Archive for the ‘Trips’ Category

Videos from JEM and Bearclaw

by Dave Johnson

March 24 2009

I’m in a red shirt, brown shorts, silver helmet, silver bike, and in the lead most of the time.

JEM Trail video from Bogley.com

Bearclaw Poppy Trail video from Bogley.com

JEM And Bearclaw Poppy Trails.

by Dave Johnson

March 23 2009

Last Saturday I joined up with Justin McFarland (part owner of Bogley.com) and some of his friends from Ogden, Utah. Around 11:00 A.M. we all meet up at the bottom trailhead of JEM and shuttled to the top trailhead. Justin, Mark, and me led the pack most of the way. I found out the hard way that the banks are soft in the corners. The first time my bike slid out from under me, I was lucky to gain control again. The second time, I was also able to gain control again, but couldn’t get back on the track quick enough and ended up hitting a bush and going over the handle bars. :D

Pictures from Justin McFarland.

After some lunch and rest, I meet back up with Justin and Mark to tackle Bearclaw Poppy Trail. Now after one near crash, one actual crash, and a scary ride next to the cliff on JEM. Bearclaw was just a walk in the park. Nothing seemed to faze me. We bombed down that as fast as we could and it only seemed like it took us 30 minutes to get to the bottom.

This was one of the best days I’ve had mountain biking it quite some time. I’m glad I got a chance to meet up with Justin and the other northern pros. :) When Justin gets done with the videos I’ll be sure to post them.

Announcement: Don’t ride Bearclaw when it’s wet and muddy! It’s damaging the trail. It leaves ruts from the tires and when it dries the clay hardens like a rock. The result is a very bumpy and torn up trail.  Again please don’t ride Bearclaw Poppy Trail when it is wet.

Fly Fishing Santa Clara River.

by Dave Johnson

March 18 2009

I went up with my friend Statton and his dad early today to Baker Res. Just south of Central, Utah. The main river in and out of Baker Res. is the Santa Clara River. After Statton and I got tired of fishing the dam with no luck we decided to head down to where the river flows out of the dam. At the start it was really shallow and could clearly see there was no fish in it.

We had to hike about a mile downstream to get to some pools that had fish in it. The trout in this area spook really easy. It’s nearly impossible not to spook them just because the sun was on the wrong side. The bush and trees close in real fast and is hard to get in to cast a fly. I lost one fly and got hung up on branches countless times. We did all that for nothing because all three of us got skunked.

The next time I make it up there I’m going to try to fish it where the Santa Clara comes into Baker Res.

Fly fishing Leeds Creek

by Dave Johnson

March 1 2009

It was a great day to do some fishing. My friend and I went fishing at Leeds Creek. We got to one spot a few miles from the bridge. We got out to look at the creek a few hundred feet down. From the top it looks impossible to hike down let alone fish. So we said what the hell might as well try it. It was a very intense hike down. We remained watchful for snakes, cacti, and very loose rocks. When we finally made it to the bottom we pretty much had to crawl to the river, because of how thick the brush is by the river.

It really didn’t look like there was any fish in the area just because of how shallow and clear it was. When I casted in I tried the best I could to get my fly under the overhanging trees where it was deeper, but the water moves so fast that by the time my fly would sink it would be back in the shallow part in front of me. This would normally result in the fly getting stuck on the rocks.

I was using an old chewed up red BH Brassie that I made. I repeated this casting for a while and again it felt like my fly got stuck under the rocks so again I lifted up and the line took off. This is where my adrenalin kick in the only thing that was on my mind was hurry and land this fish before you lose him. When I got him in it was a gorges little Bonneville Cutthroat Trout With orange under its head.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get a picture of my first one because my phone was tucked away in my pack. But the second one I got was half the size of my first one. (in the picture above)

I was also using the Willy J. Exodus pack in the picture and did great for a day pack that needs to get into tight spots. so I’ll be posting a good review about that later.  By the time we got done we had hiked 200ft upstream. I caught two Trout and Statton caught one. If you want a real challenge and want to catch some natives. Then you have got to try Leeds Creek.

I’m Off To Elko

by Dave Johnson

November 26 2008

Thats Right I’m off to podunkville in the middle of nowhere.  I’m heading up to Elko, Navada for Thanksgiving. It was my Grand perants 50th anniversry a week ago and my mom and her family are throwing a  50th anniversy party over thanksgiving weekend. So by the time you read this I’m already gone, and won’t be back until sunday. Im sure it will be a sweet but boring trip up.  It’s going to be freezing cold, and I belive we’re going to go over to Salt Lake City on Saturday. Then we’ll come back on sunday. I’ll bring back lots of photos which will mostly be snow.

See ya Sunday,
Dave