That was an adventure – a storm broke on our way back, and while we had windshields, the mud puddles on the trail made them pretty much opaque. We made it back, but there was a beautiful spring gushing from the side of the mountain we wanted to revisit, so we planned to see it again.

As it turned out, it was one of five plans:

Plan A – Ride to the spring, then back to the trail to Garden City for lunch

We passed the turn to Garden City and started looking for the spring. We came upon a group of jeeps involved in a Forest Service project to trim foliage along each side of the trail. They told us that we could follow them, but their project would make the progress painfully slow. We went to plan B

Plan B – Ride back to the junction and take the trail to Garden City

Riding back to the junction at Herd Canyon, we turned north and headed for Garden City. As we passed through the seasonal gate, we were pleased to note that it had been opened a week early. Continuing on our way, we began passing people on the trail. They told us there was another seasonal gate higher up that was closed. We learned that this second gate is managed by a different agency that didn’t see fit to open its gate when the lower gate was opened. We needed another plan.

Plan C – Find another route to Garden City

Courtesy Lynn R. Blamires

Regrouping back at the junction we had taken through the lower gate, we got out the maps and checked our GPS routes. After extensive research, we determined that you can’t get there from where we were without driving a lot of miles on the highway. While we had plenty of water, we didn’t bring any other food or snacks because our plan was to be in Garden City early enough to not need any before lunch. It was 1:00 pm. We decided that we needed another plan.

Plan D – Go to the top of Logan Peak, enjoy the view, and then go to dinner

I love riding new country, and this was a section of the Shoshone ATV Trail System I had not explored. Both of our machines were equipped with the Polaris Ride Command System, so it was easy to keep track of each other. The trail to the top of Logan Peak is like other mountain trails in Utah – it climbs through pine and aspen woods and offers beautiful views the higher you climb.

As we made our way up the switchbacks cut into the side of the mountain, I noticed patches of snow beginning to appear on the forest floor. They started showing up at about the 8,000-foot level. As we increased in altitude, patches of snow appeared on the trail.

We had fun splashing through smaller snow drifts. It was easy when you could keep two wheels on solid ground. The snow drifts were getting deeper.

I was following Mark in my Polaris Xpedition 1000 ADV – he was driving his Polaris Pro XP. It has a turbocharged engine rated at 182 hp. He was easily handling the snow drifts until he wasn’t.

Courtesy Lynn R. Blamires

The snow drifts were now bigger and more frequent. As he approached a big one, he climbed on top of it and sank in. The snow was above his hubs, and as he tried to crawl out, he dug himself deeper.

Here is where the horsepower became a problem. When he applied full throttle, he heard a loud snap. Mark did a quick check and learned that the drive line was in two pieces.

We had the tools to detach the rear section, leaving him with two-wheel drive. I pulled up behind him, and I was able to winch him out. It was now time for another plan.

Plan E – Get off the mountain, load up, and go to dinner

We turned around, and I followed Mark down to our truck. We loaded up and found a restaurant in Brigham City. When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down, and always take plenty of snacks.

Lynn R. Blamires can be reached at quadmanone@gmail.com.