First Post on the New Site
This is the 1st post on the new site. Those of you that know me, know I used to have a site that I had to bail on because of financial reasons. It too, was called Kritmon.com. Basically the same that I am trying to get going again now that I discovered weebly ... at the moment, the cost is free.
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So, back again after an absence of about 5 yrs. At my age, a lot can happen in five yrs. ... and it has. In October 2013 I had just come home from an east bench ride, north on BST (Bonneville Shoreline trail) ... a 12 miler or so ... came home felt great, had a nice stir-fry dinner and hit the hay around 11 pm. Next thing I wake up and can't breath laying down. I thought it was the flu. I call my friend/doctor Alan Abdullah and check in. He tells me I'm not going home and they're going to operate asap. I had blown a valve in my heart. Open heart surgery ... who'da thunk? Me??
Turns out it had been damaged since I was a child. There was scar tissue present. Track forward ... They repaired it with my own tissue, hince I am not on any meds (Yay!!) at all now and am back to riding again. Thanks Alan, you saved my life! I have put on a few extra pounds that I am now concentrating on ridding myself of. Boy, the older you get, the harder is it to get back into shape. I just turned the big six-five so I am slower, but still there, spinning away. I'll get there eventually. Most everyone is in a bigger hurry than I am now anyway. But don't be fooled ... on the down ...
With gas prices down, maybe we'll be getting together for some more of those great epic rides we have here in Utah. Maybe a trip south, camping in the newly refurbished 'Squat' van. She'll have solar soon!! As the adventures emerge, we will post... until then here's an old story/ride we did ... Blind Hollow in Logan Canyon.
Turns out it had been damaged since I was a child. There was scar tissue present. Track forward ... They repaired it with my own tissue, hince I am not on any meds (Yay!!) at all now and am back to riding again. Thanks Alan, you saved my life! I have put on a few extra pounds that I am now concentrating on ridding myself of. Boy, the older you get, the harder is it to get back into shape. I just turned the big six-five so I am slower, but still there, spinning away. I'll get there eventually. Most everyone is in a bigger hurry than I am now anyway. But don't be fooled ... on the down ...
With gas prices down, maybe we'll be getting together for some more of those great epic rides we have here in Utah. Maybe a trip south, camping in the newly refurbished 'Squat' van. She'll have solar soon!! As the adventures emerge, we will post... until then here's an old story/ride we did ... Blind Hollow in Logan Canyon.
Blind Hollow ... or ... 'Splorin' Test Route #6354
6/10/07 Approx start time: 11:30 AM
Destination: To See if we can get to and ride Blind Hollow
Trail
Distance: Thru a series of interconnects - looking to be
~13 miles/2400'-2800' vert.
Total Ride time: ~6.5 hrs. including routing, breaks, trail
debris removal and pics.
Destination: To See if we can get to and ride Blind Hollow
Trail
Distance: Thru a series of interconnects - looking to be
~13 miles/2400'-2800' vert.
Total Ride time: ~6.5 hrs. including routing, breaks, trail
debris removal and pics.
>>>...Approximately 3-4 yrs ago, Spyder talked me into coming up to Logan Canyon to check out some rides he had
been scoping on topos he purchased of that area. It started with Bunchgrass trail and then expanded from
there. We have discovered what many riders in Utah don't know... Logan has some of the best actual mtn bike
rides in the state. I'm talking singletrack here... they aren't easily accessible by most accounts and you have to
do quite a bit of uphilling to get them. But then again, we don't mind paying the price... to get to those sweet
rides down. Most DH guys and their heavy equipment, don't like that price. If it don't include a shuttle, they're
out. That's okay with us... we like the solitude of killer rides with practically no one no where...but us. Stingy?
Nope... just XC I guess, with a flair for the DH. Our roots are MCs.
>>>...For all of those yrs., we drove past this trailhead that came off of a steep incline and puked right out on
Hwy 89 just below Rick's Spring. It's called Blind Hollow. We had always seen horse trailers sitting there, so
we knew that it was ridable (on a horse anyway). I had even stopped one time by myself and hiked about a mile
up the trail to see how steep it really was. On the up from the main rd isn't ridable on a bike...just too steep. So
I kind of put it out of my mind as a ride.
>>>...Then one time whilst surfing, I came across a forum where Blind Hollow was mentioned. This aroused my
curiousity again. Out came Google Earth to do some searching. Used to, Google didn't have actual pics of that
area and it was all computer generated. But this time when I started my search, lo and behold .... actual pics.
That means you can zoom in and see the actual trails...not great resolution...but good enough to plan routes.
>>>...It is still a two car ride... a point to point. We dropped one car (don't forget your keys!) at the bottom of
Blind Hollow, loaded up the bikes & went to the Bunchgrass Tr Hd. Space and I headed up Bunchgrass about 2
miles and found the interconnect we had scoped on GE. It looked really good on the ground as we started up.
You could tell... not a lot of traffic & pretty obscure. We started running into downfall across the already
skimpy trail. But we continued on anyway.. we were on a mission. Soon it started heading the wrong direction ...
down ... and that's not what we wanted.
>>>...Now we're pushing on old cow trails to try and find the gravel pit, the destination from the interconnect.
Space and I separate... he's heading to the Tony Grove Lake rd, which we can see and hear, and I head uphill to
where I think the pit is. We have the common thought of reaching the TGL rd and meeting up there. I don't
know what Kyle went thru, but I followed cow paths to the top of a rise and there it is ... the gravel pit... wooo
hooo!! I center punched it! Just at the beginning of the pit, I notice another trail coming up from the direction
of Bunchgrass...I waypoint it with my GPS... looks like the trail we were looking for in the beginning. There must
have been a turnoff somewhere that we missed. Further investigating is needed. Now I'm riding again and it's
downhill... damnit.. I lose all that I gained as I head down the 2-trk. About a mile long down and fast as hell, I
come to the TGL rd and stop. I look down the rd., and there is Space riding up. Cool and what timing.
>>>...Now we're roadies, but with mtn bikes. 2-2 1/2 miles of rd and we turn into the horse unloading area. We
stop, eat lunch, gather ourselves and hit the provided john. Then we head up the trail to Coldwater Spring...nice
loamy pine trail, but soft from the previous weeks' rain and snow. As a matter of fact, we run into small
patches everywhere. This trail is beautiful, running thru new and old growth pine forest, but because it's soft,
it sucks our already waning energy levels. It's a good thing this trail wasn't very long, as both Kyle and I are
feeling the drain. Soon, we reach the apex of the climb and Heaven.... downhill finally. We're giddy, and motor
away at speed. Black dirt hardpack and great shape.
>>>...We reach another intersect and stop to get our bearings. Kyle downloaded some waypoints so we would
know direction...Thanks GPSs... find our direction and head down even more. This trail is awesome!!! Not real
tech, but fast and trees down across trail, that give it an unknown factor. You come around a corner @ speed
and there's a tree down right in your way. Either jump it or stop. Most are not doable and we stop and try to
remove it if we can. Some we do, others we have to leave for chainsaws. Swoopy carvey singletrack at it's best.
Doesn't look like there has been much traffic either, but the trail is in excellent shape. We can't believe our
good fortune. Tacky hardpack that allows us to pound hard and brake hard without skidding too much. This is
really really fun. We can't keep the smiles off our faces. I need new tires..
>>>...Another intersect..this time down to Hansen Pond. Another score! This one's awesome also, a little skinnier,
tighter and tech. We're loving it! We go by a couple of small ponds (Hansens'?) and a tight tech rocky section
and presto!!! Blind Hollow. No sign, but we know this is it. Stop...suck in the surroundings...take a few pics, then
point'em down. This is what all the work was about...now in front of us and zooming past at speed. We have to
force ourselves again to slow down & take some shots. The epitome of singletrack!! Skinny, winding and ankle
grabbers just waiting for you to ride too close. Creek crossings abound, too many to count. A refreshing respite
to the ride...splash! Too much information... we finally have to stop and breathe. This is one long sucker of a
downhill. Even with discs, our hands and legs are pumping up.
>>>...Too, too soon or maybe just in time, we come out of the hollow and into the open. We can tell we're getting
close to the bottom. Damn, it's already gone. There's the car down in the distance. We stop... take some shots
and head down the last section, thinking we're done. But no....I almost endo twice and Space once. This last
section is troughed out really deep from all the horses hooves coming uphill. But we make it and swoop.... we're
on hwy 89 and it's over. WOW!!!
>>>...I think we saw one other set of mtn bike tracks on the upper sections and no others down Blind Hollow.
This one's a keeper for sure. Right up there on the top of our list of great epics....and the beer was cold and
rejuvenating. We surely earned those ear to ear smiles.....
13.2 miles total with approx 2800' vert.
Here's a few action shots from the actual ride down Blind Hollow ... they just don't do it justice.
been scoping on topos he purchased of that area. It started with Bunchgrass trail and then expanded from
there. We have discovered what many riders in Utah don't know... Logan has some of the best actual mtn bike
rides in the state. I'm talking singletrack here... they aren't easily accessible by most accounts and you have to
do quite a bit of uphilling to get them. But then again, we don't mind paying the price... to get to those sweet
rides down. Most DH guys and their heavy equipment, don't like that price. If it don't include a shuttle, they're
out. That's okay with us... we like the solitude of killer rides with practically no one no where...but us. Stingy?
Nope... just XC I guess, with a flair for the DH. Our roots are MCs.
>>>...For all of those yrs., we drove past this trailhead that came off of a steep incline and puked right out on
Hwy 89 just below Rick's Spring. It's called Blind Hollow. We had always seen horse trailers sitting there, so
we knew that it was ridable (on a horse anyway). I had even stopped one time by myself and hiked about a mile
up the trail to see how steep it really was. On the up from the main rd isn't ridable on a bike...just too steep. So
I kind of put it out of my mind as a ride.
>>>...Then one time whilst surfing, I came across a forum where Blind Hollow was mentioned. This aroused my
curiousity again. Out came Google Earth to do some searching. Used to, Google didn't have actual pics of that
area and it was all computer generated. But this time when I started my search, lo and behold .... actual pics.
That means you can zoom in and see the actual trails...not great resolution...but good enough to plan routes.
>>>...It is still a two car ride... a point to point. We dropped one car (don't forget your keys!) at the bottom of
Blind Hollow, loaded up the bikes & went to the Bunchgrass Tr Hd. Space and I headed up Bunchgrass about 2
miles and found the interconnect we had scoped on GE. It looked really good on the ground as we started up.
You could tell... not a lot of traffic & pretty obscure. We started running into downfall across the already
skimpy trail. But we continued on anyway.. we were on a mission. Soon it started heading the wrong direction ...
down ... and that's not what we wanted.
>>>...Now we're pushing on old cow trails to try and find the gravel pit, the destination from the interconnect.
Space and I separate... he's heading to the Tony Grove Lake rd, which we can see and hear, and I head uphill to
where I think the pit is. We have the common thought of reaching the TGL rd and meeting up there. I don't
know what Kyle went thru, but I followed cow paths to the top of a rise and there it is ... the gravel pit... wooo
hooo!! I center punched it! Just at the beginning of the pit, I notice another trail coming up from the direction
of Bunchgrass...I waypoint it with my GPS... looks like the trail we were looking for in the beginning. There must
have been a turnoff somewhere that we missed. Further investigating is needed. Now I'm riding again and it's
downhill... damnit.. I lose all that I gained as I head down the 2-trk. About a mile long down and fast as hell, I
come to the TGL rd and stop. I look down the rd., and there is Space riding up. Cool and what timing.
>>>...Now we're roadies, but with mtn bikes. 2-2 1/2 miles of rd and we turn into the horse unloading area. We
stop, eat lunch, gather ourselves and hit the provided john. Then we head up the trail to Coldwater Spring...nice
loamy pine trail, but soft from the previous weeks' rain and snow. As a matter of fact, we run into small
patches everywhere. This trail is beautiful, running thru new and old growth pine forest, but because it's soft,
it sucks our already waning energy levels. It's a good thing this trail wasn't very long, as both Kyle and I are
feeling the drain. Soon, we reach the apex of the climb and Heaven.... downhill finally. We're giddy, and motor
away at speed. Black dirt hardpack and great shape.
>>>...We reach another intersect and stop to get our bearings. Kyle downloaded some waypoints so we would
know direction...Thanks GPSs... find our direction and head down even more. This trail is awesome!!! Not real
tech, but fast and trees down across trail, that give it an unknown factor. You come around a corner @ speed
and there's a tree down right in your way. Either jump it or stop. Most are not doable and we stop and try to
remove it if we can. Some we do, others we have to leave for chainsaws. Swoopy carvey singletrack at it's best.
Doesn't look like there has been much traffic either, but the trail is in excellent shape. We can't believe our
good fortune. Tacky hardpack that allows us to pound hard and brake hard without skidding too much. This is
really really fun. We can't keep the smiles off our faces. I need new tires..
>>>...Another intersect..this time down to Hansen Pond. Another score! This one's awesome also, a little skinnier,
tighter and tech. We're loving it! We go by a couple of small ponds (Hansens'?) and a tight tech rocky section
and presto!!! Blind Hollow. No sign, but we know this is it. Stop...suck in the surroundings...take a few pics, then
point'em down. This is what all the work was about...now in front of us and zooming past at speed. We have to
force ourselves again to slow down & take some shots. The epitome of singletrack!! Skinny, winding and ankle
grabbers just waiting for you to ride too close. Creek crossings abound, too many to count. A refreshing respite
to the ride...splash! Too much information... we finally have to stop and breathe. This is one long sucker of a
downhill. Even with discs, our hands and legs are pumping up.
>>>...Too, too soon or maybe just in time, we come out of the hollow and into the open. We can tell we're getting
close to the bottom. Damn, it's already gone. There's the car down in the distance. We stop... take some shots
and head down the last section, thinking we're done. But no....I almost endo twice and Space once. This last
section is troughed out really deep from all the horses hooves coming uphill. But we make it and swoop.... we're
on hwy 89 and it's over. WOW!!!
>>>...I think we saw one other set of mtn bike tracks on the upper sections and no others down Blind Hollow.
This one's a keeper for sure. Right up there on the top of our list of great epics....and the beer was cold and
rejuvenating. We surely earned those ear to ear smiles.....
13.2 miles total with approx 2800' vert.
Here's a few action shots from the actual ride down Blind Hollow ... they just don't do it justice.