Let's Ride

Ryan had planned another winter ride this year that would cover 92 miles and 6 hours of trail with several friends and ward members. Despite the weather, I went against my better judgement and decided to join Adam on the ride. I was remembering last years Christmas Eve ride that was freezing and miserable and didn't want a repeat but of course, I didn't want Adam to go alone either. 

We woke up at 7:00 am Saturday, December 11th morning, bundled up in double and triple layers, made soup and hot wassail and headed to Mesquite at 7:45 with the weather reading below freezing. 

We met up with everyone and hit the trails. Ryan had mapped out a loop and about 5 stops for us to explore. Right out of the gate I realized it already wasn't as cold as anticipated.  

First stop was Whitney Pockets

Lots of cool things to see.

Next stop was Devils Throat. This was an open Sink Hole.

Ryan sent a drone down into the sink hole. All the guys gathered to see down the deep dark hole. There ended up being a few friends of friends that came along too. It was fun at each stop to get to know the others. We made a couple fun connections, one of the girls was a sister to Gentry's homecoming date her junior year. Haha!

Our next stop was Gold Butte Ghost Town

This was a gold mining mineral crusher. A donkey would walk around and around harnessed to a large boulder that would crush the rocks.

Our next stop was to the caves and petroglyphs 

By this stop we were taking off layers because it had warmed up so nicely. 

These caves were awesome and the rocks were so red. 

At the very end of the caves were very distinct and well preserved petroglyphs

After the caves we met back at the machines and ate lunch.

Our last stop on the loop was Little Finland. This place was so fascinating. 

These weird peaks is how it got it's name Little Finland. 

And then there were palm trees. We are not sure if they are wild palm trees or if someone planted them there. It was so crazy seeing them out in the middle of nowhere against the red cliffs. 

This ride ended up being one of my favorite. I had planned to be cold and miserable but the weather ended up being so nice and we were able to enjoy the ride and all the stops. So glad that I decided to go.