Paunsaugunt obsession

Posted byDave 12 Comments on Paunsaugunt obsession

It may be February, but I’m in the midst of a full blown Paunsaugunt obsession.  Go figure, its deep under snow and inaccessible till late May or so.  It started back in October.  The Trans Utah route blazes right up and over the Paunsaugunt, hitting the best trails in the process.  I was really looking forward to riding it again but was denied by that early winter storm.

We did a lot of exploring last summer up there.  There are a lot of quality trails up there, and some very remote trails.  Once I got the lay of the land and trail network I’ve had this idea to create a one day event up there.  It simply amazes me how good the trails are up there – and how little use they see.  I’ve never seen tire tracks on any of it aside from Thunder Mountain.

For grins and giggles I strung the GPS tracks I have together and added some best guess material for the routes I don’t yet have.  It looks like this:

The profile:

The route has a bit of everything.  The best trail I’ve ever ridden comes early in the ride – Thunder Mountain.  The fun factor there is off the charts, as is the scenery.  Plenty of Grandview trail – but only the good parts.  Some of that beast is overgrown with thickets from neglect.  ATV trails here and there as connectors, and they actually are quite good riding with great flow. 

The route is a beast.  The distance listed above is most likely about 5 miles short of actual so it will be close to 100 miles.  Much of it is slow going.  The southern section is simply amazing…Google Earth the TU route for the skinny on that…and it’s also extremely demanding.  Lots of up and down, lots of singletrack, rugged, remote, a real ass kicker. 

I’ll have 2 routes:  the full monty, and a shorter route that avoids the beautiful beast that is the southern traverse.  The date will be either July 11 or 18.  Any requests for either?  The 11th is good timing as it’s the week after the 4th – the ATV crowd will still be nursing hangovers at home that weekend ;)  

Some of the terrain we’ll hit:

This is the land of Bryce Canyon national park.  We won’t go into the park but be close to it.  A big group campsite/staging at Tropic res complete with amphitheatre for podium ToC style will serve as basecamp.  It’ll be a cozy affair ala KMC.

This is one you’ll want to make.  Are  you in?  Any date requests?

12 replies on “Paunsaugunt obsession”

  1. Good gravy!
    I’ve ridden Thunder Moutain- the stuff of bike porn, it is.
    And the obsession comes perhaps from the time of year? I’ve got a serious hankerin’ right now to get out for some burly rides- and I don’t hardly pedal that much! I won’t even hint that I’ll come out and suffer with y’all, but I’ll watch in envy from afar. :-)

  2. to far away to do more than say I am interested, at least in the ‘shorty’ loop. Humm, Or might do a ‘scout’ on some of the TU part?

    And the ‘group camp’ sounds fun as these rides are solo efforts for me even when there are others on the same trail but way out front

  4. Looks scrumptious there Dave. I have no idea how the summer is going to shake out, but I’d go for the earlier date space it a bit from the CTR. Let us know and I’ll keep it blinking brightly on the radar.

  5. yeah, it’s a ways away but certainly will be keeping it in mind as we may be spending some time in a cabin outside of Torrey on and off for some of this spring / summer. not likely i’d actually be able to fit in any serious bike riding between all the running races i’m planning this year but it might be fun to try.

  9. gg – the shorter route falls out right around 65 miles. It’s really big on scenery, especially miles 40-50, then a gradual descent back to the start. Still roughly 8500′ vert so no picnic.

    I’ll have a new page dedicated to the ride in time and gps files on the TU forum. The files won’t be ready until spring though – gotta scout a few key pieces.

  10. Ahhhh, now that sounds like a great day to me. I can wrap my head around that mileage. Staying tuned in!

    grannygear

Comments are closed.