(Intro) Thanks for tuning into KSL Outdoors, I’m Adam Eakle. (tonya) and I’m Tonya Kieffer. (adam) We are out riding ATV’s today, it’s beautiful up here. (tonya) It’s awesome. More wildflowers than I’ve ever seen and more dirt in my nose than I’ve ever had. (adam) We are hoping to show you some new places to take your atv tonight and to do so we are hooking up with the guys and gals with the National ATV Jamboree.
(BartWhatcott, National ATV Jamboree) What we try and do on our jamboree is acquaint people with the trail system. They can come back, they do a week with us. They’ve been on the trails, they know what’s going on, the difficulty of each trail, then they come back on their own and hit the trails themselves.
The National ATV Jamboree in Fillmore is celebrating it’s 26th year. It’s a week long event that introduces atv riders from across the country.
to the famous Paiute ATV trail system. This jamboree offers over thirty different rides from the desert, all the way up to top of the Pavant range. Today we’re headed out on the Fillmore loop flower ride.
This 45 mile loop takes you through the scenic and wet Chalk Creek two track.
Up the steep Sand Rock Ridge road.
and finally to the top of the range at just over ten thousand feet. Where we met up with the Hardy’s.
(Loran Hardy, Winslow, AZ) I’ve been on other Jamborees and this one is small enough that you get to know people.
Loran and Kathy Hardy have been making the 400 mile trek from Winslow, Arizona for the past ten years to attend the jamboree. They say the scenery and rides are great, but it’s the people that have them coming back year after year.
(Loran Hardy) In AZ they are trying to run ATV’s off, they are banning this road and that road, you’ve got to do this and that. In Utah they beg you to come up here and ride. The first year we came up here and they had the opening ceremony at the pod there and the mayor was there and he said hey if you can’t find a place to stay, bring a tent. I’ll let you pitch it on my front yard. We want you to bring your money and we want you to leave your money. (laughs)
(Kathy Hardy, Winslow Arizona ATV enthusiast) it’s just beautiful, you ride up in the cool and the hills are covered with wildflowers and you see lots of wildlife.
(Kathy Hardy) we’ve seen grouse. I’ve never heard of a grouse until I came here and little bambis in the thickets and the aspen, it’s so cool. We take a picnic and enjoy ourself and have little family rides.
(Doug Robison, Fillmore Ranger District) I’ve seen it be a real positive thing for Fillmore. People enjoy it, it’s good for the city.
Our guide Doug Robison was born and raised in the area. He’s been all over Millard county. He’s also the Recreation Officer on the Fish Lake National Forest in the Fillmore Ranger District.
(Doug Robison) from the desert rides out to Amasee Valley West of Delta. The lava tubes West of Meadow. To these mountain rides up on the Fish Lake that you can do just about anything. You can do single track trail riding that is strictly 50 inches or less ATV trails or you can go on roads and bring side by sides and different machines and still see a lot of great country.
(Doug Robison) As an agency we are pleased how it works between the county and the forest service and we’ve seen good things come of it.
(Ed Sinner, Nebraska) I’d like to be able to ride this every day for awhile.
(Ed Sinner, Nebraska) it’s a long way to travel but it’s fun.
(Bart) There is getting to be more and more jamborees popping up with the trail systems coming in. The Great western, the Arapeen, the Conger, some great desert riding also with the Amasee basin, the Crickets. The burbank hills, a lot of stuff in Millard County to do, besides just our Fish Lake. Our BLM folks have a huge inventory that you can ride. You can see wild horses. Chip away for trilobites. Dig for precious gems at Topaz mountain. We can offer you anything you want to do, we can offer it to you in Millard County and a big part of it right on our jamboree.
Coming up on KSL Outdoors.
(Bart) these are the Chalk Creek Hieroglyphics.
We’ll show you some petroglyphs unlike any I’ve ever seen in Utah and
get Tonya down and dirty, but first tonight’s Burt brothers quiz question.
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(intro) Welcome back to KSL Outdoors, back here on the top of Dry Creek, Lost Canyon about 9,500 feet on the Pavant range. You know the National ATV Jamboree has rides all over the place, clear out to the West Desert, out past Deseret. But one of the more interesting rides is not too far from the town of Fillmore to a really interesting place called the Chalk Creek Hieroglyphics.
Located on National Forest land, just few miles East of Fillmore, in Chalk Creek canyon are some of the most mysterious carvings I’ve ever seen in Utah.
(Bart Whatcott) These are the Chalk Creek Hieroglyphics. They’ve been discovered a long time ago.
Bart Whatcott grew up in Fillmore and remembers coming up here, camping and fishing. That’s when he first laid his eye’s on these hieroglyphics. The origin of the hieroglyphics is a mystery. There are some that say they are a modern hoax. They were discovered in 1939 by Clifford Purcell and photographed in 1941 by Frank Beckwith of Delta.
(Bart) Decades ago, the lichen had covered the writings and they removed the lichen. That’s the hard mossy stuff you can see on the rock here and revealed what has been determined to be reformed Egyptian writings. (adam) crazy. It looks unlike anything I’ve ever seen in Utah and there is a legend that says what each one supposedly means, the two lines over there represent a shaft.
(Bart) and you can trace the writings all the way down through the state, down in to AZ, Mexico, they are just the same kind of writings.
Some say they are from Aztec refugees who in the early 1500’s were fleeing North with a great treasure. Others believe that they symbols closely resemble Mayan hieroglyphs, and researchers theorize the symbols could indicate a gathering place along a trade route. Or, another theory is a translation by Jose Davila in 1965. Jose believed that the Chalk Creek symbols were carved by ancient refugees called Nephites, descendents of the prophet Nephi, in the Latter Day Saint tradition who were fleeing North from a great battle. Davila believed the writings provide directions to a sacred treasure.
(Bart) they are Egyptian in a lot of ways. I’ve heard the word reformed Egyptian. but nobody can give you a definite answer.
and not far from the hieroglyphics is another interesting artifact.
(Bart) This is called the map rock. Back behind there you wouldn’t really notice it too much but as you come up on here you can see there is some definite indentations. Little pockets if you would. The pockets all come to one collective little vein that comes down and trickles over the front of that. These three holes right here if you look at them, they are lined perfectly of where the Hieroglyphics are. and so this could have been maybe a pointer rock or and that may be just by happen stance, I don’t know.
(Bart) nobody can really decipher what the map rock is, it may be something totally different than the hieroglyphics too.
(Bart) Pretty good conversation piece.
(Adam) So who made the hieroglyphics? I think it’s any ones guess. But one thing is for certain, it’s one of the more interesting things I’ve ever seen in Utah. Coming up on KSL Outdoors, a little mud bogging, mud racing here at the National ATV Jamboree, that in just a second, but lets head back to the guys at Fish Tech for tonights fishing report.
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(Adam and Tonya Intro) Welcome back to KSL Outdoors, I’m Adam Eakle along with Tonya Kieffer and Tonya part of the fun of the National ATV jamboree here in Fillmore is the mud bogs and the ATV pull. (tonya) Yeah and guess who is doing the dirty work? (adam) not me. (tonya) yeah me.
(Adam) You got my bike all dirty. (tonya) I might have gotten the bike all dirty Adam but I went through all the way through that bog. (adam) you’re cleaning it off. (tonya) I will clean it off, I was the first one through. (adam) give me five that was good. You did better in the mud bogs than I did in the tractor pulls. You like the old Artic Cat don’t you. (tonya) she’s not too bad. (adam) yeah it’s a good bike. Hey if you want to come down and the National ATV jamboree, just go ahead and look them up next year, millard county travel.com. Time now to dive into tonights Utah Field Guide.
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