My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

At some point during our hike along the rim, intermittent rain began to fall.....







As we approached Alstrom Point the intermittent rain became a steady light rain and it followed us for the remainder of that morning.....







We spent the remainder of that day hiking along the rim.....maybe also with a good book.....





.....and I found myself obsessing over the unforcasted rains and also with the forecasted rains that were in our future.....and what that woman had said "you'll never get out of there if it rains".....



Finally at 4:00 p.m. I decided to head out.....I just value my freedom too much and just couldn't stand the idea of getting stuck in one place.....I would imagine that the look on Tanners face as we left Alstrom Point behind was much like the look on my face as we bounced around on that miserable five mile stretch of road.....

 

[Ace Brown]

That is “my spot”. Many other great ones but that one is mine. I believe I have pulled my trailer there three times. However that trailer was built for serious off-road travel. Loaded it was only about 1600#.

Those roads dry out pretty fast. But you know what they say about discretion.

Ace


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[tgil]

Tanner's expression vs Trapper's! It's all in the "eye of the beholder"!

 

[ROKTAXI]

This was my 2nd trip to A.P. in 2016. This spot has a "gate keeper" of sorts before getting there. Some years are worse than others depending on weather and traffic.

 

[Arjan]

Good Call - follow your feeling.

Love the pics.

Stay Safe.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....the other concern that I had here was the crossing of Wahweep Creek just to the east of Big Water, Utah. The creek was flowing pretty good the first day we crossed it and I had no idea what to expect after a storm.....

tgil.....I can assure you that Tanner did not like that road.....he knew better.....Trapper is still new to the game.....

ROKTAXI.....that's probably the perfect set up for that place.....

Arjan.....playing it safe.....thanks.....



That night was spent in a gravel pit just to the east of Big Water, Utah.....here the road was asphalt so of course I had no concerns.....



The following morning the rains had not yet begun so we began to walk.....we walked through town and a bit further west.....out to Highway 89.....we also walked east across Wahweep Creek and back into the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.....







At some point during that morning walk I recalled how much I enjoyed walking the road through the Valley of the Gods and I thought that this place was just as amazing.....and that's when the idea of a long walk began to bounce around in my brain.....







The real rains began that afternoon just after lunch.....it rained all night but we felt safe parked just outside of town several hundred feet above the creek.....



Fortunately for us there was no significant rise in the water levels of Wahweep Creek the following day so we returned to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

If you really want to get to know a place.....and I emphasize the world "really".....boots are the only way to go.....







We walked and we walked and we just kept on walking.....nights we spent camped on the roadway.....there was nobody else here so there were no concerns.....





Sometimes something would catch our attention up in the rocks & the cliffs.....and off we went to explore.....a lone coyote in the cliffs was certainly a beautiful sight to see.....







I'm not sure how many miles we walked during our stay here.....initially I kept track but eventually I lost interest in counting those miles traveled.....it was the discovery that I really enjoyed.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The reason I had returned to this area had nothing to do with Alstrom Point nor did it have anything to do with walking these roads.....I returned to this area simply to see the Kaiparowits Plateau.....



And so it was at the "Y" in the road, we left the somewhat flat roads behind and began our walk north onto the higher plateau.....



I shuttled my vehicles much like a river float.....I'd take one vehicle a few miles up the road, then walk back to get the other.....and eventually this brought us to the base of the cliffs of the Kaiparowits Plateau.....



The plan here was to camp that night at the base of the cliffs and then start the long walk up Kelly Grade the following morning.....





But as is typically the case for me.....those plans were quickly thwarted as we headed back out late that afternoon.....







I've read that it's a 1,200 foot climb to the top of the Kaiparowits Plateau and I'd guess that most of that elevation gain is in the first half mile of that road.....I think it could be one of the steepest roads I've ever hiked.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

It was 3:00 p.m. when we started this hike and once we passed the steepest grade the walk was fairly easy.....I kept telling myself that we needed to head back but it was so beautiful up there on that ridge.....so we kept on hiking.....







I finally decided that we'd turn around at 4:00 p.m. .....I wanted to make camp before dark.....





The road twisted and turned and continued upwards.....eventually headed into canyons where the sunlight was barely seen.....





It wasn't until 4:15 p.m. that we finally headed back down the cliffs.....I had no headlight and wasn't keen on hiking in the dark.....



We didn't quite make the plateau that day.....unfortunate it was.....



But we made it safely back to the camper that evening and really that's all that counts.....it was a wonderful little hike nearly to the summit of the
Kaiparowits Plateau.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Quite a bit further up that Plateau is the namesake of Smoky Mountain Road. The smoky vents are open in several places along the road and worth the side trip.


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....the coal seams were actually a part of the plan.....it was a 15 mile roundtrip hike from our campsite but since we left camp so late there was just no way that day.....



The following morning I gave additional thought to driving the Jeep up Kelly Grade but honestly I just don't trust the brakes on that old Jeep.....much like when climbing in boots, it's the descent that actually worries me. Often when I park the Jeep on an incline, I'll look for rocks or logs to assist in the braking.....



And since I travel alone with my two best friends, I feel the extra need to be cautious.....I don't want to be this guy.....







One day while I was out there I found this truck that had somehow misjudged the road.....



These two guys shown below were out here mountain biking and stopped to check it out as well.....they were out of Hurricane, Utah and were on the phone with their friend Matt (the YouTube guy that does Matts Offroad Recovery).....







It was hard for me to imagine how this could have happened.....I measured the not so steep roadbed and it was thirteen feet wide.....in addition, there was a one foot high berm that he drove over.....go figure.....



And check this out.....30 day tags were on the floorboard of that truck.....this guy had it for less than eleven days before he rolled it.....

So yea.....I'll continue to play it safe.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Inept driver. Maybe alcohol
Too.


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....maybe one day we'll see a YouTube video from Matts Off Road Recovery featuring this truck and then we will know what really happened.....



We ended up staying in this general area for nine days.....bouncing back & forth between Glen Canyon National Recreation Area & Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.....





While I don't know the exact number of miles we walked here mostly along the roads, I'd guess it to be around forty.....certainly enough time spent here to see an enormous amount of these somewhat remote lands.....





The dogs loved it.....every single second of it for sure.....





Other than a five minute conversation with the mountain bikers.....my conversation for nine days consisted of words such as "no, come, & let's go to bed".....solitude absolutely ruled here.....





Some days we'd cruise in the Jeep just for something to do.....sometimes boredom almost crept in.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We left here only because of deteriorating weather.....snow began to fall in the higher elevations and finally the cold weather had just about wore me out.....





The plan is to return here in 2022.....there's plenty more to see & plenty more to do.....





We need to get on top of that plateau to see what we can see.....& we need to finish hiking down this ravine that leads to Lake Powell .....we only got a few miles down it before more rain began to fall.....







The plan was to head south but I changed those plans and we drove west.....I guess I wasn't quite ready to leave Utah.....

 

[AlwaysRoaming]

Book Cliffs and Green River area are pretty nice. Safe travels Jerry.