The 311! You're on your own on that one. All I can say is there may or may not be trails remaining going over the top of the Sevier, and the trails in the Tushars may also be non-existant...or maybe buff singletrack. I haven't seen either in a decade, and both are highly variable. Do it and let us know! It will be a grand adventure.

Just in case anyone is still following this thread - Moose Knuckler (aka Lukas Brinkerhoff) and John Taylor have stepped in to manage the event. They are picking up the slack from my waning motivation. Funny thing is, I never felt quite right about hitting the event while managing it, now I can give it a good go. More details at https://mooseknuckleralliance.org/2023/08/bristlecone-200/

2020 date has been set: Sep 5, 7am. Deets here: http://2-epic.com/the-dixie-200/

I did most of Grandview in late April 2018, there was no snow and barely any down trees. That was an historically low snow year.

Did you ride the southern section from Robinson to Mill? How about Crawford Pass trail?

...or the 190 miles in the legs!

Great TR and pics, thanks for sharing! I especially liked hearing how much you liked Cassidy. When done in the waning evening light after 12+ hours of riding it's pretty darn tough. As a day ride I've always loved it. The colors and unique terrain are really something in there. Those white embedded rocks on VRRT got the finger from me too lol.

Social media is getting the action these days, here is what I posted to the FB group.

--------------------------

Strange but true, I've never raced the Dixie 200. I've been organizing it since 2011 but just haven't had the urge to race it. This year was no different, then I got a text from Jensen Werner "so Dixie 200 eh?" An idea is born, why not do a team effort? I've had it in the rules since day 1. I coached Jensen as a gifted NICA athlete and knew if he rode at my pace he could go the distance. I got him setup with bikepacking kit, a fueling plan, and the rest is a blur. He was rock solid start to finish and fun to ride with. He was on a carbon HT and rode at least half the time out of the saddle SS style. Couldn't ask for a better teammate! He was surprised by the level of difficulty of the route, and as we were hiking part of the Grandview asked if people were pissed after finishing. That cracked me up! "Bikepackers love this stuff, it gets them closer to the terrain" or something like that.

I really like the new route. Losing the southern end of the Paunsaugunt (Grandview) was a tough pill to swallow, but I think it all came together nicely, especially with the addition of a different piece of Grandview. That spring is a lifesaver too! Next year expect a few changes. For one there is a new trail that extends the Bunker descent another 3 miles. It wasn't open yet, but Jensen and I sleuthed it out and rode it. It's got some fun features and will surely improve with more use. Also, in light of Dana's experience on Hwy 14 I'll use a different route to get to VRRT. The most likely route is Assay creek which will make Hatch the refuel location. More options, more burgers

It was great to meet the 6 hardy souls to start this year's ride. Everyone was on Trackleaders, and everyone made it back to the start. Bravo, I'm pretty sure that's a Dixie first! It's not an easy route. Congrats to Dana Ernst for setting the bar on the new route.

Deer Haven has water - all good there.

Cascade is the outlet for Navajo, pretty sure it is always reliable - but I have never been there believe it or not...the 1/2 mile trail is normally quite busy with day hikers. The road at Cascade is a straight shot to the lake if you're in dire need. It's a lot longer than you think it is from Cascade to Te-Ah via the route.

There are 2 key pieces of water info.

First, the water mains have been shut off at all campgrounds near Navajo due to some sort of political dispute. Retarded but whatevs. I have talked to Aaron, the campground host at Te-Ah, and he has agreed to let us access his personal water supply that is in a 125 gallon tank in the back of his pickup. You'll see it in the main entrance, course goes right by it. Green pickup, the tank has a valve and attached hose, help yourself and say hi if he's there. Super friendly guy who likes cyclists. If for some reason that is not viable, you're at Navajo lake. Or, you might try the Navajo Lake store which is accessed just off the lake loop heading towards the lake when you hit the lodge trail.

From Long Valley Junction to Te-Ah is a long, mostly dry, and quite demanding section (the VRRT). There is water in Swains creek but it's a mile off-route. Head east where Harris Rim Ts into the Swains Creek road, about 1 mile down the road you'll see a fenceline - go right along the fenceline 100 feet or so and you'll see a nice clear water hole. This might be important if you end up on VRRT mid-day or camp in this section, otherwise you can haul all you need from Long Valley.

Congrats on not being on FB. It's a struggle.

I'm going with 2.4. There is surprisingly little sand so I'd think 3.0 is overkill unless you're running a hardtail. The race has been won on a fatbike though, so anything goes!

I'm not sure if you on FB, but if you are we have a group with some chatter, esp about water availability in the final section: https://www.facebook.com/groups/463924827490394/

Cool. I already signed up on Trackleadders for ITT. I wonder if I can update that.

I put a request in to Scott to change the start date and your entry from ITT to grand depart.

OK, I know of 5 people coming this year. 4 are starting Friday morning. Let's move the start date to Friday, July 23. Sorry Geoff!

7am good for everyone? We can do earlier if you like.

On the topic of a start date, current vote count is 1 for Friday, 1 for Saturday. Not a compelling reason to change. If you know others that are doing the ride and haven't posted, give them a nudge.

The event is on trackleaders, sign up here: https://form.jotform.com/trackleaders/dixie19.

Death mud: basically, everywhere If it rains take a nap, it will be good in an hour.

I had a question via email on water locations so I'll list them here.

approx course mile, location, potable and on course unless otherwise noted

0  Deer Haven CG
9, 20, 196 (yes 3 passes!)  Te-ah CG
39  Castle creek (filter)
50  Bunker creek (filter)
54  Panguitch lake
69  Panguitch creek (filter)
80  Panguitch (major resupply)
99  Hancock/Casto intersection (filter, may be dry but I doubt it)
108.5  Red Canyon CG (roughly .3 miles off route via paved bike path)
125  Hillsdale canyon (filter, image: https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/waypoint/b8c7d02e-6632-45d3-9e9a-00c7558ffb25/?layer=usfs-roads,esriusgstopo&slideshow=true)
??  Somewhere between Hillsdale and Proctor there is a nice spring...but I don't have a waypoint for it. It's piped and on the trail, can't miss it.
131  Proctor canyon (filter, may be dry)
148  Bottom of Pole canyon, you'll see a spring. I'd filter it.
154  Sevier river (filter but I'd avoid it, lots of irrigation/ranching upstream and normally high sediment)
160  Long Valley Junction - gas station with a lot of food and drink choice
174??  Possibly Swains creek. It's off-route, needs filtered, I have not been there in years.
196  Back to Te-Ah. Long Valley to Te-Ah is what I'd consider the longest section between water, 5+ hours.

Yea, we have water in Utah!

Several people have mentioned they will start ITT on the morning of Fri Aug 23. This is one day before the planned grand depart.

What do you think about changing the grand depart to Friday, Aug 23? There are at least 4 that will start then so it might make sense to move the start as this is likely half the field this year

Dana I think you'd go under 40 hours without breaking a sweat. Unless you go SS, then you will sweat lol.

The FS is working hard on clearing all of the VRRT. All will be prime for our late Aug start.

I'm a solid, tentative "in" for an Aug 24 start date and camping at Deer Haven CG the night before 

A solid tentative. Is this a thing? I must be getting old lol.

See you in Aug!

Hey Dave...been following the thread...excited to try/do the Dixie in August...by looking at your 9/26/18 posting, that will be 2019's track? I have a Garmin 35T E-trex, which one of the complete track downloads should I use? I am unfamiliar with the area and want to make certain that I have the correct one. Based on your exploration last fall, it sounds like the 311 route is not feasible (I would not want to be throwing by loaded bike around)?   
Thanks

The tracks in Gaia or ridewithgps linked in previous post are identical - either will work. I'm not familiar with your GPS, but if you need to simplify or split the track use Topofusion. It is the smartest software out there for the job.

311...it's been called a hairy monster. I haven't been in the Tushar or Sevier sections since 2010 so can't really say how it would be. Hard, guaranteed hard

Thanks for the update BD! That was a real slogfest.

I bailed on the GL concept for this year when I saw region snowpack at somewhere around 400% of normal. Not open until almost July? Dang, that is death season at lower elevations.

Bummer about Kosko traverse! I didn't know it burned. That was deffo a favorite spot last year, it'll be a scorcher with zero tree cover.

Seems a good year for an early fall run...