Utah - July 7, 2021 - Day 6

Today was our ATV trip.

ATVs are not something I've done before. The ride is rough and jarring, but you are closer to what you want to see. I believe even my good recollections will improve once I regain the bloodflow to my legs and my hips are back in their sockets. 

 

Riding an ATV

The ATVs are very stable, very rugged and very powerful. I learned that the ride is like a snowmobile, or a boat. The machine floats above the terrain. You can slide through corners, power through corners, and the steering is mushy. With a dirt bike, everything is the front wheel. The bike goes where the front wheel goes, and you don't care about the rear wheel. Not so with an ATV. 

I found that you can slide through corners and can spin the machine by cutting the front wheels and mashing the accelerator. I did that a lot.

Since this was Buttercup's expedition, he rode point. I followed, and Magellan was last. 

It was very hot, and very dusty - which will be important to the later report. And on one of our trips up the mountain, we encountered very rough terrain. It was steep, and the rocks were large. There is no way a motorcycle would have made it, but a 4x4 might. They rank the trails much like ski runs: green for easy, blue for intermediate and black for difficult. This trail was rated black.

I held on for dear life, and hit the gas. And that machine shot up the hill. I was shocked at how strong the ATV was. I almost went over the handlebars twice. But the ATV was not in danger of overturning. The upward thrust of the ATV over the rock bucked me like a wild horse. I learned quickly to hang on to the ATV and while I might be thrown off, the ATV was not going to roll over. 

When I reached the top, my heart was pumping and I was short of breath. The Owner of the ranch where we are staying said that this is a common happenstance. Even Magellan had to stop to catch his breath:

I staggered from my ATV after the climb. 

I will add that Buttercup took great delight in hard turns and spinning his wheels after every stop, which enveloped me a a cloud of dust as I followed behind. Riding ATVs is not for the faint of heart.

To Bullion Falls

Our initial adventure was up the mountain to Bullion Falls. It was over rough terrain. 

We followed a stream on the way up, which was fun:

People/families were hiking up the mountain in front of us, and we scattered them as we drove up the trail. We then turned around and scattered those families once again on the way down And this was after they paid dearly to park!

In this pic, I am contemplating $8 to park - in the middle of nowhere. 

This pic is of Magellan trying to pull a wheelie on his ATV. 

The Road to Kooshorum 

The main part of our adventure was the town of Kooshorum for lunch - what else? For that, we needed to cross over a mountain in Fish Lake National Forest. 

Buttercup spent a lot of time looking at his map to navigate us there:

The travel up the mountain was gravel switchbacks.

        

    Mountain Meadow

At the top of the mountain is what they called the Mountain Meadow. It was this enormous expanse of what appeared to be a meadow.  The scale was huge. 

On closer examination, the meadow was not grass but scrubby little bushes. The Mountain Meadow even had a lake:

The fields were filled with cattle and cows. This is open range, so the ranchers allow the animals to roam and collect them when necessary. 

As we began to leave the Mountain Meadow, we saw a thick forest of Birch or Aspen trees.

Magellan was very annoyed that he could not get his cell phone to work in the Mountains:

    Back to the Desert

As we became closer to our destination, the terrain reverted to desert. 

And with that, we were off to Kooshorum. 

Kooshorum

While the trip to Kooshorum was an adventure, the real reason was to feed Magellan. There is only one restaurant in town, and we were able to score a table. The only reason is that Buttercup sprinted to the front door.

It seems that every Utah menu we see has a root beer float. It is wildly refreshing after coming in from the heat. And, it is so good for you. 

Like the other towns we've seen, Kooshorum has a community spirit:

Back to the Ranch

We left the mountain, which was partially in the Fish Lake National Forest. 

However, there were also some private land and private homes. These were 20 miles from a town of 200 with no grocery store. I guess some people value their privacy.

The Three Prophetic Quotes:

There were three prophetic quotes today:

• From Buttercup to Francois: from a veteran ATV'r to a first timer: "when the machine rolls over, don't stick your arm out. If you do, it will break. Just ride the machine down." Good to know. 
• From another ATV'r when we asked for directions: "You know, you're on the wrong mountain?"
• When we sat down to dinner, Magellan turned to Francois and said: "You need to go to the bathroom, and wash your face." While the request was sinking in, Magellan repeated: "No, you need to go to the bathroom and wash your face."  I didn't need to be asked a third time, as something was afoot. So I went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and recoiled in horror. It was incredibly hot, and as stated above, very dusty. And given my concern over my beautiful complexion, I liberally applied sun tan lotion all day. The combination of the dust and the suntan lotion left a thick crust on my face. And this was the face I used to secure a table, I'm surprised they seated us. It was so bad, that I pulled my camera out of my pocket, pointed it at my face, and pushed the button. This pic does no justice to my condition. Buttercup commented that he thought the sun had backed an enamel on my face that I might never remove. 

Taps

We rode 118 miles on ATVs in the dust and the heat. Tomorrow, it is back to our Harleys. Although, I think Buttercup would prefer to ride the ATV for the rest of the trip, and home. 

It is tough saying goodbye to the ranch.