these Southern Utah trails so thanks for showing me this one.

Like I said, let me know the next time you hit up a trail and I'll try to be there.

Like Dave said, it was a great ride. The uphill was long and steady, but once we hit the trail head it was all worthwhile, other than those cutbacks anyway. Not sure I'd ever have the courage to ride that section.

Oh and I clocked about 15.76 miles for the whole ride.

[Sombeech]

It looks like you guys included Gould's Rim in the ride? I haven't done that, but judging by the position of Gooseberry Mesa, that's what it looks like.

Where did you guys park? We have been doing this as a shuttle the last few times, and it works out great.


We'll drop the riders off at the top, just off Highway 59, then we'll get back on the highway for maybe 1/4 mile and head down that dirt road, where we'll leave the vehicles at the bottom, near Highway 9, which heads towards Zion.

kmz file attached (google earth) for clarification

[theking648]

no we parked at the bottom trailhead of jem and just biked up the dirt road that connects the two highways. instead of using the wash loop option. then we went down JEM from the top trailhead.


some of the pics are looking back toward virgin i don't have gooseberry mesa in any of the pictures i posted but i think i did take a picture of it.

the mesa thats in the picture is 37

[accadacca]

Sweetness! I love that trail. :2thumbs:

[Sombeech]

Yeah, the dirt road is easy riding, but it sucks. I'm too impatient to get on that trail, so we do the shuttle.

[tallsteve]

When we rode the trail last year we didn't know exactly where we were going and ended up riding the whole loop which we didn't initially plan on doing. Consequently we all ran out of water a couple of miles before the finish. Good ride but Gooseberry is only a few miles up the road and will ALWAYS choose that trail over any other down that way. I found JEM and Goulds to be quite boring except for the part above the river gorge and the southeast side of the trail.

[greyhair biker]

Great trail to bomb down :2thumbs: I did walk around that killer top switchback but the rest of it was nice and flowy all the way. Definitely need to do this as a shuttle...much more enjoyable I'm sure! :five: