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Bumblebee/Pine Valley Mountain

10K views 31 replies 14 participants last post by  B-dub 
#1 · (Edited)
For years my Father, brothers, and I hunted on and around Bumblebee Mountain north of New Harmony, Utah - until it was closed to hunting. I haven't been there in quite awhile, so the other day I decided I would get up out of the heat, and check out my old hunting grounds too. I consulted my maps and laid out a course up over Bumblebee, then around Pine Valley mountain, and back to home. I marked some interesting things to check out on the way. As it turned out there was more to see than I had originally thought.

I rode north on I-15 to the top of Black Ridge, where I turned off onto a remnant of Old Highway 91. Highway 91 started out in the early 1910's as the Arrowhead Highway, the first all weather route between LA and SLC, but by 1926 was re-designated Highway 91. I like old roads, trails, etc. so take the opportunity
to ride them whenever I get a chance.


This old bridge crosses Ash Creek. I looked for a date when it was built, but no luck.







Out with the old, in with the new.





I love old windmills, and couldn't pass up the chance to get a pic of this one.





On the way to Bumblebee I saw quite a few old cars, tractors, and equipment. I like that kind of stuff. Bonus points if you can correctly tell which conflict this old jeep was likely to have served in.




At the base of Bumblebee is Kanarraville, a small town not far from I-15.





Kanarraville is home to the Kanarra Falls hike, a short, fun hike up a slot canyon east of town. It's a great hike in the summer because you're in the water most of the way. More old stuff in Kanarra.







We'll never see prices like this again!






When I was growing up my Dad had an old corn-binder (International) truck like this. It had a crash box (no syncros in the transmission, for you younger guys), and rode so hard I swear we travelled as much up and down as we did forward. It was a good old truck, though.

My Dad is fond of telling a story about that old truck. One day my father and his brother were out on Little Creek mesa harvesting cedar posts. One of them jumped in the old binder to back up so they could load more posts. Unfortunately the other wasn't watching and they ended up backing the binder into a deep wash. The front wheels were barely on top, and the sides of the wash were almost straight up and down. My uncle started complaining that they were going to have to walk all the way back home. Before they headed out, they decided they would at least try to get the truck out. They took a couple of the cedar posts and jammed them down between the dual wheels on each side. My Dad said he got in the truck, stuck it in granny gear, revved it up until he was ashamed of himself, and popped the clutch. The old binder crawled right up out of the hole and killed just as it got on top. They both were pretty amazed.





I know there's some guys on this forum that like old tractors!








This old bailer is still in use - well, by the horses at least. From the polished corners it looks like they're getting some good use out of it to scratch themselves.











Finally getting up on the mountain!





To be continued.
 

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#25 ·
Our next trip west will be utah for sure....... We followed and drove on 66 round trip from Mich to the grand canyon.. We had a "BALL".. The bikes fit into the back of my F-150.. We would get a room then unload and ride.. Twice we stayed an extra night to take advantage of the area to ride for many hours the next day......... We put on 300+ miles on the dubs during the trip.. Had a blast watching roadrunners cross in front of us. Love it out west...... We would move but our home is paid for and our family all live here... OMM.:)
 
#4 ·
Great scenery and artifacts. My ancestors settled in Utah before 1870 but I've been down here in the Texas prairies most all my life. Am planning a trip later this summer.

Re the Ash Creek Bridge the National Bridge Inventory lists 1925 as the date of construction:

Uglybridges.com | COUNTY ROAD over ASH CREEK, Washington County, Utah

That website is a good resource but does not cover all locations. If you encounter one that is not listed you can submit the location and photos to a sister site:

Bridgehunter.com: Historic Bridges of the United States

Both are searchable and broken down by state and county.

M C
 
#6 ·
Great scenery and artifacts. My ancestors settled in Utah before 1870 but I've been down here in the Texas prairies most all my life. Am planning a trip later this summer.

Re the Ash Creek Bridge the National Bridge Inventory lists 1925 as the date of construction:

Uglybridges.com | COUNTY ROAD over ASH CREEK, Washington County, Utah

That website is a good resource but does not cover all locations. If you encounter one that is not listed you can submit the location and photos to a sister site:

Bridgehunter.com: Historic Bridges of the United States

Both are searchable and broken down by state and county.

M C
Cool, thanks for the date and the resources. I like old bridges too.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Flowers were blooming, and everything was green and beautiful.











I spotted a few head of deer here and there, but had a tough time getting a good clear shot of them. Peek a boo!





That would make a beautiful Christmas tree, but since they are not real common in this locale better to leave it so all can enjoy.





The day was overcast, so didn't make for the best of pictures. That ridge in the background is actually a bright pinkish red.





I think a lot of people don't realize the west end of Zion National Park is right off of I-15 just a few miles north of the Black Ridge, or a few miles south of New Harmony. If you're traveling I-15 and have a pass or a few dollars to spare it would be a great way to stretch your legs, and you don't have to fight the crowds like you do in the main part of the park. Here's a picture I took of the park when I was on an earlier ride to New Harmony.





Looking off the north side of the mountain towards Cedar City.





I like the beauty of nature.





The pine trees are optimistic about their prospects this year!





The left hand line worked great.





I know you're going to be disappointed in me, but I walked it up this one. It's steeper than it looks.





I love little trails like this -





Until they dead end.






I learned something on this trip - just because the map shows the trail goes through, doesn't necessarily mean that it does. I did plot my way over to Pinto from Bumblebee with the maps I had. I tried 3 different dead end trails before giving up on that route. I backtracked a little ways until I found the trail down off the mountain into New Harmony.


It doesn't appear there has been an over-abundance of precipitation.





Down the mountain I go.





I could've called this the small towns, old things, snakes, and reservoirs thread because I saw plenty of each. The temps were cool, so the snakes were pretty lethargic. I didn't even see this little guy until it was too late. Looks like I may have clipped his tail. I didn't see any obvious signs of damage, so just let him be. Now, if Mark (VDR) had been with me he would've picked him up and checked him out - but I don't like snakes that much.





More to come later.
 
#7 ·
The road actually dropped me off just west of New Harmony on the road to Pinto.
The remains of someone's dreams.





Someone else's dreams in play.





More relics from the past.

















This feller was waiting for me in the grass. He was either snoozing, or waiting for it to warm up a bit.





Finally made it to Pinto, a very small ranching community.













You don't see many longhorns around any more, at least around here. You'd have to swing a pretty good sized loop to rope this one. I can't imagine how the cowboys in the old west rounded up herds of cattle with horns like those, then herded them for hundreds of miles to market.





More later.
 
#15 ·
If time permits I would be more than happy to show you around, Mel. I'm afraid I wouldn't be as good a host as you, though. You've really gone the extra mile hosting the Russ Austin Memorial Ride. It sounds like it's going to be a great experience for those who can make it. I wish I could, but have an important family event on Saturday. Someday I hope to get out there and ride with you guys, and enjoy some of the awesome country and awesome people you have out there.

Great looking pictures. I love the shots of the old homesteads and equipment. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, I love that stuff, too. The old TW is a lot of fun to ride, but a big part of it is that it enables me to get out and enjoy exploring my surroundings. I'm glad you enjoyed the report.
 
#12 · (Edited)
As I was planning my trip I noted there was a ghost town not too far out of the way. So, I rode over to see what I could see. The road to the cemetery was well marked, so I stopped there first.








Some of the graves were unmarked.





Some of the graves just had an older marker, and some had the old markers with a newer one nearby.





This guy served in the Mormon Battalion, which means he was one tough dude as he marched about 2,000 miles from Iowa to what is now California. I believe this is the longest infantry march in United States history. That's a trail I would like to do someday.







I guess this marked the location of what was Hamblin. Not much left now. I read that the reason not much is left of the ghost towns in the area is because building materials were so hard to come by that when people left they either took the materials with them, or they were later salvaged by others. In fact, the story is told that in Silver Reef, a nearby mining ghost town, a guy bought one of the old buildings so he could salvage the building materials. Under the floorboards he found a pouch with a large amount of money in it. When the word got out, the other buildings were quickly "salvaged" as well.





The rest of the story.





Sorry, I couldn't help myself.





Back to Pinto, then down the road to Pine Valley town. Pine Valley is a small town, but has grown considerably since I was there last.





The small chapel in Pine Valley has been in continuous use since 1868. It was designed and built by a Scottish shipbuilder, Ebenezer Bryce, and was built using techniques used in ship building at the time. By the way, Bryce National Park was named for Ebenezer Bryce as he later moved to that area and ran cattle. The story goes that a visitor remarked about the beauty of what is now Bryce National Park, and Ebenezer's reply was, "Yes, but it's a heck of a place to find a lost cow."














Tithing office from the same era.






There's old tractors in Pine Valley, too!









From Pine Valley I followed a very rocky road down to Baker Reservoir. I saw a black and red snake, in fact I got stopped just a couple of inches from him. He didn't waste any time getting out of there, so I didn't get a picture. We have coral snake lookalikes in Utah, but as I remember it this guy had more black than red - so I don't know what kind of snake he was.

Someone developed this spring.





The trail was so rough I averaged 5 to 10 mph for a good share of it. I finally made it to Baker Reservoir.





At this point time was starting to be an issue, so I just slabbed it down to Veyo. My original plan was to slab it down to Diamond Valley, then take another rough and rocky road along the south side of Pine Valley mountain to home. To do this I would've had to ride into a very stiff headwind. Also, by now I had just about had enough of the rough rocky trails, and knew it would take a lot more time to do them, so I decided to leave them for another time. Instead I dropped off to the west of Veyo and headed for Gunlock. Gunlock is another small town with just a handful of homes. Gunlock is named in honor of William Haynes Hamblin, whose nickname was Gunlock. He received the name for his markmanship. He once shot from 50 paces the bottom from a pipe bowl without touching the rim to win a $50 bet.





Gunlock Reservoir.





Just south of here I came around a turn to see 2 California Condors on a roadkill rabbit. They quickly took off. I stopped down the road just a little bit in hopes I could get a picture or video as they returned. One of them just lit out and didn't return, the other made two or three passes over the rabbit, but apparently wasn't comfortable with me being that close, even though i was probably 75 or 100 yards down the road. One of the passes he actually flew over me, where I could see his face - a face so ugly that only his mother could love it. That was when I positively ID'd them as Condors. It was cool to watch them surf the wind. I flipped the camera over to video, and thought I was shooting video, but apparently there was operator error because I got nothing. All I can figure is I hit the record button before the camera had made the switch to video mode. I know what you're thinking, and yes I hope to someday wise up enough that I can operate my simple little camera. Frustrating for me, too.

Edit: After more study I guess I'm not sure they were Condors. They had the bare head and neck just like Condors, but not nearly as big. I just assumed they were juveniles, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, they were pretty good sized birds and definitely knew how to use the wind to their advantage. It was cool to watch them.

Another edit: I've studied the subject some more, and now I believe the birds I saw were actually turkey vultures. Turkey vultures are dark brown in color with a lighter color plumage which is distinctive when looking at them in flight. They also have wingspans of 5 to 6 feet, which is closer to what I saw. Sorry for the confusion.
 
#13 ·
The remains of the old bridge over the Santa Clara River. In 2005 this little river jumped it's banks and washed 30 homes away.





The town of Santa Clara has old tractors, too!





They need to get some air in those tires before they're ruined. Pretty expensive to replace!





Almost home. Sand Hollow Reservoir, with the Pine Valley Mountains in the background. It was a fun ride for me, I hope you enjoyed it too!





 
#17 ·
Hi B-dub,
You are a snake charmer of sorts. How do you see 3 snakes in one trip.
1st two where Gopher or Bull snakes , (same, same), the third sounds like a King snake, each color is separated by a black band.

Sorry, I haven't been emailing much. Went back to see my dad in WV. just got back Tuesday.
I really enjoyed the pics, been thru the area in Zuk, Pinto has quite a few veterans in their graveyard.

Along side the 15 as you go North you can see a trail on the right, between I think mile marker 30 and 36.
Do you know if it is rideable there?

Take care
VDR
 
#18 ·


Good to hear from you, I have missed your emails and reports. Yeah, it's crazy because I don't often see that many snakes in one trip. I hope your Dad is doing OK. I spent some time with my Dad yesterday vaccinating his sheep. He's in his early 80's, but still insisted on roping the sheep, just had me snug them up to the post so we could give them a shot. I missed the cemetery in Pinto. I'll have to go back some day and check it out. It's so nice up there it wouldn't bother me a bit to go back.

I don't pay a lot of attention to the mile markers, so I'm not quite sure where you're talking about. From the base of the Black Ridge to the top you can see an old road down in the canyon. That is one of the original roads into southern Utah. I've ridden it on the TW, but it was pretty rough with slides covering a good part of it. It was fun, though. At the top of the Black Ridge the road continues on to the north, but is washed out in several places. I had to ride down the washes almost to the freeway to find a place where I could get through.
 
#21 · (Edited)
As noted above, after studying the subject a little more I've had second thoughts as to whether they were actually Condors or not. California Condors were re-introduced to this area and are commonly seen at Lava Point in Zion National Park, about 50 miles or so from where I sighted them. Condors often travel 150 miles a day in search of food, so as far as distance is concerned it could've easily been a Condor. Maybe I'll have to ride up to Lava Point to see if I can make a positive ID. I'll take pictures when I do. Glad you liked the report.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Boy, what a great ride report. Almost maxing out the Admiral Historical Joy Joy Overload senses.:p It's not like we don't see a lot of old farm implements all over, but they seem so much more interesting at the abandoned places. I still remember standing behind grandpa's hay baler on the hay wagon stacking the bales. Seeing the old balers and cutters remind me of days gone by. Hitting the wayback button here!

And the bridges. I can explain it to myself, I just don't know how to understand it, why I love old bridges. The Ash Creek bridge is no exception. Heck, I even stand for several minutes at a simple forest service bridge. Same with the windmills, though I haven't seen any from serveral of my last rides, including last year. There will be more I'm sure.

So, this brings me to the snakes. I hate them too and probably agree with VD the snake you saw was a King. As much as I hate snakes, my wife is terrified of them. Keeps us from going to the desert places in summer. Last fall on a ride at an old homestead ruins site, she went into a complete panic after seeing a snake, complete with hyperventilation. Took me several minutes to calm her down. We were near the Owyhee River in Eastern Oregon. I asked her what type of snake she saw. My thought was Gopher or Rattler, but she said it was red. Never heard of a snake that was red in these parts. I was thinking Coral or similar, but didn't think so. Turns out the Ground Snake is common in the Owyhee River region, and is red, sometimes with strips. It's suppose to be only about a foot long though. Apparently, the length of a snake does not matter to my wife:D.

Other than a size difference, one could make a mistake on the type of snake as the colors of the king and ground snake can be confused. At a quick glance, I could also see how it could be confused with a Coral type snake.


Anyway, thanks for the wonderful photo's and history. Old pioneer places are truely very interesting as well.

Well done sir, great ride!
 
#22 ·
Boy, what a great ride report. Almost maxing out the Admiral Historical Joy Joy Overload senses.:p It's not like we don't see a lot of old farm implements all over, but they seem so much more interesting at the abandoned places. I still remember standing behind grandpa's hay baler on the hay wagon stacking the bales. Seeing the old balers and cutters remind me of days gone by. Hitting the wayback button here!

And the bridges. I can explain it to myself, I just don't know how to understand it, why I love old bridges. The Ash Creek bridge is no exception. Heck, I even stand for several minutes at a simple forest service bridge. Same with the windmills, though I haven't seen any from serveral of my last rides, including last year. There will be more I'm sure.

So, this brings me to the snakes. I hate them too and probably agree with VD the snake you saw was a King. As much as I hate snakes, my wife is terrified of them. Keeps us from going to the desert places in summer. Last fall on a ride at an old homestead ruins site, she went into a complete panic after seeing a snake, complete with hyperventilation. Took me several minutes to calm her down. We were near the Owyhee River in Eastern Oregon. I asked her what type of snake she saw. My thought was Gopher or Rattler, but she said it was red. Never heard of a snake that was red in these parts. I was thinking Coral or similar, but didn't think so. Turns out the Ground Snake is common in the Owyhee River region, and is red, sometimes with strips. It's suppose to be only about a foot long though. Apparently, the length of a snake does not matter to my wife:D.

Other than a size difference, one could make a mistake on the type of snake as the colors of the king and ground snake can be confused. At a quick glance, I could also see how it could be confused with a Coral type snake.

Anyway, thanks for the wonderful photo's and history. Old pioneer places are truely very interesting as well.

Well done sir, great ride!
Thanks Admiral, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've really enjoyed reading your ride reports as well.

When I was growing up all of the King snakes I saw were simply black and white. But, I do believe you and Mark are correct as that is the profile the snake most closely fits. Just not used to seeing red on a King snake.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I'm new to riding on the roads. I bought my TW a month ago and am totally enjoying this site.. Your Pictures are excellent . Thanks for sharing them. I live in Bel Air maryland and have already discovered some sweet rides..rick
 
#24 ·
Thanks Rick, and welcome! It is a great forum, with a lot of great folks. It just makes the TW all that much better. We all like pics, so I hope you'll share some pics of your part of the world, too. Enjoy your TW.
 
#27 ·

On the way to Bumblebee I saw quite a few old cars, tractors, and equipment. I like that kind of stuff. Bonus points if you can correctly tell which conflict this old jeep was likely to have served in.




Depends on whether that is a civilian CJ2a or CJ3a or the military M38, which would have served in the Korean war.

That Dodge Power Wagon is very nice. I'd love to have one with a modern drive-train.
 
#28 ·
Yeah, if we could see the back of the jeep we'd know for sure, but the location and size of the fuel filler means it's likely a M38 - so you're correct.

It's true, you don't often see the old Power Wagons in that good of condition anymore, but I had a friend who had a very clean example. The only downside I could see was it was a little tight in the cab. It would still be fun, though.

Thanks for your comments, I was wondering if anyone was going to identify the old jeep. I have a '43 Willys MB I hope to get running and painted military colors this year.
 
#30 ·
Thanks, and you're welcome. I am fond of photography, so don't mind stopping to record the things I see. I enjoy sharing the photos, and telling the story. I also find myself going back to the ride report every now and then to enjoy the ride once again.
 
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