I only worked half a day last Thursday, and shortly after I got off work Dave called me and said he was on his way to Kenilworth to ride some trails and wanted me to meet him up there. He was with Jon of Bighorn Archaeological Consultants, who was assessing the areas where Carbon County is planning on installing cattle guards and restrooms along their planned ATV trail. From what I can tell from the maps Jon gave me, the trail will really just be a route pieced together from existing roads and trails, with signage, cattle guards, and restrooms installed along its length. I rode my ATV to Kenilworth and met Dave and Jon, then led the way to all the points where Jon needed to stop and survey for both prehistoric and historic artifacts and relics. We rode as far east as Coal Creek Road before it got late enough that we needed to turn around before darkness fell. It had been pretty cold, but it was nice just to get out and ride. Besides, I even rode a stretch of trail that I’d never been on before.
Jon needed to finish the route between Coal Creek Road and Sunnyside on Friday, so I met them again that morning and we trailered the ATVs to Clark Valley Road and started our ride there. It was noticeably warmer than it had been the day before. There was one point west along a power line road that we just couldn’t get to because of a badly washed out and overgrown trail. After hitting that dead-end, we rode east almost to Sunnyside. There were some washouts, but we were able to ride around them. There were sections of the planned trail where no existing road or trail exists yet, and we had to do some cross-country riding there. There was one steep hill cut into a bouldery hillside that was nerve-wracking. I’m curious to see how and when the county is going to fix all the difficult/impossible sections of the trail. When we got as far east as Jon needed to go, we retraced our path back to the trucks. It’ll be nice when the county completes all their planning, trail repairs, and signage. Once the trail is ready I’m planning on riding its entire length in one trip.