My First Week Exploring Utah, 4/12-4/19 2014

BlairB

Observer
Well, I don't post here as much as a browse, but figured I should put my recent Utah trip up. Thanks to some expo members I was able to figure out issues I was having with my fridge right before I left! Overall it was a great trip and I highly recommend getting out here if you haven't already. Issues were minimal, and the scenery and weather were impossible to beat. We did about 300 miles of dirt roads/trails this trip.

Day 1

We started off Saturday leaving from Los Angeles, heading to Zion National Park, planning on camping at Watchman Campground for the first of our two nights there. As I hate driving on pavement the whole way we took a detour from Cima to Nevada Stateline via Cima Rd and Nipton Trail. Fun, high speed dirt road that parallels the railroad tracks for quite a bit of the way.





Unfortunately, after getting back onto the pavement and making our way through Vegas we were stopped on the 15 for over two hours. Traffic was due to a trio of construction, accidents, and a freeway-side protest in support of a farmers cattles' grazing rights on BLM land (yes, seriously). As a result we ended up staying in a hotel our first night rather than coming into camp after 10pm and waking everyone up.

One interesting thing that we saw while stopped on the freeway was there must have been some sort of desert exercise for local law-enforcement since we were passed by literally hundreds of rangers, state police, sheriff etc.. all driving dirt-covered SUV's, trucks, UTV's. They actually had some really cool builds mixed in!

Day 2


We started off day 2 by heading straight into Zion National Park. We debated hiking Angels Landing but settled for Taylor Creek, wanting something a little more relaxed. Great hike that was around 4 miles, and lead to a beautiful dome at the end of the trail.





Made some friends along the trail.





After our hike we headed further into the park for a scenic overlook.





We finally made our way to Watchman Campground to set up. It was a decent campground, but since it was established it was filled with many large groups and lots of people.

 

BlairB

Observer
Day 3

Our third day began with heading through Zion towards Cottonwood Canyon Road. It was provided some beautiful, varied terrain.







As always, we tried our best to avoid paved roads while en route.



We arrived at Cottonwood Canyon Rd, and made our way into Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument.



Lots of dirt road to cover and we made some more friends.





We arrived at Grovners Arch and explored a little.





We headed deeper into the park via Road 440 and 441 trying to find the perfect campsite. Ultimately after quite a bit of exploring we settled on a site right near the Arch from earlier. Remote camping sure beats a packed campsite. We did find a large mountain lion footprint that was pretty fresh. That is an eye-opener as you are looking to select a campsite.





Day 4


We covered a lot of ground this day, making it all the way to Moab. We started by leaving the Grand-Staircase Escalante and headed towards Burr Trail. We took Burr to Notom Road, which brought us through some beautiful country.





We hit some real elevation changes and some major switchbacks.





When we finally arrived in Moab we were SHOCKED at the numbers of built Jeeps we saw everywhere. Shortly after arriving we realized we had decided to arrive right in the middle of their annual Jeep Safari. To say we were outnumbered was an understatement.

We spent this night in Moab Valley Inn. Also, I highly recommend Moab Brewery to anyone that rolls through town!
 

BlairB

Observer
Day 5

Top of the World Trail is awesome. Simple enough. Definitely a little technical and I would be hesitant to bring a rig through if you didn't feel pretty comfortable off road, and have a bit of time. We started the trail solo, but ended up hooking up with four Jeeps from TNT Fabrication out of Wyoming. Very cool guys and they helped spot us through some of the tougher sections. The trail has apparently degraded a lot in recent years, and I put my sliders to work. Wish I took more photos of the trail itself, but here are some cell phone shots.









To say the view you get up top is impressive is an understatement.





And of course, the standard Top of the World Photo.



From here we finished the trail, which was harder and bumpier on the 2nd half of the loop. We aired up slightly and headed to begin the White Rim Road.



The White Rim Road is an amazing 100 mile loop in Canyonland's Island in the Sky District. We ran it counter clockwise. We started off heading down some more switchbacks.





Don't take a wrong turn.



The trail then lead us along the Green River to our first campsite, Potato Bottom.



Again, more amazing scenery.





We finally arrived at camp around 6:30 and made ourselves some hard-earned dinner. Garlic and Ranch Chicken with potatoes and mixed vegetables. Yum!

 

BlairB

Observer
Day 6


Day two on the White Rim Road. This was the only day we experienced any sort of mechanical issues.

Starting off the day we were greeted by many mountain bikers. This is a pretty popular loop, and they seemed to be out in pretty large numbers overall. Looks like a fun, but dusty and long, ride.



I also introduced my girlfriend to driving off road. She loved it.



You also get an idea of why this is called the White RIM Road with all the canyons you drive along.









And of course, a poser shot.



While around 15 miles from our campsite, the truck pulled suddenly to the right and dropped in the front right corner. I immediately knew that something pretty dramatic had happened. When I got out I found my front right corner buckled in. My Grade 9, Hardened, M14 bolt that connected my UCA to Spindle had decided to sheer in half. I still have no idea how this happened, I can only assume the bolt was bad.



Since we were in the middle of nowhere, pretty much exactly in the middle of the trail, I had to figure out a way to get the car able to move again. After skimming through all the possibilities in my head, I realized that my bolt-on sliders used a thinner, but equally long nut and bolt. I ended up stealing one from the drivers side to hold the UCA to the Spindle. Wish I had more photos, but was more concerned with getting us moving again. All and all this whole episode only delayed us 30 minutes, but could have easily been much worse.



We continued on our way (albeit, slightly more slowly) and enjoyed some more of the beautiful sights.





We ended up setting up camp at the Airport Camp around 5pm. FYI, named after a mountain, not an actual airport. Pretty epic views.





The Airport.



Day 7


We packed up and started our final day on the White Rim Road. As always, we were greeted by beautiful overlooks of the canyons below.



We did a quick stop at Musselman Arch.



Which I then needed a photo on, of course.



From Musselman we made our way to an overlook of the Colorado River.



We enjoyed the beauty for a short while more before we started the trip up and out of the trail.





Sad to have finished White Rim, we aired up and pulled back onto the pavement. We quickly headed back to Moab to find a larger bolt for the UCA/Spindle fix and a quick bite to eat.

We made a quick stop at Arches National Park, and then finally began the trip back to California. Day 8 won't have a writeup since it is just freeway.





Overall this was an amazing trip, and I can't wait until I make it back out here again!

 

rcharrette

Adventurer
Great report, we live 2 hrs from Moab and I'm still in awe with it every time we go. Hell of a job on the trail side repair to, well done.
 

mjmcdowell

Explorer
Utah trip report......

Great trip report/photos and good on you on your trailside fix. Ran White rim on DE II, awesome road! your photos and narration brought back many fond memories of a great trip with great friends, thank's, mjmcdowell
 

trae

Adventurer
Looks like a great trip. I'm gonna take some notes and put this on my wishlist :)

What is the navigation app that you're using on your iPad there?
 
Great trip!!! And great pictures. I am glad you didn't get stuck in the middle of nowhere when that bolt broke. Glad you had a fix and could continue on your trip.

Safe travels and stay safe.
 

chmura

Adventurer
Awesome pics thanks for sharing!

Glad you decided to do Top of The World Trail! I remember responding to your post on the 120 site.
 

BlairB

Observer
Thanks for the compliments guys. The trip was influenced to lots of you (specifically chmura and some of his recommendations over at Toyota120).

On the iPad I am using Gaia- it is a great app. You can download the Topo Maps you want ahead of time so you can access them off line. I also like that you can overlay KML files/routes/waypoints on top of the USGS Topo Maps.

Once I knew my general plan I go on Google Maps, plot out the trip in individual sections, save them to My Maps, and then export the entire thing to a KML format. Once you have your waypoints/routes/etc… you can sync them to your app via the Gaia website.
 

trae

Adventurer
I'll take a look at Gaia. I suffer from a rare form of stupid when it comes to maps and navigation, I need all the help I can get.

Thanks Blair!
 

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