Recently I have been getting questioned on how much gas and water will we need to carry on the trip to Bryce.
This is where the individual quad needs to be taken into account. Have you calculated your average mileage? How far can you go on a take full? If not you should NOW.
On day one of the Bryce trip we will be able to top off our gas about 25 or so miles from the start, but not again until we stop at Bryce (95 miles).
So you should carry enough for 100 miles minimum counting what is in your tank and in spare gas.
On day 2 we will ride roughly between 60 and 85 miles depending on how everyone feels. If people are tired we will make a short day of it. If they are adventurous we might ride more miles. It will be up to the group.
Day 3 we will have no guaranteed place to stop for gas. It is roughly 108 miles from Bryce to Marysvale on the alternate route. There is a gas station in Antimony, 68 miles from Brice but they are not dependable and may or may not be open or even have gas if they are open.
My King Quad will go exactly 120 miles and shut off. I still carry 3 gallons of spare gas in the small Koplin flat pack gas cans. Mostly just for others I always seem to find along the way as I ride.
I normally figure if
everyone carried 1 to 2 gallons extra and a lot of us can go the full distance without stopping we should be covered. If however your quad might need extra fuel due to small tanks or bad fuel mileage, you should plan on carrying more. Plan on a 95 to 100 miles between gas stations.
As I said before; How far can you go on a take full? If you don't know you should figure it out NOW, not on the trail to Bryce.
If you ride a Polaris 800 I know a guy with a small 50 gallon tanker trailer for rent, hehehehe!
Now about WATER.
You can never carry too much water here in the West. A good rule is to carry 1 gallon per person per day of DRINKING water, and then be sure you drink all you need through out the day. Dehydration can sneak up on you.
Unless you are used to the high altitude and aridity of Utah you can lose more body fluids than you realize, leading to dehydration and exhaustion. So you should plan to carry plenty of water or other non alcoholic liquid with you. I also recommend Gatorade or any of the other sports drinks or athletic drinks as well as plain water. I personally take electrolyte tablets when I am on an ATV trip. Symptoms of dehydration are a parched mouth and tongue, dizziness , headache, irritability, weakness, minimal or no urine output or dark urine, nausea and vomiting.
Do not drink water straight from streams. Giardia, a water-born disease-causing organism, is in the streams and can ruin a good vacation. If possible drink only from known safe sources. If absolutely necessary, boil the water or use a filter pump to remove disease-causing organisms. "Water purification" tablets are not enough.
Again I can NOT stress this enough, NEVER drink un-treated water from an open running stream or river unless it’s an emergency. Most of these streams contain water-borne diseases which have an incubation period of up to 2 weeks before the infected person will notice their symptoms, so any effects would be felt long after reaching home.
Some water sources may be contaminated by heavy metals like mercury and lead, or by arsenic, which is even worse and can be deadly. The absence of plants may indicate the presence of one or more of these contaminants. If the water source is shown on your map and has a name, this may also indicate contamination. An obvious name would be “Arsenic spring”, "Poison Creek", or ". Some are not-so-obvious, like “Bitter Creek” or “Red Spring.” Never drink water that’s coming out of a mine.
Now that I have warned you of Dehydration I must also tell you about a condition known as Hyponatremia (high-po-nah-tree-me-a) which occurs when one drinks too much water out of fear of dehydration. This condition can be equally as serious! The excess water causes the sodium in your blood to be drawn out to the lower intestines. Symptoms are headache, irritability, weakness and anorexia. The best treatment for Hyponatremia is to drink liquids with high sodium AND carbohydrate content, such as Gatorade. The carbs help your body to absorb the sodium through a process called "co-transportation."
I only tell you of these things to prepare you for the trip and so you will have the best time possible and avoid those things that can ruin the adventure of a life time.
