Manti, Utah

We arrived in Manti on June 1st. The weather has been great although a few days it has gotten to 90+! The rv park is an old Jellystone park, with only 4 50amp sites, located separate from the rest of the park (it’s a small park) and the 4 sites need maintenance. no real grass like the other sites mainly weeds and they are not very level. We did get maintenance to come and weed whip the area between us and Ron and Loretta. When I asked to get the area weed whipped, the lady host looked at me and said “what is weed whipping”? So I explained and she said never heard it it called that.

Manti was one of the first communities settled in what was to become Utah. Chief Wakara (or Walker), a Ute Tribe leader, invited Brigham Young to send Mormon colonists to the area. In 1849, Brigham Young dispatched a company of about 225 settlers, consisting of several families, to the Sanpitch (now Sanpete) Valley. Under the direction of Isaac Morley, the settlers arrived at the present location of Manti in November. They endured a severe winter by living in temporary shelters dug into the south side of the hill on which the Manti Temple now stands. Brigham Young named the new community Manti, after a city mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Manti was incorporated in 1851.

Our first ride was a 29 mile loop trail. The trail rating was More Difficult, which meant in this case as rocky! This trail was called Manti Sheep Trail. I suppose it is called that as it was a route to take the sheep to the higher elevations for the summer. Our next ride was for 33.4 miles to Snow Lake. Our intent was to  ride to the Skyline Drive trail and loop back. However as we were at 10,000+ feet all the snow had not melted and we ran into a huge snow bank on the trail! We were only 1/2 mile from where we need to start our loop back and couldn’t get there! So we had to come back the way we came.

Our next ride was from Manti though Sterling and into the national Forest for a total distance of 33.4 miles. This route proved to be interesting. It had at least 2 Loretta yelps! We were going through a lot of big water filled ruts and even crossed a large stream. Some of the trail was narrow (almost too narrow for the beast (that was 1 Loretta yelp) Then on the way back we missed the entrance to a trail we wanted to take. ( I looked later at a video we had taken and saw that the reason we missed the trail was it had been blocked off!) All in all a good ride. We were tired when we got back!

This area we are in is mostly agriculture. Lots of cattle, Llamas, and sheep. with that goes all the hay/silage fields. All the fields are irrigated, in fact everyone irrigates there lawns as well. It has been nice to wake up in the morning and listening to the birds sing, predominatley Robins. I have not seen so many robins as I have here.

Marmots are also interesting to watch. We must have spent an hour watching a family of them in a field just south of the motor home. One very large one (mom?) and several smaller ones. Loretta was able to get several good pictures (The one to the left is not one, but is close. She hasn’t downloaded yet) When they sense danger they whistle, chuck or twill. Then if we get too close they head for a den hole. They would roll around in the grass, just like a dog does.

Other than the marmots the only other animals we have seen are deer.

We took a car ride for Loretta’s birthday, to the Nebo Scenic Byway loop. This was a 42 mile loop that took us to about 9300 feet, with a diverse view of the surrounding area. Very pretty, but it was kind of chilly!

Tuesday is moving day! Probably move only 30 miles to Salina, Utah so we can atv the Goosebery trail and the northern part of the Paiute trail.

So until then  Happy Trails and keep in touch!

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