Price Trails - February 2012

[Udink]

I spent most of this weekend at home hanging out with my family and cleaning the house a little, but by Sunday afternoon I needed to get outside. I went for a mountain bike ride on the trails north of Price, riding for about two hours and covering 5.7 miles. I was expecting most of the snow to be gone and the trails to be dry, which they were on the southern end of the trails closer to town. I started by riding up Knot Pete’s Rim, where there was a lot of recent foot traffic but very few mountain bike tracks on the trail. The dirt was soft and made for more strenuous riding, which got worse as I traveled north. Once I crossed over the gravel road between Knot Pete’s and the Smo Joe’s trail, there were no tracks at all. I plowed through the soft dirt and crusty snow, getting bogged down often and having to dismount to keep from falling.

Overlooking Price near the beginning of the ride on Knot Pete's Rim


Along Knot Pete's Rim


View across the plateau toward the Book Cliffs


Snow on Smo Joe's



I almost bailed out of the trail a couple of times when I was close enough to a dirt or gravel road, but I’m glad I stuck with it. At the top of Smo Joe’s, I took the cutoff trail over to Luke’s Trail. There was still plenty of snow on upper Luke’s, but it was mostly downhill and it was easier going. Once I got to the Labyrinth, the trail was well-traveled by both foot and bike traffic. It was much more enjoyable after that and I was able to maintain some speed, though Torrey got quite worn out running alongside during the faster downhill portion. The last quarter of the ride made the rest of it worth it.

Smo Joe's to Luke's Trail cutoff


Self-portrait along Luke's Trail


Lost in the labyrinth

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[chromehead58]

Nice....where can I find a good map of the area, I go through there a lot and it looks like I should stop and do some riding...

[Udink]

This is a pretty good resource to get you started: http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/lukes-area.htm

Or you can stop in Fuzzy's shop at 82 N 100 W and he'll give you a map.

[Sombeech]

I finally met Fuzzy a year and a half ago. Do you ride with him much?

[Udink]

I've only ridden with Fuzzy a couple of times. I usually ride solo so nobody sees me wipe out.

[accadacca]

Nice report! Even with the soft stuff I bet it was still great to get out. I haven't been riding in Price yet, but it's on my bucket list. I need to make a ride with Fuzzy.

[chromehead58]

Thank you sir, can not wait to try out Price

[blueeyes]

Great report!

[Kokopelli]

Nice! I proposed to my wife on that hill. Best decision I've ever made!