The Mary Bullock Ranch (from the Grand Bench)
OVERLANDING TO THE EXPO
Part 2 - Preparation
Over the next few months I became a little obsessed with Mary Bullock's Ranch and the deteriorating access road that wound down into Little Canyon Valley then twisted it's way back up the other side, through a dugway and up some broad steps and onto the Grand Bench. I searched for it on the internet and tried to figure out it's do-ablity, alone, in my FJ. I read a few stories. One about a guy with a nice first gen 4Runner who, back in the late 90's, was rightly proud of his making it up onto the Bench all by himself. Later I found some guys in Land Cruiser 80's from Expedition Utah who went up on the Bench after driving down Pariah Road in the winter, when that was open in 2006. I can't find the article anymore, but it is a good one. Another story about a guy named Bill Caid who, back in 2008, broke an ear off of the transmission mount on his Unimog, while climbing up to the Bench and had to strap it with cargo straps and limp back to San Diego. A very cool story: http://www.billcaid.com/2008/UtahTour20080510/Day7/Day7.html McGuyver with a Unimog. That was the last article I could find, and my mind ran, wondering if I had the guts to do it alone, if in fact, I could do it at all. Mentally adding in seven extra years of erosion and decay, made it even more scary.
I saw from topo maps, and on Google Earth, that the Grand Bench had this interesting geological causeway called the Neck, that wound and climbed for miles, sometimes only a hundred yards wide, and nearly a thousand feet above the valley floor below. A land bridge, from the sky-island of the Grand Bench, that ‘makes land', after several miles, on the Fifty Mile Bench (or Fifty Mile Mountain, if you prefer) just below Steer Point.
I had studied this on Google Earth, following the road for as far as I could make it out in the satellite imagery. I could see things that looked like airstrips and imagined aerial resupply for mining exporation operations or intercepting cattle. Or perhaps, I thought, more sinister pursuits. Way out there as far east as you could travel, on the northern plateau above Lake Powell. Eventually you ran into the abrupt wall of the Fifty mile, towering a thousand feet above and could travel no further. Except maybe through secret canyons.
Looking up the Neck towards Fifty Mile Bench
Ultimately, I decided that I would take two weeks off of work, and then work what is called a mini-shift on my return, which meant that I didn't have to come back to work for nineteen days. I would have my adventure in May 2013. I planned to take a week longer than my original itinerary so that I could add the Maze section and the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park, since I would be traveling without dogs.
I searched for route information and possible co-adventurers on the Expedition Portal. And I returned to reading the photo essay that had first attracted me to this exploit, to see if I had missed any ‘must visit' places that I shouldn't leave off of my itinerary. It was then that I realized that Jennifer and I had camped at Alstrom Point the year before and that was exactly where the “Disco on a cliff” photograph was taken. Trying to make it out on to the Grand Bench hadn't been necessary for a picture like this after all. That didn't matter much, it was going to be part of any future trip I would take, I wanted to see what the top of the Bench looked like and what stories it could tell me. I wanted to go to the end of that road.
My map at work...
Using nine pages of the DeLorme Utah Atlas & Gazetteer photocopied and taped together, I ended up sketching a route from Big Water to the White Rim Trail, near Moab. I also added a section from Hite down through Comb Wash for good measure. I wanted to end up south so that I could attend the Overland Expo. I had managed to correspond with a few interested folks on the Portal, but only two were able to make any sort of contact on the route.
The first contact I made was AZHeat aka Mike:
“AZ HeatHi Jeremy,
Yes I am still planning on heading out Thursday around 3 and plan to drive to somewhere around Altsrom point and set up a late night camp. I have two other Jeep Rubicon's (white 2door & Silver4door) coming with me now and possibly another silver FJ. So we will have quite the crew on the Bench. Our plan is to head over to the Grand Bench Friday sometime after exporing a couple different areas in between. Then spend Friday on the Bench to explore around the neck and a couple other canyons. Saturday is up in the air as we might head over and try to make it over to hole in the rock via left hand collet but not sure if we can make it. This will depend on weather and the group mood. If we don't head up that way we will explore anything that looks interesting South of Escalante. Please feel free to text me anytime. Have a safe trip down and I will keep an eye out for you.
-Mike”
I ended up meeting Mike and his friends just before they were about to go off the bench; they were a day ahead of me.
I also began to correspond with Strega aka Doug:
“Strega
I am interested in doing the Maze part if there is still a spot available. I'am also going to the Expo as well. I have a well equipped FJ Cruiser ready to go. Would like to do more of your trip but may have to be at the Grand Canyon for a job interview before the Expo. Let me know if interested.
Thanks, Doug”
Doug and I met up at the Hans Flat ranger station and had an amazing journey through the Doll House and the Maze overlook for a few days. He and ACE were the ones who convinced me that I needed to time my trip so that I could go to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff at the end of my route. We ended up camping in the same area at the Expo and stay in touch to this day. Ultimately I ended up connecting with Ace, Wikid, Ramjet, Strega, sumnrfam and others at the Expo, who I had met virtually on the Portal.
Doug & I - headed to the Dollhouse
Camp set-up showing bed
Preparation -- I drive a 2008 Toyota Trail Teams with 285/75 R16's and full Bud Built steel skids and DoM steel sliders. It has Bilstien/ToyTech front shocks with Light Racing upper-arms and the Metal Tech extended-travel kit in the rear. It is equipped with one of Dale's extended-range tanks (extra 14 gallons) and a Fab-Fours winch bumper complete with a Warn 9.5ti. I have a dual battery system with a Die-Hard 31M and an Optima, automatically or manually, combined with a voltage sensing relay and a boat switch. I just had finished installing a new Rigid 20” light bar and a 270 degree rack-mounted Rigid Dually flood-light system, used to selectively light the area when camping or making repairs or provide security lighting, should I have an issue at night and need to see what was going on. With the front light bar, I had 360 degrees of very bright lighting, individually or at the flip of a switch. I have a Tuffy box anchored to the frame to keep some things a little more secure.
Re-designed kitchen box
I had opted to sleep in my rig to keep weight off of the roof to help reduce roll-over potential, since I would be unspotted, and to offer some measure of security at night. Over the years I have used birch plywood and aluminum fittings to make several interior sleeping and storage system configurations, some for solo travel and sleeping inside. The one I used required me to remove my rear seats and install a shelf in the place of my rear seats. I had just finished reducing the size of the kitchen box made the previous summer to hold my cooking gear. It was much more compact and lighter and easier to stow because of it. I used a folding Partner Steel stove that separates so that half can be used to heat up my stainless Hudson sprayer shower-system. Which in-turn gives me an extra three gallons of water storage if I need it. I have a drawer system with a built-in ARB compressor and a utility table that conveniently slides out. I carry a couple of Snow Peak tables and lantern stand and a Big Agnes awning that is not as easy as a car-mounted folding awning but it's a bit stouter and about a tenth of the cost. I have a PET toilet and a folding ‘change house'. A couple of REI reclining chairs and a Magna gas-grill along with a Worthington 6 lb. aluminum gas cylinder with hoses and adaptors for a lantern, a heater, my campstove & shower heater and a torch (for starting fires & who knows what else)
Camp set-up with awning
For recovery gear, I opted to bring a Pull-Pal ground anchor, since all of my recoveries would be solo. I had chosen the Pull-Pal because you could effect a recovery out of sand or mud one rope length at a time. I would also not have to worry as much about finding a suitable anchor point, I was going to provide my own in many situations. I brought lots of tools up to 1/2 drive and a nice ARB LED drop light. A HighLift jack and a shovel and all of the shackles and pulleys and straps I could scrape together. For all of that there was one mod that I found particularly useful.
Quite useful...
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