jnelson4x4taco
Adventurer
Ill try and keep this short, sweet, and to the point (pictures), but I get wordy so Ill do my best. Last week a good friend and I took off for a 5 day trip to Moab. We took off on Tuesday night from Denver, with the goal of reaching Grand Junction. I loaded up my 4Runner with our gear, trailer and dirt bikes before picking up my buddy from work. We headed west on I-70 and it wasnt long before we hit some serious snow and foggy conditions. With our initial stretch taking much longer than anticipated, we called in a favor from another friend and before long we had a warm bed to stay in our first night in Grand Junction. We rolled into GJ just after midnight and grabbed a cold beer and a dip in the hot tub before turning in for the night.
Wednesday morning we headed into Moab, stopping at Dewey Bridge on our way in to tackle our first trail of the trip, Top of the World. This trail had some pretty gnarly sections but was a blast and the view at the end was totally worth it. We me some nice folks at the top who took our picture and were amazed at the 30 minutes it took us to complete the first section of the trail, compared to the 3 hours they had spent on their side-by-side RZR's.
After returning from Top of the World, we headed into town to find camp. We like the proximity to trails so we usually camp at Sand Flats so we can play on Slickrock, Hells Revenge and Fins and Things when hanging around camp. This was our first trip with cots and HOLY COW, what a difference. We found these at Costco for just over $60 and they were more than worth it. A little cumbersome in the truck but an amazing nights sleep.
The next day we took off on Kane Creek Canyon, one of my favorite trails. This year I packed an Esbit backpacking stove that runs on little solid fuel tablets so we could cook some hot water and have a warm lunch on the trail. Nothing like beef stroganoff after a long ride
After Kane Creek, we explored Hurrah pass and headed out to Chicken Corners.
I love these water crossings!
Friday we took the morning off to rest our sore muscles and explore some areas we hadnt been before. Our first stop was Dead Horse Point, which was awesome. We had planned to get to DHP at sunrise but the previous nights campfire and whiskey had other plans for us. We rolled into DHP just after 9am but still got some great pics.
After Driving through DHP, a real adventure began. My buddies father had given us some directions to some Alien pictographs, somewhere in the area. He didnt have exact directions but said he could get us in the vicinity and that it would be up to us after that. We followed the directions/clues as best as we could but didnt see the Alien pictographs. We did, however, stumble across some really cool petroglyphs of what appeared to be goats or something. If you look close you can see them across the middle of the picture, below the shadow on the right.
We hiked around searching for the aliens and then realized our clues may have led us astray. We called his dad and got some more accurate directions. Turns our we were WAY off course, but how cool that we still stumbled across some cool petroglyphs?! We headed out on our new directions and our sense of adventure was higher than ever. This may have been the highlight of the trip, just searching for the elusive Alien pictographs. It was so exciting, just knowing that at any moment we could come across these paintings that were thousands of years old. After more driving, numerous u-turns, lots of four-wheeling and more than enough silt in my shoes, we found them!
After our adventure, we went back to camp to play some cards and have a beer, as the rain pitter pattered the roof of our tent. That evening, with our muscles rested and the rain finished, we did a short ride out Fins and Things and then did the Slickrock loop.
The view from the tent as we played cards in the rain, i could get used to that.
Saturday we slept in again, then enjoyed some eggs, sausage and coffee, before heading out on a day long trek in the 4Runner. We headed out to Geminin Bridges, then took the highway down to Longs Canyon and took that down through pucker pass back to town. What a beautiful drive! We also came across some awesome campsites along the top of Longs Canyon, that we plan on staying at next time we head out. Ill let the pictures speak for themselves here...
More cool petroglyphs along the road back to town near the Poison Spider trailhead...
Our final sunset and campfire before heading home on Sunday. As always, we had a great time and cant wait to get back. We accomplished just enough to fulfill our desires for adventure, but left plenty to keep us dreaming until next time!
Wednesday morning we headed into Moab, stopping at Dewey Bridge on our way in to tackle our first trail of the trip, Top of the World. This trail had some pretty gnarly sections but was a blast and the view at the end was totally worth it. We me some nice folks at the top who took our picture and were amazed at the 30 minutes it took us to complete the first section of the trail, compared to the 3 hours they had spent on their side-by-side RZR's.
After returning from Top of the World, we headed into town to find camp. We like the proximity to trails so we usually camp at Sand Flats so we can play on Slickrock, Hells Revenge and Fins and Things when hanging around camp. This was our first trip with cots and HOLY COW, what a difference. We found these at Costco for just over $60 and they were more than worth it. A little cumbersome in the truck but an amazing nights sleep.
The next day we took off on Kane Creek Canyon, one of my favorite trails. This year I packed an Esbit backpacking stove that runs on little solid fuel tablets so we could cook some hot water and have a warm lunch on the trail. Nothing like beef stroganoff after a long ride
After Kane Creek, we explored Hurrah pass and headed out to Chicken Corners.
I love these water crossings!
Friday we took the morning off to rest our sore muscles and explore some areas we hadnt been before. Our first stop was Dead Horse Point, which was awesome. We had planned to get to DHP at sunrise but the previous nights campfire and whiskey had other plans for us. We rolled into DHP just after 9am but still got some great pics.
After Driving through DHP, a real adventure began. My buddies father had given us some directions to some Alien pictographs, somewhere in the area. He didnt have exact directions but said he could get us in the vicinity and that it would be up to us after that. We followed the directions/clues as best as we could but didnt see the Alien pictographs. We did, however, stumble across some really cool petroglyphs of what appeared to be goats or something. If you look close you can see them across the middle of the picture, below the shadow on the right.
We hiked around searching for the aliens and then realized our clues may have led us astray. We called his dad and got some more accurate directions. Turns our we were WAY off course, but how cool that we still stumbled across some cool petroglyphs?! We headed out on our new directions and our sense of adventure was higher than ever. This may have been the highlight of the trip, just searching for the elusive Alien pictographs. It was so exciting, just knowing that at any moment we could come across these paintings that were thousands of years old. After more driving, numerous u-turns, lots of four-wheeling and more than enough silt in my shoes, we found them!
After our adventure, we went back to camp to play some cards and have a beer, as the rain pitter pattered the roof of our tent. That evening, with our muscles rested and the rain finished, we did a short ride out Fins and Things and then did the Slickrock loop.
The view from the tent as we played cards in the rain, i could get used to that.
Saturday we slept in again, then enjoyed some eggs, sausage and coffee, before heading out on a day long trek in the 4Runner. We headed out to Geminin Bridges, then took the highway down to Longs Canyon and took that down through pucker pass back to town. What a beautiful drive! We also came across some awesome campsites along the top of Longs Canyon, that we plan on staying at next time we head out. Ill let the pictures speak for themselves here...
More cool petroglyphs along the road back to town near the Poison Spider trailhead...
Our final sunset and campfire before heading home on Sunday. As always, we had a great time and cant wait to get back. We accomplished just enough to fulfill our desires for adventure, but left plenty to keep us dreaming until next time!
