Weekend San Rafael Swell transit

[Hayes]

My general plan was to traverse the Swell from south to north, starting near Goblin Valley, and ending at the Wedge. I wanted to use rougher, more interesting roads and trails--as opposed to the more obvious graded route from Temple Mountain through Buckhorn Wash--so the plan included a descent from Devil's Racetrack to Coal Wash, and a ford of the San Rafael river via Fuller Bottom. I also added a segment at the southern end--starting at U24 near Factory Butte and Caineville, following the Caineville Reef, fording Muddy Creek, and approaching Goblin Valley from Wildhorse Mesa.

The Factory Butte segment went quickly. The only other travelers we encountered were pulling handcarts, and the trail was a good 2-track, lightly dozed in areas. The Muddy Creek crossing was very tame. The creek itself was only a few inches deep, the braided channels were dry, and the cutbanks were beaten down. I can imagine high run-off creating a maze of mud and high banks, however. We passed one family in an FJ Cruiser here.

The rest of the drive to Goblin Valley was also quick and easy, with lots of colorful badlands and rounded deposits of clay-rich, wrinkled-looking sediment that made me feel like I was driving across the backs of giant elephants

The Mighty Muddy:

Geology:

<MORE TO COME>

 

[Hayes]

PART 2:

We stopped in a Goblin Valley to play amongst the goblins and let the kids get some exercise. I had not been to Goblin Valley since my early college days, and I was surprised to see a new entry station and paved road out to Temple Mountain wash. Of course, the last time I was at Goblin Valley my perception was severely altered as well , so maybe it has been this way all along...

<MORE TO COME>

 

[Hayes]

PART 3:

I had wanted to camp along the route somewhere Saturday night. My wife REALLY didn't want to camp in 15-degree weather however, so the goal was to reach Ferron via Horn Silver gulch and stay the night in a cabin at Gilly's. Horn Silver gulch is a long way from Goblin Valley, and I was uncertain about the Factory Butte segment adding too much travel time to our journey. By the time we pulled out of Goblin Valley at 4:00 pm, I knew I had bitten off more than we could chew in daylight. We were prepared to camp if necessary (I still wanted to), but the goal was to reach Gilly's before they closed the store at 8:00 pm.
High speed travel ensued.

We flew up Temple Mountain wash at a good clip. I had traced in a route to I-70 that took us off the standard route and through Rod's Valley, near Swazey cabin. This stretch was 2-track and only mildly graded--travel took on a distinctly Baja character as I tried to put on more miles. The sun was setting as we sqeezed under I-70 and made for the top of the Devil's Racetrack.

<MORE>

 

[Hayes]

PART 4:

We hit the top of the Devil's Racetrack at 5:00 pm. There were easier ways to the bottom of Coal Wash, but I was really looking forward to some good wheeling. By now the sun was below the south western horizon, the light was fading fast, and we had 3 hours to get down the rough and rocky trail, down Coal wash, up Horn Silver, and across the desert to Ferron. Casual wheeling with lots of pictures and playing on obstacles was not a possibility, but at this point I was focused on the challenge of wheeling in the dark, with a distinct time limit.

We rocked and rolled across the rocky upper stretch of Devil's Racetrack. At the major ledges just beyond the narrow traverse of a rocky off-camber cliff, there was only a faint afterglow left in the sky and a full moon on the opposite horizon. I rumbled up the ledges without breaking pace. At the topmost and largest ledge, I bashed my way up without stopping to adjust my line, and clawed my rear end over with only a little squealing rubber.

The remainder of the descent was in true darkness, with tight, twisting berms left by ATVs, and just enough rock to keep us in low-range. We hit Coal Wash and the bottom of the trail at 6:15. I hopped out to check on any post-bashing damage to my front bumper, but found only beauty marks (hey, it's a Slee ).

At this point things really got fun. The wash was sandy and quite accommodating to the skinny pedal. Soft whoop-de-dos and rounded cutbanks had the kids squealing in delight. My wife and I had a very nerdy moment where we lapsed into conversation about the wavelengths and amplitudes of various bumps in the road and their respective merits. Long wavelength, high amplitude = fun. High frequency = bad.

The Baja rally continued safely but very quickly as I zoned out on the trail in front of me. For being in the truck as long as the had been, the kids were having a great time.

We pulled into Gilly's at 7:15 pm, just over 2 hours after starting down the Devil's Racetrack.


<A LITTLE MORE>

 

[Hayes]

PART 5:

We left Gilly's at about 9:30 and took drove back down Horn Silver at a much milder pace than the previous night. We followed a track out along the edge of canyon labeled "Little Wedge" on the map.

The trail dropped us down to Fuller Bottom, where the San Rafael river has room to spread out and meander amongst the cottonwoods. This crossing was also easy, albeit a little deeper, and choked with ice. Very cool experience driving out onto, and then breaking through the ice as I forged across the river.

From here it was a quick dash up Fuller Bottom draw--where I stopped to chat with Kurt from Cruiser Outfitters and Richard Dyatt on their way south. They had been turned away from the White Rim due to snow, and were heading down to Eagle Canyon and an adventurous-sounding sandy climb that could connect the canyon bottom to the higher regions of the Swell. (I'm looking forward to hearing about this one and seeing some photos).


<ONE MORE PART>

 

[Hayes]

PART 6:

In short time we found ourselves at the Wedge, overlooking the Little Grand Canyon. We spent a while with the view, airing up tires, and climbing trees. Elias also decided to drop his shoe off the cliff...

From there it was a quick drive to two McDonalds Happy-Meals in Price and then back home to reflect on a weekend well-spent.


Ryan

 

[Hayes]

Hi-rez versions of all the photos here:

http://www.mintchewsessions.com/071124 San Rafael Swell (large)/index.html

 

[Hayes]

These are pre-trip maps of my route, but the final route was almost exactly as it shows here. I don't have the map from Horn Silver to the Wedge handy. I'll get it up later.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

awesome as always Ryan!

 

[Moody]

Nice!!! I was thinking of you guys...wishing I was out rather than at home...

 

[Hayes]

We were thinking about you too.
Thanks for the kind Thanksgiving text message.

 

[david despain]

Elias also decided to drop his shoe off the cliff...

ahh haha! fantastic! great trip pics.