58 Days–4,995 Miles

While in Marysvale we were fortunate to meet some new friends to enjoy riding the trails and sharing tasty meals. 

The Paiute trail is one not to be missed, with miles and miles of beautiful scenery to explore.  This summer we rode about 650 miles in our RZR- and most of those miles were right from our campground in Marysvale, Utah!

We left on Friday morning for our final road trip back to our home in Cottonwood, Arizona.  Driving along Hwy 89 we passed through red rocks and over the Colorado river, skirting the edges of monsoon storms near Flagstaff before descending into the Verde Valley where our truck’s thermometer read 104 degrees!

We drove 4,995 miles on our truck this year, mostly towing our Heartland Road Warrior toyhauler loaded with our RZR and Caleb’s Honda 250EX quad.  We were fortunate to spend 57 nights and 58 days on the road exploring.  Diesel was about $3.70 per gallon and the price went down as the summer progressed. 

We are settled back into our home in time for the quickly approaching school year.  Our summer trip was unforgettable, full of joy and laughter.  We spent two weeks enjoying the lake up in Canada, fishing and kneeboarding, and three weeks riding the Paiute trails with our side by side and quad.  We bundled up  in the ponderosa pines of Grand Canyon National Park’s North Rim and were misted by the spray of geysers at Yellowstone National Park on father’s day.  We look forward to future journeys along the trail!

11,500 feet- The Highest Point on Paiute 01

Heading out of the Marysvale valley, we ascended the 02.
We were going to the Paiute 01, past the gate that was still closed on our last visit  due to snow.

We climbed through the pine and aspen to reach the highest point on the trail, between Mt.Belknap and Delano Peak.

We topped out at 11,500 feet!

The scenery was breathtaking, crossing avalanche chutes and climbing above the tree line.

The views of the valleys below and the mountain peaks are truly amazing.

Riding in the mountains rewards the senses with vast mountain views, clear crisp air, alpine flowers, deer grazing, and butterflies fluttering.

From the meandering Beaver Creek running on the valley floor to the pale purple alpine Columbine, the Tushar mountain range holds surprises around every corner.

As I was photographing the alpine flowers it appears that the Chris and Caleb were enjoying their break!

Lounging on the quad watching the puffy clouds float by, Caleb has been to some amazing places.

Following the creek back to the valley of Marysvale,

we were welcomed home to camp by this young colt.

Raspberries on the Deer Creek Trail

Back in beautiful Marysvale,  we headed out for the Deer Creek Trail.

Crossing over the Sevier River, we headed towards side trail #74.

Just beyond Hoover’s, the large rock cliffs came into sight.

And then our ride came to a halt!  Raspberries were spotted by the creek and anyone who knows Caleb knows he LOVES berries!

So we picked and he munched until a glance up at the sky told us we needed to move along the trail.

Flowers and butterflies graced our way over the creek crossings.

We travelled up to the top where the side trail joins with the Paiute 01, eating lunch at the meadow fence that Chris and Caleb helped construct a few weeks ago.

Caleb’s new tires traversed the rocky fields with ease as he was now fueled with raspberries!

Twenty-seven miles round trip was perfect timing

to arrive back at the trailer before the monsoon opened up the sky!

Another beautiful ride on the Paiute trail!