First, a big thanks to Kent making several reconnaissance drives to check out Ogden Canyon and the Divide rd., himself. He was not willing to take word of mouth when it came to making the critical go, no go, decision. And, he had just come home from the Jeep Safari in Moab where he was a route leader there, also. Good job, Kent!
The southern members met in the Warm Springs Park lot on Saturday with beautiful weather. Even the Salt Lake Police joined us to see what was going on. The officer was very friendly and interested in our different vehicles. He was curious and asked questions concerning what kind, type and ages of our group. Then we hit the road with a larger contingent than expected. The smooth pavement of our route on Legacy Parkway and the US 89 Mountain Rd made the first part of the day, very pleasurable.
The northern members had come out in numbers for this first event of the year. By the time everyone had gathered at Rainbow Gardens, even the owner of the Gardens came out to see our “car show”. What a show it was! According to the sign-in book, the totals were 29 vehicles and 40 members with several new members joining for their first drive with us.
After a few instructions, Kent led us up Ogden Canyon where the river was all but jumping out of its banks. The BMCU made quite the snake of multi-colored vehicles, winding our way through a VERY snowy Eden Valley. It is definitely still winter up there! Then we headed up the inimitable North Ogden Divide. What a wonderful piece of roadwork. Awesome depth of snow, avalanches, and scenic views on both sides make this route a BMCU favorite.
Avoiding a flooded section of roadway dictated that we take Washington Ave through downtown Ogden, but again, Kent kept the group together so that we arrived at A Little Taste of Britian at basically the same time. The folks at the restaurant went out of their way to accommodate us and even had a large section of the seating reserved for us. No one had to wait very long for their lunch. Great job, Kent for setting this up and to A Little Taste of Britian for stepping up to the plate to serve us.
