A New Season: Bonneville Trail

It's getting that time of year again. These past couple of week the weather has been teasing us with rising temperatures and then sudden rainstorms and cold fronts. Sometimes we struggle to believe that Spring has really arrived. Well, I'm glad to say that the bike has been out a couple of times this month and so it is official, Spring is here. And so begins another year of mountain biking and sharing with others the experience through blog.
My first trail this year was what should have been a fairly simple one, unless of course you're out of shape and didn't keep up on the cardio during the winter like you should have. Those of you familiar with the Ogden area know of the Bonneville Trail system that follows the west bench of the Wasatch Front. There are many sections to this trail and I did the Ogden section of couple of times this past week. It's one trail that can easily be done after work and it's not uncommon to pass by other bikers, runners (all though why would anyone run when they can bike?), and hikers. This early in the season the vegetation is still just barely beginning to bloom. The trees have yet to sprout leaves, however, the shrubs and grass along the trail becomes greener and greener as the days pass. Water begins to stream from the canyons as the snow pack melts. On Monday as I crossed the stream that comes from Taylor Canyon there wasn't even a trickle of water. The creek bed was dry and parched. On Thursday, however, that had all changed with a full flowing stream typical of early snow melt. I was amazed to see how big a difference only 3 days made. Those streams coming from Waterfall Canyon and Strong's Canyon had already started their early Spring decent.
My section of the trail started at the entrance to Ogden Canyon in the Rainbow Gardens parking lot. It is a single track trail that leads of up quick ascent until it merges with a double track service road that runs along the foot of the mountain. One can follow this service road over to Ogden Canyon to access the water pipeline that spans the entrance of the canyon. At that part you can look up the winding road of Ogden Canyon. On the adjacent canyon wall, depending on the county's water need, you can see the man made waterfall from the pipeline splashing down below. From the service road one can follow many different trails. The Ogden foothills are filled with dozens of trails, many of which end up in the same general vicinity. The more famous trails are the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and Indian Trail. I plan on doing a hike along Indian Trail this summer so check back periodically for that.
Back to the trail. From the service road we hooked up with the upper part of the Bonneville Shoreline trail. Again, it turns back into a single track trail, gradual climb with ups and downs, and weaves in and out along the rock wall in between Taylor and Ogden Canyon. At the Taylor Canyon junction you can head back down to the city or continue along. The trail becomes less technical at this point but the incline continues with less ups and downs. The trail now hugs the side of the mountain and has a very steep drop off to one side. It's mostly a dirt trail but every now and then you come across some rock slide areas that leave a lot of gravel where it crosses the trail.
Eventually you come to a popular resting point in the trail called Overlook Rock. From this point you can see the entire Weber Valley which encompasses North Ogden, Ogden, South Ogden and everything to the West including the Great Salt Lake and many of it's islands. From this point the trail begins to level out. It still hugs the side of the mountain and weaves in and out of its little nooks and crannies, but the uphill is done with.
The next major canyon you ride into will be Waterfall Canyon. This is a very popular canyon for hikers because of the 200' waterfall at the end. I don't have a picture of this waterfall because it's been years since I've hiked this canyon, but I did find this picture on the Internet that was taken during the winter when the waterfall was frozen. Kind of cool. The stream coming down from the canyon is in full force and the bridge to cross is not in the best shape of its life. Just a couple of planks were missing. No worries though...right?
Again you follow the trail along the contour of the mountain and then weave in and out of Strong's Canyon. Eventually you end up at the end of the trail which meets up with a neighboring community built high along the bench just west of Weber State University. This is the end and you have two choices. Follow the road back home (boring!) or double back along the trail to get some revenge on that stupid incline at the beginning. The choice is pretty obvious from there. Upon arriving at the service road again I followed another trail to the 22nd street trail head, which is close to where I live, while my friend headed back to Rainbow Gardens, close to where he lives.
The trail is a great way for beginners, and out-of-shapers, to start of the season. In fact, in some spots it's a pretty great trail for youngsters to learn to mountain bike. We saw this mother with her two children up on the trail. She had one child on his mountain bike and was guiding him and holding onto the bike as he learned. I would've suggested the trails just below this one because they are a little flatter and easier to handle. My friend Darek made the comment about "throwing the kid into the deep end of the pool." Regardless, it was great to see a mother out teaching her child how to ride, instead of letting him play video games all day long.
To end off, I'll leave you with my classic Google Earth view of the trail. This year, however, I'll be adding a topographical map and also a vertical profile of the trail (Tyler got a handheld GPS at the beginning of last year and has been playing with it ever since). I also am going to leave those of you interested in a link to a great website Darek gave me about Utah mountain biking trails. I've already found and have mapped out three more trails that I want to do so. That link is http://www.utahmountainbiking.com. Stayed tuned for future updates...and if we're lucky, maybe even some great stories about getting the boat out.


GOTTA GET'M STARTED EARLY!!