Atlanta to Moab, Valley of the Gods, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Etc

[smittycrusher]

Back in January, I attended the “Country Fried Weekend” event that can be found in the SouthEastern Expedition Society section here on Expo. It rained almost the entire time I was there. While standing around a campfire in the rain, I met Brian (bgs here on EXPO). He was the only other 80 Series Land Cruiser at the event so I started asking him about his build (as it was very impressive). He filled me in on all the details. The rig is a 97 and he bought it in late 2011 with 95k miles. He took it to ACC Toyota here in Atlanta and built it up incredibly fast. There is a lot to this truck but here are the highlights:

Ironman 3” lift w/ foam cell shocks
Ironman winch bull bar
Ironman 12,000lb winch w/ synthetic line
Metal Tech sliders
4X4 labs rear bumper with ladder & custom ACC Toyota jerry can holder
Baja Rack full length roof rack
Ironman Snorkel
Ironman Fridge
Longfield Chromoly Birfs & Axle shafts
Ironman HID lights on bulbar
ARB Twin compressor
ARB rear locker
Aussie front locker
Custom ACC Toyota Part Time 4wd Kit
Nitro 4.88 gears
BFG KM2 315/75/16 tires
TRASHAROO - Awesome
Crystaline UV blocking tinted windows all around – including windshield (this is a great mod since we are spending a lot of daytime desert hours in the truck)

All work was done by ACC Toyota. As usual, these guys rocked on the build. We are very lucky to have them in Atlanta as they are awesome to work with and can handle anything you throw at them.

[smittycrusher]

The Plan
So as we are talking around the fire, Brian starts telling me about some trips that he is planning out west in the spring. He really wants to get his truck out there and start scouting some routes for a big family trip in May. He tells me that he is planning to ship the truck out to Vegas in April and leave it with some friends. Since he travels to Vegas regularly for work, he wants to have it out there to use and explore. He mentions that instead of shipping the truck, he would prefer to take a road trip out there in April. To do this, he would need another driver to help out. He asks if I would be interested. Of course I would be interested but I told him that there was no way as I have too much on my plate with work and family. Well, that didn’t work as Brian kept working on me for the next few weeks. Finally I gave in. He promised to have a wireless Verizon 4G card that I can use to log into my desktop and work from the truck on the road. This was big as I did not want to be away from work for a week during these volatile times. My wife is awesome and after a few promises to her, she became a big supporter of me getting away and doing something that I have always wanted to do. This was actually a perfect setup since we only have to drive one way and fly home from Vegas. This truly saves two to three days of driving since we don’t have to drive home. We pick a week to make it happen (April 23rd – April 30th).

[smittycrusher]

The Trip
On Monday, April 23rd, Brian picks me up at my house at 4:45am and off we go. We plan to drive as far as we can on the first day. We made it to Hays, Kansas (1100 miles) at 1am. We got a good eight hours of sleep and started back on the road at 9:30am. We planned to drive all the way to Moab on this leg (790 miles with a stop at Proffitt’s Cruisers along the way). We pulled into Moab around midnight. By this time, we were pretty tired. It was a loooong two days of driving. I am very thankful that we will not have to make the drive back.

Now that we are in Moab, we begin to reap our reward for all of the miles that we have logged. This place is absolutely amazing! We got another solid 8 hrs. of sleep and we woke up on Wednesday knowing that we would be in Moab all day with nothing but trails on our mind. We stayed at the Red Cliff Lodge and I can highly recommend this place. It is nestled up right next to the Colorado River and provides amazing 360 degree views. We decide to hit Porcupine Rim trail first in search of some great views to exercise our DSLR cameras. This trail was a lot of fun with many great opportunities for photos. The Cruiser seemed to be in his true environment. The very steep drop-offs along the narrow trail can take some getting used to. After we reach the overlook and hang out for a while snapping pics, we head back down and play around on Baby Lion’s Back, Fins & Things and Hells Revenge. We then decided to eat a late lunch and head back for a nap before our dinner reservation at the Red Cliff Lodge.

[smittycrusher]

The Trip cont'd

We went to bed early on Wednesday night and were back on the road Thursday morning around 8:30am. Our first destination was Valley of the Gods. This was the beginning of a very scenic and breathtaking day. I wish that we had more time to spend out here as I could get lost in the scenery. This trail is very much worth the drive if you are anywhere within driving distance. We decided to take the switchbacks immediately following the trail to find a nice lunch spot…we were rewarded again four our efforts. Amazing. One of the best lunches that I can remember. After lunch, we had to race over to Lake Powell to get on the last ferry to take us across the lake from Hall’s Crossing to Bullfrog Marina. From there, we decided to take the Burr Trail, which covers almost 70 very scenic miles. From Bullfrog, we went through Capital Reef National Park and then Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and ended in the small town of Boulder. Once in Boulder we stopped for dinner at the Boulder Mesa Restaurant. There we had one of the tastiest cheeseburgers I can imagine. I highly recommend a stop here for a burger if you are near by.

[smittycrusher]

After dinner, we began our final leg of the day towards Bryce Canyon. We were treated to more spectacular views and we just could not stop pulling off to snaps pictures. Last night, we stayed at Ruby’s Inn in Bryce Canyon. This morning, we left around 7am to head into Bryce Canyon to get some shots before heading off to Vegas for one night. Then tomorrow morning we will head to the Bar 10 ranch in the Grand Canyon for two nights before returning back to Vegas for a red eye flight on Monday night back to Atlanta.

[Falkon]

Wow, what an awesome trip! :thumbup:

[smittycrusher]

We checked in to the Vdara Hotel in Vegas around 4pm on Saturday the 28th. This place was awesome! The suite was like a condo. It included a full kitchen w/ full size stainless steel fridge, etc. Enough about that, this is an overland adventure. I was honestly uncomfortable in Vegas that night because of all the people. This was fascinating to me since I live in Atlanta (and have lived in other large cities in the past, including LA). I also got married in Vegas and even though I don't gamble, I have been there many times. I had truly enjoyed the remote nature of the trip and was obviously not ready to give that up. Brian and I went out for an early dinner and went to bed pretty early as we were meeting up with five other people at 6:30am by the Vegas Speedway. From there, we drove into Mesquite, NV via I-15. At this point we met up with the rest of our group for the Bar 10 Ranch voyage. We had decided to take the moderate route into the ranch which meant heading straight over some mountains to get to the ranch...all off road. We went 97 miles in about seven hours and watched the ecosystems change multiple times. We were even fortunate enough to catch a group of wild horses gallop through one of the ranges. We all just simply watched in awe and silence.

We made it to the Bar 10 ranch around 2:30pm and got checked in. This ranch was the perfect setup for soaking in the canyon and being "off the grid" for a few days. We each had our very own covered wagon to sleep in (pictured below). I had two of the absolute best night’s sleep that I can remember. I think the temperature, breeze and natural noises in the night (coyotes howling) provided the perfect sleeping atmosphere.

After we were settled into our wagons, we decided to head out to the Whitmore overlook to explore and get some images before dinner. We went out another 15 miles or so (all rocky off road) to get to the overlook. I was blown away. It was absolutely amazing. Little did I know that the next day's trip to Toroweap would blow it away. I would consider Whitmore a great warm up for Toroweap...more like a Toroweap light. We saw a few fantastic camping spots near the overlook that I would love to utilize in the future when I bring my family out.

We made it back in time for a fantastic dinner cooked by the staff at the ranch. After dinner we sat around the campfire and were treated to two of the ranchers strumming guitars and singing some cowboy themed songs. Then off to bed.

The next morning we woke up to another fantastic meal by the ranch. Then we were off to the Toroweap overlook. It was about 40 off-road miles from the ranch and took us about three hours to get there. Again, we changed ecosystems a few times along the way. Once we made it to the overlook, we were all giddy. This overlook has to be one of the most amazing natural views in the world. Unfortunately our schedule would not allow us to get there as the sun was rising or setting, but the images are still fun to view. We hung out and explored for over an hour and none of us wanted to leave. We finally did leave knowing that we did not want to miss dinner at the ranch. After dinner, more music/singing, and some campfire socializing, we all went to bed knowing that we would have to leave after breakfast the next morning.

We left the ranch on Monday morning, the 30th, and went back to Mesquite a little different way (longer but faster...still all off-road). By the time we hit pavement near Mesquite, we had travelled 327 straight miles off road since Saturday morning. It was an amazing journey. Brian stayed in Vegas for a few more days to tend to some business and I caught a red eye back to Atlanta on Monday night.

We referred to this trip as "epic" so many times throughout the adventure. It truly was a trip of a lifetime. Once my son is older (he is five now) and I can trust him near the Grand Canyon ledges (Whitmore and Toroweap have ZERO safety measures...they are 100% natural) I plan to bring my family out again to create these memories with them as well.

Thank you Brian for "coaxing" me into this trip!

Smitty

[Bluto]

Hey Smitty!

I'm glad you got a chance to head back West of the Mississippi. Awesome photos. Initially, I thought that was your 80 that went through the metamorphosis. Good fortune your way.

Alan

[DanKunz]

Badass! Let me know who you used to ship the truck and cost estimates?

The Upstate Cruisers are planning a trip with 4-5 trucks next year in Sept to the Rubicon and Moab.

[BMThiker]

Their Plan

He mentions that instead of shipping the truck, he would prefer to take a road trip out there in April.

Great pics Smitty! Can't wait until we get back out west.