articulate
Expedition Leader
Beef Basin, Utah by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
You know how Mineral Bottom Road got washed out in August? I had a White Rim trip planned for the week after Labor Day, as 4 colleagues from Iowa and Illinois asked my dad and I to take them on a trip through southern Utah. Canyonlands called me and told me to make alternate plans. Here's the result of those alternate plans.
We planned to drive Lockhart Basin south to Cottonwood Creek and into Beef Basin then out through the Needles District. I'd recieved several bits of advice telling me to skip Lockhart Basin and spend more time in Beef Basin. But . . . My dad and I got to talking once we were in Moab and waiting for the rest of our guys to show. Idle hands we had. So we drove out to Kane Creek, the road to Lockhart, just to see what the views would be like and our jaws hit the ground.
"Everyone I talked to told me to just spend our three nights in Beef Basin because we'd never get bored with that." I reminded my dad.
"Yeah, but look at this."
"Allllllriiiiight......"
Just about then, KCOWYO called me to say, "Hey, I may have been wrong about that hard part on Lockhart. You might want to skip it if these guys you're taking up there are green."
Now, let me explain that these 4 colleagues were going to rent a Rubicon in Moab - and they'd never driven on any trail before. Dad and I agreed we'd take them down Kane Creek to Lockhart the next day and just see how it went, assuming the views would knock their socks off and motivate them to hang in there with the difficult parts of the trail.
That only worked 50%. The views they loved, naturally. Lockhart Basin trail, on the other hand, put a little squeeze on things. Two of our crew opted to get out and walk for a while when they saw that first tippy hill climb - again, this stuff was foreign to these guys.
Jeep Rubicon JK on Lockhart Basin Trail by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
They had fun with the spotting and slow-going, but we could tell it was wearing thin on their morale. And then, ummmmm, I high centered my truck on a boulder in the wash shortly after that first tippy hill climb . . . it was obvious at this point that our colleagues had had their fill.
We walked the trail further and found the final hill climb clobbered by the recent rain. My dad and I convened and discussed the fun factor - the most important factor - and decided the best thing to do was turn around.
Land Rover on Lockhart Basin by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
Nissan Frontier at Chicken Corners, Utah by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
Chicken Corners was a winner. Everyone loved the views and milder trail. We drove out, found a camp, grilled up some dinner, and cracked some really tasteless canned beer. Hey, I didn't choose it . . .
The Best We Could Get by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
The following day we took the highway to Indian Creek and Cottonwood Canyon to Beef Basin, and I can see my Utah buddies nodding their heads right now. 'Bout time you took our advice, Stephens.
Beef Basin, Utah by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
Cliff Dwelling Ruins in Beef Basin, Utah by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
Cliff Dwelling Ruins in Beef Basin, Utah by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
All was right with the trip at this point. My God, the ruins are everywhere. It was like stepping back in time 800 years. I was just awesome to drive slowly, staring at the rocks and seeking out ancient homes and dwellings.
One of the gents in our trip had spent some time in the 1980s doing some field research on the Anasazi, so he was able to clue us into a number of cool details.
Here he is basically saying, "I don't know what the hell this is."
Markings in the Stone at a Ruin in Beef Basin by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
We found a camp, and did the usual. Fire building, food cooking, bad beer drinking, and general friendly mocking of one another. Then the stars came out and shut us all up for a while.
Checkin' Out The Stars in Beef Basin, Utah by AdventureParents.com, on Flickr
