FEBRUARY WTA NEWS LETTER

ABOUT THE PACHOON GULCH MEET:

Ok, so it was raining when we woke up Saturday morning and had been most of the night.And sure it was foggy so visibility was down to a few hundred feet.And yeah it only got worse as we headed out to Pachoon Gulch where we discovered the dirt road past the pavement was a mucky mess.And yes it did start to rain harder as we huddled under the sign-up awning trying to get the paperwork done and wondering where the nearest hot tub was.But folks, it was FIFTY-TWO (52) degrees!Man that’s a far cry from the balmy nine degrees when I left Roosevelt. And although it was raining there wasn’t the eighteen inches of snow that most of the rest of the state had. And at 11:00, just as the weather liars had promised, it quit raining.Time to ride in shirt sleeves!By noon the sun came out and it a beautiful sunny day.Yeah!

 

The marshals for the Pachoon Gulch event this year were Chris Trease and Amber Rasband, and they treated us to ten spectacular sections.Those who may have thought that the rain would make the sections unrideable were way wrong!In fact, that rain set up the sandy parts of the section so that you could literally carve a full lock turn through stuff that would normally be super loose.It was interesting; as the sections began to dry out, our loop scores actually went up.Maybe we were riding harder when it was wet, concentrating more, I don’t know, but out first loop scores when everything was still wet were better than the third loop scores.Looking at the scores, the section difficulty was right where it should be.They did a great job!

 

The other cool thing is that Chris has been working with the BLM and got us a ten year permit to ride at Pachoon Gulch!How cool is that!!??Pachoon Gulch is such a beautiful place to ride.It’s our own little treasure!The only downside was that there was a bunch of trash and junk left out in the area by some of the locals.We’re going to try to get back out there with some trailers and haul that junk out of there.If you happen to be out there, and get a chance to haul some of that junk off, it would be greatly appreciated.
 

 

Pachoon Gulch Results:

The next meet:

Utah'sPresents

Trials at the “Base Camp”
In Moab

 

Where:         Moab, UT When:          February 28 Time:           10 AM - 4 PM Cleanup:      4:00 – 4:30 Awards:       4:30 – 5:00 Sign up:       8:00 – 9:40 Riders Meeting:    9:45 – 10:00

Ride fees:   First Time Riders: $10 Children under 12: $10 Dependent children 12 and up: $15 Adult Members: $20 Non-members:  $30

WTA Yearly Membership Fees: Single: $20                  Family: $30

CLASSES: NOVICE, SPORTSMAN, WOMEN, SENIOR SPORSTMAN, INTERMEDIATE, SENIOR INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED, SENIOR ADVANCED, EXPERT B, EXPERT, CHAMP

Our next meet is at Moab on February 28.This is whole new area for us, it’s on private property offered by a company called “Base Camp” (http://letsplaysoccer.com/basecamp/index.html).They offer both rooms that we can rent and camping on site.The place looks terrific as you can see in the photo below!

Here’s the info they sent us:

Chris, I can do the rooms for $108 a night, pretty much two people to a room.

I'd prefer two night stays otherwise it screws up our weekend rentals and

normally we're $175 a night so trying to do the best I can and still break

even.



We've been charging $5 a night per person for camping.

If we have a beach (that's kind of up to the river) they can

stay on the beach or a level area pretty close to the lodge.

For lodging info, contact Base Camp at:

Lodge phone: (254) 201-2803

Cell phone: (435) 260-1783

basecamp@letsplaysoccer.com

Here’s the map we have, with text instructions on how to get there below:

View Larger Map

DIRECTIONS TO BASE CAMP FROM MOAB

- From Route 191 between Burger King and McDonalds, turn on "Kane Creek Blvd." heading west. (West is only option)

- At the Y in the road, STAY STRAIGHT, and the Colorado River will be on your right side about 1/2 mile or so up the road as you drive through what is known as "The Portal".

- After 4 miles of paved road it will turn into a hard packed dirt road- RESET YOUR ODOMETER NOW- You'll wind down into the canyon and then into a valley area. You will cross over two creek beds. Depending on the time of the year, they'll probably be dry. If it's raining heavily, use discretion, you can get trapped on the far side and not be able to get back for a day or two.

- At approx. 6.3 miles from where you exited the paved road, you will see the 1st "HurrahPass" directional sign- it will be after you cross the 2nd creek bed. Where the sign is pointing right, wasn't really a road, but people keep turning right at the sign and it's turning into a road. Go past it a quarter mile or so and you'll see the road split solidly and you'll stay right.

- You will now go another 2.7 miles from this point to the top of "HurrahPass". From the time you departed the paved road, this should have taken approximately 30 minutes depending on how comfortable you are driving on at best a “dirt” road and how often you stop to look at the scenery. There is substantial elevation to this road leading up the pass and down again. If height is an issue for you, take the day off. Four wheel drive is no longer necessary, but ground clearance is

- At the top of "HurrahPass" you will see an elevation sign and will be able to see the white roof of Base Camp if you look toward the widest part of the river with the island in it, which is straight ahead. If you have a walkie talkie, we are on channel 20. If you have Verizon or US Cellular you can probably get two bars on your cell phone if you walk around a little and experiment. This will be the last time your cell phone works.

- From the top of Hurrah to the bottom it is exactly 2.3 miles to our Base Camp sign. At this point, be extremely careful. Kobae our security tortoise may be out wandering the property and he loves to hang out here so don't run over him. At the sign you will bear right and go down the hill to the first of two gates, drive through it and we are the next left hand turn. If either of the two gatesare closed, they will only look like they are locked, they are not. Open them and drive through.

You will see a parking area and WELCOME!!!

 

For info on the Wasatch Trials Association
e-mail UtahTrials at
utahtrials@yahoo.com