Utah Places: Butterfield Canyon

Another monument to mans insatiable appetite for metal ore, and an indomitable will to dominate the earth. This view is the Bingham Canyon overlook, reachable by traversing the Butterfield Canyon Road from Herriman up to the saddle, then turning north for a further short distance.

Butterfield Canyon is a lovely glen in the sprawl and squalor of cities that have sprung up across the west of the Salt Lake Valley in the last thirty years. After many years of decrepitude, the canyon was the recipient of extensive reclamation efforts by its principal property owner, the Kennecot Corporation. The area is now a show place and a delight to the eye year-round.

Bikers and peddlers love the harsh grades and switchbacks. It makes a nice picnic drive for a weekend afternoon too.

Links:

Bikers
Bikers
4wd

Utah Places: Fivemile Pass

BLM land is usually marginal as far as aesthetic value, but it is valuable for other intrinsics that are sometimes difficult to weight. The Pass area is one of those, unremarkable to the eye, but rich in history and culture.

Some links:
ATV Trails.
BLM Info- has link to a good map.

The BLM has given Fivemile Pass over to ATV use, and it shows. Prior to the ATV craze, the area was covered with mining claims, and that still is very much in evidence too. Someday, the whole mess will be cleaned up. Right now it looks like a ten thousand acre monument to wanton indulgence.

Trails crisscross the area indiscriminately leading everywhere and nowhere. Some leads can get you into trouble, like the one that looks like a thrilling leap over a deep ravine, but opens into a vertical mine shaft. Long ways down.

The steepest grade I ever drove the 4Runner on is to the north. A long hill that leads up to the ridge overlooking the Mercur Canyon mine and operations center. Climb it if you have the traction. I just made it. No problem for ATVs.

There are some spectacular high vistas, for those willing to climb. Snow lingers late this high -- don´t be surprised to find deeper drifts on the north shadowy spots into July.

Mineral mining was the big attraction in the Oquirrh Mountains to the north. For more than a hundred years copper has been mined and smelted. Plenty of other metals, like gold and silver, are also in rich supply. Try your luck high grading some rocks, you might strike the mother lode!

Spring Snow Update

A little more snow adds to the mix. As you can see, Snail Hollow is spot on for a good water year, neither too wet nor too dry.

The ground was bare for a while, due to fewer storms and warmer temperatures.


My dad is fond of saying that Snail Hollow has three seasons -- Snow, Mud, Dust. Currently, we have just passed the Mud Equinox and are approaching the next Dust Solstice.





A big flock of wild turkeys migrated into Snail Hollow the other day. I tried rounding them up with my 4 wheeler ATV. They outsmarted me, dumb turkey that I am, but mom managed to catch this one lone hen that got separated from the bunch.

The Biggest Turkey in Snail Hollow on the Polaris 800

Morning Misadventure

Note: My sister Cindy has expressed her approval of the high points of this story for the humorous editorial content but some of it is not suitable for younger or more sensitive folk, so use some good sense and discretion, PLEASE.

Last night I went to bed in the middle of a nightmare of my own creation, the details of which I cannot elaborate on further. But I passed out earlier on my dad's living room floor. I was in no condition to conduct a rational discussion, which is exactly what I later attempted -- and failed so abysmally, it put me into the deepest funk I have been in since I last wanted so much to end my life.

As I said, it was a miserable way to take to my bed, and I slept not at all. I felt sick and upset and faint all night, and about 4:00, I finally abandoned the pretense of trying to sleep and took to my shower. The hot water always gives some soothing relaxation. Not this time.

I continued to worry, and quickly built a scheme to drive to my sister's house on my ATV. It is only about 40 mile to Price as the crow flies, so I could make it easily. These obstacles:

1. Parents would never consent, too dangerous
2. Illegal to operate OHV on highway
3. Registration is not current
4. If I sneak, people will likely be searching
5. Deep snow and and icy across Skyline
6. Currently light snow showers

I decided I needed to do this, so I sneaked out the back door and cranked up the Polaris 800 and zoomed past the house, lights ablaze. Mistake #1. My dad was standing at the door looking as I blazed down the driveway. Not a very subtle getaway. Not even out the driveway, and I was already in trouble.

I was feeling really sick, but hung on and navigated up the highway toward Hilltop and Millburn. I figured they'd look toward U6 first because it is the direct route to Price, but there are better routes for an ATV.

On the road out of Snail Hollow, I saw that only a sprinkling of snow had fallen. There was not even enough to warrant snowplow operation today, which I thought of as in my favor.

I start south, on the side of the highway, but did not realize that there are deep culverts hidden in the snow alongside the road. I skirted a few by chance, but bumped into a very deep hole on about the third or forth. It was no challenge at all for the Polaris, but it turned me into the hillside, and I lost control at 40 mph.

I panicked.

I started to fall off, because I was cruising along unable to correct the steering or hold my body against the increasing grade, that was fast approaching roll-over. Okay. Release the throttle first, gently. Calm down. Your machine has saved you, as it has so many times before.'

Coasting to a near halt, at a near 40% slope, I tried to hold my body with right leg that is weak and trembling. Motorists are speeding past on 89, thinking "...what FUN that guy must be having, swoop up slopes on his 4 wheeler!" And I'm just wondering how to get down from her without wrecking my bike and breaking myself.

The next thing -- after calming -- was to put both hands together on the left side handlebar and PUSH while holding with trembling right leg, to keep myself from falling off the bike and tumbling down the hill. I imagined if I did, the 4-wheeler would run over me too, just for good measure.

Anyway, that worked! so I didn't find out.

I had made it as far as Hilltop without being caught, but I figured if my dad was looking my mom would call out the troops, so I'd better stick to back road, so I turned down toward Millburn. I was cruising pretty good when I realized I should take off the tire chains, the pavement was almost dry. So I pulled around the curve and parked off the pavement.

I swung off the ATV saddle and fell flat on my face. I lay trembling and tired for a few minutes just glad I made it that far without falling off.

After that I tried using the winch to pull me some slack in the chain, but the locking carabiner was jammed tight in the fairlead rollers, and I could not get it out either!  I got the starboard chains off in the mean time, and was using a crowbar to pry some slack in. Naturally I lost my grip and cut my hand with the crowbar, but I did finally get the port side chains off and everything stowed away.

Then I put on some speed. The Polaris is made to do about 60mph on level ground. I was crusing down the side of the wrong side of the road, because I have no peripheral view with the helmet on, cannot see with the wind blowing anyway, and this way I can see oncoming traffic, and I pull off into the borrow pit and stop. I got through Millburn in about 30 seconds. It was one of the fastest traverses on an ATV ever, I'm pretty sure. The only thing that slowed me, at the end, Cindy Mower had to stop for the school bus and I was coming up behind at about 50 mph, so I had to slow down. I pulled into the gas station to fill up. That turned out to be the end of the ride.

Fred and Audreys was not opened yet so I drove over to Walkers. I bought some jersey gloves for liners becase my hands were frozen, and a hot chocolate to help warm up. I was going to fill up with gas, and I tried to bak over to the pumps, but the h=ot chocolate tipped over and spilled just as I was rolling backwards, and I backed right into the diesel pump handle as I grabbed for the tipping cup. My luck started draining out as fast as diesel fuel, all over the ground.

I missed the chocolate, too.

As the ATV bumped up against the pump, the handle broke off at the swivel fitting. I had felt so confident up to that point, Then I saw that everything I was scheming was going to unravel, and I tried to dismount from the saddle of the bike. It was too close to the pump though, and I caught my foot and fell backwards out of control again, this time flat onto my butt onto the hard concrete pavement of the gas station. I fractured my coccyx again, I think. I just laid there sobbing, and right then, my neighbor Phil drove up. He immediately radioed on his shortwave handi-talkie a status up to the SAR net, that the SUBJECT was located, namely ME, and he did all right, just like we were taught.

The jig was up. They'd found me.

After I finished sobbing like a bawl baby, Phil and Ricky took charge of the ATV and Ron drove me home in dad's pickup.  The lady at Walkers said don't worry about it, they'll have their maintenance guy fix the diesel handle. I asked the Sheriff guy who came by Walkers to call off the SAR and call my folks and tell them I'm coming right home.

They won't let me have the Polaris back now. Guess I'll just walk if I should happen to go berserk and get the insane inclination to set out across the Skyline again.

White Christmas!

Lots of new snow falling in this locale.

Mammoth-Cottonwood is the nearest official measuring station, near the top of Fairview Canyon. It reflects about how much snow is on the ground now at Snail Hollow, although I believe our drifted accumulation is a bit more.

I have had plenty of work clearing off driveways and walkways. The new ATV mounted plow has had a pretty good trial, and passed with flying colors.

I can manage most of the functions of operating the ATV pretty well. I have trouble with the transmission shifter at times, but can manhandle it with both hands, when needed. Sometimes the plow blade is difficult to swivel, but I have managed to minimize that operation, after encountering some bit of trouble with it. All in all, a very satisfying operation that went quite smoothly. I was even able to help extricate a stuck vehicle, after some bit of work.

Let it snow!

Some Assembly Required

ATV Snowplow

We assembled one of these snowplows on my ATV the other day. My dad and I are the most inept of mechanics, but we persisted.

It mounts hanging from an ATV winch, which my machine was not equipped with yet. So I struggled to install one first. I finally succeeded with that project, which had its own challenges. Minor disassembly of the ATV was required, and the instructions were not exactly illuminating.

Some of the suggestions for installation were diabolical in feigned innocence. For example, we were supposed to install backing nuts and washers in strategic locations in order to strengthen the assembly. Problem being, the spots were nearly inaccessible. I needed to borrow Mack from next door to put on a couple of the parts. He is a young boy, with much smaller and more adept hands. He was able to succeed where I failed, and the thing was done.

After the winch struggle was over, I was facing a pile of snowplow parts scattered across the driveway. It would have looked daunting to a whole man - I was trying this virtually one-handed. It occurred to me to anticipate that these parts would be quite heavy, but I wasn't prepared well enough! Some of the pieces weigh a ton, and it was all I could do just to lift them off the ground.

Well, my dad and I decided to put it together in anticipation of impending snowstorms. So we wrestled with it until it looks more or less like the pictures. I assembled and disassembled the latching mechanism for the plow sweep at least four times. I am convinced that I discovered some innovative new ways to put it together wrong. After discovering several ways to assemble the parts in a non-functional manner, we finally discovered the right assembly. It is now ready to challenge the first big snowstorm.

My dad and I also discovered an inadvertent talent for comedy. Just give us a job that requires any mechanical handiness. It is simply hilarious.

My brother's saying used to be, "Hire the handicapped -- they don't get much work done, but they're so much fun to watch!" We proved that aphorism, several times over.

My brother-in-law, Carl, is an engineering professor at BYU. He said he would be glad to help us, and he loves putting gadgets together, but we had already muddled through most of the job when he phoned.

A guardian angel...

This week we spent a day on the mountain gathering firewood.

Getting firewood from the forest is a rather involved ritual for us. There are many dead trees in the forest just up Fairview Canyon, only a few miles from us. But gathering the wood from standing dead trees is not as easy as it might seem. It involves felling trees, cutting them up, loading and hauling, splitting and stacking. Hard work but rewarding, and sometimes very enjoyable. But sometimes hazardous too.

We were felling a group of tall skinny spruces on the hillside. One of them turned the wrong way and lodged against an adjacent tree. The 80-foot high tree was suspended there, leaning uphill against its neighbor.

This is a very dangerous situation, to have a precariously balanced severed tree with half a ton of wood, teetering just over your head. Attempting to extricate it, I laboriously sectioned 6-foot pieces of the butt end with the chainsaw, cutting angled pieces that could slide off from each other and release the upper piece.

Unfortunately, the top ended up coming up nearly vertical after I'd sectioned out 30 feet or so of the lower trunk. It was not safe to continue cutting short pieces off.

At that point we made a serious mistake in judgement. We decided to try to drag the butt end downhill, chained to the ATV. My friend Ricky drove the machine up to the tree and wrapped the chain around, and gave it a pull. But the tree was held fast on the ground, and the top started to tip over, instead of pulling out at the bottom. His chain was too short to put him clear of the top of the tree, and the top was coming straight at him.

We yelled to Ricky, "Watch out!", as the tree ponderously toppled over, right onto the ATV.

Smash!

Ricky responded quickly enough to scramble just out of the way, but it was a very near thing.

The ATV was mangled but repairable.

Ricky was unscathed.

We stood there for a few moments, listening to the ringing silence that followed the resounding crash of big timber.

When we recovered from the shock of such a near catastrophe, we breathed a prayer of thanks for the dramatic delivery of promised protection.