SLO's SW Utah Adventure......

[SLO_F-250]

Hey Guys,

Well, to make a long story short, about 2 years ago I embarked on an adventure with 2 buddies heading to Moab UT. We are all Mountain bikers, and wanted to ride the famous slick rock. The trip was a success and a story of its own, but the short of it was after doing the tent thing night after night and watching my buddy live out of his roadtrek Dodge van, I was ready for something better myself. So starts the Skamper Build Adventures. The link will take you to my build page. So, fast forward to present day, and my brother and I head out on a SW Utah adventure of our own. I spent a lot of time planning the trip, and we took plenty of photos, so I will just update this thread every few days with photos and trip info.

Basically we headed out from the Central Coast of CA to Afton Canyon Rd for a quick overnighter, then to the famous Gooseberry Mesa, Zion, Bryce, Grand Escalante, North rim of the grand Canyon/ Kaibab National Forest, back to the Goose, then Barstow and home.

It was an epic trip, and I hope you enjoy my writeup and feel free hit me up with questions. I made plenty of personal maps etc for the 250+ miles of dirt.

Cheers All!
Paul

Morning 1. We headed out to Afton Canyon Rd and camped a few miles off the freeway. This was just a spot to break up the 10-11 hr drive to Gooseberry Mesa. I pulled off in a wash, and funny enough, sunk in the deep sand. My brother being the laid back surfer started to laugh and said, well I expected this, but not the first night. 4x4 got us out in a snap and Whiskey and Cokes were on the late night Menu.

Next morning was a beauty and we got on the road to Goosebeery about 7:30am..

VIVA LA UTAH!

The Scenic Byway raod off Hwy 9 towards Gooseberry Mesa. If you have never been there, add it to the list. ESPECIALLY if you are a mountain biker. More Info Here

Found a camp, and Immediately geared up for a ride.

My Lil' Bro and Me.

Camp Dialed in after the Ride.

In this pict, you can see my setup (Minus Bus Depot Awning) The tarp I cut out to block the wind had those rare earth magnets sewed into it which works great! I tell ya, its really nice to pull up to camp, snap the tarp in, and walla, wind blocked camp!!

And yes, that is a little propane fire pit. Im telling you, that makes a world of difference as well. :ylsmoke:

 

[SLO_F-250]

Just a few more shots to close out the first day. A nice sunset in Utah always calms one down.

And it was a STEAK night. If you are looking for a small/compact BBQ, I recommend that little Coleman. It works great, easy to clean, and gets the job done!

 

[Xterabl]

Mmmmm...ribeye and grilled zuch's...one of my fav dinners.
Looking forward to more pics!

 

[tanglefoot]

Aww--that made for some great web wheeling. I get a little misty-eyed whenever I see red sand. Thanks for posting it.

 

[SLO_F-250]

So the next morning we woke up to a great sunny day. The forecast called for showers in the afternoon, which was reinforced by the storm clouds in the distance. After out typical morning breakfast of a fresh hot of the stove egg mcmuffin, we hit the trail for another Gooseberry ride.

After the ride, we quickly packed up camp and made out way over the hill into Rockville then the quick jaunt to Springdale as we had reservations in Zion for Sunday and Monday night. It always amazes me how much exploring is to be done in Utah. The drive down the hill was fun, and I must have made note to a couple more nice spots to camp.

The old Rockville Bridge

Messing with the camera. Thought it ended up pretty cool.

We then stopped off in Jacks Sports bar to catch the last 2 periods of the playoff hockey game and had some cold ones. After watching the San Jose Sharks lose was decided it was time to head out and get our campsite since it was quickly turning into another pitcher. The campground was luckily not as full since it was Sunday, and we were able to post up and throw a few back before dinner. The rain/ Thunderstorms came through as predicted, and I must say the bus depot awning held up great against the wind and rain. We were quite cozy sitting by the fire sipping whiskey and cokes....

 

[SLO_F-250]

Chilling Around Camp at Zion....

The Next morning was spectacular. We got on the trail a bit late due to vacation mode, but no problem. My brother had never been to Zion, so first stop was Angels Landing and then the plan was to continue hiking the west rim to the back packers camps. It was a good day for hiking as it was clear and sunny yet temps didnt get above 80.

Morning Shot....

Looking back from the trail.

Looking up the trail.

Angels Landing. Time to head up.

Shot of the Brothers.

Survived Angels landing, now up the west rim. Bye Angels Landing....

Made it to the camps. Great Resting Spot.

Quite a View.....

On the way down.

Another shot of Angels Landing

We wanted to jump in the freezing river after hiking. Let me tell you, it was COLD but felt good. About 10hrs and 20 miles of hiking.

Back at Camp Posted up Relaxing!

The next day we head to Bryce Canyon to ride Thunder Mountain!

 

[SLO_F-250]

After a nice relaxing morning in Zion we headed up to Bryce Canyon with the goal of riding Thunder Mountain Trail. Let me just say the trail was EPIC and I would recommend it to any mountain biker. We did the full loop that starts at the bottom, follows the road up, then cuts in to the forest and down Thunder Mountain. About 15 miles.

On the Road Again...

The View at the parking lot/ loop trail head is even cool!!

If you look close you can see me riding one of the ridges....

We had gotten a late start from Zion and we finished the ride about 6. I had planned to make some miles and camp at a spot down cottonwood canyon road this night, but we were wiped out after that ride, wanted showers (or solar shower was cold), and wanted some cold ones so we drove 20 min up the road and camped at Rubys outside of Bryce. I wasnt very excited to camp in an actual campground, but luckily the "tent" sites were empty, and we got everything we wanted.

The good ole propane fire pit. What a great add to the camper setup... Worth the weight...

Mess'n Around

Thanks for looking. Still got about 5 days to go... :Wow1: Update more after this weekend.
Paul

 

[Lord Al Sorna]

Very cool writeup, I dig the light painting at the end. Come back and visit again soon!

 

[Lichen]

Great report! I see me buying a propane fire pit in the near future.

 

[xpdishn]

Excellent start, looking forward to the "rest of the story".

How about posting what you did for your below truck windbreak? Maybe post it elsewhere on the forum (only reason would be to not hijack your own thread), Fireside or Camping equipment?

I have been on trips where others have the propane firepit, but after seeing yours I'm having second thoughts on packing fire wood all the time. Firewood takes up alot of space.

Thanks again.

 

[BCHauler]

This photo is bending my mind:Wow1:

Thanks for sharing. Also having an f250, I'm curious about your truck. Lift, tires, etc.

 

[SLO_F-250]

Excellent start, looking forward to the "rest of the story".

How about posting what you did for your below truck windbreak? Maybe post it elsewhere on the forum (only reason would be to not hijack your own thread), Fireside or Camping equipment?

I have been on trips where others have the propane firepit, but after seeing yours I'm having second thoughts on packing fire wood all the time. Firewood takes up alot of space.

Thanks again.

THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT COMMENTS EVERYONE!

Ill post up some more info on that windbreak on my build thread. Link is in my sig. The propane fire pit is a Camp Chef brand. About $100 from online or your local RV store. But what I did was add a heat reflector to the top. Its is a night and day difference in heat output. Its nothing special, but a miniature Weber grill top, which happened to be the same diameter as the fire pit. Then I welded some nuts to the inner fire pit ring for the rods to support the lid. Everything still fits in the canvas bag it came in. If you want some more specific picts, let me know and Ill add them to the build thread.

This photo is bending my mind

Thanks for sharing. Also having an f250, I'm curious about your truck. Lift, tires, etc.

HAHA. Yea, I thought that one turned out fun. A little fish eye setting and a view to mess with the mind!

Truck is a early 99' F-250 Superduty 4x4 with the 7.3L Diesel. I built a leveling kit for it, and have 285/75-R16 Kumo Road Venture AT's. Great tires so far. Bilstein 5150's in front, and 5100's in the rear. I built the light rack on the front. Built a DYI intake with S&B Filter. It also has a hypertech programmer, and I just recently added Mad-Hytec Front and Rear Diff Covers. While the truck is no crazy off-roading machine, it has treated me well, and done well in the dirt.

Future mods this summer will include:
Custom Front and Rear Bumpers (Im still designing em)
Gauges
New programmer/tuner.

 

[SLO_F-250]

So to continue with the adventure.... The next morning we work up early and bugged out of Ruby's in a hurry. We were itching for more dirt and seclusion. We headed towards Cottonwood Canyon Road in Grand Escalante. Plan was to drive through to the either House Rock Road and explore Buckskin Gultch, or head to AZ and camp at the bottom of the Vermillion Cliffs.

Nice morning View where Cottonwood Starts.

It was nice to be on the road again...

I had searched for a campsite off Cottonwood, so I at least wanted to detour and check it out... Verdict...

WINNER!

If anyone wants GPS Coords, let me know. Its only about a mile off Cottonwood, and a nice spot with a great view.

Now the plan was to head off and Hike Round Valley Draw slot canyon. The road to the trail head got a little more rough, which brought a BIG smile to my face! :bike_rider:

Round Valley Draw is a non-equipment aided canyon with some fun stuff to play on. You can hike it through, about 20ish miles, or just go down for a few and then back up which is what we did. There were only 2 slightly technical spots, but a TON of FUN! I would recommend this one to anyone.

Picts to Follow....

 

[SLO_F-250]

Round Valley Draw time!

Interestingly enough, I never got a shot of the trail head, or a good one of the start of the slot. Its about a 15 minute hike done a wash, then it opens up with the first technical down climb into the slot.

Looking down at the start.

The slot then winds down for as long as you want to go. Pitcs are in no specific order....

To Be Continued.....

 

[SLO_F-250]

Wow Ive been slacking on wrapping up this report. :snorkel:

After Round Valley Draw we continued down and had to stop in at Grovensor Arch for a lunch break.

While I was taking pictures of the Arch, this little guy snuck up and scared the daylights outta me!! :Wow1: Luckily it was just a Garter snake.

View of the lunch spot..

Back on the Road....