unURBAN Adventures - Alaska to Argentina to AFRICA!

[1leglance]

very very cool report and amazing pics...
looking forward to following you two for the entire journey, thanks for taking us along...

So just curious but what did you do with the old wheels & tires? Did the shop give you anything for them?

 

[unURBAN]

Thanks for the comments, folks! It definitely helps for the posting-motivation when you know somebody is reading. nice with feedback!

How did you find information about all the places you have visited? I know there are some good books on offroad trails in Colorado and Utah, but I know nothing about Alaska and Canada. Did you just drive into town, pull out a map and ask "how do I get there, on dirt?" :smiley_drive:
Chris

That would basically be right.... I bought Charles Wells' "Moab, UT. Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails" guidebook for Moab, but other than that it is searching on the internet and word-by-mouth info. And we are strong believers of the "Where do you think that road is going?" - filosophy.

E&M

 

[unURBAN]

Lockhart Basin - Part 1

Have mentioned some trails in the Moab area that we have been discussing, and the Lockhart Basin Trail was one of them. This is a trail graded "difficult", but after trying out some of the trails in the area, we believed this should be just fine.

So when the new tires were fitted, we packed up the Patrol and hit the road going up to Hurrah Pass and Chicken's Corner (see blog post from April: http://iloapp.unurban.no/blog/blog?Home&post=3)

Just as we were to leave Moab, we met a swiss couple in a Land Rover Defender that we stopped to talk to. It was past 4 pm when we left Moab, so we were definitely a bit late. Discussed if we should camp for the night before hitting the trail, but as we were "just going up the hard part of the start of the trail" before we had planned to camp, it shouldn't be a problem. It was only about two miles.... And we had at least an hour and a half.... We obviously learn VERY slow on this matter...

The start of The Lockhart Basin Trail

What we didn't realize/remembered before we started driving the trail, was that we had seen a lot of muddy jeeps the last couple of days. Also note what kind of weather we had in our post from Imogene Pass (abvout 100 miles away, but it had also rained quite a bit in Moab). The Lockhart Basin Trail starts relatively hard with a trail going up through a narrow canyon. The probalem, as it turned out, was that some of the road was missing, and what was left was a river bed and some big rocks. However, it didnt start too rough, so the "alarm" didn't really go off until we were way up in the canyon, and we realized that ew were running out of time. It was too narrow to turn around, and it was getting dark. Good for us, it takes a lot to stop a Patrol with diff lockers, 3,75 crawl gear, 5" lift, and 37" tires. So be it that I scartched one of my new wheels (4 hours old!!!) and my rear ARB bumper.

Still just fun, and some MTZ tracks were ahead of us...

Facinating road, but getting harder and harder to turn around!

Still some daylight, but we have started to worry about getting up the canyon before dark...

37"s definitely helps clearing some of the rocks!

But we were going too slow, and it got dark. Slowly worked our way up, but in one spot it almost went wrong. A bad choice of line caused the rear tire so slid down from a small ledge, the oposite side front wheel went up, and we almost rolled the Patrol! An agressive reverse got all wheels back down on the ground, but it was uncomfortably close to a long walk.... New line, and the obstacle went fine! At this time it was almost completely dark, so we didn't manage to take pictures of all the action. And as we had seen traces of how much water that could come our way down the canyon in case of rain, we really had our focus on getting up, and not spending the night...

Eventually we climbed up the last hill, and the reward (even if we didn't see that until the next morning) was a spectacular view of the area. The canyon we came up is down to the right. Next morning we took a short walk back down to have a look at the "road", and I have to say I'm quite impressed about what a 7200 pound Patrol can do!

Pics from the trail and the rest of Lockhart Basin Trail in part 2!

GT

 

[unURBAN]

Lockhart Basin - Part 2

After waking up the next morning, and after the vital shots of coffee, it was time to inspect the equipment after the previos day's fighting with the trail.

One of the rear wheels had some scratches, and there were also some marks on the rear ARB bumper. No problems at all, as this is a looong trip, and I'm pretty sure there will be plenty more... A matter of time...

Still, the bumper would probably have been fine if we hadn't had the 2 inches of sag in our rear coils (and I should probably have fixed a new bump-stop..).

And before we set off for the rest of the trail, we walk the couple of hundred yards back down the trail to have a look at yesterday's fun....

The last hill. And this IS actually quite steep!

Got a bith rough on the last part up through the canyon.

The rest of the trail, on the other hand, was an excellent drive, and the road wasn't too badly affected by the wash-outs from the last rainfall. Didn't see a single vehicle on the trail all day.

Co-pilot is out looking for the best line up. Most of the trail was relatively easy, but it had a few sections with some intersting climbs.

...and a riverbed to avoid a big drop.

But the view was fantastic! Had a long day of driving, and we spent quite a bit more than the 6 hours the guide book suggested for "normal" conditions. Camped at the Hamburger Rock at the end of the trail, and the next day we
headed for Lake Powell and Grand Canyon!

More soon!
E&M

 

[Ropeman]

An excellent report on what looks like a truly fantastic trip, thanks very much for sharing it with us.

Amazing the variety in climates in a relatively small area.

I just got some KM2s and it's always nice to hear good reports on something you've just spent that much money on. Reassuring.

 

[trailsurfer]

Great report. Looks like you both are having a great time. Thanks for the updates and your fantastic photos.

 

[NorCalLC]

Excellent trip report and photos! I'm really jealous

Brings back great memories of Colorado, but makes me realize how much more of this great country I still need to see.

Keep up the good work and be safe

 

[Ford Prefect]

I thought I would tell you, I have seen this trail looking exactly like this in July, and August. Then again once in early July I went and there were many snow drifts three times the height of your Patrol. (they had been cut through to allow access for vehicle passage)

Really glad yall did Imogene Pass! That too is one of my favorite trails! So cool that you are hitting all of the areas I would recommend for the perfect trip around the wester USA! Mesa Verde is also really amazing!

Glad you did Lockheart. I seem to recall mentioning that it can get interesting. SUPER trip, thanks a lot for sharing!


Just so you know there IS a 4x4 trail down into the BOTTOM of the Grand Canyon. There is a jeep company that does tours down it there on the south rim. They imply that they are the only ones allowed on the road and that it is on one of the Reservations, but typically you can contact the Res and see if there is any chance of you going on it. They tend to be willing to allow exceptions from time to time for the right price.

I have seen photos and it is a wonderful looking trip. I believe the trail is about four hours from town around to the west.

 

[unURBAN]

Hey!
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions!! Keep them comming (feels good to know that some are enjoying the pics).

The biggest problem with North America is that here is just too much too see.... And Imogene Pass was amazing even if the weather wasn't the best.

Now we are on our way north west towards Death Valley and Yosemity.

E&M

 

[unURBAN]

Four days and four Nation Parks

After driving the Lockhart Basin Trail from Moab we drove to Lake Powell. Arriving at Halls Crossing, we had planned to take the ferry across Lake Powell the same day to Bullfrog. Then we learned that it was no longer summer, but fall, and that the ferry now operated after the fall schedule. The last ferry across left at 2 pm, and we got there at 3 pm... The result of this was that we had an afternoon off with no driving. So instead we had a swim in the lake, Espen fixed something on the car, I cooked dinner, and we shared a bottle of white wine while we looked at the sun set. Changing of plans is not always bad?

The next day we managed to get the ferry across Lake Powell before we drove north-west on Burr Trail.

On our way we crossed Capital Reef National Park, and after crossing the Reef we took a detour on narrow trail going up a dry river bed at Upper Muley Twist Canyon. From the end of the trail it was a short hike up to a view point with excellent views over Capitol Reef.

After having lunch on the Reef we drove on to Bryce Canyon.

And even driving between the different National Parks in Southern Utah are pretty spectacular as the landscape is just amazing. Even in short distances the scenery change a lot, and somehow the “rocks” always look a bit different.

We spent the night in a campground in the National Forrest just west of Bryce National Park. In the morning we were woken up by gun shots at 0630, the hunting season has obviously started. But for us it was time to get up and see Bryce Canyon National Park.

Bryce was again different from all the Parks we have seen so far, and really impressive. After looking at the major sites, thunder clouds were closing in on us, and we felt we had seen enough. We turned the car around and drove to Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon was definitely Grand looking down at it from the North Rim. After stopping at different viewpoints the thunder clouds were catching up on us when we were at Valhalla, and we felt it was time to leave. On the road back to Kanab we passed through an area with fresh snow. It is fall.

We headed for Zion National Park, but the road was closed at night because of road work and we had to camp just before the park.

Next morning we drove into our fourth National Park in four days. Had planned to have a good look around in Zion because we had heard the park is beautiful and again different from all the other Parks in the area. Clouds were hanging low over the mountain, and rain and thunder were getting more and more intense. After speeding through all these different national Parks we felt we had seen enough rocks in different shapes, and we did not feel like camping in thunder storms for the next two days. So our stay in Zion went down the drain.

But there is always a next time....
E&M

 

[unURBAN]

Las Vegas!

Las Vegas... what can we say about that place? Hmm … You are driving through the desert and then you get to this big city in the middle of nowhere that should not really exist in a desert. Walking around the town feels like a Disney Land for grown-ups.

Still, we felt we had to stop and experience it. We got to Vegas on a Monday, and in the weekdays some hotels have a decent price on their rooms to attract people so they can spend their money on gambling. For us it was our first night in a hotel since 5th of May and we cannot say anything else than it was good. However, we cannot make a habit of staying in hotels, because then our trip will be a short one.

Before arriving in Vegas, Espen had talked about doubling our travel budget, but luckily he had some statistics classes at the University and steered away from both slot machines and the roulette. Our dollars were not spent in the casino, but on nice food.

In the Paris Las Vegas Hotel we had some amazing cakes,

Dinner one night was scallops and cauliflower purè.

...and was of course eaten while watching the fountain in front of the Bellagio, mmm…

The rest of our time we walked around looking at the different hotels and casinos, and it is crazy what they build. After three days in Vegas we felt it was enough and time to get out of the city. Leaving Las Vegas we drove to Lake Mead and across the Hoover Dam. Impressive structure, and also strange to see how much the water level has gone down there in recent years.

Wonder why… Vegas?

E&M

 

[ert01]

Its great to look at all your pictures! My wife and I just came back from a very similar route but we did it in reverse of what you are doing. A lot of the pictures look very similar! Have fun and enjoy he rest of your trip!

 

[redthies]

Did you drive on the dam, or is the new bridge open? I have not been that way for a few years now, but I thought they were going to close the dam to the public in case someone wanted to blow it up... Last time there was a ton of security on the AZ side.

 

[unURBAN]

New bridge was not open, so we drove across the dam. And the security check points are still there... They flagged us down and wanted to have a look at what we had under the big grey transport cover on our roof.... :costumed-smiley-007

E&M

 

[PolarXJ]

Great report...and pictures. Thanks for sharing your trip.

Hey!
The biggest problem with North America is that here is just too much too see.... And Imogene Pass was amazing even if the weather wasn't the best.
E&M

Thats is definitely true. I've explored a bunch of Utah and still feel like I've only sampled a very small bit of it.