Businesses in town were suffering from cancellations because the media said that the fire had closed Marysvale. I invited the ATV community to join me in accepting Sam’s invitation and 40 people accepted. The motels in town appreciated the business and Sam treated us to a deluxe Dutch oven dinner.

As it happened, some riders planned to arrive on the 9th for the two-day ride, to be held on the 10th and 11th of October. They asked me to lead an afternoon ride to enhance the event. I talked to Sam about a route that wouldn’t conflict with the rides he had planned for the next two days.

We settled on the trail to Joseph north of Marysvale. I knew about a water crossing at Hoover’s and thought of including the Fish Creek crossings on this ride. We left Marysvale with 10 machines headed for our first point of interest — Hoover’s. Hoover’s is a resort with cabins, RV hookups and a restaurant.

We were using the drop system to keep our group together. The leader drops the second in line at an intersection to direct traffic. When the tail gunner arrives, he will take up a position ahead of the tail gunner. It allows riders to spread out and avoid dust. It was the way we kept from losing anyone.

Lynn Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner

For the drop system to work, the leader has to drop a person at an intersection. I led them through Marysvale Canyon, crossed the bridge to Hoovers and didn’t drop anyone at the turn. The sign to the right said no trespassing and the other sign pointed ATV riders to the left – a big mistake because nobody read the signs and riders went both directions. Fortunately, we all ended up in the same place.

Regrouping, we continued our ride. The water crossing I thought would be so fun wasn’t. It was down to a trickle and hardly made a splash. Recrossing the bridge, we turned north. Just as the ATV trail ended and the asphalt bike path began, we turned east on a fun trail that led us up a narrow canyon.

When we left the canyon, I had two chances to connect to trail No. 22, an easy ride to Joseph — I missed them both. The trail turned faint and weaved in tight turns through the trees. It was the type of trail that should eventually run out, but it didn’t.

It showed as a trail on my Polaris Ride Command. It read trail No. 2016 – 5 – 1. The drop system was keeping everyone together so I continued to follow it. It took us out onto a knoll that was a dead-end. I couldn’t see Joseph, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.

We circled back onto the trace of a trail I was following. We had some steep hill climbs and more windings through the trees. I was beginning to think that the people behind me were grumbling about where I was leading them, so I stopped for a break. I wanted to hear what they were saying about the ride.

Lynn Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner

To my surprise, they were having a great time. They were saying things like, “What a great trail,” “This is fun,” and “How did you find this trail?” Imagine my relief. I wasn’t going to tell anyone how I found this trail, because I didn’t know how I did. I could do it again because now I have a GPS track to follow.

We had some more steep ups and downs and then we dipped down into a gully and came out on the trail I wanted to be on in the first place. We followed that trail into Joseph. By now it was after 4 p.m. and I decided to change the plans to make the Fish Creek crossings so we could get back to Tomatoes Restaurant for dinner.

We found the trail I had missed earlier coming into town so we turned around and headed back. It was an easy trail that took us up some switchbacks over a ridge, across Sage Flats, and back to Marysvale. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and find your new trail to Joseph.

Contact Lynn R. Blamires at quadmanone@gmail.com.