Colorado Passes and Utah Canyons - 2009
- Thread starter jg45
- Start date
jg45
Member
The following day, day 10 of the trip, we spent the entire day in Arches National Park. This is truly an amazingly scenic park. I would love to go back when there isn't so much haze in the air and get some photos at sunset. Below are a few highlight photos.
Morning at the KOA
Various Arches in the park
Delicate Arch
Landscape Arch
Double Arch
Park Avenue formation
Morning at the KOA
Various Arches in the park
Delicate Arch
Landscape Arch
Double Arch
Park Avenue formation
jg45
Member
Our final day in Moab was supposed to be a run up and back on the Top of the World trail and then heading to Monument Valley. We started early and broke camp, loaded up and headed to the Dewey bridge remains. It is a real shame that the bridge was burned. After stopping for some photos at the bridge, we started our way up Top of the World. The trail was rougher than I had expected, but not undoable for my little KJ. I was having a blast and was surprised how easily the KJ walked up the trail.
We were about 200 feet from the end when, all of a sudden, steering became very difficult. The KJ just didn't go where I tried to point it. I was also hearing a tire squealing as we rolled forward. I thought we might have gotten a flat. We got out to inspect and found something a bit more involved. The passenger front upper control arm broke a weld where the tubing connected to the ball joint bung. Fortunately, I had thrown an old OEM arm in the back before we left Memphis as part of my preparations for the trip. We went to work and within about an hour had it replaced and finished the trail. I think the trip down was much worse than the trip up. There is a loop at the top and we took the east side down. There were some huge ledges to drop off and slide down. I bent one of the rock sliders on this section as well as got a rear fender kissed by a tree. In any case, we made it down and spent a night in the Super 8 in Moab after the long and frustrating day.
The next morning we took the KJ to Chips tire for a much needed alignment and a thorough inspection before tackling the long trip home. Everything checked out OK and the trip back was almost without excitement. We headed south for a brief visit to the Needles District and then east from Monticello to get to I-40 by passing through Cortez, CO. Had a great dinner at the Main Street Brewery in Cortez.
The excitement came at about 3 AM somewhere a bit east of Albuquerque NM. As we topped a hill on I-40 we saw a long line of brake lights on the next hill. Traffic had come to a stop due to a pickup rolling over in the median and apparently forcing a FedEx big rig to flop on the right shoulder. We got out to ******** chat with those around us and were monitoring the CB listening to the truckers for any updates. While we were waiting, a trucker about 1/4 mile behind us apparently missed the brake lights and slammed into a stopped truck while doing about 55 Mph. This second accident closed all traffic on I-40. Rumor on the radio said they closed west bound so that the air wing could land on the highway. We were fortunate to be in front of this accident and able to get moving after only about 1.5 hours. The rest of the trip home went without incident.
This trip had been a long time in the making. We had a few mechanical issues, but that is what makes the stories interesting. I had a ton of fun and really enjoyed getting to go some places I had read about on this forum so many times. Thanks to all on this forum for their information, pictures, and ideas. This is truly a great resource. Selected pictures below. More pictures can be seen here.
Remains of the old Dewey bridge
Some of the fun on Top of the World trail
Trail breakage
Trailside repairs in progress
Hanging out at the Top of the World
Big ledges coming down
Newspaper Rock on way to Needles District
We were about 200 feet from the end when, all of a sudden, steering became very difficult. The KJ just didn't go where I tried to point it. I was also hearing a tire squealing as we rolled forward. I thought we might have gotten a flat. We got out to inspect and found something a bit more involved. The passenger front upper control arm broke a weld where the tubing connected to the ball joint bung. Fortunately, I had thrown an old OEM arm in the back before we left Memphis as part of my preparations for the trip. We went to work and within about an hour had it replaced and finished the trail. I think the trip down was much worse than the trip up. There is a loop at the top and we took the east side down. There were some huge ledges to drop off and slide down. I bent one of the rock sliders on this section as well as got a rear fender kissed by a tree. In any case, we made it down and spent a night in the Super 8 in Moab after the long and frustrating day.
The next morning we took the KJ to Chips tire for a much needed alignment and a thorough inspection before tackling the long trip home. Everything checked out OK and the trip back was almost without excitement. We headed south for a brief visit to the Needles District and then east from Monticello to get to I-40 by passing through Cortez, CO. Had a great dinner at the Main Street Brewery in Cortez.
The excitement came at about 3 AM somewhere a bit east of Albuquerque NM. As we topped a hill on I-40 we saw a long line of brake lights on the next hill. Traffic had come to a stop due to a pickup rolling over in the median and apparently forcing a FedEx big rig to flop on the right shoulder. We got out to ******** chat with those around us and were monitoring the CB listening to the truckers for any updates. While we were waiting, a trucker about 1/4 mile behind us apparently missed the brake lights and slammed into a stopped truck while doing about 55 Mph. This second accident closed all traffic on I-40. Rumor on the radio said they closed west bound so that the air wing could land on the highway. We were fortunate to be in front of this accident and able to get moving after only about 1.5 hours. The rest of the trip home went without incident.
This trip had been a long time in the making. We had a few mechanical issues, but that is what makes the stories interesting. I had a ton of fun and really enjoyed getting to go some places I had read about on this forum so many times. Thanks to all on this forum for their information, pictures, and ideas. This is truly a great resource. Selected pictures below. More pictures can be seen here.
Remains of the old Dewey bridge
Some of the fun on Top of the World trail
Trail breakage
Trailside repairs in progress
Hanging out at the Top of the World
Big ledges coming down
Newspaper Rock on way to Needles District
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cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
Great report 
Ace Brown
Retired Ol’ Fart
Excellant report! Man you are lucky to have the parts needed while on "Top of the World". I have been to just about every place you did over the past 6 years and many of your photos look like duplicates of mine.
Thanks for the report and photos.
The cars you saw buried may be there for errosion control (I doubt it in a Nat'l Park) but I heard one was a brand new Hummer that got caught in a flash flood and was abandonned there.
Ace
Thanks for the report and photos.
The cars you saw buried may be there for errosion control (I doubt it in a Nat'l Park) but I heard one was a brand new Hummer that got caught in a flash flood and was abandonned there.
Ace
jg45
Member
Thanks. The cars were just outside the National Park boundary. There may have been a Hummer, but from what we saw, the cars appeared to be from before 1960.
teotwaki
Excelsior!
Nice trip!
Where are the slot canyons on the white rim located?
Love your pictures!
might be Holeman Slot Canyon between Candlestick and potato Bottom, south side of the trail
jg45
Member
might be Holeman Slot Canyon between Candlestick and potato Bottom, south side of the trail
That sounds like it. We parked in the Wilhite trail parking area and the canyon was just across the road. A map of the White Rim with the hiking trails marked can be found at http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/upload/island.pdf.
teotwaki
Excelsior!
On that map if you look for the Wilhite Trail coming from the NE at Island In The Sky the slot canyon is on the other side of the White Rim Trail
olympiccop2002
Explorer
Awesome report! Thanks for sharing the trip with us. Pictures were outstanding.