The NUATV Club needed someone to lead a February ride and I was happy to take the lead. I picked the Logandale Trails for the scenery and warm weather. Not wanting to drive alone, I picked up my friend Jesse Knight and his machine and, leaving the snow, headed for Mesquite where we spent the night. The next morning, I led a caravan of 16 rigs to Logandale about 33 miles south of Mesquite.

I picked the first of two staging areas to start the ride. After we were lined up, we rode to the second one that featured a vault toilet. I diplomatically stopped for a break before we headed into the first canyon.

There is an easy trail and a challenging one. I chose the challenging one because Dave Schoss, our club president, thinks the club members ride enough cushy trails.

On that day, I was riding my Polaris Ace. They call it a UTV because it isn’t an ATV. It has a roll cage, a steering wheel, a brake, a gas pedal and one seat. It is set up on an ATV chassis with a short wheelbase. Every time I take it on a ride, at least one person will call it cute. No one calls my Polaris RZR or my Kawasaki Teryx cute, but my Ace is cute.

Lynn Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner

So, leading out in my cute Ace, I negotiated this technical section picking my way carefully down coming and out at the bottom with the rubber side down. I parked to the side and got out to watch the fun.

Here they came — big RZRs, Can-Ams and a Honda. They were rocking, tipping, tilting and leaning as they angled through the rock maze. There was one crevice they tried to straddle because they didn’t like the thought of dropping one wheel into it. I was standing by the trail as they came by. At least two machines had passengers screaming at the top of their lungs. Everyone was glad to have that section behind them and no one wanted to go back the way we came.

The first half of this ride was on gravelly, washboarded roads. I think I spent more time going up and down than forward. We took a trail that brought us west of the Red Rock section by an old abandoned car that had been beaten to death and riddled with bullet holes. It was too new to have been from the Bonnie and Clyde era, but its condition was reminiscent of the stories.

I chose trails that brought us back to the Red Rock country, where I found a slick rock ramp that took us up on a rock shelf with a view of the valley. There was room to get everyone parked on the ledge where we took a break.

Getting everyone off the rock ledge was challenging because no one parked with a plan for an orderly exit. We worked through the puzzle and got everyone back on the road.

Lynn Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner

We continued our ride on an arcing route that brought us back on a northerly route into a rocky cove where we stopped for lunch. This stop was a chance to admire the beautiful red mountains against the cobalt-blue sky. The contrast to the grey wintery skies I have been used to for the last few months was considerable.

With the lunch break over, we got back on the trail. This half of the trail was in the sand which is a different kind of fun. The trail splits in a weaving pattern. It doesn’t matter which trail you pick – they all go in the same direction.

While it was still early, I took the group on an exploring expedition – a big mistake. The trail dead ended and we had to figure out how to turn 16 machines around. We did and decided not to do any more exploring. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and consider the Logandale Trails before it gets too hot.

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