Adventure Community

The Manti trail run surprised me. Somehow I have always managed to be out of town and have missed it in previous years. I was under the impression that the trail was a nice ride through the woods, possibly ending at grandma’s house. Too “easy” for real men to bother with. Live and learn. The Manti Sheep Trail is one of the most amazing trails I have ever driven!

Five jeeps came early and stayed at the Temple View Camp ground Friday night.  It is a great place to stay. The breakfast they served was the full meal deal. The rest of the group met us in the morning and we left for the trail about 9:30a.m . We had a total of about 10 jeeps on the trip.The trail starts just outside of town to the south, and heads due east. The trail is very steep in sections making four wheel drive a must. I think it would be passable by most 4×4’s . If you want to bring up the intensity, drive something shiny. Yes I broke down and actually took my new JK off road. I was able to avoid having it rock mountain pin striped with out to much trouble.  Commercial !  The TeraFlex Long Arm was the most impressive ride I have ever experienced on and off road. Truly a joy to drive, No really, I was full on impressed. Bottom line is that anyone should feel comfortable bringing their jeep, regardless of its build state. We only had one jeep drop out, and that was due to a fuel pump failure. We got it running well enough for him to drive out, the rest continued on. The trail winds through the trees and altitude is gained very fast. The temperature on the trail was about 65 degrees, the valley was a clammy 90 degrees. It was perfect wheelin’ weather. When the trail broke out on top, the vistas, views, mountains, meadows, rock gardens, wild flowers, and wild life brought us all to a screeching halt. Even my wing man, Connor (my 7 year old grandson) wanted to stop and drink in the view. You have all got to see this area. We all decided that next year we would make this trail a two day event, so we could see more of the sights. There are trails and lakes all over the place. True to form, the high mountain weather gave us a very brief rain/hail storm, just enough to send everyone scrambling for cover.  After lunch we headed down the main canyon road on the trip back.

Thanks to Mike Ware and his photography. Like an idiot,  I forgot my camera. It won’t happen next year. It seems like I’m always saying, “don’t miss this trail next year”. I really mean it. The whole family would love this, even the off road challenged. Thanks to everyone that came. I hope you all had as great a time as I did.

Next up is the Mona Pole Trail. We will run it on Saturday the 20th of Sept. It ranks a 2+ in difficulty and a 4+ in scenery and fun. We will explore a cool mine  at the top of the canyon.The trail then joins the main Payson canyon road. We will follow it out into Payson then home. See you there.

Wood out