The M~D~U Report: A Thousand Miles of Dirt in Utah

[GoodEnoughforGabe]

Wow great trip report, cant wait to read more! Thanks for documenting some of the areas out there, makes me want to ditch the PNWet and take a trip to Yellowstone and Moab! One for the books.

Again, thanks for posting this - simply awesome.

 

[JduRunner]

My friends and I are heading out to do Lockhart, Chicken Corners and Hurrah Pass from the South to North. Thank you for the amazing pictures and only adding to our excitement!

 

[Blackdawg]

Wow great trip report, cant wait to read more! Thanks for documenting some of the areas out there, makes me want to ditch the PNWet and take a trip to Yellowstone and Moab! One for the books.

Again, thanks for posting this - simply awesome.

Thank you!

And yes! you should! Not too far a drive for you really. Mike is from Seattle area actually.

My friends and I are heading out to do Lockhart, Chicken Corners and Hurrah Pass from the South to North. Thank you for the amazing pictures and only adding to our excitement!

ha! That's awesome! I wish we had run down to the river at Chicken Corners! We didn't though (obviously) but all the more reason to go back

You'll have a blast!

Thanks for reading

 

[Wilbah]

It seems like every post I make in your threads are 1) great write-up and 2) amazing pics. And ditto for this update. I just have to remind myself to stop reading it on my phone because it just doesn't do your photography justice. Some spectacular shots. Cant beat how the light changes in the west give you such a different look and feel. You capture that so well. Thanks for another great write up. And cool how willing you are to help others out. You're a good ambassador as well!

 

[DzlToy]

Great pics as usual; I know that takes quite a bit of time to edit them and build a good RR on a forum.

Some of those trails appear to be really tight; do you think a full sized truck, i.e. FG Fuso, Dodge 1500, FSB, etc., would fit through if otherwise well equipped?

 

[Blackdawg]

It seems like every post I make in your threads are 1) great write-up and 2) amazing pics. And ditto for this update. I just have to remind myself to stop reading it on my phone because it just doesn't do your photography justice. Some spectacular shots. Cant beat how the light changes in the west give you such a different look and feel. You capture that so well. Thanks for another great write up. And cool how willing you are to help others out. You're a good ambassador as well!

haha well i appreciate all comments and feed back! So never shy away from posting! I like talking with folks and if anything, i feel like its quite on this forum sometimes. So I am glad to hear from you again!

Ah yes, the mobile phone never does it justice. I really try to make sure to view all my friends photos on my computer as well. Makes a big difference for sure! Glad you enjoy them.

I all about helping folks on trails. Because i have been in LOTS of situations where i wouldn't have gotten out without the help of my friends. A little goes a long ways. You won't believe the amazing feat some friends did for me on my latest trip a few weeks ago. Was amazing. Can't wait to share that one too!

Great pics as usual; I know that takes quite a bit of time to edit them and build a good RR on a forum.

Some of those trails appear to be really tight; do you think a full sized truck, i.e. FG Fuso, Dodge 1500, FSB, etc., would fit through if otherwise well equipped?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

Funny you say that acutally..later in this trip we encounter a full size Dodge that was..well..barely making it along.

One of the pros of the Tacoma is the size..can be a Con too..but for the most part, a lot of this is do able in a big rig. The Kokopelli is, The Maze is. Elephant hill...idk. The Squeeze there is TIGHT. Kinda funny as the back country office at the needles where you get your permit as a photo on the desk of a Ford Raptor going through it....but it is draging the entire sides of the truck the whole way. ouch..

So Probably not that trail haha

But The UTBDR route is do able too which you'll see next. TOTW i think would be with the correct setup rig.

So long as properly equiped as you said(taller tires mainly). If you know the rig well. Should be fine. I know on a lot of full size rigs too the approach angles and departure angles are generally terrible, even with aftermarket armor. On TOTW that could be an issue.

 

[Long Rifle]

Love to see your pictures and report on the Maze-of the three districts, I like the Maze/Land of the Standing Rocks the best.

A buddy and I made a trip over Christmas break 1970-he in a brand new Power Wagon and myself in my 1969 Scout. Took us the best part of half a day getting down the Orange Cliffs (Flint Trail was a little steeper and more narrow back then) as a large storm had dropped much snow on the trail. Chains on all four wheels and a lot of shovel work. After two nights of camping the cold weather won out. We were camped on the flats not too far from the present Hans Flat Ranger Station when some Mormon cowboys came into our camp asking where we had been. Thought we were going to have a show-down as the area was posted with poison bait warnings and my buddy (future forest ranger) had located two staked out dead sheep laced with poison which he promptly doused with gasoline and than spread black pepper around the burned carcasses.

When we told them that we had been camped at the chocolate drops they said we had to be mistaken as no one could have made it into there after the storm. After breaking camp and heading out, they flagged us down-again I thought they must have found the destroyed bait. They had seen our tracks and inquired as to if we had seen any of their cattle and whether they thought they could get some hay to them. Exciting times indeed.

I have some old 35mm slides-pictures are not spectacular like yours but I think you might enjoy seeing the old vehicles in that setting. I don't post pics on the forum because I am an old computer challenged guy but I will try to dig them up and pm you with my contact info if you are interested.

 

[Blackdawg]

Love to see your pictures and report on the Maze-of the three districts, I like the Maze/Land of the Standing Rocks the best.

A buddy and I made a trip over Christmas break 1970-he in a brand new Power Wagon and myself in my 1969 Scout. Took us the best part of half a day getting down the Orange Cliffs (Flint Trail was a little steeper and more narrow back then) as a large storm had dropped much snow on the trail. Chains on all four wheels and a lot of shovel work. After two nights of camping the cold weather won out. We were camped on the flats not too far from the present Hans Flat Ranger Station when some Mormon cowboys came into our camp asking where we had been. Thought we were going to have a show-down as the area was posted with poison bait warnings and my buddy (future forest ranger) had located two staked out dead sheep laced with poison which he promptly doused with gasoline and than spread black pepper around the burned carcasses.

When we told them that we had been camped at the chocolate drops they said we had to be mistaken as no one could have made it into there after the storm. After breaking camp and heading out, they flagged us down-again I thought they must have found the destroyed bait. They had seen our tracks and inquired as to if we had seen any of their cattle and whether they thought they could get some hay to them. Exciting times indeed.

I have some old 35mm slides-pictures are not spectacular like yours but I think you might enjoy seeing the old vehicles in that setting. I don't post pics on the forum because I am an old computer challenged guy but I will try to dig them up and pm you with my contact info if you are interested.

Hell yea! Man that sounds wild!

The Maze is remote as hell..but the roads are not bad anymore. The Doll House is the roughest road by far..and we blew through it.

We go to the maze on this report so stick around and there will be TONS of photos. We drove pretty much every available road we could. And the ones we didn't, i went back in march to drive! haha Need to go back and try some backpacking into some of the canyons. Didn't get to do a lot of hiking the first round due to our intense driving schedule. Got to do more this last trip..but there is more to be had.

The Rangers there are always blow away with how fast we were able to get around. Good tires and suspension go a long ways there. Which helps as everything is pretty spread out. Definitely a cool place still..not nearly as cool as i bet it was back in your day! But still one of the most remote places I think you can offroad in the USA anyways without going to Alaska and of course our good neighbors Canada. They say it takes 2-3 days for SAR to get there even. And i can believe it.

thank god there are still places like that..for now.

Be cool to see your photos! I'd get a kick out of that. We stopped and read a bunch about the ranches that used to work that area. Talk about the worlds greatest office..be a hard living though.

 

[unkamonkey]

Love to see your pictures and report on the Maze-of the three districts, I like the Maze/Land of the Standing Rocks the best.

A buddy and I made a trip over Christmas break 1970-he in a brand new Power Wagon and myself in my 1969 Scout. Took us the best part of half a day getting down the Orange Cliffs (Flint Trail was a little steeper and more narrow back then) as a large storm had dropped much snow on the trail. Chains on all four wheels and a lot of shovel work. After two nights of camping the cold weather won out. We were camped on the flats not too far from the present Hans Flat Ranger Station when some Mormon cowboys came into our camp asking where we had been. Thought we were going to have a show-down as the area was posted with poison bait warnings and my buddy (future forest ranger) had located two staked out dead sheep laced with poison which he promptly doused with gasoline and than spread black pepper around the burned carcasses.

When we told them that we had been camped at the chocolate drops they said we had to be mistaken as no one could have made it into there after the storm. After breaking camp and heading out, they flagged us down-again I thought they must have found the destroyed bait. They had seen our tracks and inquired as to if we had seen any of their cattle and whether they thought they could get some hay to them. Exciting times indeed.

I have some old 35mm slides-pictures are not spectacular like yours but I think you might enjoy seeing the old vehicles in that setting. I don't post pics on the forum because I am an old computer challenged guy but I will try to dig them up and pm you with my contact info if you are interested.

We were out there about the same time. '79/'80? A '64 Scout with a Chevy I6, a '79 Toyota PU and a '61 3B V6. The Moab overlook was the warm up trail.
A few years ago a few friends did the overlook in a Cj5 and a Cj7. The Toyzuki folks wondered how mostly stock Jeeps could get up there.( F&R Elockers on both of them).
People wondered about taking a full sized truck on some of those trails. We did Confluence Overlook and Lockhart Basin with either an F250 of a F350 in the group. No, I wouldn't recommend a big overhead camper on either trail. (you can't get a big overhead to the Confluence).

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Great report. Great pictures.

Man, I love how you beat up your rigs. Pictures usually do not do some trails justice. Some of those trails do guarantee rig damage. Love how you take it with stride.

Keep up the great posts and adventure.

One life to live. Make it count!

 

[Blackdawg]

Great report. Great pictures.

Man, I love how you beat up your rigs. Pictures usually do not do some trails justice. Some of those trails do guarantee rig damage. Love how you take it with stride.

Keep up the great posts and adventure.

One life to live. Make it count!

Haha i think i have a problem. I bought this rig as a DD but then..well..here we are haha! love these trucks. Just go and go and go. Fits me well

Thanks for the commenting and reading! I don't plan on stopping doing this, part of who i am at this point. I love it, need it, crave it.

 

[owyheerat]

@Blackdawg, once again, another amazing trip report. It makes me want to leave work and head there right now...ha

I appreciate the time you take to create these. I have read all of your trip reports, starting with the Magruder trail cv axle catastrophe, and have thoroughly enjoyed all of them...but this one is my favorite! I am definitely going to do this trip.

I'm sure it's been brought up before, but can you describe your photo kit? Your pics are amazing!

Thanks

Durwin

 

[Blackdawg]

@Blackdawg, once again, another amazing trip report. It makes me want to leave work and head there right now...ha

I appreciate the time you take to create these. I have read all of your trip reports, starting with the Magruder trail cv axle catastrophe, and have thoroughly enjoyed all of them...but this one is my favorite! I am definitely going to do this trip.

I'm sure it's been brought up before, but can you describe your photo kit? Your pics are amazing!

Thanks

Durwin

Well thanks for following along through out the years!

Mike and I both really REALLY enjoyed this trip. We think it was the best we have done too. Lots of remote stuff and also, just miles of dirt that are easily connected.

We shoot Canon gear, though nothing super speacial.

Mike's gear:

Canon 50D
10-22mm Canon lens
24-135mm canon lens
Edits in Adobe Photoshop Elements 7

Mine:

Canon 60D
18-135mm Canon STM lens
10-18mm Canon STM lens
I use LR5 and PS CS6 to my editing.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

 

[pyrate]

Thanks again for such a great trip report. Stopping mid moment and taking pictures isn't easy and I appreciate all the effort.

I am curious what your experience is w/ the tire damage you guys experience. Anyone honor warranties?

 

[Blackdawg]

Thanks again for such a great trip report. Stopping mid moment and taking pictures isn't easy and I appreciate all the effort.

I am curious what your experience is w/ the tire damage you guys experience. Anyone honor warranties?

Thanks man!

Well, Ben and Mike both go through Discount Tire i think. And both have replaced their tires before. In fact, Mike brought the KO2 he picked up in Moab to Discount, told them what happened, and they traded him a KM2 straight across no questions. Mostly because the KO2 hadn't ever been mounted still.

But me, i don't have that luxury being from a very small town in Wyoming. Im just screwed either way for that. Only gotten one flat myself years ago. MTRKs are holding up great. And the Coopers.

The other times we have blown tires were in Canada and that of course is a full pay out of pocket situation.