Western Road Trip - 2013

[offroadtreks]

** JUST A LITTLE NOTE, this was written up by my wife for another forum we are both members at, and it's recounted by her. Just so you know I don't talk in the 3rd person. Second thing is, I made an error in the title. This is from Aug 2012

We started out on Friday August 3rd, early afternoon. Our goal was to at least get out of the state and into Georgia for the night, and then drive straight through from Saturday morning to Sunday night and sleep in Estes Park, CO. Crazy, I know. We had the mindset that we had a limited time to see things and wanted to spend most of it out West. We even bypassed visiting my sister and her family in Oklahoma, something for which she still razes me for.

As we drove North through the Panhandle, we decided to bypass GA and swing more into Alabama. At this point the Trailblazer threw a trouble code and CEL. Thankfully we were already plugged into the PCM and cleared the code. I forget which one it was, but she was running rich for some reason. We cleared the code twice more before she finally settled down.

Well, as we drove we made the decision to just push through Alabama, perhaps stopping and staying outside of Denver or even in Kansas. We didn't see anything really worth note until we reached the Ozarks. We hit them just as the sun began to rise behind us on Saturday morning, and it was absolutely refreshing to see mountains again. You don't realize how much you appreciate something till you don't have it anymore, and we both missed mountains living in flat Florida. However our happiness was short lived as the novelty of the plains of Kansas quickly became boring.

We ended up coming upon Denver just as the sun was setting between the clouds and the Rockies. It was a beautiful combination of black giants and firery red clouds with a few streaks of sunshine shooting above and below. I will never forget my first sight of the Rockies and all their splendor.

We made it into Estes Park after 10pm Saturday (36 hours straight), and by some miracle found the last available room in the entire town. A part of me wishes we had stayed in Estes Park longer, especially to see the drive up from Boulder to Estes Park in daylight. It was certainly twisty as we climbed several thousand feet. At several points you could hear a stream running down alongside the road, and I'm pretty sure I saw the outline of an old mill wheel at one point.

Sunday dawned bright and chilly, a drastic change from the 80+ degree humid florida weather, and we and the Trailblazer loved it. Not sure what it was, but once we crossed into Colorado we noticed a significant increase in our mpg, from 16 to 19+, which lasted until we started having some real fun in Moab.

Our initial drive into Rocky Mountain National Forest was pleasant. We stopped to take in some sites, meet some creatures, and jut enjoy the view. Our trip seemed to have truly begun!

Once we made it to the top of the Trail Ridge, we decided to head back down and find the dirt trail James had talked about. It wasn't too hard to find. Just follow the stock Jeeps.....lol.

The Old Fall River Road is a one-way road that is passable for almost any car. It offered some spectacular sights and a few great photo opportunities. After all, we bought a new camera for this trip, and we were going to get the most use out of it, dang it! (Okay, I may have been a bit picture happy taking over 1300 photos of our trip, not counting all the iPhone photos).

The Old Fall River Road also provided us with our first opportunity to see what it would be like to air down our tires and test the General Grabber ATs. We took several of the switchbacks at a higher speed with tight cornering and the tires held really well. She felt solid the whole way up and the ride itself was extremely smooth. It felt like we were on blacktop honestly, much to our amusement as we passed one Jeep that was getting bounced around quite a bit.

We stayed on the Trail Ridge Road until we came to Granby, CO. There we picked up I-70 and headed for Grand Junction. Our destination for the night was a little National park tucked away just South of Grand Juntion.

As we neared Grand Junction we noticed the rock getting consistently red and the landscape was becoming more dry and arid. However, Grand Junction and Fruita are nestled in a green valley surrounded on all sides by some of the most beautiful red rock.

We made our way directly towards Colordao Monument National Park. There we discovered a gem of national parks, and I was in love with red rock. The camp sites are numerous here and quiet. It was a pleasant end to the first day of our trip.

 

[offroadtreks]

The next morning we made our way towards Moab. We had decided in our trip planning to avoid as many highways as possible once we were out West, so our trip into Moab took a more "direct route" in the form of the Upper Scenic Colorado Byway. I have to admit, as we headed down the highway, looking for our exit, I was starting to wonder if I would ever see anything other than flat lands and lower mesas. The road from Fruita into Moab is rather dull and arid, but once we found the byway and travelled a few miles away from the highway, the scenery suddenly changed.

We literally passed over a small hill towards a rocky outcropping, and no sooner do we swing around the outcropping does the road bare down and to the left, snaking along the Colorado River in a massive redrock canyon.

I immediately got on the brakes and pulled over, not believing how quickly the scenery had changed!

Mike wanted to take over driving again at that point so he could enjoy the twists and turns of the canyon. If you knew me, you'd understand how much of a sacrifice that is. Many times I contemplated how we needed 2 offroad/overland vehicles so we wouldn't argue about who would get to drive...However, I was content enough to sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Moab itself is fairly pleasant town. We definitely turned heads of the diehard jeep folks, which is always entertaining. It's also a busy town, especially Arches National Park, which we had chosen to avoid altogether because of its heavy tourism. We weren't there to play tourist, we were there to have an adventure!

Our first destination was Canyonlands, more specifically the Island in the Sky district. We checked in with the backcountry station, and got a permit to stay at the "airport" campsite. In hind site, I probably would have reserved a campsite further along the White Rim Trail.

We started at the head of the WRT just off the main road shortly after 10am. It was rather a smug feeling to see "4x4 high clearance only", like we were in some exclusive club.

We aired down to 18 psi at this point and hit the trail. The pictures here unfortunately do not do it justice.

Shafer Trail was definitely intimidating at first, but Mike tackled it with great calm and precision. I was totally jealous that he was the first to drive, but hanging out the window and looking straight down, the tires just a foot away from the sheer drop off, was quite the adrenalin rush all in its own.

At the bottom of the trail we stopped and looked back.

We stopped and saw several sites.

And checked out where we would be camping.

Marveled at the fact that we were in the midst of a giant redrock canyon with a gray granite La Sal mountain range within sight. Had to wonder how two completely different types of landscape could be so close together.

Then turned around and doubled back a couple miles to this turn-off.

This was a fun path to trek down. In several areas you couldn't see more than 10 feet of the trail before it would disappear around one sharp corner to the next. And venturing down the trail almost felt like you were heading into a pit.

Got to wave to a group a people floating down the Colorado.

At this point I began to grow a bit leery of the clouds that were forming all around us. Our campsite was quiet exposed at Airport, and the thought of spending the afternoon and evening in rainstorms completely exposed on the Mesa was not appealing.

We made our way back up the Lathrop trail. I got to drive! Yay me!

Once up on higher ground, we surveyed the clouds and made the gut call to head back up Shafer and see if we couldn't get a hotel room back in Moab. The going back up Shafer was mine to tackle, and honestly I'm of the opinion that going up trails is a little harder than going down. Fighting gravity and slippery terrain as opposed to going down in a controlled slide? Anyway, it was made all the more fun as we passed a Humer, a Jeep, and another SUV on the trail, barely wide enough to fit two unless you were both in the wide turn spaces. It was fun scaring the driver of the SUV as I passed within inches of their car in order to give myself enough room to make the turn without hanging up my right rear wheel. Hey, if you're going to bring your vehicle on these trails, expect them to get a little scratched up (and don't hog the road!).

Once back on blacktop, we aired our tires back up and enjoyed watching the many thunderstorms all around us. The rangers also agreed with our decision to leave Airport because of how exposed it was.

Our original plan had been to explore the WRT for the rest of the day and then head back into Moab via the Lower Colorado Scenic byway out of Canyonlands. We were pretty happy to find a hotel room, a hot steak and potatoes dinner, and some local brew for the night instead. Next time we go, we'll be tackling all of the 50+miles of the WRT and plan for a campsite further in.

 

[offroadtreks]

Day 2 of our adventure in Moab dawned sunny and warm, and we packed up and headed south out of Moab on Highway 191. Our destination was Beef Basin via the Bridger Jack Mesa.

As we drove down 191, redrock on one side, the La Sal mountain range on the other, we decided to do some research and find out how two vastly different geographies could be in such close proximity to each other. Apparently the La Sal Mountain range and the Henry Mountain range (which we'll see near Capitol Reef later) present a mystery to scientists and geologist as to how and when they formed. Something to do with unusual magma activity under such stable crust. Either way, we'd like to explore some of the La Sal Range next time we go to Moab.

There are 3 ways to access the Beef Basin. The first is the way we came, via the Bridger Jack. The second is the Beef Basin Road (San Juan County Road (CR)104, Forest Service Road (FS)093) which enters Beef Basin from the south descending the slopes of Horse Mountain. This road is closed during the winter months (November-April). The third is perhaps the most challenging and can be accessed coming through the Needles District (Canyonlands) over the Elephant Hill Trail. Some of you may have heard of this route as the Bobby's Hole hill ascent can be extremely challenging to navigate and is recommended by other offroaders to attempt only with a buddy for rescue purposes. Canyonlands itself says the road is frequently impassable for any vehicle. The Elephant Hill Switchbacks can also be challenging as that they are almost parallel, force you to take 8-point turns, and hope you make it up over the slick rock on the final ascent.

So, all that said about that section, who here would like to go with us next time??

The Beef Basin is extremely sandy in some areas and pretty rocky and rutted in other areas. Overall though the trail was in good repair and we had fun exploring the area. Perhaps the most amazing feature to us was how green everything was among the mesas. Dry desert on top the mesas, green fertile valleys below. I'm sure it has to do a lot with irrigation, and I also know that I would not mind buying one of the working farms in the Beef Basin! A slice of peaceful heaven on earth in my opinion.

We found a makeshift camp area here at the tip of the Cathedral Butte, and absolutely loved the view looking into the valley. Using binoculars, you could see the the 22.5 mile Salt Creek trail footpath in the valley. Crazy to think people hike that....

Mike soon got a little bored with the Beef Basin's easier trails, so we headed back out to the Bridger Jack and into the Needles district. There were a few trails there, and he was ready to get back to some serious off-roading after the fun we had in Island in the Sky the day before. I was almost tempted to recommend that we take the Elephant Hill trail out of Needles and into the Beef Basin, finishing at the campsite we had found earlier that morning at Cathedral, but we were didn't have a complete recovery kit with us. So we headed for the Colorado Scenic Overlook trail instead.

This trail starts in sand, sometimes pretty deep, with a good view of your surroundings through the tall grass. The aired down General Grabber AT's performed flawlessly.

Although Needles is in the same park as Island in the Sky and they are only separated by the Colorado River, this part of Needles is an entirely different landscape than Island in the Sky. Gone are the giant mesas and deep valleys. Gone is dark redrock and impressive rock formations. Instead you get “needles” or spires of rock that rise 10-50 feet in height and are clumped together in such a way that they look like giant, overgrown cacti plants.

As we followed the trail, we came across a newer model Suburban coming the other way. Thankfully we met as a the one-way trail crossed a dry riverbed, so Mike was able to back up. It's my opinion that the Spidr (rear-diff guard) came in handy here because I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been in guiding Mike and he hit a pretty sharp rock. Granted, he's probably right and the diff would have been fine, but still, I was glad he had bought the guard.

Seeing the Suburban, we wondered if this trail was really as difficult as it was made out to be. We continued on for another mile or so before we came to an elevated area wide enough to park a vehicle or two and turn around. According to our guide book, this is where many people park and hike the rest of the 3 or so mile trail. I could see why as we would be climbing up what appeared to be naturally formed rock “steps” or “shelves”, at least 30 feet of it.

I hopped out at this point, walkie-talkie and iphone in hand and hiked up the hill, guiding Mike vocally and with hand signals. We pretty much spent the next 2.5 miles doing this. Definitely got my workout in, that's for sure.

Finally we came to a spot that was impassable for the Trailblazer, about a 2 foot drop off a rock “shelf” 30 feet long or so. There was no way around it unless you had higher clearance, and we didn't want to push our luck. So we got out and hiked for a bit.

This is when the heat really started to get to us. Somehow, even though the temperature was the same as yesterday, being out in a seemingly more arid, desert like place really sapped one's energy. (That and the fact that I had spent a good chunk walking/hiking/climbing that trail to guide Mike.) Definitely thankful we were well supplied on water and nutritional bars to keep us going.

As we started to head back down the trail, we came across an older couple who had parked their Subaru at the dried up river bed and hiked their way in. They looked hot, tired, and I'm pretty sure if we had the room for passengers, the wife would have made the husband get in and take them back. We did offer some of our water to replenish their little water bottles, which they refused, more content to just hear from us that they were close to their goal. Sometimes I wonder how they fared getting back...

The drive back was just as fun to navigate for Mike, I'm sure. I spent most of it guiding him, usually walking the path the Trailblazer should take with Mike following some 10 feet behind. It wasn't too hard to figure out, just look for the path with the least damage from scraping some poor vehicle's underside. At one point I found a couple bolt heads, and another 100 feet or so found a scrap of metal that was probably someone's stock skid plate at one point.

As we came to the last part of the trail before the vehicle turnaround. I came across a family hiking up the natural stone steps. The son stopped me to ask in broken English how our vehicle had fared and if I thought their SUV would make it. I asked what type of car they had, and was told a Chevy SUV that was about the same height/clearance as ours. I was pretty skeptical since ours is lifted and these folks were definitely from France or French Canada (we came across a lot of them the evening before in Moab). I told them they could try it, but I would not recommend bringing anything up here if you didn't have experience.

Mike and I were pretty amused when we reached the turnaround and saw they had a rented Chevy Traverse. I hope they took my advice and left it.

We made our way back to the visitor center parking lot at the head of the trail and aired up our tires. Unfortunately it was so dang hot out the compressor kept overheating, so we turned on the AC in the truck, full blast to the floor boards, and stuck the thing in there and partially closed the door. It helped, but it took approximately 45 mins to air up the tires. At this point we were hot, sweaty, and I had a brutal headache from not drinking nearly enough water while acting as guide.

We toyed around with what we should do next. Hit another trail? Head back down into the Beef Basin and the campsite? I don't remember how, but we came to the decision that we should head out of Canyonlands, back up 211 to 191, through Moab to I-70 and then down 24 into Torrey, just outside Capitol Reef. It was late enough in the day that we felt we'd get to Torrey just as night fell (4 hour drive), grab a hotel, and have a full day to explore Capitol Reef.

So we did.

The drive on I-70 was dull and flat. The drive down CR-24 was mostly dull and flat until you hit Goblin Valley State Park. And let me tell you, the name does the park justice. It is creepy looking as all get out from the road, and the images that pop up in a Google search show what looks like fields of giant petrified mushrooms.....definitely something that Hollywood could use as a set for a strange, alien world.

As was becoming the norm, we soon found ourselves back in redrock and canyons with some random gray granite mountain range close by. However, the colors here were completely different than Moab. In fact, the biggest difference was the colors of the layers of rock. It was absolutely stunning!

We stopped in the park and took a look around. Capitol Reef is in the middle of Fruita's Mormon historical area. Buildings, way of life-- all were captured and maintained against time. Even the campground, as public as it was, was very peaceful and in tune with nature. Deer freely wandered among the fruit trees, horses entertained campers, and time generally did not seem to exist.

It was here that we discovered that our sunroof had broken. Apparently the offroading from earlier in the day or a combination over the last few days had been enough to cause the rods in the track to snap. Either way, it was kindof a bummer. Thankfully Mike knew a good trick to get it to close at least. Still haven't fixed that. Seems almost a crime to not have a working sunroof when it's 70+ here right now.....hey honey!

Back to Utah....

On the Western side of Capitol Reef there was an elevated area with a lot of signage, and the view was absolutely amazing. So we pulled over and hiked up just as the sun began to set behind us. Apparently this was some of the cleanest, clearest air around and offered a spectacular view into the distance. The colors from the setting sun along with the shadows created an almost surreal landscape before us.

We pushed on just a bit more though and checked in at a hotel in Torrey. Torrey is an extremely small town, a few hotels, a couple restaurants, two gas stations, and lots of grazing land. I enjoyed watching the horses prance around and play just 75 feet from my hotel window. We even had the chance to do some laundry! Yay for clean clothes! I'm pretty sure Mike's favorite part was the hot tub. Nothing to melt away the stress and exhaustion of the trails like a nice soak in the hot tub......

All in all, it was a nice end to an exhausting day, which was a blessing in disguise, since tomorrow would present some unexpected and difficult challenges.

 

[offroadtreks]

I'll be posting the rest shortly. Stay tuned.

 

[offroadtreks]

The next day dawned beautiful and bright. We fueled up, appreciating the fact of knowing how much we were paying in taxes, and then headed for Capitol Reef.

Up until now, 'we' had done little hiking (pretty sure all the guiding I did yesterday could qualify as 'hiking') and Mike wanted to get out and stretch his legs. So we did some exploring in Capitol Reef, checked out the mine claims, hieroglyphs, and old mines.

It really was a pleasant hike.

Having satisfied his need to stretch his legs, Mike suggested we do some more trails. On the map that they give you for Capitol Reef, there's the usual dotted line indicating "4x4 recommended" trail. We didn't think too much of it after the adventures of the day before, especially considering the name of the trail was "Pleasant Creek", so we headed out.

The rock formations in Capitol Reef are absolutely stunning in their colors.

The trail officially starts at an abandoned ranch aptly called the Sleeping Rainbow Ranch. It was pretty cool to get out and explore the different buildings and the ranch house itself.

The first trek of the trail begins by crossing Pleasant Creek. We came across a park ranger here and had to back up almost back to the ranch as both sides of the trail were covered with overgrowth taller than the truck. Once we crossed the stream, we enjoyed the view as we drove down a narrow dirt road, fairly well maintained. It wasn’t too long before we noticed the landscape changing, and it seemed like we were driving in a sunken, dried up river bed. Apparently the snows on the higher elevations are heavy enough to create a pretty deep runoff, which we were in. It was here that we came across a large rock in the middle of the path. Apparently this is where the trail “ends” and becomes “South Draw Road”, which is half on BLM land and half in Capitol Reef. However, it is not maintained in any way and is closed during the winter and spring months due to deep snows and heavy runoff.

Who knew? We certainly didn’t. All I could see from the map is that the trail ended at Boulder Mountain.

We were feeling adventurous and thought nothing of it. There were a few points the banks were above the Trailblazer, but overall the going wasn't too bad. In many places the “trail” for better lack of term branched off as the runoffs had formed small islands in the dry bed. There you had a choice of the “easy way” some rock, lots of sand, and dry rotted wood, or you could take the “hard way” big rocks, a little sand, and lots of dry rotted wood. Knowing how well the tires handled sand, we went the “easy” way.

As we continued on, we crossed some flat terrain, another creek, and then noticed we started to go up.

And up. And there was a really big drop off forming as we hugged the cliff face.

At this point we were starting to lose sight of the trail/tire tracks. A huge portion of it was in the side of the cliffs, formed and rutted by water runoff, but there was no discernable path other than the fact that there seemed to be fewer plants. The rocks were sharp and jutted out in the most random places. A few times you'd lose sight of the road entirely and I'd have to get out and scout ahead.

There was a real sense of being serious here. We were in very rough terrain, guided by a map of dotted lines, and we didn't even know how long the trail was exactly. There were a few areas that we both focused on the difficulty of the road and did not take pictures, but I actually found a person who had posted a few of the areas we didn’t take. So their photos are here as well and noted as not being our own. ***

At one point I was guiding Mike as well as recording him bringing the Trailblazer down a very steep curve. I figured we’ve already conquered a couple of difficult tracks, might as well capture this one as proof to the forum that we did it. Unfortunately, I was paying more attention to recording and where I was as opposed to where the vehicle was. Mind you, I was a half foot from the edge and an 800 foot fall, and the Trailblazer would pass me within half a foot with no room to spare.


I had guided Mike to hug the cliff face a little bit more so that the driver's side tires would be riding up the middle hump created by the runoff, giving the Trailblazer more clearance over some huge rocks that we sticking out sharply on the right side of the middle hump. Well, had I been paying attention I would have seen that just 2 feet behind me on the cliff face there was a pretty huge outcropping of dirt and rock that was hard to discern from the rest of the path from Mike's perspective. Before I know it, I'm telling him to stop, the Trailblazer is sitting at such an angle next to me that Mike is leaning halfway into the passenger seat, and we need to do something quick because we're about to flip the truck on it's side and potentially over the cliff’s edge.

I quickly suggested to Mike to turn the wheel all the way to the left and ease off the brake while I got out of the way as the truck slid sideways towards the edge of the cliff. Mike expertly turned the wheels just enough to guide the front end of the vehicle forward and down into the rut created by the runoff in order to clear the rest of the outcropping. As he did, I watched in amazement as the front Grabber AT on the driver's side pinched under the rim and then nearly disappeared as the truck continued to slide to the left. I thought for sure the driver's side front tire had been pulled off the rim! At the same time, I could hear the sound of the rock from the outcropping rubbing against the frame of the truck on the passenger side.

Suddenly this trail had become a nightmare.

After what seemed like an eternity, the truck leveled into the "middle" on the trail, the underside of the truck almost scraping on the rocks. Mike continued to ease the truck down, and I walked behind since the trail was too narrow for me to get back in the truck.

Some 500 feet later the trail itself leveled out and the cliff disappeared. We had reached the bottom of a small valley. We inspected the front tire, and I was amazed to see the thing still on the rim and still at 18psi. Unreal in my opinion. I thought the tire had come off for sure. Never had I been so happy to have a husband who does his homework on everything that goes on our rigg.

So, here we are in the bottom of a small valley, on a trail we knew nothing about, wondering what else lay ahead for us. We took a few minutes to get some water and food, and then we pressed on.

At this point this section of the trail turned right into the valley and we continued on over some very uneven terrain.

The valley seemed to widen out and the trail turned back into a dirt road. Our next problem presented itself as the road split in two directions, both running parallel to the mountain in front of us. We took a gamble and went left, only to discover the way was blocked and rusted private property signs were posted. So we turned around and went back the other way.

Up until today’s adventures, we had understood the fire restrictions due to drought conditions. However, there was certainly no sign of drought where we were. The trail itself was covered with deep water holes in several places and we had to skirt around a few lest we get stuck in the muck, much of which we were already driving through.

At this point, I was ready for this adventure to be over. We had been on this trail for 3 ½ hours, faced more challenges than we expected, and we still had no indication of how much further we had to go.

Finally we hit an “oasis” with a wide creek running through extremely tail grass. For a moment I felt like we were on an African Safari, except greener.....Anyways, the creek was definitely swollen from some recent rains, and the banks on either side were rutted where a few vehicles had gotten stuck before. I jumped out of the Trailblazer and walked ahead, sinking with each step I took, deeper and deeper the closer I got to the creek.

Mike radioed, asking how it looked, and I advised him of the situation. Well, I guess he was getting a little impatient with this trail and decided to just go for it. I wish I had been recording. It was a regular old scene out of the Dukes of Hazzard the way the Trailblazer bounced up out of the creek, front tires catching some air.....epic to say the least. I know Mike had fun with it.

It would have been even better if I was on the other side of the creek too......Much like the creek we crossed earlier in the day, I played the dutiful wife and waded through the icy waters (which actually felt really great in the heat) and got back in the truck. (Noticed, I’ve not complained once about not having driven, at all, in the last day and a half. That’s gotta be a record.)

After crossing the creek, we looked ahead and realized that the trail seemed to suddenly end, which made absolutely no sense! Sure we were surrouded on 3 sides by grass that came up to my window and redrock that soared above us, but there had to be a way out of there! It turns out that the trail, just past a large tree, disappeared into the grass by making a near 180 degree turn right and taking a steep climb up the cliff face for a few hundred feet. And this was one of those points that you prayed no one was coming the other way because with dense grass all around you and the tracks barely visible, there was no way to let anyone pass.

Finally we made it to the top, curved left and were back in a field again. We could see a dirt road some several hundred feet away, and between us lay more mud and boggy swamp than we had seen before. There was no way around this time, so Mike just said “******* it and went.

This is the point I pause and say THANK YOU!!!!! to MDB Fab for getting us the radiator skid plate 5 days before our trip. It saved our hides here. I’d also like to thank my mom for always making me drink my milk and get lots of calcium for healthy teeth and bones.

Apparently the tail grass was also hiding some really deep ruts, ruts big enough that when the truck came down, it landed on that skid plate and it was only forward momentum and the read traction that pushed us up out. We continued rocking and bouncing, tossing mud and water every which way, until we finally came to the dirt road. I was really over this trail now after that bone-jarring, teeth-clanking jolt we received.

And this actually was the end of the worst parts of the trail in the sense of unpredictability. A few more miles down it turned into a graded road. A really graded road. As in rumble strip graded. As in I felt like the truck was going to rattle apart. The fact that we were now out of the water fold and red rock and climbing up the gray granite of Boulder mountain was lost on us. We didn’t care that we were suddenly seeing pine trees and mountainous-type terrain (such a far cry different from the red rock canyons. Nope, all we cared about was the fact that we had seen our first sign! Six more miles until a paved road and smooth driving!

 

[offroadtreks]

So day “I lost track”....

We left our campsite around 9 and got back on the road. We got to see everything we had missed during the night....

....and passed Bryce Canyon without much fanfare. We were definitely in tourist territory as we headed into Zion. In fact, it was bumper to bumper traffic through Zion itself.

There are only 2 campsites within the canyons of Zion. Both can hold over 100+ campsites I believe, and they looked mighty full. However, we were about as out of place there as our red rock dust coated expedition vehicle was, so on some advice from a wild outdoorsman friend and a leap of faith on my part, we made our way through Zion, right onto Route 9, and then right again onto Kolob Reservoir Road.

Fun fact, the roads in Zion are made with red asphalt to match the landscape, so even driving on the Kolob Road, it would change from black to red to black as we drove in and out of Zion.

We drove about 18 miles, and our elevation changed from approximately 1500 ft to 7800 feet. Our intended stop, Lava Pointe, is located a few miles off the “red road”. It's a primitive campsite, only 6 slots, but it's on BLM land and free. Best of all? We had our choice of campsites. I had been sure that since it was "so great" it would be full (only 6 sites after all), but it was apparently too remote and too primitive for the average tourist.

Also a fun fact, BLM isn't as strict as NPs with fire restrictions, so this was the only campsite we were aware of that allowed open pit fires, or fires of any kind for that matter. Every other campsite/park we had looked at before going on the trip had strict fire restrictions. So this definitely made it the “perfect” campsite.

We did some hiking and had a great view of Zion to the South. It's behind the grey rock you see in the picture. You can also see the storms to the left, which really cooled the area nicely.

The next morning we were off early. I asked Mike if we could go back through Zion to get some pictures since the traffic had been so bad the day before, and it was early enough that most families would just be waking up.

Zion is really beautiful, and I'm sure some of the hikes are amazing. We'd definitely like to go back and traverse the Subway.

On to our last stop, which was both exciting and bittersweet. A relaxing evening in Zion by the campfire and a long night's sleep was enough to wash away the stresses of the previous day and create a new thirst for never ending adventure.

 

[offroadtreks]

I’m sure I sound like a broken record now, but I gotta say it. The drive from Zion to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was just amazing. The diversity of the landscape was spectacular. From red rock to national forests to desert plains and back to national forest only to be dumped on the top of more red rock canyons again.....seriously, it’s just amazing!

The last big leg of our adventure was the North Rim. We were hoping to luck out and get a backcountry pass to Point Sublime, which we did and made our day. I know, prior planning 6 months out would have ensured we got a reserved spot, but we didn’t even know if we could make this trip until 2 months out. Anyways, we got our pass.

We knew the trail was approximately 18 miles long, but what we didn’t know until the ranger told us was that a series of storms (many of which we had seen during the previous days) had really eroded the trail. The ranger even made a visual inspection of our rig to make sure we had the capability to make it up there. (Apparently he wouldn’t take my word for it. Something about never seeing a lifted/modded Trailblazer before). He was still skeptical about our clearance, but told us to be careful and sent us on our way. Mike had the foresight to ask about any trees being down on the trail. We were told that we should be good, but if there was, to come back and let them know. See, the night before we had discovered the axe we had brought along was rather dull and useless, so we’d be pretty SOL if we had to cut wood.

It was for this reason that we decided to head up the trail shortly after visiting the gift shop to get my decal. As someone who absolutely abhorred stickers on her rig, I figured the stickers on the Trailblazer were sort of like trophies to prove she conquered the trails well. Except for Zion, but that’s just because the name “Zion” is so cool. Anyway....

We aired down at the trailhead, much to the bewilderment of hikers parking their Outbacks, and started out.

The trail itself is pretty tame for the first 4 miles or so as you pass through some woods and open areas along twin tracks.

And this was boring for Mike.

So when we came up to a part of the trail that was broken up by 7 different, deep looking puddles, he punched it.

Skid plate to the rescue!

Seriously. If I didn’t have such healthy teeth and bones I’m sure I would have broken something. Apparently some knuckleheads had gotten themselves stuck at some point and the water had covered the evidence of their trials. We found them though, and I’m pretty sure the only reason we got out was the momentum of the vehicle forced us out. We had a good chuckle at the mud stuck in the holes in our radiator skid.

Not to long after the trail left the flat, open areas and began to follow along the rim of the canyon. The rain had washed a good chunk of dirt away, leaving a lot of rock exposed that would slip and shift in the soft mud under the traction of the Trailblazer. It made for a pretty fun drive, but I gotta be honest, I’ve been a REALLY great wife up until now, and I wanted to drive dangit! I haven't driven since Canyonlands!!

But the scenery was still beautiful and worth a few stops to explore!

We even “passed” (read: climbed up off the trail just enough to let them by since they wouldn’t budge) oversized, overdone show Jeep that was suspiciously covered in mud spatter.....

And this is the other reason I wish we had a GoPro. While climbing up a hill, we both caught a glimpse of a very large, very tan cat with a very long tail dart across the trail before disappearing into the woods. Suddenly I was very glad with had a few guns locked away in the back. Really wish I had gotten a picture though!

We arrived at the campsite and explored a bit, enjoying the view from Point Sublime.

However, it was only 2 in the afternoon, and Mike didn’t feel like sitting around camp for the rest of the day. There aren’t many trails to hike at Point Sublime either, just lots of air on 3 sides of the immediate area. The drive into the campsite itself traverses a ridge that at its narrowest was less than twice the width of the Trailblazer. Space was really at a premium up here, as we would discover later that day.However we were also low on supplies for food. So we headed back down the trail to hit up the small convenience store just outside the park. And guess what? I got to drive, finally! Happy day!

About 2 hours later, on the way back to our campsite, we came across these guys.

Back at our campsite, we came across an old Dodge diesel with an old camper on the bed. It was a family of 4, young couple with two kids around 2 and 5. They also had a mutt, and they were the best campsite buddies you could ask for. We had some great conversations about our travels and the trails while we cooked dinners and enjoyed the sunset. We even scared away a fancy looking Nissan Armada and the French owners who didn’t understand the concept that just because you have 4x4 doesn’t mean YOU have the skill/capability to hit the trails.

The sunset was absolutely gorgeous.

This was the view from our tent.

It was a bittersweet end to our adventures. We weren’t looking forward to starting the journey home the next day.

 

[offroadtreks]

The next day dawned foggy and quiet. I still wish we had stayed longer that morning, but we quietly packed up and eased our way out of there.

It had started to sprinkle, and we were hoping to get out before the heavy rains hit (had excellent cell reception up there). On the trail, it was pretty apparent where the Armada had traveled. It was torn up to hell and back. There were a few places you could see how often and how deep the underside of their vehicle had been hit. The evening before, we had overheard the family conversation enough to understand the son had done most of the driving, until reaching the end of the trail at the campsites. There he had told his mom to drive, even though she kept saying in broken English that she didn't have her license. So you can just imagine how that must have looked.

Just outside the park at the small convenience store, we came across the same Armada. The rims were scratched to hell and the back bumper was bent out in an odd way. The son certainly didn't look happy, and I'm pretty sure it was a rental judging by the bar code tapped in the window.

We left the North Rim back through the surrounding forest, which as of August of last year was mostly burned out tree stumps and logging roads, and started the journey back home. First, we had a slight detour to make at Monument Valley.

Some advice, don't pay the fee to the Navajo Nation to go into the actual park. We made that mistake, and it would have been fun if it hadn't been for the:
1.) Minivans, sports cars, and sedans getting stuck in sand.
2.) The average jow driving at 30mph+ over sand roads, nearly hitting people and then getting stuck slamming on the breaks.
3.) Stock Jeeps being driven by French teenagers who felt the need to drive up our *** until the first Jeep lost control in the sand, got stuck in a dune and rear-ended by his buddies.
4.) Excessive amounts of washboard road under the 6+ inches of sand.
5.) Guided tour trucks and SUVs that were unsafely modified to carry passengers on bubba-rigged benches that raised the center of gravity well over center mass and looked like the damn things would tip over as they passed all of us on the "road" in a cloud of dust......

It was hell.

And the best views were had from outside the park anyways.

After that we realized we were really close to the "Four Corners, USA", so we were dumb enough to think about checking that out. BUT you have to pay there too, and it looked like a cheap Indian reservation tourist trap. So yeah, we said forget it and started home.

The drive through Arizona was beautiful. The Navajo Nation, which is a lot larger than we realized, sits on some beautiful territory. We even came across the Colorado River, one last time.

After that, the trip was uneventful. We left the North Rim on a Saturday morning, arriving back in Florida sometime around 3am Monday morning.

And we can't wait to go back.

 

[offroadtreks]

Two Cheesy videos for your viewing pleasure.

Exploring Canyon Lands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTLWI-FO-mA

Exploring Capitol Reef: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2S0yHTBf5M

 

[Justincredible]

Great adventure, thanks for sharing it.

I sometimes take for granted (though not often) how much wonderful scenery I have right in my backyard.

 

[roverrocks]

Ditto!! Great adventure, thanks for sharing it. Lots of marvelous country you explored.

 

[RockyMtnFamily]

Thanks for sharing. I just got back from Capitol Reef with my tribe a few weeks ago and am looking forward to a repeat in a few more months on the same route that you took.

 

[offroadtreks]

Capitol reef was a beautiful park, we're planning on returning there this year as well. We'll have an additional 5 days this year to do more exploring.

 

[SmoothLC]

Wow. What a spectacular story accompanying the images.

+1 about Capitol Reef - it's one of the best kept secrets in the state if you have a mind to explore.

 

[digitaldelay]

Awesome write-up!

Some advice, don't pay the fee to the Navajo Nation to go into the actual park. We made that mistake, and it would have been fun if it hadn't been for the:
1.) Minivans, sports cars, and sedans getting stuck in sand.
2.) The average jow driving at 30mph+ over sand roads, nearly hitting people and then getting stuck slamming on the breaks.
3.) Stock Jeeps being driven by French teenagers who felt the need to drive up our *** until the first Jeep lost control in the sand, got stuck in a dune and rear-ended by his buddies.
4.) Excessive amounts of washboard road under the 6+ inches of sand.
5.) Guided tour trucks and SUVs that were unsafely modified to carry passengers on bubba-rigged benches that raised the center of gravity well over center mass and looked like the damn things would tip over as they passed all of us on the "road" in a cloud of dust......

^^ Any pics of this carnage? :coffeedrink:

Jason