On Friday morning, I got up early and went out for a 20 minute jog around the hotel. The weather was nice and I felt safe as long as I stayed close to the hotel. It was nice to be able to get some exercise before we were off for the day. After the run, I had yogurt and half a waffle for breakfast.
I took a quick shower, helped Bryce make egg salad sandwiches for lunch, and got the wheelers packed with our food and other supplies. We were originally told we were going to Salina for the ride, which was only 17 miles down the road, so we didn't fill up with gas before we left. Well, it ended up being a 45 minute ride to our starting point on the trail, which was Hogan Pass.
We started down the Great Western Trail and it was kind of bumpy and rocky for the first 2 or 3 miles. We finally wound our way over on the mountainside and ended up in some beautiful quaky groves. It looked like there had been a fire there, but we were still able to ride through some awesome spots on the trail.
About five miles into the ride, we came to a new trail called Riley Springs. It was by far our most favorite trail we have ever been on. It was an actual ATV trail. It was not gravel, but a real dirt/rock trail. In fact, only four wheelers and small ATV's could fit on the trail. This trail had every kind of terrain. We drove through brush, we drove through lots of Aspen groves, we drove up and down and winded through and around pine trees as we climbed the mountains. There were spots where you had to slow down and kind of weave your way carefully through the trees and rocks.
We stopped around 1 pm and had lunch back off the trail under the trees. We just sat at ate our yummy egg sandwiches, threw grapes into mouths, and visited with each other. After lunch, we continued up the trail a couple of miles until bad news happened upon us. A rock punctured the pressure valve on the side of Roger's four wheeler and he lost air almost immediately. The men tried to "doctor" it up with all their supplies, but nothing worked.
We didn't know exactly where we were on the trail at this point. We knew we were supposed to be on a big loop but we didn't know which way would be quicker to get back to the trucks. We decided to continue for another mile or two. We came to a beautiful lake called Neffs Reservoir. The Aspen trees were red, yellow, and orange and they mingled with the ever greens along the side of the lake. It was the perfect spot for some amazing pictures!
I was happy that we actually made it this far, because we never would have seen the best part of the ride. We ended up sending Ira, Sheridan, and Drifty back on LuAnn's machine so they could pull off her tire and bring it back and switch it for the bad tire on Roger's machine. The rest of us turned around and headed back the way we came. Roger would make it about a half mile and then he would have to stop and fill up the tire again. We did this for about four miles until we reached the meeting spot.
As soon as Ira got back to us, we changed out the bad tire and headed back to the trailers on a different trail. Drifty and Sheridan were waiting for us back at the trailhead of Riley Springs with the trailers. Though it was definately my favorite ride, it was also a tougher ride on the hands, wrist, arms and body. It was smooth by any means, and so it kind of beat us women up a little bit. Needless to say, I was glad we went back a different way and cut 5 or 6 miles off the return.
I really want to go on this ride again next year. We ended up going a different route than we had planned. There were so many other trails and beautiful sights on the Riley Springs trail. We didn't even see half of it. Hopefully, we can hit that trail again and maybe make sure we have a map this time!
Luckily, Bryce and I made it back to Salina with enough gas in our tank. We filled up there and then decided to eat at Denny's. I went in and got a table for 10, sat down, and ordered a Dr. Pepper. Bryce walked in a few minutes later, and told me that everyone changed their minds and were headed back to Richfield for dinner. GRRRR! We went back to the cabin restaurant and enjoyed some yummy dinner!
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