St. Louis to La Sal Mtns to Lake Powell to Capitol Reef - October 9 - 18

[Dave]

Natasha and I are planning a trip from SE Utah the second week of October. Plans are still loose right now, but it looks like our first night of camping will be at Warner Lake off the La Sal Mt. Loop. From there we'll head into Moab to stock up and then make our way into the back country south of the Needles District for a few days. We will eventually make our way to the ferry at Bullfrog on Lake Powell and head up towards Capitol Reef NP.

Has anyone used Beef Basin Road in the Canyon Rims Recreation Area as a route down to Natural Bridges National Monument? According to the Gazetteer, starting from 211 near Newspaper Rock, it should connect to Gooseberry Road, then Elk Ridge Road and eventually 275 into NBNM.

Sounds kind of cheesy, but I am thinking of proposing to Natasha at the end of the spur from Beef Basin Rd. that leads to Wedding Ring Arch. Does anyone know if the arch is visible from the spur or do you need to hike in?

[kcowyo]

Has anyone used Beef Basin Road in the Canyon Rims Recreation Area as a route down to Natural Bridges National Monument? According to the Gazetteer, starting from 211 near Newspaper Rock, it should connect to Gooseberry Road, then Elk Ridge Road and eventually 275 into NBNM.

Sounds kind of cheesy, but I am thinking of proposing to Natasha at the end of the spur from Beef Basin Rd. that leads to Wedding Ring Arch. Does anyone know if the arch is visible from the spur or do you need to hike in?

Yes, you can make the trip from Newspaper Rock, via Beef Basin to Natural Bridges NM.

We did it in May (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1464)- see day four in this thread for Needles and Beef Basin pics and info. Not sure about Wedding Ring Arch, I was traveling with a confirmed bachelor, no nuptuals for us! ;)

And I don't think it's cheesy at all. Anyone can drop a ring in some champagne, be creative and best of luck to you two on your trip and your future together!

[Dave]

We did it in May (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1464)- see day four in this thread for Needles and Beef Basin pics and info.

Great pictures and report! Thanks for the info, looks like it should be a nice drive.

[Dave]

Looks like we're going to skip the La Sal's this time around...again. We were going to try to reserve a campsite at the Warner Lake developed campground, but all the sites are booked solid for the whole week we're out there! The only thing I can think of is that several hunting seasons are open during that week.

As boring as it sounds, normally when we do these trips we try to book a cabin or something at a KOA on the way instead of driving around the clock simply because they're cheap (compared to motel rooms), easy (usually right off the interstate), dog friendly, and usually the shower facilities are pretty decent. For this trip, however, there are no KOA's near our stopping point. So I happened to find a Forest Service cabing called Piney Station Gaurd. Here's the description from the ReserveUSA (http://www.reserveusa.com/jsp/commonpage.jsp?goto=/nrrs/co/pigs/newindex.html) website:


Piney Guard Station was constructed during the 1930's and is situated on a north-facing slope. The Guard Station consists of one room with a wood-burning stove. The inside of the Guard Station contains a bunkbed, table, and chairs. A vault toilet is located adjacent to the Guard Station. The Guard Station is 14' x 22'. There is no drinking water or trash service. The road to the Guard Station is open to motor vehicles from approximately mid-June to mid-November. The road is closed to motor vehicles except snowmobiles the remainder of the year. The road to the Piney Guard Station is rough and requires a high-clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle. Users may drive within approximately three miles of the Guard Station without the need for high-clearance, four-wheel drive vehicles. The area is popular for hunting. The Guard Station is located in a forest dominated by aspen, spruce, pine, and fir trees. The nearest all-season paved road is approximately ten miles.

Getting There
Take I-70 east from Grand Junction, CO, about 126 miles. Go west from Denver about 119 miles to exit 157. Take Highway 131 north through the town of Wolcott to the Muddy Pass Road (Forest Road 700). Follow the Muddy Pass Road about 7 miles to Forest Road 406. Follow Follow Road 406 about 3 miles to the Piney Guard Station.

Anyone been up to this cabin before? I'm super curious about it.

From there we're driving to Arch's NP to stay for two nights. We're going to do the guided Fiery Furnace hike on Monday. From Arch's, we'll drive to Needles via the Lockhart Basin Road. KC, I noticed you did not have sliders (rock rails) on your T100 when you drove Lockhart Basin from 211 to Moab, did that present any problems? I'm not sure I'll be able to get mine installed before this trip.

We'll play in Needles for two days and then it's off to Natural Bridges National Monument by way of Beef Basin Road, hopefully with views of Wedding Ring Arch. From Natural Bridges NM, we'll drive down to Lake Powell to camp at the Stanton Creek primitive area. After that, we'll take the ferry over to Bullfrog and head up to Boulder, UT via the Burr Trail. We're staying at some lodge that Natasha picked out in Boulder for two nights. From Boulder, it's up to Goblin Valley State Park for a night, and then we start the long drive home on Tuesday the 17th.

If anyone feels like joining us for any leg of this trip (especially the Lockhart Basin leg), please let me know so I can send specific dates.

[Desertdude]

when your in Goblin - try and hit those slot canyons - you can hike in one the loop out and do the seond one on the way out

[Dave]

when your in Goblin - try and hit those slot canyons - you can hike in one the loop out and do the seond one on the way out

Will do! Thanks for the tip.

And how weird is it that your 666th post was in regards to a place called Goblin??

[pskhaat]

not have sliders (rock rails) on your T100 when you drove Lockhart Basin

I know this was directed at KC, but Lockhardt shouldn't present too much of a problem in terms of body damage...unless there's been a recent washout?

[Dave]

Very good to know.

[paulj]

We drove through that area two years ago, in September. In case it helps, here's what we encountered.

- got a campsite at Dead Horse Pt State Park about noon (Thursday, I think). Nice local hiking. Didn't try Arches because dogs are not allowed on most Nat Park trails.

- wanted to stay another night at Dead Horse, but everything was reserved. Drove down to the river via Long Canyon, and then part way up the Shaefer Trail. Lunch in Moab, then up into the LaSals via Castle Valley. Camped at Warner Lake. It was lightly used at that time; good fall colors.

- woke to light rain; drove to Telluride CO. Camped at Forest Service Alta Lakes; stormy weather (tail end of tropical storm).

- Stuck to paved roads in the San Juans; motel in Cortez

- West into South Utah, Mexican Hat, Mokee Dugway, Natural Bridges and Lake Powell. Camped at Halls Crossing, since the last ferry was around 4pm. Lake level was way down. (Advise - check ferry schedules)

- Took 1st ferry across to Bullfrog Landing (about 8 am). Couldn't go up Burr Trail because the storm had dumped a load of mud at the Bullfrog Ck crossing. So took the long way around Henry Mtns and main passage through Capitol Reef. Then hwy 12 to Boulder and Calf Creek. Camped at Escalante State Park. In retrospect probably could have taken a dirt road south through Capitol Reef, and caught part of the Burr Trail. Still the fall colors in Boulder Mtn were nice (plus a few snow flurries). Also should have spent more time at Calf Creek.

paulj

photos at http://www.pbase.com/paulj3/southwest_2004

[Dave]

Very cool, thanks for the pictures and insight Paul. That picture in the La Sal's is wonderful, I'm really disappointed we couldn't make it up there this time around. Every time we go to Moab we look up at the La Sal's and always promise we'll get up there "next time".

[Scott Brady]

This will be a fun trip, and good time of year to do it. I really like that area!

[Dave]

Two weeks from today we'll be barreling across Kansas headed west! :wings:

[Desertdude]

Nice - the fall is a great time to visit the west :smiley_drive:

[Dave]

All we have left to do is make it through the work day, drop off the dog with the sitter ( :( ) then we're out-o-here.

:wavey: :smiley_drive: :D :campfire: :wings: :truck:

[devinsixtyseven]

it might be a bit late to contact you, but where do you expect to be from 13OCT to 15OCT? we were hoping to return to moab in the next couple weeks, but if youll be in the needles district or running lockart that weekend, perhaps we could cruise over and join you.

if you drive in the needles district, take your time...we took a stock tundra through elephant hill without damage, and the views are amazing.

if youre already on the road, will be @ lockhard or needles that weekend and would like some company on the trail, perhaps i could bounce some contact info off someone...

-sean

[Dave]

Hey Sean, we'll already be gone from Needles that weekend. We hope to be at Natural Bridges National Monument on the 12th and then on to Lake Powell on the 13th. We'll be staying at a ranch near Boulder, UT the 14th and 15th. We are kicking around the idea of taking the Elephant Hill trail from Needles down to Natural Bridges and possibly camping along the way one night.

http://www.ilikecoconuts.com/utah/calendar.html

[devinsixtyseven]

Good luck on the trip :D. The 211 to Needles route is what I'm looking at for the spring, interested to hear how it turns out. Wish we could join you for the Needles section but the grindstone calls :(.

-Sean

[Dave]

Good evening from the Rainy Rocky Mountains!

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More when we get home in a few days...

[Desertdude]

great lightning photo :clapsmile

[Dave]

Thanks! Watching that storm roll in was pretty intense. I had never had the pleasure of seeing a lightning producing storm roll across the desert. The whole desert would light up, for an instant you could see everything and then back to darkness. There's nothing like hearing thunder echoeing through miles of deep canyons, all I could do was stand there in amazement. Luckily the rain missed us by a few miles but it was exciting and a bit a scary to watch.

A few more before we jump back on the highway this morning:

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[Dave]

Another 1000 miles behind us...Glenwood Springs to St. Louis...we rolled into Dogtown (home) around 1:30 this morning. Topeka to St. Louis, nonstop. A new record for us no doubt. This trip is completed and can be moved to the appropriate forum. :-)

Part 1:

Southern Utah – October 2006

Friday, October 6th
The plan was to leave after work and drive to some “oasis on the plains” city in Kansas where we had a hotel room reserved (which town exactly escapes me at the moment). Getting out of St. Louis at rush hour on a Friday night proved to be the typical Hellish experience. Forgotten shoes forced us to turn around before we even got on the highway and a seven mile back up due to an accident forced me to do something I never do: cut across the ditch off the interstate and onto the outer road. We arrived at hotel late that night.

Saturday, October 7th
We made the long and dull drive from Central Kansas, across Eastern Colorado (nothing to see hear, please move along). Strong winds and the gradual climb in elevation made driving frustrating both for the truck and myself. The tedious routine of hunting for the right gear and speed is always fun. Finally, mountains come into view sometime in the afternoon.

We climbed into the mountains towards our destination for the night: Piney Guard Station. Piney Guard Station is a USFS owned cabin that can be reserved much like any other public lands campsite. It is a 14’x22’ cabin on a north facing slope. It features a wood burning stove, an outhouse, and bunk beds. The road to Piney Guard Station is a four-wheel drive, high clearance rutted road. Nothing to challenging, a stock Jeep or Tacoma should handle it without any problems. When I talked to the ranger at the Holy Cross District Ranger Station, he told me he thought they graded the road so that Subaru’s could access the cabin. Not the case. This was the first of a few instances of misinformation or exaggerations courtesy of public land rangers.

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Finally we were in the secluded wilderness! Beavers were swimming in the nearby pond, birds were fluttering about. The only sounds were those of nature. Natasha made a great pasta dinner; I maintained a campfire outside and a fire in the indoor stove. We went to bed early, but sleep was hard to come by. The cabin creaked and critters could be heard scurrying both in the ceiling and under the floor. The bed was also better suited for one person rather then two.

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The next morning we got up before daylight, packed up the truck and started up the rough road. We were ready to be in Utah: land of sunny rocks and funny trees.

Sunday, October 8th
We stopped in Glenwood Springs, CO for a great breakfast and then it was on to Utah. We opted for our usual drive into Moab via UT-128.
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After getting groceries and some quick souvenir shopping, we headed a bit north to Arches National Park where we had campsite #53 reserved. We decided to camp amongst the masses for a few nights in order to be near the trailhead for the Fiery Furnace hike. Bad news at the visitor center: the Fiery Furnace hike for Monday was booked solid, the road to Delicate Arch was closed due to flash flood damage, all dirt roads in the park were closed, and the forecast was calling for more rain on Monday.

The developed campground in Arches is about what you’d expect. A safe haven for RV’s and trailers of all sorts and sizes. Flush toilets and camp hosts with golf carts. Knowing this when reserving a site over a month ago, I put a lot of time into picking our home for two nights. I looked at the campground map on the reservation site and I liked at aerial photos. I decided on #53. It appeared to be about as secluded as you can get in this narrow campground, was set off the road and was far enough from the facilities. All of the above turned out to be true, we were pleased!

After getting the tent setup, the sleeping bags and pads unrolled, and a beer in the blood stream, we went on a short hike that started just 30 feet from our campsite. The trail offered views of the Bookcliffs, Broken Arch and eventually looped back to the campground.

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As the sun went down, we cooked a pork tenderloin on the grill, built a warm fire in the ring, and settled in.

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Monday, October 9th
We awoke to light rain and wind. We put on warm clothes and set up the sun shade for cover. After an hour or so of reading while it rained, we headed to town to shower and wait out the rain. We got a few more groceries (3.2 beer) and grabbed some lunch. The rain seemed to be tapering off, so we headed back to Arches to find a narrow foot patch to explore. As we drove the long paved road back to the campground, the rain picked up again and would continue until just before dusk. We decided to go on a drive to see what we could see. We turned up a gravel road that ended shortly where it had washed out in the storms earlier in the weekend. A Jeep Grand Cherokee with California plates was swamped in sand that came up to the bottom of the doors…eight feet from a “trailed closed” sign. The owners of the Jeep were nowhere to be found and there were no footprints. My guess is they got stuck, alone, and abandoned the vehicle before the big water came through. The storm grew stronger and all of a sudden we were witnessing a flash flood situation of our own, though from the safety of paved roads. The creeks and washes were instantly alive with rushing water that was red and foamy like tomato juice. The small creek that flows at the entrance to Arches NP became a raging river.

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Remembering the low spot at the far end of our campsite, we decided to head back to #53 to make sure all was well. Everything was fine, but the low spot was holding a fair amount of water. We named it the swimming pool and joked about going for a dip if the sun came out. The sun stayed hidden so neither of us went for a swim. Instead we hunkered down in the tent for more reading, waiting, and napping. Just before sunset, the rain let up long enough to convince me it was done. It started raining again shortly after that. To hell with it, I started a fire and finished a beer.

Finally it stopped for good Three mule deer came up to pay us a visit and much on the wet vegetation. They came within 15 feet of our campsite and walked calmly through the middle of the campground. Most people were oblivious since they were so busy tinkering with their RV’s and drying off all their crap they left sitting out in the rain.

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(Ignore the tangle of RV’s in the background)

For dinner we had left over tenderloin sandwiches warmed over the fire like a hot dog.

Tuesday, October 10th
We woke up to a wet sandy campground, but the skies looked promising. The deer returned, more people noticed this time. We took down camp and stuffed the soggy (and sandy) rain cover and sunshade into stuff sacks. Loaded up and started back to Moab for warm showers, groceries, ice, 3.2 beer, maps, and info.

Today we would drive to the Needles District in Canyonlands via Lockhart Basin Rd…or so we thought.

[Dave]

Southern Utah 2006

Part II

Tuesday, October 10th

Today we would drive to the Needles District of Canyonlands via Lockhart Basin Rd. Or so we thought.

We went into Moab again for showers, groceries, and info. First stop: showers. One of the bicycle shops next to the grocery store sells shower time. $4 per person, time is limited only by the amount of hot water. There’s only one shower stall. While Natasha showered I sat in the lawn chair in the sun looking over maps, people watching, and making a few phone calls. While I showered, Natasha did the grocery shopping. Very handy having the shower right next to the grocery store. Showered, groceries stored away, coolers iced down, cargo secured and we’re off the BLM Moab Field Office to find out road conditions.

We were hoping to take Lockhart Basin Road from Moab down to HWY 211, just outside the entrance to Needles. The nice lady behind the counter called down to the Monticello Field Office to get more info. Monticello had no info but they were sending a ranger up the road today to find out what kind of shape it’s in. Having no hard information she improvised with horror stories of truck swallowing quick sand, giant washed out ledges, days and days of hard traveling, digging. I was mainly worried about the Indian Creek crossing, but we took her word for it. Disappointed, we took the highway down to Needles. We stopped at Newspaper Rock of course!

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Before entering the park, we drove up the southern end of Lockhart Basin Rd. to take a peek at the camping spots available. We picked one for “Plan B” and continued up to Indian Creek. No problem. We turned around and headed back to 211 and to the Needles entrance. Since we arrived much sooner then planned (paved vs. dirt), we discussed driving up Elephant Hill trail and camping at one of the sites along this route. I talked to the ranger working the gate at Needles about the road conditions. Just a day earlier he had been involved with a rescue that required them taking a NP vehicle up the Elephant Hill trail. Again the report was quick sand, drop offs, and certain death should such a drive be attempted. Ok.

We go to the visitor center for a second opinion and to pick up a book. At first the second ranger told me it was really really bad and the sign they had posted in the visitor center said, “Not recommended”. Frustration growing, I explained the vehicle I was driving, explained that I had driven the trail once before a couple years ago and asked what kind of affect the storms had on the trail. “My shift just started,” was her answer. We decided to stay on foot and hiked a slick rock trail at the end of the paved road.

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It turned out to be a nice hike, the tensions of the “not recommended” roads and lack of information eased. It was now obvious that the weather and the resulting road changes would require us to be flexible with our plans. We drove back to Lockhart Basin Rd. and set up at a great spot. Built a fire, cold drinks, soaked in the scenery and peacefulness.

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As the sun was going down, clouds were rolling in. More storms? Nah, surely not!

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Once the sun was down, the wind started picking up. Feels like it could storm. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of lightning. It was a long ways away, too far to hear the thunder, but how far? 5 miles? 50? 500? I had no idea. Used to being surrounded by tall trees, judging distances in wide-open country was not something I trusted myself with. Better start dinner sooner then later.

A delicious dinner of chicken quesadillas with mushrooms and green peppers was quickly prepared and consumed while lightning danced in the distance. The whole canyon would erupt with bright light and then dark again in half a second. A quick check of the weather road reported the storm was headed our away and it sounded like a big one. Dishes done and cooking gear stowed, we buttoned everything down and watched the storm roll in. The lightning got closer, thunder came into earshot. At the peak, the lightening danced within 10 miles of us (my best estimate) and the thunder echoed all over. Simply put, it was amazing.

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At what seemed like the last minute, the storm turned away from us. Not a drop of rain fell on us that night! Feeling like we dodged a big bullet, we decided we would risk our lives in the morning and check out Elephant Hill with our own eyes.

[Dave]

Southern Utah 2006

Part III

Wednesday, October 11th

Up before the sun again, Wednesday was looking promising. Clear skies in all directions, even NOAA was optimistic. After the sun rise, we loaded into the truck and drove up to Needles Outpost. We intended to buy some $4/gallon gas, some muffins for breakfast, and a six pack for this evening. Turning down the road that leads to the Outpost we noticed a “flooded area” sign that wasn’t there yesterday. These signs had become such a common sight, we thought nothing of it. Driving up to the gate it was clear something was amiss. Three vehicles were parked outside the closed gate, thick mud and standing water extended 30 feet in nearly all directions from the gate. Needles Outpost was open to foot traffic only. We slogged through the muck and up to store. The lady that owns/runs Needles Outpost was fuming! Apparently her property stops at the gate. The access road, the gate, and the cattle grate was owned by the NPS. The cattle grate needed to be “opened” to allow the water to drain out so the mud could be plowed out, but they were giving her the run around. People pulling camping trailers were stuck in Needles Outpost, no way out until the NPS worked on the road.

Muffins and beer procured, we slogged back to the truck. For the sake of humor, we stopped by the visitor center in Needles to get a road report for Elephant Hill. No change. Not recommended. Certain death.

Driving to the trailhead, the muffins were perfect. Lots of bicycles on the road to Elephant Hill, that’s a good sign I suppose. Once at the trailhead we aired down the tires and filled our Nalgenes. I noticed one bicyclist barking orders at her (assumed) greenhorn friend. Her friend made it up the first 20 feet without problems, the barker bailed, got a close up view of the solid rock, brushed herself off and walked her bike.

Four-Low and we’re on our way up the hill. To the top with no problems, the truck is doing great. At the top all the bikers were waiting on me! I told them to go on ahead, I was going to walk the down hill portion first and there’s one section that you have to back down…I’d rather do that without much of an audience if at all possible. After walking it, everything looks like it did two years ago. I start down the hill, Natasha is on foot and spots me down the section that requires reverse. Farther down the trail, we come across the barker and her friend again. This time it’s the greenhorn in the dirt clutching her wrist. The barker was tending to her.

“You guys ok? Need anything? We got our first aid kit, ice, extra water, can make a cold wrap if you want?”
“I’m an EMT. We’re fine.”, she barked back.
“Ok.”


When we did this trail a couple years ago, we went to the Confluence Overlook instead of Chesler Park. This time we’re going to Chesler Park to hike The Joint trail. An out and back that leads you through slot canyons and up to an overlook, this area is also accessible by a five mile hike starting at Elephant Hill or a seven mile hike starting at the Sqaw Flat campground. Best I can tell, the five mile hike takes about as much time as driving the Elephant Hill trail.

I’d recommend this combination of driving out on Elephant Hill and then doing the short Joint Trail hike. Pretty good combination of backcountry driving and mild hiking, plus you can stop by the Confluence Overlook on the way back.

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On our way through one of the slot canyons, we met someone coming from the other direction. She was limping and relying on her trekking pole, favoring her right ankle. She looked kind of like she was having a tough time, but wasn’t showing any pain. “This place is awesome, huh?” was all she said when she passed by. I thought about checking to see if she was ok, but I had already been barked at by the EMT so I bit my tongue. When we got back to the beginning of the trail, another man who was hiking trail met us a couple feet up the trail and said the girl might have broken her ankle. His wife is a nurse and wrapped her the girls ankle real good, gave her a Vicodin, but could we give her a ride back to the visitor center? After making room in the cab of the truck, we loaded Lisa up and took her for her first trail ride. The only damage the truck sustained from Elephant Hill was a ruined mud flap, I’d been looking for an excuse to take those off anyway.

It’s funny how things work. When we told Lisa we lived in St. Louis, she told us her boyfriend is a HUGE Cardinals fan even though he has never lived in St. Louis or even in Missouri. He had even considered getting cable just so he could watch the playoffs and she is thinking of getting tickets and airfare next year for a Card’s game. So we ask Lisa where she lives and wouldn’t you know it…she lives where we were planning our big trip in 2008: Alaska. Once back to the parking lot, we of course exchange contact info. We tell her they have a place to stay when they come to town for a Card’s game and she tells us we have a place to stay in 2008. Pretty cool how that works out. Lisa headed back to Moab to have her ankle x-rayed and we made PBJ’s for lunch before driving to a “pothole hike”.

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After stopping in at the visitor center to file a trail report and buy a book, it’s back to camp on Lockhart Basin for watching the sunset, hot dogs, and those beers we packed out of Needles Outpost.

Tomorrow the plan is to drive to Natural Bridges National Monument. With less then a half tank of gas, the planned route down Beef Basin may have to thrown out. Monticello is the nearest place to get gas.

[cruiseroutfit]

..Monticello is the nearest place to get gas.

No gas at the Outpost? Its usually expensive ~.50 more per gallon, but beats a trip to Monticello if you can swing it...

[Dave]

No gas at the Outpost? Its usually expensive ~.50 more per gallon, but beats a trip to Monticello if you can swing it...

They had gas ($4/gallon), but the road was flooded and closed. I'm talking THICK mud and standing water at the gate.

[Dave]

Thursday, October 12

The last morning on Lockhart Basin. I was ready to move on, but I really liked this spot. Time to go.

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The plan was to drive to Natural Bridges National Monument via Beef Basin Rd. To my knowledge, this is just a typical dirt road that drives Cathedral Butte and intersects with Elk Ridge road. In fact, you can take Beef Basin Rd all the way up Elephant Hill if you choose. If you go that route, it takes you past Indian ruins. Like I said, the plan was to take Beef Basin to Elk Ridge and pop out right near the entrance to Natural Bridges. There was also a second layer to this plan. You see, there is a spur road from Beef Basin that leads out to the end a mesa over looking a canyon. Somewhere in that canyon is Wedding Ring Arch. This is where I was planning to propose to Natasha.

If we stuck with the plan, it would have been Friday afternoon before we would be anywhere that sells fuel: the marina at Lake Powell. “We’ve got no fuel for this.” We had to take pavement to Monticello and scrub the Beef Basin plans. Damnit. We did have enough fuel to cut through the mountains instead of taking the highway the whole way. Saw at least 30 deer and probably as many turkeys, all just off the road. Pretty interesting.

Gassed up, we head to Natural Bridges. We’re way ahead of schedule at this point. We cruise through the camp ground and notice they don’t allow camp fires. This won’t due. We decide to either camp in many of the available BLM areas nearby or…wait a minute…we’re way ahead of schedule. I bet we can make the last ferry at Hall’s Crossing if we wanted to. We drive the loop at Natural Bridges, walk to a few overlooks, realize this place would be much better if we had time to do the long hike that takes you up close to all the bridges and ruins.

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And we’re off to Lake Powell. The road to Hall’s Crossing from Natural Bridges was straight, well maintained, and when we came through, deserted. Speed limit of 55, it was impossible to go that slow given the above attributes. Then it turns to a very well maintained gravel road, no change in speed limit. I was impressed. We get Hall’s Crossing by 2:30, the next ferry is at 4:00. More PBJ’s, camp chairs in the sun, looking at maps, and reading. The ferry shows up around 3:30, unloads and the crew goes “down below”. There was a school bus on the ferry, how cool would it be to have a ferry ride as part of your daily ride to school? The ride across is about 20 minutes and costs $20 per vehicle.

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No matter what your opinion is of Lake Powell, it is an interesting place. We were planning on camping at a place called Stanton Creek. Primitive, dispersed, $6. All the cars you see near that bowel shaped rock are camped at Stanton Creek. We drove down the access road, saw all the campers and their generators, turned around and grabbed the last room in the “lodge”, which is really just an overpriced hotel with an overpriced restaurant. The shower was worth every penny that the room cost…it’d been a few days. Like I said, we got the last room available…on a Thursday in October (practically out of season). Apparently, the Utah Education Association has a yearly conference in October for educators. Anyway, we lucked out, got the last room and probably could have sold it for double what we paid. People were camping out in their boats in the parking lot before the night was over. Showered and feeling comfortable in our room with running water, electricity, and a patio (over looking the parking lot and eventually the lake itself), we head to dinner.

Friday, October 13th

We now have a day to spare and decide to head up to Capitol Reef National Park a day early. We load up the truck, hit the gift shop, hit the mail drop and head out. The truck didn’t start on the first turn of the key. Just a click, not a repeating click, just one click and then nothing. Interesting. Turn the key a second time, a slow crank. I had the AC/DC inverter running for a few hours, surely the battery isn’t that low? Third try, fires like nothing was ever wrong. Good enough, let’s gas up and go.

We call the Capitol Reef NP visitor center to check on road conditions. The plan was to take the Notom-Bullfrog road all the up along the Waterpocket Fold. Surprise, the road is “impassable” at Bullfrog Creek due to washouts. Check the map, that creek is just a few miles up the road, we’ll check it out and make our own judgment. Sure enough, there was a road closed sign, but it wouldn’t have been a problem to cross. Others had already, but we played it safe and headed for pavement.

I found a road that looked like it went all the way through to Notom, we’ll try it. It dead ended at a mine shaft. We tried a second road. This one took us way up into the Henry Mountains. It was very cool while we were in the mountains, a two track gravel road, very rough and twisty. Eventually it spit us out on some road that crossed a usually dry wash about 9,000 times. Every crossing we came to, the rougher the crossing got. No water today but the washes proved to be tedious. Eventually the drop offs were in the two to three foot range. Soft sand drop off into gravel creek bed. It took us a very long time to get from Bullfrog to Notom. We passed by one road that was closed due to “wildlife preservation”. We later learned that area plays host to one of the last free ranging herds of bison (or buffalo?).

We stop at the entrance to Capitol Reef for a pit stop. Turn the key, click, no start. Tried again, no start, three, four times. Ok, I check the voltage on the battery and at the starter. Everything is fine, I wiggle the starter relay. Fires right up. That’s weird. We drive off to find a place to camp and then to find a parts store. We catch word that more rain is rolling in. With a truck that’s not 100% and no luck finding parts, we check into a motel with Internet so we can do some re-routing. The nearest dealership is in St. George, 120 miles from Vegas and 230 miles from our current location of Torrey, UT. When I talk to the parts guy, tell him I’m looking for a starter relay, and says he doesn’t have one and describes to me exactly the symptoms I’m experiencing.

“The contacts on the starter need to be cleaned.”
“The battery contacts? Is that something I can do in the parking lot”
“Well, the contacts inside the starter. You can do it if you stand on your head, otherwise you’re going to have to come see me.”
“Are you open on Saturday?”
“Ha, no, it’ll be Monday.”

So we make an appointment for 11 AM on Monday, in St. George, UT. The exact opposite direction we need to be headed.

Saturday, October 14th

Rainy and cold, we drive to the cabin we have booked near Boulder, UT after finding out everything in Capitol Reef is closed due to flooding. It’s on a horse ranch off Hell’s Backbone Road, has running water, electricity, a shower, and a wood burning stove. The truck starts fine all damn day.

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Sunday, October 15th

The weather is beautiful. A touch of rain but mostly sunny and warming up. Natasha informs me we’re hiking to Calf Creek Falls in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Recreation Area this morning, so we eat a good breakfast at the ranch house and head out. Calf Creek Falls is a 126’ waterfall running from Calf Creek, a spring fed creek that apparently has water all the time. We see a rainbow on the way to the trailhead.

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The trail is a easy six mile out and back. This is going to be the place where I propose…Plan B. So I sneak the ring out of the console and into my pocket and we head out, but not before reading a sign that states that the ravens have taken a liking to windshield wipers…please cover your wipers with a towel or shirt before leaving your vehicle. Windshield wipers?

On the hike to the falls we meet a couple people coming the other direction and the BLM ranger that left a few minutes ahead of us. He tells us we’ve got the falls all to our self, no one else is on the trail ahead of us. Perfect!! We get to the falls and they are amazing. This place is probably better then Plan A!

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So we’re standing there, looking at the falls, and this raven lands five feet away from us and starts walking straight at us. It’s like he’s egging me on! After he flies off, I pop the question, she says yes and then a few minutes later another couple strolls up. Someone to take our picture, fantastic!

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After that, it’s a three-mile hike back to the truck. We drive up to Escalante for lunch, make the phone calls, dinner reservations, and then for a short drive down Burr Trail road and Wolverine Loop. We get to a point where Wolverine Loop is so washed out that route finding is difficult. We turn around and head for the cabin to clean up before dinner.

Dinner was at Hell’s Backbone Café. Apparently it’s somewhat famous, people were buying a book and having the staff autograph it. Dinner blew the budget so we opted to not buy a book.

Tomorrow, we get up early to start the long drive to St. George, UT.

[devinsixtyseven]

despite the changes in plan and the starter problem, it looks like you guys had a great time! (and how could she say no with scenery like that :D?)

cant wait to see more pics :D!

(fwiw, my starter did the exact same thing two days ago and now the truck's in the garage for the starter and a few other things (DIY). im just lucky it happened in the driveway! like your photos, when it rains...)

-sean

[kcowyo]

.... she says yes....

Congratulations Dave! :clapsmile

If you two can handle all the change ups in your plans on this trip you should do just fine. I think being flexible, with a few back-up plans in mind, is one of the most important attributes you can have when on a big adventure like this.

Great photos and recap so far, waiting for more -

[Dave]

Thank you all for the well wishes! Here is the last part of the trip report...

Southern Utah 2006

Monday, October 16th

On the road by 5:30 AM to make our 11 AM appointment at Stanger Toyota, it was really dark out. Judging by what we could see from the headlights, the drive from Boulder to Zion NP looked like it would be packed with great scenery. The sun started to come out just as we passed by Zion. Normally this would be a nice detour, but we were convinced we would be spending the day in St. George, Utah. The largest town we had been in the last week was Moab. St. George is roughly 30,000.

We get to St. George early, before 10 AM. We find a car wash, clean up the truck (most mechanics I know prefer a clean-ish vehicle), and head to the dealer. St. George. Your typical 30,000 town I suppose. Four lane streets, thousands of stop lights, strip malls, fast food, sprawl. We pull in to Stanger, this place is packed! Glad we have an appointment. Suzie thumbs through the appointment book.

“Do you remember who you talked to when you made your appointment?”
“No.”
“Well, they didn’t write you in the book.”
“Ok. I called around 4 on Friday, all he took was my last name.”
“So it was a ‘he’?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your last name again?”
“Baker.”
“First?”
“David”
“You have a Tundra?”
“No, 2002 Tacoma.”
“Did you used to have a Tundra?”
“No, this is my first time here. We’re from St. Louis, just trying to get home.”

She arranged for a shuttle to the mall…THE MALL. A week of dirt roads, footpaths, cow towns and suddenly we’re going to the mall! As we step outside to meet the shuttle, Suzie is already pulling the truck into the garage. Suzie fast tracked us even though, apparently, we didn’t have an appointment. Bless her heart! Bill, our shuttle driver, explains that the Senior Olympics are in town and that there are a lot of bad drivers in town. I believe it!

The mall. We stagger into J.C. Pennies, unshowered, gritty, road weary and feeling a small wave of culture shock.. We walk the mall in about seven minutes. It’s pretty small, four wings. We go to Sears, look at tools. We notice a store called Dressed in White, decide it’s something Mormon. We contemplate getting a set of Mormon underwear for our friends back home who are dog sitting for us. It’d be the perfect gift for the engagement party this weekend! We decide against it. To the arcade! We race cars, we play Tekken, we discuss the finer points of Tekken 4 vs. Tekken 5 with the arcade employee.

Suzie calls, they’re replacing the starter under warranty and it’ll be done in about an hour! Suzie is our hero! We walk down to a little Mexican place, grab some lunch and call the dealership to request our shuttle.

By 1:00 PM, we’re back on the road, headed OUT of St. George. Thank you Suzie and thank you Stanger Toyota! We caught the weather while at the dealership; we decide to head for home. Once we’re a ways down I-70, more storms come into view. Lightening, wind, ominous clouds. Every bend in the highway looked like it was taking us straight into the bowels of the storm. We stopped at the rest stop near the Moab turn off.

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It’s clear over the La Sal’s, they got lots of snow this week it looks like. Here comes the turn off for 191, we could hang a right and head back to Moab. Natasha vetoes. 128, the scenic route into Moab! Vetoed. Cisco! Last chance for Moab! Vetoed. Good bye Utah!

We hit heavy ran just as we cross in to Colorful Colorado. We stop in Grand Junction to call ahead and book a room in Glenwood Springs. The visitor center in Grand Junction is closed, so we bootleg WiFi from a Comfort Inn or whatever hotel they have there. This is the first time I’ve taken my laptop on a trip like this, it came in handy more then once. Rain all the way to Glenwood Springs. Dark, cold, low visibility. It’s a crummy drive.

Tuesday, October 17th

Winter storm warning in the mountains, 6-18” of snow expected. We better get moving. We talked about stopping in Kansas City before going to bed on Monday. This morning we’re talking about going straight through to St. Louis and our dog. Other then the snow, it’s an uneventful ride through the mountain; we stop in Frisco for breakfast.

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We eventually drive out of the storm and have great driving conditions for the rest of the day. Wind at our backs, no sun in our eyes, and low traffic. We stop at the Topeka rest area on the toll road, fuel and Hardee’s. Next stop, St. Louis.

We pull into Dogtown at exactly 1:30 AM, 1000 miles in one day. 300 miles without stopping.

[paulj]

A lot parallels between your trip and ours two years ago. As I wrote early in this thread we had some detours and change of plans due to a major rain storm.

We were told that Bullfrog Ck crossing was impassible due to recent storm mud, but I did not check it out myself. We took the first ferry of the day across Powell Lake, with the morning school bus. I suspect the school is on the Bullfrog side, and the bus takes the Halls Crossing kids over.

Calf Creek was one of the highlights of the trip, though we didn't have time to go all the way to the falls. In retrospect, I should have selected a camp site there, and spent more time hiking, as opposed to camping at Escalante State Park. Not that Escalante was bad.

paulj

[cruiseroutfit]

Great writeup :cool:

[Dave]

A couple thoughts on the upgrades made to the truck in preparation for this (and other) trips:

-The OME suspension worked great. The truck was level and sure footed in crawling situations, even with all of our gear loaded in the bed. It also handled great on twisty paved roads and washboard dirt roads. I expected the the leafs to sag some after twelve days of carrying a load and flexing, but after I unloaded the truck on Wednesday they seem to have rebounded right back to where they were before we left. These are the OME Dakar springs with what appears to be two overload leafs.

-The Kumho AT's also performed well. They of course gummed up in thick mud, but they cleaned pretty good for an AT. The only time I felt like I was losing traction was on Hell's Backbone Rd. after it rained all day. It was a soupy slimy mess in 2wd, I'm not sure if mud treads would have helped or not. four wheel high range was the remedy.

-The OBA system. I only aired down to 20psi for Elephant Hill (from 35 rear, 33 front), but having the OBA to air back up to 30 all around in less then 15 minutes was very nice. We would have had to drive all the way to Monticello (40+ miles on curvy paved mountain roads) for air since Needles Outpost was inaccessible. I can't believe I never beefed up the OBA for airing up tires when I had my XJ.

-The shower. We never had to resort to the truck shower that I had rigged up. With cool temps and a real shower available every few days, it just wasn't worth unpacking it.

-Storage system. Our system needs serious help. I'm hoping to design and build a drawer system with a flat platform in the bed that could be used as a sleeping platform if needed. I hope to include a poly or stainless steel water tank, possibly aux. fuel, and maybe a 12v fridge into the design. Dual battery too.

Overall I was pleased with how the truck performed, as expected. This was the first time it's seen any serious trail time and it handled everything with relative ease. I'm finding that I get much more enjoyment out of this time of "wheeling" then I ever did banging through tough trails with my XJ. I like using the truck as a means to get somewhere rather then going out just to see what the machine (and driver) is capable of.

I saw a couple trucks with Four Wheel Campers and even some Flip-Pacs while we were out there. :drool: I knew they were sweet setups from seeing them here and on other websites, but man they just look so nice in person. Some day, I'm going to have to own me one of those!