Ride to Golden Spike Monument
May 2011 - 36 photos
May 2011 - 36 photos
(Last update January 2012)
Marlene picked this ride, wanting to try a longer ride and go somewhere Bill and I hadn't been riding yet. When she suggested Promontory Point I thought she was crazy, as it would be 90 miles one way. We settled on starting at Corrine Utah and riding out to Promontory Summit to see the Golden Spike Monument. I didn't want to ride along the busy highways between Ogden and Brigham City, but we forgot about the workers at ATK, (formerly Thiokol) as the work day ended for them and they headed home. It was pretty bad, and we ended up riding on the wrong side of the road to escape being in their path. Fortunately there was little traffic going the other way.
If you want to bike out to Golden Spike, I would advise you to try it on a weekend, preferably on a Sunday, as that day would have a lot less ATK traffic.
If you want to bike out to Golden Spike, I would advise you to try it on a weekend, preferably on a Sunday, as that day would have a lot less ATK traffic.
The ride out in the morning wasn't so bad. Very little traffic, and the weather was nice early on, so we had a great ride going west. Except maybe for the mountain. Promontory 'Summit' means it's up high. Higher than we expected. We had to stop and rest a few times climbing that long hill, the longest any of us had attempted thus far. When we finally reached the Golden Spike Monument, they were just getting ready to run the old steam engines up and down the track for a short run, so we had timed that just right.
It's good that we had taken lunches with us, as they don't have any food out there. We did find some nice benches to sit on and eat our lunch.
As we were getting ready to return the wind started blowing, which was nice at first as it was at our backs, but then we turned east and the wind was hitting us from the side. It was gusty making it hard to balance. Rather than ride back over the summit, we followed a dirt trail along the old railroad line around the hillside eventually returning back to the paved road part way down from the summit. At that point we had a fun ride down the mountain side, reaching 35 miles per hour. It was a long ride after that with the wind blowing pretty good, sometimes we had to ride into it when riding south, but mostly it was coming from the side. It took us 2.5 hours going out, and 3 coming back. A sign said it was 26 miles out to the monument, and that's what our odometers showed when we got there, the round trip being 52 miles. This was Marlene's longest ride so far, and she loved it.
It's good that we had taken lunches with us, as they don't have any food out there. We did find some nice benches to sit on and eat our lunch.
As we were getting ready to return the wind started blowing, which was nice at first as it was at our backs, but then we turned east and the wind was hitting us from the side. It was gusty making it hard to balance. Rather than ride back over the summit, we followed a dirt trail along the old railroad line around the hillside eventually returning back to the paved road part way down from the summit. At that point we had a fun ride down the mountain side, reaching 35 miles per hour. It was a long ride after that with the wind blowing pretty good, sometimes we had to ride into it when riding south, but mostly it was coming from the side. It took us 2.5 hours going out, and 3 coming back. A sign said it was 26 miles out to the monument, and that's what our odometers showed when we got there, the round trip being 52 miles. This was Marlene's longest ride so far, and she loved it.
For those that may not know, the railroad was a big factor in Ogden's early growth. In 1869 the tracks of the Union Pacific from the east and the tracks of the Central Pacific from the west came together at Promontory Summit, a few miles north of Ogden. On May 10th of 1869 the last rail was put in place and the last spike,(Golden) was driven. For many years Ogden became one of the greatest railroad switching yards between east and west.
In 1980 a Golden Spike National Historic Site was created, where the Last Spike Ceremony is re-enacted every year on the May 10th anniversary, as well as every Saturday and Holiday from May 10th to September, and at the annual Railroader's Festival held the second Saturday in August.
Working replicas of the 1860's steam locomotives 'Jupiter' and '119' are in operation from May through September.
In 1980 a Golden Spike National Historic Site was created, where the Last Spike Ceremony is re-enacted every year on the May 10th anniversary, as well as every Saturday and Holiday from May 10th to September, and at the annual Railroader's Festival held the second Saturday in August.
Working replicas of the 1860's steam locomotives 'Jupiter' and '119' are in operation from May through September.
CLICK for map to Golden Spike Monument
- 36 photos -
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I used a small Canon Powershot for these photos, the SX210, 14 Megapixel camera, which has Image Stabilazation and a lens going from wide angle to 14x optical zoom.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.