[rubiranch]

I love snow. We dont get much here in Pennsylvania. It gets hot as hell and never cold enough.

Me too.

 

[rubiranch]

We do an annual new Years Day ride every year. I usually head north and we ride at 5-Mile pass but this year only ine other person could make it so he decided to come down here and stay in one of our cabins instead of me going up there.
I thought that was a great idea so I invited one other friend and he headed out for The Devil's Racetrack in the San Rafael Swell.



Welcome to the Swell 1/2/2021. It was a BEAUTIFUL day with temps in the high 30s.

I told Lance I'd bring my butane stove and we should have something hot for lunch so he made us some chicken kabobs and we grilled them for an awesome lunch.



The view from where we ate lunch.

And Coal Wash was frozen. 😁
I stopped about 1/2" from Kevin's ATV. Everyone thought for sure I was going to slam into him.



The Devil's Racetrack. This is what we rode here for.

The Stairs. At least that's what I think they're called.



Looking back.









The End

The best part of the ride?? My friends that I got to spend the day with.

 

[NMKAWIERIDER]

Great shots.

 

[kickstart]

Kabobs on the trail was a great idea.👍

Looks like they finally got a new sign at Dutchman. The old one was pretty bad.

 

[rubiranch]

Kabobs on the trail was a great idea.👍

Looks like they finally got a new sign at Dutchman. The old one was pretty bad.

There are lots of new signs out there. Tons of them.

 

[rubiranch]

LINK - Chef Master 90027 Portable Butane Stove

Here's a butane stove like the one I have. My friend has one too.
They are awesome little stoves.




I have this aluminum skillet that we cook on.



I have a Quad Boss front bag that I carry all my "kitchen" stuff in if we plan on cooking.



We almost always cook dinner at the top of Mineral Fork.
We go up late in the afternoon, cook dinner and wait until sundown to watch the goats migrate down the canyon.
We've used them quite a bit over the years.

 

[kickstart]

I leave a Jetboil in every vehicle I own along with three or four Mountain House dinners. In my Prairie bag, I also carry a titanium cutlery and kitchenware set for cooking and camping off the quad. It comes in handy.
One of my buddy's had one of those clamshell cookers you strap to your exhaust, and it does grilled cheese sandwiches and hobo tin foil dinners really well.
Another buddy just does the MRE's. They heat themselves and are pretty dang good but are kinda spendy.

 

[rubiranch]

LINK - Esbit pocket stove.



I carry one of these in my ATV but nothing in my vehicles other than emergency winter clothing and a sleeping bag.

The only time I take my butane stove with me is when we plan on cooking.

 

[rubiranch]

I've posted pictures from this trail before. Didn't plan on riding but the sun came out and it got into the mid 40s so I figured why not and its less than a 1/4 of a mile from my front door.



This is the summit of the trails and its always where the snow is the deepest.



I could have kept pushing it and gone down the other side but its the shaded side so I'm sure it would be more difficult to come back up.

I did that a few years ago and ended up having to winch a few hundred yards, broke one recovery rope and ruined my winch.



So turned around and headed back down.



For those of you who love riding when it gets rough if you don't have a Pen Lock I highly recommend that you get one.
When you pull back that little yellow lever to lock the front diff you press that little button and it holds the front end locked so you don't have to hold that little yellow lever.
Its especially nice when you get stuck and you're using your winch. You can keep the front locked, press your winch button and use the throttle at the same time.
Next to adding a winch I think its the best add on option there is.

High Lifter ""Pen-Lock"" Kawasaki Differential Lever Locking Assembly

High Lifter Products is pleased to introduce our innovation for riders of Kawasaki ATV?s equipped with the popular Kawasaki Differential Locking Lever. Conceived by Kawasaki Team Green rider and 11-Time GNCC Champion, Mike Penland, the PEN-Lock is developed and marketed exclusively by High...

www.highlifter.com

Such a good looking ATV.

After coming back down I hit PST 12 that's about a mile up the road.



Just enough snow to make it fun.





The kitty that left these paw prints is a lot bigger than my kitties.



Heading back home. Just a 20 mile ride today.

The End

 

[kickstart]

Got out for a little high altitude ride yesterday.

 

[kickstart]

 

[kickstart]

 

[rubiranch]

Glad to see you out riding again.

 

[kickstart]

Glad to see you out riding again.

Thanks Kenny. It felt so good to get out. It's been way too long.

 

[rubiranch]

We're headed out this coming Sunday. Its supposed to be a pretty nice day and they're calling for a slight chance for snow Sunday night thru Tuesday.

Up on Big Flat there's only 15" of snow right now and that's 10349 ft.

 

[rubiranch]

This is what was waiting for me Sunday morning at the end of my driveway as I headed down Clear Creek Canyon headed for the San Rafael Swell.



The exit we take is the Temple Mountain exit that's about 100 miles east from me.
This is Temple Mountain, about 20 miles if from I-70.



This is about where the trail starts. You can drive a car to this point.



The Swell is a fascinating place.



We usually reach this cabin about noon time so this is where we always have lunch.

Look how close Kevin's tires came to the edge. The snow added a little excitement to this particular section.
This is a 53" inch trail and I seriously doubt that anything wider than 50" is getting past here.

A 1951 Ford Custom Deluxe sedan. I'll never understand why people love shooting up old abandoned vehicles.



After I replaced my fuel pump I've always questioned just how accurate the sending unit was.
The last bar flashed for about 25 miles and I never ran out of gas.
Yesterday was the farthest I've ever gone on a tank of gas.

 

[kickstart]

Fantastic! I love that trail.
I've never been able to do that loop without adding fuel. I'd say you did pretty dang good!

 

[rubiranch]

Fantastic! I love that trail.
I've never been able to do that loop without adding fuel. I'd say you did pretty dang good!

Thank you. I kept waiting for it to die.

Mineral Fork and Behind the Reef are two of my favorite rides.

 

[rubiranch]

Washed it and got it all cleaned up.

There was 73 miles even on the odo and I put in 5 gallons to fill it up, 14.6 mpg.
Haven't seen that in a long time. New belt new plugs.

 

[rubiranch]

January 23, 2015.