zelseman
Observer
This thread will pick right up from where our build thread dropped off HERE. I didn’t realize that there was a separate thread for on-going adventures. We are way behind on posting our travels on EXPO and we started this trip in April, so consider that while reading this thread.
*A little background*
My wife and I quit our jobs, rented our house and took off on an extended road-trip/full-time mobile living adventure in the American West. We are traveling in a 2000 Chevy Short Bus 2WD with a 6.5L diesel. We have on board solar, water, and accommodations for a solar shower. We plan to be on the road for roughly 6 months then potentially take our 1st gen 4runner down to Baja for the winter. Only time and finances will tell. The start of our travels are documented in the thread linked above. I will include a few shots here as well.
Moab, UT
Mexican Hat and Monument Valley
After spending a little time in Monument Valley and Mexican Hat, we pointed the bus back North to enjoy Canyon Country before it got to hot. The shortest path to reach the top of Cedar Mesa and enter into Bears Ears National Monument was to drive up and over the Moki Dugway. The dugway is an unimproved road climbing quickly out of the valley floor to the top of the mesa. If you’ve never driven it, you should.
We picked up some backpackers hitching in Cedar Mesa that revealed some really cool camping spots to us in exchange for returning them to their vehicle. It seemed like a fair trade. We stopped by Natural Bridges National Monument to hike a little and fill up our water bottles before finding our campsite for the night, recommended by the backpacking hitchers of course. Leprechaun Canyon was a decent parking spot, but made up for it with the slot canyon exploring that laid a few hundred feet off of the road.
We drove through Capital Reef National Park and probably could have passed on stopping there as it was kinda a letdown. We couldn’t in good faith drive by with a parks pass and not at least hike a trail.
We then made our way to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, more specifically Hole in the Rock Road. This was the first real test of the suspension, tires, and carpentry inside the bus. This road is ROUGH and LONG. Washboard doesn’t even begin to explain it. We crawled along at 10 miles per hour and finally reached our trailhead for a few days of backpacking. If we were in a more capable rig, we would have explored Hole in the Rock Road to the end, it is supposed to be a blast if your shocks can handle it, ours can’t. We learned really quickly that the stock suspension or lack there of in a skoolie is not the setup you want for washboard and potholed roads. But we made it and got to enjoy some awesome backpacking to the Escalante River.
*A little background*
My wife and I quit our jobs, rented our house and took off on an extended road-trip/full-time mobile living adventure in the American West. We are traveling in a 2000 Chevy Short Bus 2WD with a 6.5L diesel. We have on board solar, water, and accommodations for a solar shower. We plan to be on the road for roughly 6 months then potentially take our 1st gen 4runner down to Baja for the winter. Only time and finances will tell. The start of our travels are documented in the thread linked above. I will include a few shots here as well.
Moab, UT
Mexican Hat and Monument Valley
After spending a little time in Monument Valley and Mexican Hat, we pointed the bus back North to enjoy Canyon Country before it got to hot. The shortest path to reach the top of Cedar Mesa and enter into Bears Ears National Monument was to drive up and over the Moki Dugway. The dugway is an unimproved road climbing quickly out of the valley floor to the top of the mesa. If you’ve never driven it, you should.
We picked up some backpackers hitching in Cedar Mesa that revealed some really cool camping spots to us in exchange for returning them to their vehicle. It seemed like a fair trade. We stopped by Natural Bridges National Monument to hike a little and fill up our water bottles before finding our campsite for the night, recommended by the backpacking hitchers of course. Leprechaun Canyon was a decent parking spot, but made up for it with the slot canyon exploring that laid a few hundred feet off of the road.
We drove through Capital Reef National Park and probably could have passed on stopping there as it was kinda a letdown. We couldn’t in good faith drive by with a parks pass and not at least hike a trail.
We then made our way to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, more specifically Hole in the Rock Road. This was the first real test of the suspension, tires, and carpentry inside the bus. This road is ROUGH and LONG. Washboard doesn’t even begin to explain it. We crawled along at 10 miles per hour and finally reached our trailhead for a few days of backpacking. If we were in a more capable rig, we would have explored Hole in the Rock Road to the end, it is supposed to be a blast if your shocks can handle it, ours can’t. We learned really quickly that the stock suspension or lack there of in a skoolie is not the setup you want for washboard and potholed roads. But we made it and got to enjoy some awesome backpacking to the Escalante River.
