Lynn Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner

May weather is supposed to be warm. At least that is my way of thinking, and yet every year we get cold days in May. I don’t think it is the cold days as much as my bad timing.

In February, I got a call from Sam Steed who owns the Rocky Ridge Resort in Marysvale. He told me that the snow pack on the Tushar Mountains was such that the waterfalls in Bullion Canyon would be spectacular when the runoff begins. He invited me to bring some ATV friends for a tour of the waterfalls above Marysvale.

Over the years that I have been writing this article, I have had many responses from readers. Some of them have expressed an interest in going out on the trail together.

Having kept all those responses, I sent out an email with an invitation to join me on this ride. Sam was pleased that we filled up the cabins at his resort and many of the motel rooms available in town.

The Waterfall ride was to be on Saturday, May 21. I planned a ride on Friday to enrich the trip. We gathered to “meet and greet” on Thursday evening at the resort where I got to meet readers of my articles. That was a real treat for me.

Lynn Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner

On Thursday, the weather was a balmy 80 degrees. Friday, my wife stuck her toes out of the cabin door and said, “I’m not going.”

The temperature was 36 degrees and very windy. So I put on all the clothes that I had brought, left the RZR for her to tour the town, and joined Bry Davis of Layton in his new Kawasaki KRX 1000. That did not disappoint because I got to drive, and with 33-inch tires it was a sweet ride.

The plan was to ride from Marysvale to Koosharem for lunch at the Koosharem Café and then take a different route back. Starting out with 16 machines, we headed out east across the valley.

Passing the Elbow Ranch, we entered Dry Creek Canyon. This is a beautiful canyon with rugged rock walls. The trail climbs up a series of switchbacks and within minutes we had left dry desert floor and entered the woods of Fish Lake National Forest.

The first thing I noticed was the smell of the woods. It was good to be back on mountain trails again, but the higher we rode, the colder it got.

Photo supplied

Just past Bean Hill, we joined trail No. 1 for a short jaunt and then turned off onto No. 86. Riding up Six Patch Draw, we crossed Burnt Flat and came to Upper Box Creek Reservoir. There were restrooms there so we stopped for a break.

I lost control of the situation when Dean Eborn of Layton gathered everyone around Linda Van Tassell of Morgan to hear the story of her ATV accident from a few years ago. As the story goes, she started her machine and the throttle stuck fully open. It took her up the side of a mountain and threw her off. To make a long story short, she had a brain injury that caused a hematoma. They had to drill holes in her head to relieve the pressure. I stupidly asked if she would show me the holes in her head. She laughed and then everyone had a scar they wanted to talk about. When they started talking about scars that were best not seen, I decided it was time to go.

We made our way into Koosharem and to the café. Our group of about 30 overwhelmed the little restaurant and we had to be patient in getting our food in spite of the warning I gave that we were coming. Several of our group took orders and helped with the dishes, which was a first for them. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this place to eat.

Temperatures warmed up as we made our way back. We stayed on trail No. 1 and came to the north side of Manning Meadow Reservoir where we stopped at a spring. It consists of a large concrete box with pipes extending where the water runs all year. The water from that spring is delicious.

We were soon winding down the switchbacks in Dry Creek Canyon and back to Marysvale, finishing a ride of about 86 miles. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and enjoy the volatility of the weather in May — or not.

Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.

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