Ogden Utah to Island Park Idaho - Singletrack Junkies!

[MKnight]

About five years ago I started to concoct this idea of riding my dirt bike from my driveway in Harrisville Utah to our family's cabin in Island Park Idaho. Now to the average "Adventure Rider", this may seem like no big deal, but I wanted to take a barely legal dirt bike and ride as much trail as possible and minimize any type of road riding.

I stewed on the idea for years and dreamed of routes and picked the brain of anyone crazy enough to listen to me. There were a lot of logistics and details to consider. Finally, late last year I concluded it was time to get serious about it and just make it happen. We weren't getting any younger and life wasn't getting any less complicated. Some of my closest riding buddies all got new bikes including me, so this was the year. The planning got more serious and I finally had a strategy. In the end, here is what I came up with:

* Ride from Harrisville Utah (40 miles north of Salt Lake City) to Island Park Idaho
* Split entire route into 3 days
* Have my retired father pull my truck and trailer and meet us at pre-determined campsites so we wouldn't have to haul gear other than trail necessities
* Ride the following terrain in this order of priority: 1) Singletrack!!!, 2) ATV trails, 3) Forest two-track, 4) Jeep Roads, 5) Gravel Roads, 6) Asphalt - ugh.

In the end, only three of us were able to go. This included myself ('06 525 EXC), my good friend Chad ('07 CRF450X) who I've known since Kindergarten, and my other good friend Jason ('06 450 EXC) who I introduced to riding about 7-8 years ago.

I estimated the total route to be approximately 450 miles, averaging around 150-160 per day. This was going to be fun!!!!

Before I share this little adventure with you, I must first wax sentimental for a few moments so you can understand the relevance of this route for me. I don't intend to tell my life story, but rather set some framework for how this area and my love of motorcycling was established.

My maternal grandfather, Ralph Dabb, was like a second father to me. Just before I was born, my grandfather lost one of his married daughters and son-in-law to a tragic accident involving asphyxiation in a small camper near Bear Lake Utah. As a sort of tribute to their lives and his love of the outdoors, he purchased a small lot in Island Park Idaho and built a cabin for his family and future generations to enjoy.

The following is a pic of my grandfather and father in the early stages of building the cabin:



"The Cabin" as it is simply known in my family, became a refuge and a nostalgic place where we spent just about every single summer vacation as kids. Here is a pic of my grandfather and two older brothers just as the cabin was being finished:


Along with going to the cabin, my father always had some sort of old trailbike around that we used as our first motorcycling experiences. I like this pic of my older brother on one of these old bikes:


Here's an old pic of me (laying on blanket with my Mom) hanging out in a meadow while my brother rides around on our old XR75 at the cabin (notice.....no helmet, boots, gloves, etc., who needed those back then?):


Before I could learn to ride the XR75, I learned to ride on a Honda Express. I challenge anyone to remember these. It was a clutchless (and gutless) moped from the 70's. The only picture I could find was of this one sitting with my Dad's XL125 and brother's XR75 in Jackson Hole Wyoming on the way home from the cabin:


I rode with my Dad from an early age and blame him for this crazy addiction I have to motorcycles:


Even before I owned my first real motorcycle, I had the closest thing to it. This was my birthday gift one year. My dad came running in my bedroom and told me "The Honda had a baby". I had visions of running out and finding a Z50 to match my brother's XR75, but I got this cool bike instead. It was the next best thing (Yes, my shirt does say "Old Chevies never Die"):


I could jump it with the best of them :)



Fast forward 30 years later and I'm probably more of a motorcycle addict now than ever. I was excited for this trip for more reasons than one.

The day of our departure had finally arrived. Jason and I and Chad met at my house early last Wednesday a.m., August 1.



Right off the bat, the plan was to ride a few miles of pavement and then get to the Skyline singletrack trail above Ogden Utah. Here we are on the first few feet of dirt at the beginning of our journey (North Ogden Divide trailhead):


Before long, we're into the good stuff. This is looking north on Skyline toward Logan Utah:


More Skyline:


A high elevation wheelie by me for the camera.


Sitting at "the saddle" below Ben Lomond Peak. This is a peak at almost 10,000 feet just directly north of our homes.


Chad navigates the tricky switchbacks of Ben Lomond Peak. Up until Day 3, these were ranking on our list as the toughest obstacle we had ridden:



Once through the switchbacks, you're greeted with more switchbacks and more rocks:


The three knuckleheads (L to R: Me, Jason, Chad) at the top of Ben Lomond Peak. At this point we're 17miles into our ride, and only about 5 miles north of our homes which are directly behind us.


More switchbacks coming off the other side of Ben Lomond toward Willard Peak.


Chad navigates another tricky switchback. This is looking north down into the Willard Basin.....Logan Utah is to the North.


Once down into Willard Basin we continue north on the Jeep Road.


And finally pop out onto the "Avon/Paradise" cutoff road that will dump us into the Cache Valley.


We road from there into Hyrum Utah for a delicious McDonalds breakfast and to gas up. We had some pavement during this stretch, but after that it was all trail.


We went up Blacksmith Fork Canyon and then peeled off on the Richards Hollow singletrack trailhead. This is an awesome trail that I absolutely love with some great obstacles. Here Chad encounters one of the first tricky sections.


Jason gives it a shot too.



We had tons of fun in Richards Hollow....this was one of our favorite stretches of trail in the entire 470 miles.



More Richard's.


We stopped at one point and I noticed this in Jason's tire.

We decided rather than pull it out, we'd see how long it lasted. It lasted the rest of the day.

After Richard's, we headed down for more singletrack of Card Canyon.

Signs like this get me all hot and bothered!!! I loooove singletrack.


Trails like this get me all hot and bothered. A view of Card Canyon from the KTM cockpit.


Jason at the bottom of Card.


We dropped down into Temple Fork and then up some more ATV Trail. We were going to ride this singletrack (as designated on the travel map) and were greeted with this.


Why can't SOME ATV riders read?????? This kind of thing infuriates me. The travel map and carsonite marker clearly mark it as singletrack, yet look at the fresh ATV tracks coming off the trail that might as well be a highway.

So we soldiered on to the Bear Lake Summit road and stopped for a lunch break.


We dropped down to the Beaver Mountain ski resort staging area and then continued north through Sink Hollow (ATV width but still fun and beautiful).




Here I am crossing over from Utah to Idaho for the rest of the trip.


Another quick break at the top of the Highline/Snowslide junction before continuing north.


Now we're on the Highline....the only thing keeping the ATV's from ruining this stretch of singletrack is this nice little boulder "filter" on the ridgeline.


Ahhh....the Highline. Views to the east of the Bear Lake Valley, and views to the west of Preston Idaho (Napoleon Dynamite country).


More Highline.


More Highline (you'll notice a trend.....lots of pictures of Chad and Jason as I zipped ahead and then stopped to take pictures of them).


Conditions were a little dusty the first day but with only three guys it was pretty much a non-issue. Besides, who cares, we're riding singletrack :)


During our lunch break at the top of the Bear Lake Summit, Chad ate some canned chicken that wasn

[Sombeech]

Wow! Amazing trip report. Thanks for the photos.

[KillEmAll]

Dude, that's an unreal adventure! Thanks for posting such a detailed trip report, with photos to and all. Nice job. How's the bike doing now?

[accadacca]

Awesome report, really enjoyed it. Who let the Honda in the club?

[live2ride]

Well, This is pretty much the coolest thing I have ever heard of, I found myself sitting here wondering how far I could go with my mountain bike, something I have always wanted to do. Thanks for the inspiration....

[desertrat222]

Awesome write up Mike!!!!!!! I love the pics of you guys as kids it's no wonder where you got your passion for camping and riding dirt bikes!!!!! You

[Hanker]

Sounds like one hell of a trip. You ever think about doing it again i wouldnt mind joining.