19 days in a Jeep.... Colorado, Utah and a little of Arizona

[whatevah]

As I mentioned in my 2013 trip thread, I learned a few things for that trip and applied them to another trip in 2014. This story covers the trip I made in September of 2014 to SW Colorado, a smidgen of Arizona and Utah. I had a passenger/co-driver along this time, a guy from my local Jeep club who's done a few mountain bike and motorcycle trips around here.

As for equipment, we have my 2012 Wrangler Rubicon with a 2.5" AEV lift kit and 255/80/17 tires, front winch, engine/trans skid, Viair compressor with 2.5gal tank, tire carrier with 2 gerry cans and hilift jack, CB and ham radios (with APRS for GPS tracking by the folks at home), tools, spare fluids, tow straps, hatchet, hacksaws, medical/trauma kit with oxygen, Mr Heater tent heater, food, water, etc... As you all know, that stuff adds up fast. My poor Jeep had the back seat removed since the trip last year, and was loaded floor to top, window to window and still had to strap Trey's duffel bag onto the spare tire. Oy vey.

On Sept 3, 2014, a Wednesday evening I took a nap after work, finished loading my Jeep and drove down to Maryland to pick up Trey from his work... I had already left things at home because I ran out of room. Some creative rearranging and packing later and the Jeep was packed and ready to go. Oh, wait... we forgot Trey's duffle. Sigh. We strap it to the spare tire and set our heading to WEST. The plan is to make our way up to the PA turnpike and take I-70 from there to Colorado.

We make it through MD, PA, WV and into Ohio before I run out of steam. Trey's turn to drive, he hadn't napped but said he was fine. So, we switched drivers and I reclined the passenger seat the 8" it would go and closed my eyes. I awoke abruptly 30 minutes later as the Jeep crossed the rumble strips and headed for the ditch at 67mph. HOLY ****! Thank goodness for the mud tires because Trey woke up when I did and was able to get the Jeep out of the ditch and onto the road without hitting any of the quite sturdy road signs. I'm sure if we had street tires, they wouldn't have gripped the grass at the speed we were going. We switch seats and I resume driving again. Thankfully the rest of the trip was uneventful, we switched drivers as we got tired. Stopping frequently for fuel (19mpg and a 17gal tank doesn't last long) and occasionally for snacks. We did stop for BBQ in western Missouri, sadly can't remember the restaurant name, just a local chain.

I-70 in Kansas was straight, long and boring as usual, although the crosswinds tried to help with the monotony. There are a lot of wind turbines out here, it's obvious why. We saw rain on the Colorado weather radar so stopped in Colby, KS and got heavy duty trash bags to cover Trey's duffle. After we crossed into Colorado (just before 10pm on the 4th) we saw a large storm in the distance with a lot of lightning. That was an impressive display, seeing a lot of lighting while driving for miles and miles. We finally stopped in Limon, CO for fuel and decided to take an alternate route to Montrose. I had originally wanted to drive through Denver and cross the Rockies on I-70, but no point doing that in the dark. From Limon we took US-24 to Colorado Springs, CO-115 to US-50 and followed that west into the mountains. That was an experience, pitch black and heavy fog driving on a 2-lane road with only a basic guardrail between us and long drop. Even with the upgraded LED headlights, it was tough seeing so I used my HID driving lights to punch through the fog enough to see the reflective lines and markers on the guardrails. Finally through the mountains, the fog cleared and rolled into Gunnison for fuel. It was around 5:30am and the town was dead. Asked the gas station clerk for advice on a nearby place to camp and he said just use the side parking lot, nobody will bother us. Well, thanks! Trey goes back to sleep and I catch an hour or so of rest.

Now we find ourselves just before sunrise on Sept 5th, a Friday morning. We head west toward Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and stopped to watch sunrise along the Curecanti National Recreation Area. The NP is small and a relatively recent addition to the list of National Parks, but a great place to send a few hours and I think rather unique. The canyon walls are made of very hard rock and the erosion is slow. The canyon walls are steep and very deep, with interesting ore patterns on the walls. If you have the time, don't skip this park. I didn't take many photos because I visited here last year, sorry. Spent a couple hours at the NP then headed to Ouray via US-50 and US-550.

 

[whatevah]

Stopped in Ouray to pick up maps that got left behind and Trey got sidetracked at the Ouray Brewery... it was pretty busy because of a cross-mountain race the next day. There, we made friends with 3 ladies in from Denver for the race before finally leaving. Now far behind schedule, we started up the Imogene Pass trail. All in all a pretty easy trail, I don't remember anything challenging aside from the elevation. Trey walked up the trail a few times to get video clips (I think only for snapchat, I've never seen them) and would still be huffing and puffing minutes later. It's one of the higher vehicle-capable trails in Colorado, the pass is around 13,114', but there are some side spots that get to over 13,300'. Got some great photos at the pass from golden hour and headed down... finishing in Telluride in the dark. We stopped to air up at the gas station on the edge of town and ended up chatting with some locals. The gas station was closed for the night, but last year I stopped inside and bought some deer and buffalo jerky. From there, headed back up to Montrose for a hotel stay (and shower!).

Did you notice the blue water cans next to the sign? Those are for the runners the next day, running a 17.1 mile race over the mountain. http://www.imogenerun.com/ The fastest person finished in 2 hours 25 minutes. Our new friend finished in 4:44 and the slowest came in at 7:16. That's mind blowing for a guy that lives at sea level. We were huffing and puffing just walking around to take photos. This was actually a mild run compared to some of the stuff they do, however. Check out the Hard Rock 100... http://hardrock100.com/ a 100-mile (160km) endurance race, last year they set a course record of 22hrs:14min with a combined elevation change of 67,984 feet (20,721 meters) and a max altitude of 14,048ft (4281m). There are a few similar races in the area, all with minimum experience requirements so only serious (and prepared!) runners participate.



Now on Saturday the 6th, we stop in Montrose at the local hardware store to replace a defective air chuck and headed back to Ouray. We stop for a few photos of the town and a couple spots along the road. The goal for today is run the out-and-back Porphyry Gulch trail and then take Black Bear Pass into Telluride. Porphyry Gulch trail was pretty easy, but of course quite scenic. Near the end, Trey decided to film a cold-water challenge under a small waterfall of ice-cold runoff from the top of the mountain. BRRRRR! From there we took a shortcut trail over to the Black Bear Pass trail... this has been a goal of mine for several years and I wasn't able to complete it last year due to the snow. We crest the pass and start heading down, seeing the town of Telluride down the valley. And then... a pickup parked across the trail with a "Road Closed" sign. Around 10 days ago, a Jeep rolled off the edge (no injuries) and they just recently closed the trail above the switchbacks for repairs. ARGH! Well, was able to turn around and head back. At the trailhead (which we skipped because of the shortcut) we saw a sign warning of the closure.

Smiles at seeing this sign!

From there, decided to take the Ophir Pass trail over the mountains to go to the nights camping spot. Very little traffic, a couple SUVs and a few fast dirt-bikes. Pulled off the trail to stop for lunch along a little stream. Ice cold and clear. Enjoyed a can of coke and tasty roast-beef sandwich. Went back to Alta Lakes, where I had stayed last year. The best spots were taken, so we explored a 4x4 trail around the lakes and found a wonderful spot opposite of the spots we had tried for. I'll keep that spot in mind for the future... I think I can get the trailer back to it. The lakes are high, 11,300ft elevation, so you really should be acclimated before you camp here. We were breathing a little heavy just doing minor chores around camp and I grabbed my med kit for fun. Our blood oxygen levels (pulse-oximeter) were around 88%. In a hospital you'd be given oxygen at 92%. We showed no other signs of altitude sickness so we didn't break out the O2 bottle. We set up, ate and relaxed before heading back into Telluride to meet up with the new friends for drinks. I don't drink, but it was cool to meet new people. A lot of interesting folks in town because of the race, even some trophy-winning BAJA racers.

our lunch spot along Ophir Pass.

 

[whatevah]

Around 1am I finally dragged Trey back to camp and started messing with my camera for some night shots. The stars are amazing, once your eyes adjust you can walk all over the camp. As I'm shooting, I hear some rustling and the slow crunching of a tree falling... a second later I hear Trey calling my name. "Jerry!" "What?" "Jerry!" "What?" "Help!". lol he had tied his Clark hammock to a dead tree and it gave up the ghost after only a few minutes. I had a 3-man tent so let him sleep in there. I tried for a few more photos and went to bed as well, after taking in the awesome view of the star-lit lake and mountains.

We awake a little before 8am on Sunday the 7th. We're in the shadow of the mountain so a little cool. Our plans for today are to head up the Mineral Creek trail and start the Alpine Loop clockwise via Engineer Pass and possibly camp on the return trail Cinnamon Pass. We take it easy packing up and head back over Ophir Pass but go to Ouray so Trey can get wifi... we finally start up the trail a little before 1pm. Mineral Creek isn't that difficult, a few mild rocky switchbacks, but the views are the usual wonderful! This area is covered with evidence of abandoned mines, some even had wood frames left at the mine entrance and buildings still standing. Before starting on the trail for Engineer Pass, we went down to the ghost town of Animas Forks. This town served the local mines with housing for a few hundred people and some impressive mills. A few homes remain and are being restored, along with the foundations of mines. The mines here had an impressive cable car system that brought ore in for processing and took the workers out, saving them a tough hike in the winter. While browsing the town, a guy asked me if I had the Jeep with extra gas cans... his group was on ATVs and one was having fuel issues. I happily let them have a gallon or so of fuel and chatted while they messed with the ATV. They were from Texas and going to head home at the end of the day.

The view from our camp as we packed up. Not bad, not bad...

Chatting done, we headed back to the intersection with the Engineer Pass trail. The trail gets to business quickly with a steep shelf road and some switchbacks. The trail wasn't difficult, but got rather rocky in the switchbacks. I actually had to pay attention in one of the turns. This is a fairly long trail, around 23 miles from the intersection to the town of Lake City, with a lot of great views. We stopped for a couple photos, but there was rain coming so we tried not to dawdle. It was getting late when we finished the trail, so we started hunting for a good camp site. We found a side trail that took us up to a large parking lot with a curious mule deer and a hiking trailhead. Not wanting to be too far off the main trail if the weather got bad (the side trail crossed a small stream twice and a lot of trees that could fall), we decided to go with a campsite just off the main trail/road along one of the rivers. I decided to skip the tent with the rain coming and deal with sleeping in the Jeep for a night. Trey set up his hammock and we drove a few minutes to get into the nearby town of Lake City. A cool small town that's worth a few minutes to look through. We ate in a diner and people-watched the locals. The food wasn't great, sadly... the iced tea was mostly water. Ah well, ambiance! Back to the campsite as darkness set in for the night.

This place is around 2 hours from Lake City, but I'll consider buying it if I ever win the lottery.

Apparently these guys love to eat vehicle wiring, so I kept a close eye on him.

The next morning, Monday the 8th, we packed up and resumed the Alpine Loop. This meant heading back in to Lake City to fuel up and then drive through town a little ways to get to the trailhead for Cinnamon Pass. We did take a turnoff to see where a side trail went and found the remains of old buildings/homes but they appeared to all be on private property so left them alone. Back to the trail and got moving. After a little ways we stopped to stretch our legs and the Alpine Ranger (Mr Reyburn, a nice guy) chatted with us to make sure we knew the basic rules and that we had appropriate equipment. His job is mostly informational but he is a law enforcement officer and is called to assist nearby agencies occasionally. Out there, the nearest backup could be an hour or more away, even on the paved roads. He mentioned that his main problems are people not paying attention and wrecking, and people from the cities driving out to cook meth. Crazy... Well, we moved along and I don't remember anything special to mention. The views were amazing, but I hate to keep saying that. We took a few side trails to see different passes and gulches, but weather was moving in so the clouds limited our views and photo opportunities. Pretty cool watching the clouds moving below you. The trails dropped us off just outside of Animas Forks and from there we took a mostly-maintained gravel road south to the town of Silverton.

 

[whatevah]

On the way to Silverton, we had to squeeze by a local cutting up a tree for firewood. I can't remember his story exactly, but he's been a miner all of his life and was missing a finger to prove it. We chatted for a bit and asked for tourist tips in town since it was still in the early afternoon. There was a mine tour about an hour away, but he said that the museum in town had a much better mine exhibit. So, we continued in to town... we found the museum, which is two buildings. The main building, the old county jail and a basement tunnel that connects the two. You pay in the museum then walk to the jail to begin the self-guided tour. The jail was pretty high tech for the day, built in the early 1900s. You go into the basement to begin the mining tour. It covers a lot of info from the equipment used over the decades and a lot of ore samples. As you leave the basement to go up into the museum building, you change levels in the "mine". Back into the museum and you have some typical western museum type stuff and a stage coach. We still had a little daylight left, but the main goals for the area were complete. We decided to head south west to Cortez and grab a hotel for the night. This was via US-550 to Durango then US-160 to Cortez. US-550 is a very windy road that is nicknamed the Million Dollar Highway for the portion between Silverton and Ouray. It still has several good switchbacks south of Silverton, though. Once we made it to Cortez, we stopped at the hotel I stayed at last year, then headed further in to town for something to eat. Pretty good burger for me in a local restaurant. The town was dead, but that was fine by me. Off to bed...



Now we find ourselves on Tuesday the 9th. Today, we'll stay on paved roads and visit the Mesa Verde National Park. I dunno about you guys, but I'm a John Wayne fan and just love to say "Mesa Verde". :sombrero: The Mesa Verde NP is a wonderful place that preserves the canyons that were home to some of the Ancestral Puebloan people. They used to be called Anasazi, but this is a Navajo word and isn't politically correct anymore since they spread out into multiple tribes including the Hopi people. For some cool info on that, including info on the Mesa Verde connection, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestral_Puebloans They originally lived on the top of the canyons with pit houses (dug a few feet into the ground with a roof over it) with changing designs until moving to brick homes built on canyon walls. Nobody knows why for sure, but there are many theories. They lived in the cliff dwellings until the late 1200s until they suddenly vanished. Nobody knows why or where they went, but the belief is that they simply moved away and spread out eventually becoming the tribes that are in the region today. The construction is amazing and you can go in or near some of the cliff dwellings through guided tours. One of the dwellings is behind the main museum/offices and is a free self-guided tour. The ranger-guided tours require a little more exercise... climbing up steep steps or ladders and crawling through a very narrow tunnel. We did both of the ranger-guided tours that were available in the off season. Cliff Palace and Balcony House. We got caught in some rain during the Balcony House tour, but luckily was under cover so didn't get the cameras wet. If you're in the park, at least try to do the Cliff Palace tour, it's amazing and not very strenuous (last year, an older fellow on oxygen completed it in my group!). After finishing the tours, we browsed the museum (don't skip it!) and got a bite to eat at the little cafe before heading out.

After leaving "the Mesa Verde" (ahh, John Wayne!) we headed west toward the Grand Canyon (US-160 to US-89 to AZ-64). But, not without stopping at the Four Corners. It's along the route so no reason not to stop for a few minutes. We got a couple obligatory photos and I bought a gift (necklace) from one of the vendors, he said it was made by his wife. It was well after dark by the time we arrived at the Grand Canyon, actually I think it was after midnight.. there was some confusion over time zones and daylight savings time. We left the park boundaries to stay the night in the Kaibab National Forest It was late and a little windy so we decided to forgo the tent and just sleep in the Jeep... oh so comfy. We heard a lot of animals all night, I could have sworn I heard a wolf, but not sure if they're even in the area. I know I heard some bugling from an elk.

Wednesday morning, the 10th. We had alarms set for what we thought was an hour before sunrise, so we could get some cool photos. We picked a spot and set up... and it was still dark an hour later. We learned later about the daylight savings thing. Anyways, I got some moon-lit and then sun-lit photos after the sun finally maded an appearance. We made our way to the visitor center, stopping at some of the viewpoints along the road. Nothing was open yet, so we explored a little as more people started coming in. That place is popular, even on a Wednesday with school in session. I can't imagine why. After browsing the store (had to get my "passport" stamped) and museum, we started heading out. Not in a rush though, so stopped at a few more pulloffs and made brunch in the parking lot for the Desert View visitor center. Fuel had a healthy park premium, but we had plenty to make it out to the main road so waited to refuel. There are a couple decently priced spots within a few miles of the intersection with US-89.

finally, the sun!

 

[whatevah]

From there, we headed back east (US-89 to US-160 to US-191)... the goal was to drive through and maybe camp at Valley of the Gods. The drive was uneventful... it was still early afternoon when we got to the valley so drove through after stopping for a bite to eat. The views are amazing... similar to the famous Monument Valley but shorter and free. Beautiful area, I'll still try to camp there one day. We tried to find a hotel room in the towns of Blanding and Monticello, but no luck. So, we pushed on (take CO-211 off of US-191) and set up camp at sunset on BLM land just outside of the Needles District of Canyonlands NP. Our map showed a few camping spots that didn't exist, but we found something good enough. No trees here, so Trey shared my tent... Tomorrow we'll hit some trails!

breakfast MRE for lunch... yuck.



Thursday morning, the 11th. We wake up at sunrise, pack up and head toward the park entrance. There, we stop at the visitor center and check the trail conditions. Sadly, the tougher ones are closed, but Elephant Hill is still open and it's fairly famous. We decide to do that... not overly difficult, but more challenging than the Colorado trails. We travel smooth and safe through the harder rocky sections and try to pick up speed in the sand. Not enough, because a local tour guide caught us. We take a turnoff to go to a hiking trailhead that takes a through a cool little valley. The hiking trail is maybe a half-mile long and takes us to an overlook for the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers. I think they got the name wrong, the rivers were light brown and reddish brown. We head back to pavement the way we came in... Elephant Hill is fun! Thinking back, I don't think we aired down for that trail. I would have liked to take trails to get to Moab from here, but the trail crosses a river and I'm concerned about the recent rainfall... so err on the side of caution. We head back to US-191 to go to town, but not before stopping at Newspaper Rock. In Moab, we get fresh food and then out to a campsite I know on BLM land north of town. We hunt for a spot with trees and find one suitable for the hammock. Pretty far off the road, but elevated so we can see the highway and get a little cell reception. This will be our home for the next few nights. It's starting to get dark, so we set up camp and get some sleep.

The origami thing was a momento from a coworker of mine that moved to California during my trip.



Friday morning, the 12th. After waking up and a quick breakfast we set out to run the Sevenmile Rim Trail. We're camped out in the same area so no pavement was necessary. The miles and turn descriptions in my map book didn't really match up for this trail, I guess the BLM made a few changes after the book was printed. Regardless, we found the trailhead and set off. We played leap frog a few times with a group of 3 Jeeps and a group of ATVs for the first mile or two. None of us seemed to know where we were going... But, I don't think any of us minded, after all, we were in Moab! We tried to follow the trail the best we could and found the Uranium Arch. From this point on, a lot of the trail covers a lot of slickrock and route-finding becomes especially difficult. We had to backtrack a couple times and explore on foot to find the trail. It isn't a super popular trail, so there isn't a thick layer of tire rubber to follow. During one photo and route-finding stop, we checked out some ore sample drill holes. We assumed that they were only a foot or two deep, but Trey dropped a pebble down one and it was falling for 10 seconds and a big splash echoed up the hole. Amazing... Of course, the day is filled with incredible views... and a bit of off-camber stuff leading up to the turnoff for the Wipeout Hill trail. Apparently there was a bypass just before the off-camber section, but I didn't see it. We saw the group of 3 Jeeps at Wipeout Hill so drove over to watch and eat lunch. While enjoying our roast beef sandwiches and Coca-Cola, we heard the signature WOOSH! of a tire that just sliced a sidewall. I stroll over to ogle and we find out that a new Jeep (with a new lift kit) had sliced the inside sidewall of the front left tire. After some investigation we find that the swaybar link bolt was installed backwards and the threaded end rubbed the tire. They changed the tire and reversed the bolt direction before continuing. The hill was suprisingly easy, in spite of the ominous name, so I decided to run it. The other group was carefully spotting each other, but I decided to make use of the lockers and just have fun. There are two options, a very rocky hill with ledges or a steep sandstone hill with a couple easy ledges. We all went up and down the rocky side, but Trey took a turn and drove down the rocky side and then up the sandstone side. Easy as pie, with the lockers engaged, it didn't miss a beat. Here's a youtube video of Trey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOuKUiy4_PM Sorry it's so shaky. One or two of the other group followed suit.

 

[whatevah]

With Wipeout Hill behind us, followed a network of trails and found the Tusher Tunnel. A pretty neat natural tunnel that's probably 300 feet long and opens into a nice valley. There's a loop at the end of the trail with a little room to park and a very short hike from there leads you to the tunnel. We spent a few minutes there, then headed back. We had a few tight spots on the trail due to the soft dirt eroding, but nothing we couldn't handle. From there we head back out past our campsite to the highway and go in to town for fresh ice and fuel. I think we ended up eating dinner at Eddie McStiffs (a sports bar in town... pretty cool place)

Saturday morning, the 13th. We head back to Moab and take the turnoff for UT-128 just before town. This runs through the canyons along the Colorado River and is the route to several popular trails. Today, our goal is the Top of the World trail. Best known for the amazing view and photo opportunity at the end of the trail. It's a long ways out, I think 28 miles on the pavement before a dirt road and another mile or two before the trailhead. The trail itself is a little rough, not challenging rough, just those small rocks barely above the surface that make it bumpy. After a few miles of that, now it gets fun. The rocks are big enough to notice and a lot of ledges of varying heights. I tried to take the hardest line whenever I could, but occasionally the ledges were just a little too big for my 2.5" lift and 33" tires, so I had to take an easier side under protest. Along the way we see a fork in the trail and decide to take the right path. Finally at the top, we see another Jeep posing for a photo and park to wait out turn. We get out to enjoy the view and chat with the couple in the Jeep. They help us out with photos for our Jeep before leaving. We eat lunch and head back, continuing on the loop that will bring us back to the fork in the trail. The trail gets a bit harder from here, with a little concentration needed due to the size of the rocks and ledges. I wouldn't recommend this section to most vehicles with smaller than 35" tires unless the drivers have a lot of experience. I enjoyed it! Overall, it's a great trail and I might try camping on it with my trailer this year.

death grip on the bumper... I hate heights.

We bounce our way back down the trail, heading back to pavement... a half-mile before pavement, next to the old Dewey Bridge, we were flagged down by a fellow with a early 2000s Ford Explorer. He and his wife had been traveling dirt roads from Grand Junction, CO for a few hours and went through a stream crossing that was a little deeper than they expected and likely hydrolocked the engine. They were stranded, miles from cell reception. I had no room for passengers, so I couldn't take them or their dog. I offered to tow them to Moab, but with only a 30' tow strap it would be tricky. Sadly, we only made it a mile on the pavement before he ran over the tow strap and destroyed my ARB orange strap. Luckily he did it right at one of the few pull offs so he just drifted to the dirt and parked. I made sure that they had enough water and got their roadside towing service info and promised to call in their location. 30 minutes later, we made it to cell reception and I called them a tow truck and their grandson that lives in Moab. I heard back a few hours later that they were on a truck heading home... We hang out a bit at Eddie McStiffs before heading back to camp.

Sunday the 14th. Today, we'll start on the White Rim Trail... a 80-100 mile trail (depending on where you're measuring from) that takes you deep into the Canyonlands National Park. Hours from civilization (or a hospital) and often miles from cell reception. I did this trail last year in one fast (and rough) day since I hadn't reserved a campsite. Today will be a different story, as I reserved a campsite 4 months in advance! We take pavement to the visitor center and then backtrack a short distance to pick up the Shafer Trail and its famous switchbacks. The switchbacks are amazing, stacked together dropping several hundred feet of elevation before dropping you off along the lower rim. You can take the Shafer Trail as a semi-shortcut back to Moab from here if you want, but we took the turn off to start the White Rim Trail. This trail is incredible and really makes you think about how insignificant you are, compared with the vastness of the canyons. Up on your right side for most of the trail is the upper rim of the canyons, towering 500-1000 feet above you, and off to your left are the Colorado or Green Rivers, several hundred feet below. Have a look to the south and see the canyons stretch into the distance... all the way to Arizona. As we drive along, we pass campsites, I think 20 total along the entire course. Each group of campsites has a vault toilet, which is appreciated. After a short distance (relatively) we come up to a turnoff for the Musselman Arch, which resembles a natural bridge to folks like me that don't really know the difference. It arches over the lower level that slopes to the river and is strong enough to walk across it. I chickened out last year, but this year there were a few people on it already, so I walked out for a photo. For many people this is the farthest they'll go, and will turn around to return to either the park visitor center or Moab. But, for us.... we've still got 80 miles to go.

I "forgot" my razor in Delaware.

Moving along, it's more of the same, awesome and difficult to describe scenery, hopefully the photos can help a little... We pass just a handful of vehicles along the way. Wildlife is also hard to find, except for the fire ants. We did get a cool surprise after cresting a small hill, we see a bighorn sheep around 50 yards in front of us. We stop, shut off the engine and grab the camera. What a tough creature, being able to survive out here in the desert. After he moves out of sight, we continue along, stopping occasionally to look over the cliff edges and take photos until we come to a steep and rocky (for the desert) hill climb. That brings us onto Murphy Hogback, where we have a campsite reserved.

 

[whatevah]

At camp, we scout around for the ideal location for the tent on the site and set it up. A few people stroll over and chat from another campsite while I wander off to get a few photos. Sunset is coming soon, so we climb up onto a large rock in the middle of our campsite, using the front bumper of my Jeep as a step-stool and relax watching the colors change and the light fade. As darkness takes over, we walk over to the next campsite, having been invited by one of the guys there. It's backcountry tour group, biking along the trail for a couple days until they reach the river and then they'll switch to rafts for a river adventure... sounds like fun! One of their guides was the one who invited us and we chatted about his work until he grabbed a green laser pointer from a bag and said to stick around for a few minutes longer. He called the group around and gave a little presentation pointing out stars, constellations and satellites moving across the sky. Even though the air is rather dusty, the sky is so much clearer than what we're used to on the east coast... you can see the Milky Way with the naked eye... simply amazing. The show concluded and everybody said goodnight, so we strolled back to our camp. The weather was perfect, clear sky forecasted and good temperatures.. and I'd been toying with the idea of sleeping up on the large rock in our campsite. Well, I grabbed my sleeping bag, a bottle of water and climbed up, my chair was already up there from sunset... My chair is a normal beach type chair with a footrest, but it reclines... I reclined it partway, kicked my feet up and relaxed. Trey had my other chair, which is a plain one with no footrest or recline. We just sat there thinking deep thoughts and trying to ignore the Dave Matthews Band coming from Trey's phone. Far, far in the distance to the south we see lightning from a distant storm. I'm guessing it was somewhere across the Arizona border, which is 80 miles or so away. Amazing... I eventually reclined my seat back all the way and rolled out my sleeping bag on my lap and legs as a blanket, while Trey rolled out his bag on the rock face to sleep. Somewhere around 3 or 4am, I got a little cool and wiggled inside of my sleeping bag.

Monday the 15th. I didn't wake up until 30 minutes or so after sunrise, as my bag shielded my face from the sun. Trey was packing up the tent that we never used last night... man, what a spot! I'll share the secret, reserve "Site A" at the Murphy Hogback campsite, you won't regret it. I take a couple photos as I wake up, then get up to take my stuff down from the rock. That's when I notice the scorpion a foot from my chair. Woah, buddy! I just took a break from writing to look up info on scorpions. It's very likely that this was an Arizona Bark Scorpion, judging from it's coloring and small size, although it's not supposed to be in Utah. It's also the most poisonous to humans, so I'm glad that I spotted it before anything happened. It was translucent and blended in very well with the sandstone. Yikes.

We load our gear back into the Jeep and set off to complete the trail. We're around the half-way point with 3 or 4 hours left. More amazing views and we're getting closer to the Green River. Towards the end of the trail, we're almost level with the river, and drive through very loose dirt washes. We do find one wet spot that we take at a moderate speed to reduce the chance of getting stuck in the mud. Thankfully, the puddle had a hard bottom and there were no issues. After the official trail ends, we turn on to the BLM road to climb out of the canyon via some cool switchbacks. Here we slow to a crawl because of several mountain bikers in front of us. I point out some wrecked cars from the 1950s about halfway up the switchbacks. We didn't stop for long, so you'll have to check out my previous story for photos of those. After getting back up to level ground, we pick up the speed for the 10 mile gravel/dirt road back to pavement. There, we air up the tires and chat with a mountain biker that was finishing up a ride. It's early still, only around 11:00 so we head back to town to restock ice and run the infamous Hell's Revenge trail. This trail is challenging and scary due to the steep and often off-camber hills. In most parts of the country, this trail would be impassable, but with the high traction of the sandstone, you seem to defy gravity. Most of the trail isn't that bad (aside from the fear of going off an edge)... we make it to the far point of the trail and try to find the infamous Hell's Gate obstacle, because I really want to try it. We find it (no signs) and look down the hill. "Ok, this doesn't look that bad, I can do this! This looks like where everybody comes up in the internet videos, I guess the entrance is around the bend." I set up my camera on video mode and give Trey a handheld radio and drive off. And, then... oh nuts.

 

[whatevah]

I call Trey on the radio. That other spot is the easy side. This section here is where the youtube videos are from. As we stand there trying to build up the courage, an older couple drive up on a Razr and we chat. They say that they see people drive the trail both directions, either way works. "Ok, well, I'm here... might as well give it a try." Sorry everybody, no photos of this. The camera was on the other side... and the battery died while we were attempting this section so nothing from the easy side, either. I set off down the trail with Trey giving directions. It's a very steep v-wedge trail with offset ledges that will hit your left and right tires at different times. Directions have to be perfect and all four tires need to be considered. Sadly, we had some issues with that... twice, I bounced off the left tires and almost smacked the right door into the rock. And, Trey and the couple watching report that for a quick second, only ONE tire was on the ground, the front right tire. I have no idea how I didn't end up barrel rolling down the rest of the hill. I'd like to say that it was my skill and lightning reflexes, but honestly... I don't know. I know I prayed at the top, maybe it was a guardian angel. If so, I thank you... you worked overtime that day. After finally making it to the bottom, it's a smooth quick loop to get to the other side... and here we go up a very steep but much easier hill climb. Trey climbs up to the top and finds that the camera battery is dead. Bummer... I start up the hill and struggle at one point with a little ledge jutting up to make the angle even steeper. Both lockers are engaged (4:1 4-low gearing, trans in 1st gear, tires at 12psi), and all four tires are spinning helplessly on the rock, trying to overcome gravity and climb up. I don't know what to do, I'm afraid that if I let off the gas and hit the brakes that the shift in weight will tip the Jeep over backwards and roll down the hill. Only 50 feet or so, but not much fun. So, I feather the gas up and down, gently lowering and increasing the tire speed until they finally bite and start climbing. From there, it was a piece of cake. I park and take a break and have something to drink while my nerves attempt to return to normal. I'm shaking from the adrenaline still in my body. Even now, writing the story 7 months later, my heart rate is speeding up thinking about that. I really wish that I had video of that trail, I could make a killing on youtube.

We chat a little with the couple and then set off down the trail. We catch up later on at the Hot Tub obstacle, where a group of modified Razrs are playing around. After we leave here, there is an extremely steep and narrow hill aptly named Dragon's Tail. My nerves were still shot from Hell's Gate, so it wasn't very fun. It was just wide enough for a Jeep, and the tires were already on the edges of the slope. We all meet up again at the Escalator obstacle, which I easily decided to skip. The modified Razrs tried, two almost rolling and one leaning over onto the rollcage, but they made it through. From here we all split up, taking different speeds to finish the trail. Now, we hunt for a campsite. Hell's Revenge is located at the Sand Flats Recreation Area, which is a joint county and BLM facility. They have several campgrounds spread out through the property for $30/night. We find one with a tree for Trey's hammock, set up and then drive back in to town. There, we eat at McStiffs and I have an obligatory alcoholic beverage (I dunno what it was, just a hard cider, I can't stand beer) before switching to my normal root beer. We head back to camp, chat with the couple we met on the trail and returned to our camp to sleep soundly... believe me, I slept well.

Tuesday, the 16th, we sleep in. Partially because the rock wall against our campsite shields the early morning sun and partially because Tuesday was such a rough day. We've already decided that today will be a day off for doing laundry and goofing off in town. We find a laundromat and figure out how it works... after laundry, we split up and wander around the shops in town, buying trinkets and shirts. Eventually, we meet back up and I want to check out a gun store on the edge of town that I saw a sign for. They didn't have anything interest, except... Tannerite. We can't use this at the ranges in my home area, but I've seen it used many times in videos and wanted to give it a try. The shop clerk tells me that the locals go shooting in a small box canyon just 5 minutes away, so I buy a 4-pack and we head out. I had a rifle in the Jeep, so I dug it out and had a little fun. It was tricky since the scope was off from bouncing around for 4000 miles, but worked out. Video proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D91NevLkt3I That's me laying in the dirt and Trey providing commentary. Although twice as far than I was, he actually felt more of the blast wave than I did, since I was low and behind a rock. I love physics. Once we picked up the empty casings and trash, it was around 6pm, so we went back to town to eat and later returned to camp.

Side note... we would shower at the town pool when we came in to refuel and get supplies. Great price on the showers (I think $3 or $4) and no time limit.

Wednesday, the 17th. Today, we plan to head east of town, past the Top of the World trail to try the Dome Plateau trail. On our way there, we got stopped in traffic... some movie or tv show was filming a pilot using the road! They had a truck pulling an old train car on a flatbed rigged with cameras and actors. No idea what they were filming for, though. This area has been used in hundreds of films and tv show episodes. From Thelma and Louise, to Mission Impossible to the recent Lone Ranger movie and many more. The terrain is a little different that we've experienced elsewhere in Moab, a quarter of the trail is through a small forest and the rest is fairly open with brush like a prairie. We're not used to seeing a lot of trees out here. We're on top of the plateau for most of it, so we don't have the towering canyon walls around us or see a lot of buttes. Route finding wasn't too difficult, just had to pay attention to the turn descriptions. The map book I had showed an out-and-back overlook of the Colorado River canyon, and just after the turnoff we found some rather steep and loose hills. Nothing I couldn't handle, but I still looked for a bypass. Thought we found one, but it was a dead-end gully so we returned to the actual trail and soldiered on. It was a few miles to the overlook, but well worth the drive. We pulled out the cooler and made some sandwiches and enjoyed the view. And, tried to avoid the darned fire ants. Had to move my Jeep twice to stay away from their mounds.

 

[whatevah]

After lunch, we back-tracked to the main trail and followed it out of the forest to the open land. The trail winds through the brush to a few small caves in a sandstone hill-side. I'm not really sure what used to be back here, looks like some sort of filtering operation. There's a wooden trough that runs off into a large area of loose silt. Too messy to hike walk through, so after a few quick photos we continued on. We approached a rocky hill climb and the map book told us to turn right. We did and found ourselves on a very off-camber sandstone rock face that finally hit a dead-end. We back-tracked and found that we could have turned left at the hill... because the trail keeps climbing up the hill. From the tire tracks, this seemed to be a common mistake, so I made an effort to mark the turn with cairns (stacked rocks) to hopefully keep somebody else from getting into a sticky situation in the future. We continue along and find two old mining cabins along the trail. We stop for photos and explore... we find a small hiking trail leading to a collapsing stone room that I guess was either living quarters before the cabins were built or a storage room. Exploring further we find a few of the mines. They were horizontal and not very deep so we poked our heads in. No leftover gold or silver... We continue along and return to pavement a few miles away. Nothing noteworthy between the cabins and the road, just more great views!

My map book mentioned an abandoned home that was made inside of a cave on the way back to town, so we decide to stop there. But, first we see an abandoned gas station and stop for a couple photos. Looking back, I wish we had looked around to find the old gas station from the Johnny Cash song "Cisco Clifton's Fillin' Station". I think I found the old station on Google maps, but I guess without talking to somebody from that era, it's hard to know exactly. The gas station we stopped at was owned by the guy mentioned in the song! I guess he's sinced passed away, but I found a story about him from 2004. https://signalvnoise.com/archives/000867.php You can compare the photos they took with mine to see how it's changed in 10 years. Just a mile or so away is the cave home. All that's left is a little wiring conduit, concrete and brick. The "ceiling" has dropped off in small layers in a few locations, as it usually does with sandstone. I wish I knew the history of this place. Looks pretty cool.

We set back on our way to town... We want to drive in to Arches National Park and hike out to the famous Delicate Arch to get some sunset and night photos. Well, that was the plan... halfway to town, the rear brakes start squealing something nasty. We pull over and check for a pebble or something, but we've been on pavement for 10 miles already. We don't see anything and reversing doesn't change anything so we continue along. Once back to the edge of Moab, we have cell reception again, so check the hours for the local NAPA. They're open for another 30 minutes so we limp that direction, driving through the side streets because my ego won't allow me to drive down Main Street with screeching brakes. I pick up a set of pads and the left rotor... next door is a liquor store with an empty parking lot. The clerk says we can work there, so I park with the front tires against a curb and walk over to Subway to eat while the brakes cool. Turns out that the rotor is fine, but the pads are shot. Guess I destroyed them the other day on Hell's Revenge. Swap them out and head to Arches NP. Sadly, it's now after sunset, so I won't be getting any golden hour photos.

 

[whatevah]

There are two ways to see the famous arch, the most popular is the viewpoint with a short 50yd wheelchair accessible walk or a longer half-mile hike to a closer viewpoint. The other way is to hike out the entire distance to the Arch. This is done with a 3-mile round trip hike rated as "strenuous" in the park visitors guide. The trail is out in the open with no shade. The first half-mile or so is on an easy to follow gravel trail, and then it goes over the sandstone and you have to look for cairns until it leads to a trail cut into the rock. We want to do the 3-mile hike, as that leads to the better photos. In the trailhead parking lot, a minivan with some tourists (heh, like we're not tourists too?) are preparing and talk to Trey. As I'm assembling my gear, I hear him say "yeah, Jerry's been there before, you can follow us!". I respond with "I've only been to the viewpoint, but you can still come with us". We both have headlamps and their group has a few flashlights but two women in their group have sandals and pumps (low heeled shoes). We start out, keeping a fairly brisk pace at first until assuming a more moderate pace. Remember that we're all from sea level (the tourists are from NY and Asia) and the trail starts at 4300ft and finishes around 4800ft... It goes pretty well, I hang back a little bit to help the ladies with my light to prevent a busted ankle and Trey leads. In the dark, finding the cairns gets tricky. We end up losing the trail completely for several minutes and climbing up some big rocks trying to find it. Turns out that the trail made a sharp right turn and we missed it. We lost the trail again soon after, but did find the arch. Just not from the photo point. I find a narrow ledge that we can scoot sideways to get to the photo area, but the women won't make it with their shoes so I explore some more. I find the base of the arch and can scoot around the edges of it, but it's very steep. I luckily get a little cell reception and load a satelite map on my phone and see that the trail is on the other side of a rock formation. We meet a group of 3 guys out trying to find the Arch as well... they decide to take the narrow ledge and I take the tourists off hunting for the proper trail. This exploration process takes a bit of time, around 45 minutes from the time we realize we're semi-lost until I find the trail again. From here, the trail is actually somewhat easy to follow, and comes very easy to follow as it's been cut into the rock to make it safer to climb. We finally reach the top and meet up with Trey, the 3 dudes and one of the guys from the tourist family that took the ledge route. I think it was around midnight by this point. We set up our cameras (the tourist family has some great gear, a little language barrier but he offered to have me use his awesome superwide/fisheye lens) and spent the next hour or so trying out different shots. The 3 dudes leave and head back to their car after an hour or so. Another hour passes as the photo guy from their group and I switched off doing artificial light shots of the Arch and then Trey and I did posed shots inside the arch (I'm using an awesome long-range remote control for my camera).

As we're inside the arch, we see some light from phones and hear voices coming from the trail to the area we got lost in. They get closer and it's the 3 dudes! We tell them that this is the arch and they turn around. 45 minutes later they come back and ask how soon we'll be heading back. I reply that it'll be another half-hour or so and they hike back up to meet us. I finish up and walk over as Trey talks with the family group before coming over solo. The family wants to wait for sunrise. So, we head back to the trail with Trey leading and myself in the back since we have headlamps and the 3 dudes don't have flashlights. (I guess it's worth a mention that with the incredible light from the stars and moon, once your eyes adjust, you can get along pretty well without a flashlight... just not enough when trying to find the cairns). We chat on the 1.5 mile hike back... I think they were from California or Nevada on their way to a concert fest outside of Denver. They were passing through parks on the way and saw a highway sign for Moab and decided to check it out. We got back to the parking lot around 5am, and the dudes decide to grab a few hours of sleep there until sunrise. We head back to camp and sleep until noon or so.



Thursday, the 18th. After getting a few hours of sleep, we head out to run one of the more popular trails in Moab... Poison Spider Mesa. After gassing up and getting fresh ice we start for the trail. The road follows UT-279 along the Colorado River, some great scenery driving down the canyon. After airing down at the trailhead, the trail starts off quickly and the obstacles are frequent. Woohoo! Challenging rocky hill climbs to gain altitude out of the canyon give way to more rough desert trails and a nice v-wedge obstacle. A group of Land Rovers are stopped for lunch at the end of the wedge and one guy spots me through. There's a bypass for it, but why bypass if I don't have it? The trail has a lot of optional and named obstacles... mostly very steep rock climbs that challenge your tires and approach/breakover/departure angles. I tried the hardest routes whenever possible and got denied once because my tire carrier hit the dirt before my back tires could grab the rock. STEEP. There were a couple open areas with loose dirt/sand where you could open up the throttle and have a little fun... We stopped for lunch at an optional overlook with a great view of Moab and the valley. There, we met a couple in a Razr and chatted for a bit. He's a pastor and has been working hard (both building the congregation and rebuilding a fire-bombed church) for the past few years with no time off to relax. Now, he and his wife are taking a vacation before going to a pastors retreat in California. It's cool to chat with people on the trails and meet somebody with a common interest but from a completely different life. After lunch we head back to the main trail and continue along. This trail ends in a loop if you run it as a single trail. The bigger groups run in in a 3 trail combo sometimes called the Trifecta. Poison Spider, Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim. When running the whole thing, it's a bit more challenging and I didn't want to risk it running solo. Maybe next time... We finished up the loop (including a very steep sand-covered rock climb that I'm quite proud of) and backtracked the rest of the trail. Along the way, at the top of a rocky hill descent, we see a Land Rover (or maybe a Cruiser, sorry I can't recall) broke down as the base of the obstacle. We bounce our way down and stop behind him to see if I can help. Somebody is coming from another group down the trail with a spare part he needs, so we squeeze by him with a little spotting. The rest of the way out was uneventful. Somehow, the only photos I have of this day are at the overlook, sorry... We went back to town and our campsite, arriving before dark and relaxed by the campfire. This will be our last night in Moab.

Friday, the 19th. We stop in town for fresh ice and send out the last postcards before heading out of town. Took US-191 north to I-70 and started the long drive to the East Coast. The speed limits here are high (75 and 70mph), but due to driving a vehicle with the aerodynamics resembling a brick, I tried to keep the speed a little lower and was passed by pretty much anybody. At one point, I noted an IROC-era Camaro pass us a few miles west of the UT/CO border. Approaching the town of Loma, CO, we crested a hill and saw the Camaro stopped partially in the left shoulder (just a rumble strip) and the fast lane. I stopped in the shoulder and stopped to check on the driver who was a little futher down the road. The Camaro lost the front right wheel and studs. The wheel and tire rolled off somewhere down the highway. The unfortunate driver was unharmed, but was on her way to a job interview. I wish that I had room in my Jeep to drive her to her interview, but that was impossible. I hope that her luck has turned since then. We drive on, cruise control set, stopping too often for fuel until we get to the town of Rifle, CO. It's a cool little town, and home to a small restaurant called "Shooters Grill". You may have seen a news piece on it, it's a burger place where the all-female staff (except for one male cook) have pistols and carry them holstered. The menu items have gun-related names like "Guac Nine", "Locked and Loaded Nachos", "Richocet" and "Ruff Neck". Good burgers, too. We happened to bump into the owner on the sidewalk outside as we were leaving. More driving ensued before stopping in Denver to meet up with the ladies we met in Ouray for Octoberfest. It was late by the time we finished exploring Denver, so we got a few hours of sleep on Jen's couch before getting up very early on Sunday so she could leave for another race. Many hours of marathon driving later, I dropped Trey off at his work in Maryland and I continued home, arriving Sunday evening.



Epilogue: Wow, we covered a LOT of ground in those 19 days. Over 7000 miles total and well over 500 miles off pavement. Didn't run as many technical/hard trails as I would have preferred, but when you're running solo, you need to err on the side of caution occasionally. I had a National Parks annual pass that made things a little easier, didn't have to worry about going to a park office during business hours. On the long drive home, I put some thought into a way to make the camping portion of the trip easier. I really dislike setting up a tent in the cold, and rolling up a dirty tent. I thought about making a trailer with a fold-out platform to keep the tent off the ground so mud and groundwater wouldn't be a concern, but that didn't seem like a great plan. That lead to a simple enclosed trailer but that seemed a little redneck. And that finally lead to a M416/M101CDN type trailer with a RTT. I like the narrow size of that style of trailer for less impact on gas mileage and better offroad performance on tight trails. I'm currently building a jscherb/Dinoot M-series trailer with a custom frame, Timbren axle-less suspension and matching tires. I'll likely use the OzTrail Outer Ridge Venturer tent since it's designed for that trailer height. It costs a bit more than a Tepui or similar tent, but it includes a hinged base/trailer lid and has a nice annex so that'll make up the price difference. I'll post photos on that project when I have more work completed. This year, I'm planning to cover similar ground and add in Yellowstone NP and a few other spots in WY (Morrison Jeep Trail?).



More photos (may not be in order!)...

Colorado: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.823841270401.1073741832.207000444&type=1&l=66a2b75d5f

Grand Canyon: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.823839249451.1073741831.207000444&type=1&l=62c81d2eaa

Utah: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.823846095731.1073741833.207000444&type=1&l=318a399cc5

 

[R Thomas]

Great read. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[1leglance]

crazy how much you guys packed into your trip...
and the people you met (and helped), very impressive.
Thanks for taking us along for the adventure

 

[unkamonkey]

Moab is a fun place to visit. We've been going there for over 30 years. Usually in June and again for Thanksgiving. Eddie McStiffs is a good place to eat and as well is the Moab Brewery. If you are into golf, the course (or at least 1/2 of it) is fun, lots of vertical stuff.
The loop down from The Top of the World Trail isn't as tough as you make it out to be. I've done it several times in my '61 3B running 31x10,50 tires. Elephant Hill is like a highway now compared to how it used to be. Lockhart Basin is a long day trip, mostly graded road with about a mile of intersting stuff at the North end. Moab Overlook has been getting tougher over the years. Lavender Canyon is easy but it has good scenery and a few arches. Beef Basin and Dark Canyon are also good trips.
When are you headed there again?

 

[whatevah]

Not sure when you ran Top of the World last, but the left part of the loop was badly eroded in September. Enough that I was dragging my rear bumper on the ledges. Maybe it's better now, I haven't read reports from the safari groups.

I'm going back in September.

 

[Scoutn79]

Fantastic TR thanks for taking the time to make it feel like we were along for the ride with all of the details.

Darrell