Utah by Mall Crawler

454

Exploder
I'm always up for a trip to Utah. I hadn't driven out here since the '08 LRNR. I started my trip with a 1,050 mile marathon spread over 18 hours.
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My obligatory stop.
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I met up with a friend and his brother between Mexican Hat and the Valley of the Gods.
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Rain set in fairly early the first evening. That, coupled with all of us having had long drives led to an early turn-in. The rain was more welcome once we realized that the dust wouldn't be quite as bad.
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We drove up and down both sides of Comb Ridge before climbing onto Cedar Mesa. This was a beautiful area that I need to explore more fully.
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We had toyed with camping at Natural Bridges but the temps were falling quickly. We decided to make a run for Hite and hoped that we would find warmer temps at lower altitude.
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Warmer temps were found, along with a ghost in the form of the Hite marina. This hadn't been a lake for a very long time. The fishing poles for sale in the gas station stood in contrast with the long-abandoned dock and boat ramps.
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My navigation tells the tale of our campsite.
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After leaving the old widow woman "town" of Hite, we backtracked toward Monticello. Ryan had never been to Canyonlands so we decided to go to the Needles District.
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Documenting our site on BLM land near the entry to the Needles District of the park.
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Running Elephant Hill seemed like a good idea.
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Proof that Terrain Response and 19" street tires can get you to some interesting malls.
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After avoiding carnage, we returned to camp. Another friend met up with us that evening. The next day we headed to the Islands in the Sky District. Our primary reason was to run Shafer Trail and Potash Road as a fun way back to Moab. We also hoped to find a spot to camp along the way.
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I escaped Moab by backroads, thanks to another friends old posts.
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I didn't think to pee on Ralph Lauren's fence until it was too late.
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I'll end with a Kansas sunset.
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Last edited:

Se7en62

Adventure Seeker
Sweet pictures, from what looks like a great time! Did you mean to include that picture of Monarch Pass?
 

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