10 Days on the Road. From NC to CO, UT, and Back!
- Thread starter Jeepinaaron
- Start date
Jeepinaaron
Adventurer
Thanks I'm not finished yet. We still do Poison Spider, Moab Rim, and spend a night in Canyonlands doing the White Rim Trail.
Jeepinaaron
Adventurer
Day 7 - Poison Spider to getting lost on Golden Spike and driving out in the dark.
For me day 7 was a learning experience and an ego buster. Our plan for this date would be to tackle Poison Spider, go across Golden Spike, and exiting on Gold Bar Rim. This would be a long day for sure and I have done this combination of three trails before with success.
We were on the trail at a decent hour but probably not as early as we should have. Poison Spider trail is one of my favorites and has a great combination of fun technical sections without much down time or boring bumpy driving. I let Tyson begin driving this trail with the intention of switching once we got to the loop. I would then drive the loop and across Golden Spike and allow him to finish driving us out on Gold Bar Rim. Poison Spider was a good trail for him to get more technical driving time in. We ended up encountering three guys from Las Vegas driving a tricked out Sammy, beast CJ7, and a "I think it used to be a Chevy". We passed them back and forth several times and they were super impressed with the WJ's ability and were shocked that we had it out on the trails, and were even more shocked that she doesn't have lockers.
One of the many steep slick rock climbs on Poison Spider.
We made it to the intersection with Golden Spike without any problems and at this point in time I took over the driver seat and we did the loop portion of Poison Spider. This would be our first mistake, knowing that we were going to be on a very long trail I should have opted not to complete the loop portion. Completing the loop would only put us farther behind later on in the trail when a navigation and communication error would leave us making decisions.
I do not have any more pictures from the remainder of the trail, there was some error with the memory card on my camera. I have a lot of vehicle mounted video which I need to sort through and I will post that up as I get time.
We completed the loop on Poison Spider without issues, ate lunch, and found ourselves back at the intersection with Golden Spike. This trail is exciting with some great obstacles. We completed Launch Pad without any issues, while it is very steep it isn't difficult. We intersected a trail which came in from the left called "Where Eagles Soar", and I didn't remember this from previous trips but I knew to stay right. I should note here that we didn't have anyone paying attention to navigation. We continued on to the Washtub and Zuki Hill. Both Jeeps did fine here and I have some good video of this area. After this we encountered a wrong turn somewhere at an unmarked trail split. I didn't really question the turn that we made because we were still following trail markers, which were white bars painted on the rock. We continued forward and came to several other trail intersections, which all seemed to bear the same trail markings. I made a huge error here and assumed that we were continuing the right direction because the topography seemed to support our location on the guide book. Wrong. We ended up getting back to the intersection with "Where Eagles Soar". Tyson and I had a "didn't we pass that sign on our left last time?" look/conversation which swiftly followed with me cursing myself and having us stop. Oh and did I mention I allowed our radio battery to die so we lost comms with my dad? Yea, I was on a roll for sure. I punched in our GPS way points, which I should have done before, and found that we indeed went in a big loop somehow. I am still confused as to how we made the circle, because up to this point we haven't back tracked on the trail at all. We ended up deciding that based on the time of day we would return to Poison Spider and exit that way. The meet up between the WJ and the Golden Crack would just have to wait.
Things were going ok at first as we were returning. We had to do some of the obstacles in reverse which was interesting, to include going down Launch Pad. Darkness set in just before "The Wedgie" on Poison Spider and I bumped off-road lighting a few notches up my "to purchase" list. Things always get complicated when you really don't want them to. While dropping down a very flexy portion of the trail Tyson and I heard the familiar noise of "bang, ping ping...". Sure enough the passengers front spring became unseated, in the dark, on an obstacle. I was able to drive down the obstacle with the spring partially seated and settled onto a flat and sandy portion of ground would have to suffice for trail fix. The three of us improved our WJ front spring reseating procedures this time and cut the time in half from when it happened on Black Bear. I was pretty mad because this was getting old and even with top and bottom retainers I was having trouble. We crept back into Moab waaaay later than we initially planned and opted to stop in at McDonalds instead of fixing supper at camp.
For me day 7 was a learning experience and an ego buster. Our plan for this date would be to tackle Poison Spider, go across Golden Spike, and exiting on Gold Bar Rim. This would be a long day for sure and I have done this combination of three trails before with success.
We were on the trail at a decent hour but probably not as early as we should have. Poison Spider trail is one of my favorites and has a great combination of fun technical sections without much down time or boring bumpy driving. I let Tyson begin driving this trail with the intention of switching once we got to the loop. I would then drive the loop and across Golden Spike and allow him to finish driving us out on Gold Bar Rim. Poison Spider was a good trail for him to get more technical driving time in. We ended up encountering three guys from Las Vegas driving a tricked out Sammy, beast CJ7, and a "I think it used to be a Chevy". We passed them back and forth several times and they were super impressed with the WJ's ability and were shocked that we had it out on the trails, and were even more shocked that she doesn't have lockers.
One of the many steep slick rock climbs on Poison Spider.
We made it to the intersection with Golden Spike without any problems and at this point in time I took over the driver seat and we did the loop portion of Poison Spider. This would be our first mistake, knowing that we were going to be on a very long trail I should have opted not to complete the loop portion. Completing the loop would only put us farther behind later on in the trail when a navigation and communication error would leave us making decisions.
I do not have any more pictures from the remainder of the trail, there was some error with the memory card on my camera. I have a lot of vehicle mounted video which I need to sort through and I will post that up as I get time.
We completed the loop on Poison Spider without issues, ate lunch, and found ourselves back at the intersection with Golden Spike. This trail is exciting with some great obstacles. We completed Launch Pad without any issues, while it is very steep it isn't difficult. We intersected a trail which came in from the left called "Where Eagles Soar", and I didn't remember this from previous trips but I knew to stay right. I should note here that we didn't have anyone paying attention to navigation. We continued on to the Washtub and Zuki Hill. Both Jeeps did fine here and I have some good video of this area. After this we encountered a wrong turn somewhere at an unmarked trail split. I didn't really question the turn that we made because we were still following trail markers, which were white bars painted on the rock. We continued forward and came to several other trail intersections, which all seemed to bear the same trail markings. I made a huge error here and assumed that we were continuing the right direction because the topography seemed to support our location on the guide book. Wrong. We ended up getting back to the intersection with "Where Eagles Soar". Tyson and I had a "didn't we pass that sign on our left last time?" look/conversation which swiftly followed with me cursing myself and having us stop. Oh and did I mention I allowed our radio battery to die so we lost comms with my dad? Yea, I was on a roll for sure. I punched in our GPS way points, which I should have done before, and found that we indeed went in a big loop somehow. I am still confused as to how we made the circle, because up to this point we haven't back tracked on the trail at all. We ended up deciding that based on the time of day we would return to Poison Spider and exit that way. The meet up between the WJ and the Golden Crack would just have to wait.
Things were going ok at first as we were returning. We had to do some of the obstacles in reverse which was interesting, to include going down Launch Pad. Darkness set in just before "The Wedgie" on Poison Spider and I bumped off-road lighting a few notches up my "to purchase" list. Things always get complicated when you really don't want them to. While dropping down a very flexy portion of the trail Tyson and I heard the familiar noise of "bang, ping ping...". Sure enough the passengers front spring became unseated, in the dark, on an obstacle. I was able to drive down the obstacle with the spring partially seated and settled onto a flat and sandy portion of ground would have to suffice for trail fix. The three of us improved our WJ front spring reseating procedures this time and cut the time in half from when it happened on Black Bear. I was pretty mad because this was getting old and even with top and bottom retainers I was having trouble. We crept back into Moab waaaay later than we initially planned and opted to stop in at McDonalds instead of fixing supper at camp.
unkamonkey
Explorer
I drove that trail back in the '90's I was in a semi tricked out Toyota PU, another friend was in a stock Nissan PU and we picked up a couple in a stock CJ5. Interesting trail but we all made it with only one winching event. Well, it took two winches to get Bob out of that situation. We didn't want to scrape all of the paint off of the side of his truck...
Jeepinaaron
Adventurer
Day 8 - Moab Rim
After a long day on Poison Spider and Golden Spike we moved on to our next trail goal; Moab Rim. I have never done Moab Rim and it is always a trail which I turn to in the guide book every time I am in Moab but somehow get scared away from it. This time would be no different and I spent some time the night before at dinner thinking if Moab Rim would be appropriate for us. The trail description speaks of the many steep ledges, dangerous drop offs, and how 33" tires and lockers is highly suggested equipment. In the end we decided that we had the experience and equipment to conquer this trail and on the morning of the 8th day we set of with Moab Rim in our sights.
The trail doesn't take very long at all to get down to business and as soon as you begin you are treated to steep ledges and a pretty constant lean towards the left which begs you to make a mistake so you will roll off a cliff. This trail also included our familiar naysayer who was hiking down the trail. This gentleman approached us on the driver's side as we were making our way up. I said "hey" to him as the driver's window was rolled down. He proceeded to ask me if I have ever done this trail before and began to give me warnings about it being difficult and that our vehicles were "too mild" for this trail. I said thanks and we continued on. Our first real obstacle would be a ledge with an awkward crack down the center of it. My dad would be first up and we were able to spot him to success.
Next would be my turn in the WJ. This was an intense obstacle for me and in the end we pulled the winch cable in an effort to clear the obstacle without breaking any parts. With lockers I feel like I would have been successful. After this we proceeded up to Z-Turn with is a serious of steep ledges which first turns you to the right and then to the left. Dad's LJ again made it up this obstacle with no real problems. I brought the WJ up and was able to coax her up the lower ledges which were the steepest and largest. I made the right turn and then proceeded up the ledges to make my left turn. I had some difficulties and got off camber so we pulled the winch line. My Smittybilt XRC Winch has performed great. We continued up through many un-named ledges, tippy spots, and otherwise awesomeness. Once we made it to a portion of the trail which was easier Tyson and I switched and he drove to the end of the trail. A easy section is quickly crossed and then you access an obstacle called "the carwash". Continuing down the trail we made a right at the split and worked out way to the overlook at the end. We located a shady spot and had lunch.
Working out way down from the overlook we turned right and completed the loop on Moab Rim. The guidebook warns of an area just past "sand hill" where a giant hole may result in a quick roll over if you drop a tire into it. Dad opted to take a line to the left which I felt was pretty tippy. I was concerned with rolling over the WJ in the hole so I decided to straddle the hole and work my passenger side tires up the wall. Things were working out great until we heard the familiar "ping ping" sound of a spring unseating and popping out. ####!!!! I backed up to a conveniently flat location and we jumped to it. In less than 10 minutes we had the spring back in. I then did the line to the left which worked, but seemed sketchy.
Just before the spring popped.
Tyson seems nervous.
Counterweight.
We made good time on the remaining section of the loop and then intersected back to the exit near the carwash. The last mile of the trail was nonstop ledges and climbs. Dad became high centered on one of the climbs which a quick snatch strap fixed. We adjusted the line and both the LJ and WJ popped up with the proper amount of bump. We made it back to Z-turn and the Crack. Both of these obstacles were fun and technical. Dad's Jeep enjoyed some three wheeling coming down Z-turn. We ran into a couple who were walking up the trail as we descended down past Z-turn. They were amazed by the Jeep's abilities and Tyson and I joked they would be at a Jeep dealership in the morning.
Moab Rim was an exciting trail with non-stop challenges. It was the most difficult trail I have ever attempted and I believe that it was a success even though we had to pull out the winch cable. We finished in time to hit up Moab, get some souvenirs, and enjoy a fruit smoothie. Tyson and I went to "Wall Street" which is a section of Potash Road popular for rock climbing. I did "30 Seconds over Potash" in the fading sunlight. We returned to camp where my dad had prepared a great dinner.
After a long day on Poison Spider and Golden Spike we moved on to our next trail goal; Moab Rim. I have never done Moab Rim and it is always a trail which I turn to in the guide book every time I am in Moab but somehow get scared away from it. This time would be no different and I spent some time the night before at dinner thinking if Moab Rim would be appropriate for us. The trail description speaks of the many steep ledges, dangerous drop offs, and how 33" tires and lockers is highly suggested equipment. In the end we decided that we had the experience and equipment to conquer this trail and on the morning of the 8th day we set of with Moab Rim in our sights.
The trail doesn't take very long at all to get down to business and as soon as you begin you are treated to steep ledges and a pretty constant lean towards the left which begs you to make a mistake so you will roll off a cliff. This trail also included our familiar naysayer who was hiking down the trail. This gentleman approached us on the driver's side as we were making our way up. I said "hey" to him as the driver's window was rolled down. He proceeded to ask me if I have ever done this trail before and began to give me warnings about it being difficult and that our vehicles were "too mild" for this trail. I said thanks and we continued on. Our first real obstacle would be a ledge with an awkward crack down the center of it. My dad would be first up and we were able to spot him to success.
Next would be my turn in the WJ. This was an intense obstacle for me and in the end we pulled the winch cable in an effort to clear the obstacle without breaking any parts. With lockers I feel like I would have been successful. After this we proceeded up to Z-Turn with is a serious of steep ledges which first turns you to the right and then to the left. Dad's LJ again made it up this obstacle with no real problems. I brought the WJ up and was able to coax her up the lower ledges which were the steepest and largest. I made the right turn and then proceeded up the ledges to make my left turn. I had some difficulties and got off camber so we pulled the winch line. My Smittybilt XRC Winch has performed great. We continued up through many un-named ledges, tippy spots, and otherwise awesomeness. Once we made it to a portion of the trail which was easier Tyson and I switched and he drove to the end of the trail. A easy section is quickly crossed and then you access an obstacle called "the carwash". Continuing down the trail we made a right at the split and worked out way to the overlook at the end. We located a shady spot and had lunch.
Working out way down from the overlook we turned right and completed the loop on Moab Rim. The guidebook warns of an area just past "sand hill" where a giant hole may result in a quick roll over if you drop a tire into it. Dad opted to take a line to the left which I felt was pretty tippy. I was concerned with rolling over the WJ in the hole so I decided to straddle the hole and work my passenger side tires up the wall. Things were working out great until we heard the familiar "ping ping" sound of a spring unseating and popping out. ####!!!! I backed up to a conveniently flat location and we jumped to it. In less than 10 minutes we had the spring back in. I then did the line to the left which worked, but seemed sketchy.
Just before the spring popped.
Tyson seems nervous.
Counterweight.
We made good time on the remaining section of the loop and then intersected back to the exit near the carwash. The last mile of the trail was nonstop ledges and climbs. Dad became high centered on one of the climbs which a quick snatch strap fixed. We adjusted the line and both the LJ and WJ popped up with the proper amount of bump. We made it back to Z-turn and the Crack. Both of these obstacles were fun and technical. Dad's Jeep enjoyed some three wheeling coming down Z-turn. We ran into a couple who were walking up the trail as we descended down past Z-turn. They were amazed by the Jeep's abilities and Tyson and I joked they would be at a Jeep dealership in the morning.
Moab Rim was an exciting trail with non-stop challenges. It was the most difficult trail I have ever attempted and I believe that it was a success even though we had to pull out the winch cable. We finished in time to hit up Moab, get some souvenirs, and enjoy a fruit smoothie. Tyson and I went to "Wall Street" which is a section of Potash Road popular for rock climbing. I did "30 Seconds over Potash" in the fading sunlight. We returned to camp where my dad had prepared a great dinner.
unkamonkey
Explorer
You did the Rim trail, nice. We used to call it our warm up trail. Everything we had could do it in a stock form. A few years ago a few friends did the trail in what looked like a stock CJ5 and a CJ7. The guy in his Toyzuki was amazed that they made it up there. He didn't know about the front and rear elockers they both had.
Jeepinaaron
Adventurer
I put together a short video from the Colorado portion of the trip. Any feedback about the film is welcome, and I still have the Utah portion to complete.
Jeepinaaron
Adventurer
I put together a highlight video for the Moab portion.
I still have to put together the White Rim portion.
I still have to put together the White Rim portion.
Jeepinaaron
Adventurer
Day 9 & 10 - Canyonlands National Park and White Rim Trail
Another one of my major goals from this trip was to check out Canyonlands National Park via the White Rim Trail. I love visiting National Parks and have spent many of my vacations spending a significant time in them. On my last trip to Moab we went to Arches NP but I have never ventured into Canyonlands. Canyonlands is rare in the aspect that it is relatively hard to access and remote, perfect for a Jeep trip.
We packed up that morning and headed over to Canyonlands from Moab. We stopped in at the Visitors Center and then went down to see the Mesa Arch. Mesa Arch was a pretty cool sight but very popular and very crowded. It was a hassle just trying to get a picture of the arch with all of the tourist flocking around. With the obligatory tourist box checked we set out to find remoteness. The White Rim trail is an incredibly long (more than 70 miles, not counting the dirt road which gets you back out to pavement at the end) and scenic trail. You access the trail just inside the park, and while we did pass a few vehicles it did not take us long to lose the crowds. This trail, as the others, proved to be an adventure for us. I knew in the back of my head that we got started on this trail later than we should have and we had 77 miles to go to meet our designated camping spot in Taylor Canyon. I hoped the trail, even though it was listed intermediate, would allow us 10-15mph average speeds. With the trailer, this was not to be. We descended the Shaffer Switchbacks and dropped down into the main trail. Immediately we knew this was going to be a spectacular trail and around every turn was a different canyon system with amazing vistas. The beginning of the trail went smoothly and we stopped at the Musselman arch to check it out and eat lunch.
Shaffer Switchbacks
Musselman Arch (much better than Mesa Arch)
Pano with Musselman on the left as we went around the next Canyon.
We continued down the trail at what felt like a snails pace. It probably actually wasn't that slow but knowing that we still had 55+ miles to go put a great deal of stress on me. We were battling with how fast we wanted to go versus how fast we needed to push the equipment. (mainly the trailer) After we passed the airport campsites (which seemed like the worst ones on the trail, I wouldn't pick those) we ran into a NPS Park Ranger on a dirt bike. He stopped us and checked our permits. We chatted with him for a bit, commented on his aparently awesome job, and asked about trail conditions. He told us (while looking at the sun as if he was Crocodile Dundee) that we had plenty of sunlight left to make it to Taylor Canyon. This was a moral boost for us and we blasted on with Taylor Canyon in our sights.
I don't have many details about the trail to provide, as really it was an easy to intermediate level trail. It was just terrain which included bumps, ruts, and dried out creek beds, which kept us from baja speeds through the park. The scenery was amazing and exactly what I hoped it would be. My only complaint about the scenery, and trail in general, is that we were in such a rush to make it to our camp by dark that we didn't get to properly enjoy it. Several hours after meeting our Park Ranger Tyson and I dicussed that he was probably laughing as he rode away. "Taylor Canyon by dark? Sure guys, plenty of <chuckles> sun light left." It became apparent to us that we weren't going to make it there by dark and the question now would be, just how late would it be?
Tyson and I switch drivers around mile 40 or 50, which allowed me some time to soak up the sights and take photographs from a bumpy Jeep.
Sunlight was fading away...
We made it to Candlestick campsite around dark where we stopped and spoke a group of very intoxicated mountain bikers. They were more familiar with the area and told us we had about an hour or two to make it to Taylor Canyon. We felt their estimate was probably off, but they ensured us the road smoothed out and we would be able to pick up some steam. They were mostly true and the trail did smooth out. We continued on but began to look at other options. We are rule followers. Canyonlands has a very strict permit system regarding camping and camping is only allowed in select campsites. I knew we could really camp in any flat spot but we wanted to follow the rules. We had to also consider what we would be dealing with the next day. Since we all have real jobs with real boses we needed to be back home on Sept 22nd. My dad in particular needed to be at work on the 23rd. After this night of camping we would be getting up, finishing up the trail and heading straight back to NC. It just so happened that we made it to Potato Bottom Campsite and site B was unoccupied. It was about 9:30, I didn't think anyone else would be coming in later than us. I remembered this site still being available on the internet so I felt ok with taking it. We circled the wagons and pulled in. It was probably the quickest camp setup of the entire trip. I think inside of 30 minutes we had the awning on the WJ, the camper was deployed, and dad had broke out the kitchen and we began our Salmon dinner. (which had been in marinade all day!)
I did notice that we had indeed pushed the trailer to its limits this day. A bracket near the rear entry door had broken and we had lost some of the structure which supported the trailer tub. Not perfect.
Waking up the next morning we realized how awesome of a campsite we had. Even though there are three sites here you can't see your neighbors, and high canyon walls and desert formations surround you on all sides. The river is nearby so I do believe it could be buggy at times.
I deployed a ratchet strap solution to the broken trailer which held it together and we were out of camp by 0830. The scenery on the way out would be just as awesome as the day before. We made it to the intersection with Taylor Canyon within our first 30-45 minutes on the trail and passing this was bittersweet. I knew that Taylor was to be an awesome site, with Moses and Zeus nearby. I will be back!
We made quick time on the exit. The trail conditions improved greatly and we were able to safely average 15-20 mph over loose dirt and sand. We made it back to pavement, aired up and attached the sway bars. It was an epic trip which has really given me the Overland bug. On the way home my mind would be filled with future trips, things I want to do, and things I would have done differently. I was sad to leave but also relieved that our vehicles made it through all of this without any major damage. We pointed the vehicles east and headed back to NC....
....well that was until about Denver. Going through some of the interstate mountain passes just west of Denver I noticed the WJ began to overheat. Everything else seemed normal, no weird noises, power seemed normal, just running hot. I reduced my speed and ducked in behind the big rigs. I thought maybe the water pump was going bad or something. On flat and down hill the temps went back to normal and only ran hot during steep and long climbs. I wanted to limp it closer to Denver before we tried to troubleshoot what the problem would be. Turning off the interstate that became apparent, the power steering was gone. My WJ has a fan which is powered by the power steering pump which explains why it began to run hot. Lets just say we had an epic experience fixing this problem in the ghetto side of Denver. We made it to an Advance which had a power steering pump and pulley puller kit. The pump came off easy enough. It would have been easier if we all worked on the Jeep but I need to emphasize here this was the rough side of Denver apparently. I understand you guys in CO like your weed, but I didn't envision drug dealers meeting people in the parking lot of Advance Auto. Well things continued with the power steering. The pulley puller ripped the lip off the pulley so I couldn't remove it from the old pump and put it on the new. Advance didn't have a pulley, and Napa was closed. Great! I located the source of the leak on the pump, the high pressure outlet was loose. I tightened it up and thought it would fix it but alas, it did not. We would spend the rest of the night stopping every two hours and adding fluid. Luckily Oklahoma is straight and flat. The next morning in Booneville Missouri we would find ourselves in a Napa parking lot, finally replacing the pump with a new one and a new pulley. I rolled back home at about 3AM on the 23rd. Poor Dad was at work that next same day.
Another one of my major goals from this trip was to check out Canyonlands National Park via the White Rim Trail. I love visiting National Parks and have spent many of my vacations spending a significant time in them. On my last trip to Moab we went to Arches NP but I have never ventured into Canyonlands. Canyonlands is rare in the aspect that it is relatively hard to access and remote, perfect for a Jeep trip.
We packed up that morning and headed over to Canyonlands from Moab. We stopped in at the Visitors Center and then went down to see the Mesa Arch. Mesa Arch was a pretty cool sight but very popular and very crowded. It was a hassle just trying to get a picture of the arch with all of the tourist flocking around. With the obligatory tourist box checked we set out to find remoteness. The White Rim trail is an incredibly long (more than 70 miles, not counting the dirt road which gets you back out to pavement at the end) and scenic trail. You access the trail just inside the park, and while we did pass a few vehicles it did not take us long to lose the crowds. This trail, as the others, proved to be an adventure for us. I knew in the back of my head that we got started on this trail later than we should have and we had 77 miles to go to meet our designated camping spot in Taylor Canyon. I hoped the trail, even though it was listed intermediate, would allow us 10-15mph average speeds. With the trailer, this was not to be. We descended the Shaffer Switchbacks and dropped down into the main trail. Immediately we knew this was going to be a spectacular trail and around every turn was a different canyon system with amazing vistas. The beginning of the trail went smoothly and we stopped at the Musselman arch to check it out and eat lunch.
Shaffer Switchbacks
Musselman Arch (much better than Mesa Arch)
Pano with Musselman on the left as we went around the next Canyon.
We continued down the trail at what felt like a snails pace. It probably actually wasn't that slow but knowing that we still had 55+ miles to go put a great deal of stress on me. We were battling with how fast we wanted to go versus how fast we needed to push the equipment. (mainly the trailer) After we passed the airport campsites (which seemed like the worst ones on the trail, I wouldn't pick those) we ran into a NPS Park Ranger on a dirt bike. He stopped us and checked our permits. We chatted with him for a bit, commented on his aparently awesome job, and asked about trail conditions. He told us (while looking at the sun as if he was Crocodile Dundee) that we had plenty of sunlight left to make it to Taylor Canyon. This was a moral boost for us and we blasted on with Taylor Canyon in our sights.
I don't have many details about the trail to provide, as really it was an easy to intermediate level trail. It was just terrain which included bumps, ruts, and dried out creek beds, which kept us from baja speeds through the park. The scenery was amazing and exactly what I hoped it would be. My only complaint about the scenery, and trail in general, is that we were in such a rush to make it to our camp by dark that we didn't get to properly enjoy it. Several hours after meeting our Park Ranger Tyson and I dicussed that he was probably laughing as he rode away. "Taylor Canyon by dark? Sure guys, plenty of <chuckles> sun light left." It became apparent to us that we weren't going to make it there by dark and the question now would be, just how late would it be?
Tyson and I switch drivers around mile 40 or 50, which allowed me some time to soak up the sights and take photographs from a bumpy Jeep.
Sunlight was fading away...
We made it to Candlestick campsite around dark where we stopped and spoke a group of very intoxicated mountain bikers. They were more familiar with the area and told us we had about an hour or two to make it to Taylor Canyon. We felt their estimate was probably off, but they ensured us the road smoothed out and we would be able to pick up some steam. They were mostly true and the trail did smooth out. We continued on but began to look at other options. We are rule followers. Canyonlands has a very strict permit system regarding camping and camping is only allowed in select campsites. I knew we could really camp in any flat spot but we wanted to follow the rules. We had to also consider what we would be dealing with the next day. Since we all have real jobs with real boses we needed to be back home on Sept 22nd. My dad in particular needed to be at work on the 23rd. After this night of camping we would be getting up, finishing up the trail and heading straight back to NC. It just so happened that we made it to Potato Bottom Campsite and site B was unoccupied. It was about 9:30, I didn't think anyone else would be coming in later than us. I remembered this site still being available on the internet so I felt ok with taking it. We circled the wagons and pulled in. It was probably the quickest camp setup of the entire trip. I think inside of 30 minutes we had the awning on the WJ, the camper was deployed, and dad had broke out the kitchen and we began our Salmon dinner. (which had been in marinade all day!)
I did notice that we had indeed pushed the trailer to its limits this day. A bracket near the rear entry door had broken and we had lost some of the structure which supported the trailer tub. Not perfect.
Waking up the next morning we realized how awesome of a campsite we had. Even though there are three sites here you can't see your neighbors, and high canyon walls and desert formations surround you on all sides. The river is nearby so I do believe it could be buggy at times.
I deployed a ratchet strap solution to the broken trailer which held it together and we were out of camp by 0830. The scenery on the way out would be just as awesome as the day before. We made it to the intersection with Taylor Canyon within our first 30-45 minutes on the trail and passing this was bittersweet. I knew that Taylor was to be an awesome site, with Moses and Zeus nearby. I will be back!
We made quick time on the exit. The trail conditions improved greatly and we were able to safely average 15-20 mph over loose dirt and sand. We made it back to pavement, aired up and attached the sway bars. It was an epic trip which has really given me the Overland bug. On the way home my mind would be filled with future trips, things I want to do, and things I would have done differently. I was sad to leave but also relieved that our vehicles made it through all of this without any major damage. We pointed the vehicles east and headed back to NC....
....well that was until about Denver. Going through some of the interstate mountain passes just west of Denver I noticed the WJ began to overheat. Everything else seemed normal, no weird noises, power seemed normal, just running hot. I reduced my speed and ducked in behind the big rigs. I thought maybe the water pump was going bad or something. On flat and down hill the temps went back to normal and only ran hot during steep and long climbs. I wanted to limp it closer to Denver before we tried to troubleshoot what the problem would be. Turning off the interstate that became apparent, the power steering was gone. My WJ has a fan which is powered by the power steering pump which explains why it began to run hot. Lets just say we had an epic experience fixing this problem in the ghetto side of Denver. We made it to an Advance which had a power steering pump and pulley puller kit. The pump came off easy enough. It would have been easier if we all worked on the Jeep but I need to emphasize here this was the rough side of Denver apparently. I understand you guys in CO like your weed, but I didn't envision drug dealers meeting people in the parking lot of Advance Auto. Well things continued with the power steering. The pulley puller ripped the lip off the pulley so I couldn't remove it from the old pump and put it on the new. Advance didn't have a pulley, and Napa was closed. Great! I located the source of the leak on the pump, the high pressure outlet was loose. I tightened it up and thought it would fix it but alas, it did not. We would spend the rest of the night stopping every two hours and adding fluid. Luckily Oklahoma is straight and flat. The next morning in Booneville Missouri we would find ourselves in a Napa parking lot, finally replacing the pump with a new one and a new pulley. I rolled back home at about 3AM on the 23rd. Poor Dad was at work that next same day.
DailyJeep
Adventurer
Great overall trip report, sorry about the return trip troubles. Denver has plenty of sketchy of areas as I've recently found out for myself.
Once I accrue a cushion of vacation days, I hope to make it over to Utah in the spring. If you're ever back out West, I'd love to tag along!
Once I accrue a cushion of vacation days, I hope to make it over to Utah in the spring. If you're ever back out West, I'd love to tag along!
Jeepinaaron
Adventurer
Yea the return trip was interesting, sucky part is the "new" PS pump is already leaking again. Sometime soon I will be ripping it apart again.
I'd like to say I would be out there soon, but it will likely be a year or two.
mjmcdowell
Explorer
Trip report....
All part of the trip... as long as the drama is not too bad.... well not "really" bad, trail fixes and repairs in the sketchy part of a city all make for great stories, I have had a few myself. Great trip report! Now you have been really been bitten by the "overland" bug! mjmcdowell
