On Friday the 6th of July I went for my first ride on the Piaute. We started in Kanosh which is just south of Fillmore.(Its where my in-laws are from). Are plan was to ride to my in-laws condo above Beaver UT. I was pretty excited because it was my first time on the trail and I had been wanting to do this ride for a long time. The rest of my in-laws were already at the Condo vacationing. My brother in-law came back up to make the ride with me. We started out at 8:30am, and the morning was beautiful. So, with the sunshine and a cool breeze at are faces we left the sleepy town of Kanosh headed for Piaute trail #01. My brother in-law was getting used to my 350RX. He wasn't too familiar with the clutch. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] We stopped about 10:00 am for a break. We were at a junction and someone had stood up the sign telling us to go to the right. so after are break we headed down the trail. As we were riding along the road and all of a sudden my cat just died. I couldn't figure it out. after a few minutes of fiddling with things it started right back up. we took off again and a little while later it died again. The thought popped into my head that it was the fuel tank. I loosened the gas cap up and it never bothered me again. Meanwhile we had made it down by I-70 but the trail we were on had turned and was going away from I-70. We pulled out the map and my gps and realized that we were on the wrong side of the mountain from where we should have been. By the time we got back to the junction we had lost an hour and a half. No big deal we had plenty of gas and all day to ride. We stopped for lunch along the trail Just before the I-70 Junction.
As we started up the other side it begain to rain. so we stopped and pulled out the rain gear. I was thinking of a usual mountain shower which it rains for a few minutes and then its back to sunshine. Well, as we continued our climb the clouds opened and it just poured buckets of rain. It was raining so hard that a river of water was running down the trail. I went through four tear offs on my goggles and ended up taking them off just so I could see. I kept asking my brother in-law if he wanted to stop and take up shelter in the trees. He said that he was soaked and would just as soon get to the Condo. So we pressed on passing up groups who had had enough and had stopped. We finally made it to the Kimberly mining ghost town. We took up shelter in one of the abandon homes. After about an hour the rain stopped and we rode on. About another 10 minutes of riding we got to a gate that was locked!!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] The gate closes off the Kimberly pass on the Tushar Mountains. This pass climbs to a little over 12,000 feet. They don't open the gate until the snow has melted off the road. I was unaware that they even had a gate. just as we were deciding on what to do the clouds open up again and we are caught in another down pour!!! We headed back to the abondon homes at Kimberly. We met up with a guy that said he had just come over the pass and that there was only one small section that had snow on the road but that you could go around it. The only downside being that if the Forest Service catches you on that section before they officially open it, It is a $150 fine. It was a tuff decision. We only had about 9 miles left to go. The condo was just on the other side of that pass but we couldn't afford a $300 fine. So, with there being no shelter (its above the timberline), and us being soaked to the bone we made the choice to turn back. From my cell phone I made a call to my in-laws and asked them to meet us at I-70 with my truck and trailer. We waited out the storm and made the hour ride back down the mountain and waited for them to pick us up.
Overall we had a great time. I was just disappointed that we had to turn back. so, I guess I have another ride to look forward to. This next time I will call the forest service before I go up to make sure the pass is open. Either that or I will just get the key from my other brother in-law and we will open the gate heheheh [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
I just wanted to tell everyone about my first ride on the Piaute.

 

Thanks for posting about your trip. At least you were safe and got some riding in. Do you know if that pass is open by now? I would like to try that trail the second week of August. Also is there a place to park my rig for a few days at the Freemont State Park or thereabouts? Thanks in advance for your info.

Rick

 

I just came back from a two day trip. We put in close to 300 miles in two days. The pass is open!! I think there are some camprgrounds right around the Freemont State Park. If you are riding from that area, Once you get to the top of the hill where the 13 trail takes off. If you look off to the left there is a trail that takes off back up through the trees. It goes to the top of that peak. It is a very beautiful look out. There is one small section where a rock slide happened. Other than that the trail is easy.