Dome Plateau, Moab, Utah

      We drove north on Hwy 128, 30 miles, to the Dewey Bridge, where it crosses the Colorado River then another 4.5 miles to a DOT gravel pit to park our rig. We had our trusty Charles Wells, Fun Treks book, and followed the map.  We drove the opposite way in for 6 miles, so first sight came to two cabins at an old mining camp.  They were built out of old railroad ties, large railroad spikes are still in the ties.  We stopped at the first overlook, and was it a dandy.  We had an aerial view of the plateau and valley.

    Off to the south we could see two caves in the sandstone cliffs. So off we went and explored the wind caves and Cave Springs.  There were four caves to explore.  The first cave was 30ft tall, very cool toward the rear, cows have visited this area in the past. Around the corner was the larger one, with two openings, the larger one was 60ft high, filled with sand. 

Right next door was a shorter one, but this one went back in with three separate rooms, the last one's entrance has a berm of sand and water dripping from the roof.

        The last cave, around the corner, is the true Spring, where in the past they   watered cattle from a trough.
Then we headed across the green plateau to the La Boca Arch. It was interesting and fun to climb.  Then we headed down the road and trail to the Outstanding Overlook, boy was it!!  We came to a cliff with a elevation of 5737ft., with the Colorado River at the bottom of the Professor Valley, elevation of 2729ft So we had a drop of 3,000 foot.  We could see Fisher Tower, Onion Creek, the La Sal Mountains (elevation of 12,331ft.) far in the distance. It was really Outstanding!! 
  Then we headed back, taking a smaller trail, and it ended up 20 miles longer plus 2 hours longer than we would of liked.  But we did see some interesting hills, canyons, and mountains.  40 miles traveled this day.  We could of explored more arches on the Jeep trail, but we didn't get on the right path.  Good Ride!!
INFORMATION>
LOCATION>   NEAREST CITY=Moab, Ut.   DIRECTIONS=North on Hwy 128
AREA >   TYPE OF LAND=-desert, OWNER=  BLM
QUALITY >  Pro-nice scenery / Con-many trails not marked /  Length of stay-one day / Rating-4 out of 5 stars
TERRAIN>  MILES OF TRAILS, Rocky, sandy &  dusty / trail & road riding/ dangerous drop off
TRAIL MAINTENCE-yes    NEAR BY TRAILS- Top of the World, Pole Canyon Overlook, Delores River Overlook
REGULATIONS> Permit required- Utah state permit / Camping- BLM across the road from the staging /whip-no / helmets req.-no / width req.-no
FEE>  Entry-no
KEY SERVICES> Camping- Dewey Bridge Rec Area / Gasoline / Diesel / First Aid /  Water /  Dump / Food=Moab, Ut
GPS Points>La Boca Arch 38*47.437N  109*25.061W

Picket Pin Creek on Placer Basin, Nye, Montana

   Aug 2, 2015 Nye, Montana,  57 miles                                                                                                We drove from Columbus, Mt south on 78 south to Absarokee then on to the small town of Fishtail and Nye.  We  turned W on 449. Then turned right at official road mm19, then right on Still water River Rd, turn Left on Limestone Rd-1/8 mile up the road to the first of 3 staging areas. The first one is right long the creek on State Land. You can camp there or just park for the day.  The next 7.1 miles, the road gets a little narrower, but there were 6 trucks parked at the Custer National Forest kiosk.  There were some people camping/staging, at the National Forest sign post #214010  but the road there was rougher and tighter.

   I started the trip meter (TM) at the first staging area on Limestone Rd. then headed up into  breathtaking mountains. Some mountains were covered with Douglas Fir trees, others had rock slides, and some were jagged sandstone ridges.             

Amazingly we saw two snow drifts from winter on a mountain side melting into small glacier ponds and cold spring creeks.  The road was rough enough, to be in an all terrain vehicle.  At TM20.2 (GPS3 45*24.744N 110*03.958W),  we turned right at the intersection, L at MM22.2  We didn't ride the other junctions, for lack of time. Picket Pin Lake is a NF# 2104D, which leads back to a stocked trout lake (there is another fork which leads to the lake also). We saw a trout fishermen at the lake and at the creek.  Beware there are bear in the area.
We arrived at the summit with  breathtaking, endless views of East Boulder Road area, Yellowstone mountains to the south, with an elevation of 10120 ft.  We rose 5,000 ft in elevation! 
INFORMATION>
LOCATION>   NEAREST CITY=Absarokee   DIRECTIONS=449 W thru Fishtail and Nye, at MM19 turn Right on to Sill water River Rd, then Left on Limestone Rd.
AREA >   TYPE OF LAND=-forest, mountain, creek crossing  , OWNER= Custer National Forest
QUALITY >  Pro- many trails to explore, beautiful sights / Con-most trails are small roads, but small and rough, it feels like a trail /  Length of stay-1-3 days / Rating-stars-4 star
TERRAIN>  MILES OF TRAILS- forest / dust / water crossing /elevation-5,000 ft rise
REGULATIONS> Permit required-Montana / Camping by stream, State land /whip-no / helmets-no/  width req-no.
FEE> Camping-no / Entry-no
KEY SERVICES> Camping / Gasoline / Diesel / First Aid /  Water /  Dump / Food=Absarokee
GPS POINTS>2nd Staging area at 7.1 miles 45*25.814N  109*56.047W elevation 6131 ft.-Picket Pin Lake 45*25.828N  110*03.111W
CONTACTS>Custer National Forest

Mill Creek Road, Emigrant, Mt

30 Miles Mill Creek Trail and Wicked Creek ATV Trail

From Livingston, Mt, 18 miles south on US-89, Turn left (south-east) on to Mill Creek Road, continue about 7 miles.  We parked on Mill Creek road at a wide spot in the road, way before the Snowbank Campground.  We headed in towards the Snowbank Campground, but turned right on Mill Creek Road.

We went up 2 miles to a staging area, where the trail head starts. It was July 30th and some moisture came thru last night and over 10,000 ft it turned into snow! So it was a chilly morning.  We saw a lot of snow on the mountain peaks, large mountain sides of rock slides, cold running creeks, and forest. It was a very safe and secure trail. Larry just so happened to run over a foot long 4inch round stick, which happened to puncture his tire.  First time in  10 years of riding.  The men thought they could patch it, and took the time to remove the tire from the rim and patched it, but it didn’t work so Larry rode it back to the trailer. Lucky they had greased the tire on the rim, so it rotated all the way back down.  We were half way to the top, but that will have to wait till another year!  Wicked Creek ATV trail is just down the road. We never made it there or to the top of Mill Creek trail because of the stick in the tire.