Anasazi Trail and Petroglyphs
by Dave Johnson
October
3
2009
Today Mike and I were planing on riding Barrel Roll Trail but Swiss Days in Santa Clara messed that plan up, so we hit Anasazi Trail instead. The temperature is perfect for mountain biking right now. not to hot, not to cold. It was an uneventful day just a nice leisurely ride
Panguitch Lake Campout
by Dave Johnson
June
8
2009
This past week I went to our annual family campout at Panguitch Lake, Ut. We left Wednesday morning and set up camp and waited for everyone else. On Thursday Statton and I rode Bunker Creek Trail and we both crashed. For me the Fishing was Terrible and that may be an overstatement.
On Thursday I was fishing the meadow East of White Bridge Campground and I had fish come to the surface about 15 times to eat my strike indicator. After the 15th time I was starting to lose my cool so I decided to play dirty to. I changed my fly to a little green ball that was made to look like an egg. I casted that out there and let it drag so it would come to the surface. Sure enough a fish grabbed my strike indicator and right after that one grabbed my fly. I literally pulled the fish on shore by setting the hook. Once I had looked at him I realized why, I just caught a Rainbow Trout about the size of my index finger.
In the 5 days I spent at Panguitch I caught two Rainbows, a Brown Trout, almost ran into a deer on my Mountain bike, crashed on my mountain bike at 30 mph, and froze my ass off which made for a hell of a trip.
Bunker Creek Trail
by Dave Johnson
June
8
2009
Bunker Creek Trail is an awesome downhill trail IF you do it a month from now. I learned my lesson and I won’t be soon forgetting it. Let’s just say the snow patches on the mountain look smaller they are.
On Thursday Statton and I decided it would be fun to do a trail while we were up here on a camping trip. I’ve wanted to do Bunker Creek for years and was finally able to do it. When my dad dropped us off near the top of Brian Head, we had to hike over a snow patch that covered the road before we could even get to the trailhead. To add to the situation the wind was cold and must have been blowing at 60 mph
The trail starts at about 10,500 ft. We had to spend most of our time hike-a-bike through the snow that covered the trail in patches. Once we started dropping it started drying off and was a nice smooth ride until we got to where the trail forks left and right. We took the right fork of Bunker Creek (left fork from top) and instantly ran into snow again.
Again after we started dropping in altitude we were cursing down some fun rock gardens and switchbacks without snow. We soon ran into another problem, since it was so early in the season there were tons of trees that have fallen over the trail and the Color Country Bike Club hadn’t had time to do trail work yet, and I give the Color Country Bike Club props for cleaning up this trail every year.
After climbing over three dozen trees the trail turned into an ATV track and turned into some smooth riding that is until I got bucked forward and went over the handle bars at 30+ mph and landing on my face. Good thing my head was resting on my left arm and my right hand. After I crashed I was in so much pain could swear my shoulder was broken and the same for my wrist. After lying on the ground for a few minutes the pain started to dull and I was able to determine that I fine except all for all the road rash on my knees, arms, shoulder, and a scratch on my face. It took me 10 minutes to figure out where my bike went, but I soon found it upside down in a tree 15 feet down the trail from where I was sitting (last picture). I figured I flew/skidded 15ft from the start of the crash.
This would be an awesome trail in July, but I will never do this trail again in June or any time before it. On a side note I thought it was really cool watching the ground fly by 2 inches from my face.
Zen Trail
by Dave Johnson
May
23
2009
Today I decided that I should ride Zen Trail seeing that I wouldn’t have another chance to try it for another 3 weeks, even thought I dislocated my knee for a second on Tuesday. By Friday the pain was gone so I said “what the hell lets go try one of the hardest trails in St. George.”
I arrived at the trailhead around 8:00 a.m., and had a look at a 750ft climb. The beginning portion of the trail is ATV track and is a smooth steady climb. As soon as it turned into a single track I started encountering a much steeper climb and some quick rock stunts
About half way up is a tiny rock drop and continues between two rocks that I scraped my pedals on. After that you come to a cliff where you can see the 3 Fingers of Death of Bearclaw Poppy Trail.
For your first time riding this trail it would be really hard to find your way without a GPS. I lost the trail countless times, and had to walk a few steep parts. In some sections I think it’s impossible to bike up the trail no matter what type of bike you have.
I was somewhat disappointed with downhill even though it had a lot of fun tech spots mixed in. The downhill isn’t fully downhill. There are a few places where you have to climb back up. It was nothing big or hard but after the 750ft climb I really didn’t have the energy to climb the short ups near the bottom of the trail.
The weather was perfect. Yes I know it’s cloudy, but I would much rather have cool and cloudy verses Hot and sunny. The trail was really great but not a trail I would ride every week.
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. 
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.