Saturday February 25^th, 2017 we met up with the Utah Xterra owners club for their Pony Express run and rolling meet and great. This is a great day trip though the Western Utah desert.

For those that do not know, the Pony Express Trail was established in the mid to late 1800’s. As a way to deliver mail and news from the eastern to the western United States, before Telegraph was invented. The start of the Trail was in St. Josephs, Missouri and it ended in Sacramento, California a trip covering more then 1800 Miles. Which could be completed in as little as 10 days by horseback. More info about the pony express tail can be found here.

The portion of the trail we followed starts west of Lehi, Utah, and ends just east of the Utah, Nevada Border.

The day started at a very cold Chevron station in Lehi, Utah.   14 Xterra’s total it was a great group.

After group introductions, and a brief don’t be stupid, tread lightly, etc on the trail talk, we headed out to the first stop to air down tires, to make a smoother ride across the dirt roads.

With our tires sufficiently squishy, we headed west though Lookout pass and past a pony express stop. Remaining at this location is foundation stones and a pet cemetery. From there we head out on the desert flats along the southern edge of the Dugway Proving ground army depot.

Our next stop is at Simpson Springs. Simpson Springs has a pit toilet, only 1 of 2 on this trip, there are also plaques and a restored building showing what life was like for the riders who travelled this route. Since it was noon by the time we arrived at Simpson Springs we decided to eat lunch.

After lunch we continued along the desert flats toward the Dugway Mountain range, we had discussed a possible side loop around the northern end of the range to checkout some old mines and other interesting stuff but as we approached the range dark clouds threatened and it was already cold and very snowy in the direction we would need to travel, so we continued to the Dugway pass for a quick photo op. And we made a quick decision to plan a trip to the Dugway Mountains in spring when it was warmer and we didn’t have an end destination to reach.

From the Dugway Mountains we continued heading in a westerly direction across the desert to some wetlands and Fish Springs wildlife/bird sanctuary. The wetlands are fed by natural springs in the area, and are a natural stop for migrating birds, hence the wildlife sanctuary. We pulled into a large parking lot with the 2^nd of 2 pit toilets on the drive. This is also a great choice for Lunch depending on when you want to eat, as there are picnic tables and large trees for shade. As we pulled in we saw a familiar lump perched in one of the large trees, an American Bald Eagle, who we have seen multiple times in this same tree on previous trips. Unfortunately he was not too keen on having his picture taken this year as he flew off before anyone could get a camera out.

From Fish Springs we headed back out to the pony express trail, once out of the wildlife refuge, we took a very muddy side trip to some hot springs. From there we headed above the old Utah mine for a photo op with the desert flats far below and views as far as the eye can see. From there we continued west to Callao, Utah a small farming town in the desert.   In Callao we turn northwest and follow the route towards Gold Hill.

On our way to Gold hill we make a brief stop at a pony express stop on the southeast end of the Overland canyon, it has remains of an old Charcoal Kiln and plaques giving more info about the area and the riders who braved this trail. Before arriving at Gold Hill we take a brief side trip to an old mine and ore processing center. With the sun quickly approaching sunset we moved on to our last stop, Gold Hill, before airing the tires back up.

We stopped in front of the old Mercantile store to take pictures of the building that is almost ready to crumble into a pile of ruble. We wave to one of the illusive citizens of this living Ghost town, who happened to be outside of his house cooking dinner on the grill.

With sunset fast approaching we turn west and head to Ibapah road, to air the tires up and complete our trip on pavement into Wendover, Nevada for dinner. We arrived for dinner at the local Pizza Hut where we discussed the days adventure and future trips we want to run in the coming year. From there we bid each other goodbye and headed our separate ways, either to a hotel for the night or the long drive down i80 back to home.  All in all it was a fun if not mildly cold adventure in the Western Desert of Utah.