March 2010 Moab-Swell- Bryce trip report

[HenryJ]

With reports of good trail ahead, Kira went into the drink

And on across like she had been doing this forever.

No one would know that this was her first real 4x4 trip. My crossing went just as smoothly. My photographers preferred to ride rather than wade, so those photos of my crossing lie with my traveling partners.

The road had been very soft. Ruts shown deep where others had done this trail earlier. The road was funny. Sort of soft and dragging. In places you could see a dusting of white crust. Jack though he was having transmission problems and down shifted. The pull to the top was harder than expected. It did not stop to examine the conditions as I felt it more prudent to maintain what little momentum that I had.

The road yielded wondrous sights. Boulders dropped from the top of a small island in the terrain.
The monument in the distance reminded Jack of a fortress in Israel. He did relate the story and the tale of this place, but I forget the details.

I could imagine wafts of smoke coming from encampments all around the base. All waiting to siege the fortress. Something out of a "Lord of the Rings" Novel. Breathtaking.

We made good time and pulled into Hanksville. Dinner at Stan's that night. Those are some big milkshakes!

 

[mph]

Glad to see that you had awesome weather a good time!!!! Not sure if you have the Kelsey San Rafael Swell book but he writes about that ranch and other places you visited.

Stan's shakes rock!!!

Headed that way for 10 days...Should be fun!

Mike

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Very cool, glad to see the crossing was manageable. With the recent wet weather we have been having some of the area crossings have been extremely high. I was just talking to Mike (mph) about the Poison Springs/Dirty Devil crossing a bit to the west of the Factory Butte/Muddy Creek crossing you made (Muddy flows into Dirty Devil). Its predicted to spike ~ 230 cfs (~4ft) this weekend so we are deciding how wet we want to get

 

[HenryJ]

Depending upon the width of the crossing 230 CFS could be right on the razors edge. Not much room for error.
We run the Owyhee river around 220 CFS and I would not want to try crossing it in some places.
I did not calculate how much was flowing at our Muddy river crossing. It really was an easy crossing though.

Thanks for the picture you posted. That was really helpful :victory:

 

[HenryJ]

So dinner in Hanksville sort of set the beginning of the end.
Jack had business in Vegas and tomorrow he needed to head that way. Moki ruins and the petroglyphs were on our agenda.
I took the information posted by another member and the one reference on a Benchmark maps as direction to the "Moki ruins".
As it turns out this was a Fremont Indian granary:

I guess I expected more? Neat, but not quite what I had expected I guess.

Next stop was the petrpoglyphs.

Lots of them , but many do not photograph well and are quite a distance away. Still pretty cool. This is where Jack and Eric parted our company and set sail for Vegas. Thanks for sharing the trip!

One rig down we are , on to the visitors center for Capitol Reef NP. There we saw a reference and picture of the same granary we just saw. No charge to enter today as most all access roads were closed due to muddy conditions.

This place would have been more impressive it we had not just experienced such a fantastic area earlier in the trip.
Standing at a view point above the park we decided that Bryce was in our plans. Steve and Kira take the lead and we head...UP.

Cold and climb was the day this day. Over the top (9600ft.) and to Bryce.
Still snow covered. The lower trails looked just too sketchy for kids. We decided to pass on those. It was late in the day and more than we wanted to take on for the day.



We checked out several view points took quite a few photos.

The dinner was at a delightful little diner just down the road from Bryce. Good pies and a nice atmosphere. Our night was spent in a motel.
The next morning had a forecast of 12"-18" of snow in the next 12 hours.

We were quite a way south and needed to have two days to return. With the threat of snow and no chains for the truck or trailer. We decided to point the truck to home.
We parted ways with our last traveling companions as they wanted to see more of Bryce canyon.
The road was snow packed as we left and we had one good pass to make before we could reduce our altitude.

Not more than an hour or so down the road we get a call from Kira and Steve. They too had decided to return home. The weather was just too bad. Nothing to see in the canyon due to the limited visibility.
Over the pass we saw one Ford truck that had crashed into the rocky hill. Airbags deployed and law enforcement onscene. No way were we stopping on a corner. I needed to keep my momentum and get down before things got worse. Local PD had things well in hand.

Finally down to the interstate roads were improving.

By the time we hit Salt Lake the weather was rainy. The worst part was the wind. All the way home. A strong headwind. As we neared home at least the sun broke in under the clouds for a while.

That concludes the journey.

What worked well:
Fridge. Everyone will tell you that a fridge is a good investment. Believe them. It is spendy, but well worth the investment.
I gave Jack a hard time about twisting my arm to buy the $350 Toughbook. It too was worth the expense. Trouble free and very handy. No worries about durability.
Roof Top Tents rock.
Kira and Steve's campfire grille. Lots of room, simple and very functional. Thanks you two for donating it to my trailer!
The hitch works great. Out goes the ball and ball hitch. No need to pack them any more. The hitch has proven itself.
Vacuum packed meals. Awesome. Quick and easy.
Pop up dog kennel. So simple and functional. What a space saver and comfort for our dog. Her home away from home.

What needed improvement:
Well seasoned wood! I had no idea the wood we had was so wet. It was miserable. Next time I will choose better.

Tent heater. I only tried it one night and my tarp wrap did nothing but flap and carry on all night. When I finally lighted the heater in the morning the enclosure was all gone and very little heated the tent. That has since been fixed. I made an attachment for one side of the tent to enclose the heater. Some canvas stitched to form an enclosure, some grommets and snaps. All done and ready for the next trip to test.

Axle upgrade. Grossing 1920 this trip had me nervous. Add to that a lack of brakes. I did not need heavier or the brakes this trip, but I think having a better cushion and the ability to brake should I need it would be a very good idea. The axle is ordered and should be here next week.

Better retention for the fridge. I had a load bar in place , but it moved a little and did not keep the fridge far enough from the side to unlatch it. I built a new bar that will bolt in this time and will install it in the morning.

All the chargers and cables.
That spaghetti has since been organized. The chargers moved to the outside of the console. Much more organized.

Cables for the trailer. I did not need them, but with brakes and the potential for slick roads, why not carry a set?

Undecided:
Solar panel. The jury is still out. Maybe a summer sun thing?
Dry box. It may need some adjustments. It is rather unorganized and getting too full to be convenient.
Potty enclosure. Pops up nice and folds up nice too. Only not when it should. A slight breeze will fold it up. I need to study it closer.