Another Prerun through Lockhart Basin with Wasatch Cruisers
After a quick meeting we departed for the Lockhart basin trail again. This time, under partly cloudy skies reaching damp dirt that wasn’t muddy or dusty. I had mentioned some concerns about the trail in general and I was focused on determining what would work best for this group and the next as I plan to lead another group through the area for the inaugural run of Lockhart Basin for Cruise Moab.
We had a great group of qualified experienced drivers and solid vehicles that would be put to the test as we pressed on despite harrowing tales of past experience in the area. We passed consistent traffic and worked our way out towards Chicken Corners when we encountered another such tale. After a bit of research, I found that the nearby grave site marked by a stone and a lasso indicated that Sheriff Johnson had died here when his horse fell after stumbling into a hole in 1927. It wasn’t far past that point that we encountered a muddy rutted section of trail precariously close to a cliff, sheer down to the Colorado River. After the scenic route and back, we settled on a site with a view and stars for the night.
The next morn, we enjoyed the new light to the same spectacular scenery and packed up to move on for Lockhart. Once past the sign, this trail gets serious right away as it climbs up a series of narrow and uneven grades to a rocky canyon. At the top there are several large rocks that challenge ground clearance more as the area around them erodes. As such, the holes get filled in with numerous rocks as they are stacked to make the route passable. These rocks present their own challenges as they can move unpredictably at times and out from under spinning tires. We found a good line that let the first trucks though without incident. At the bottom of the hill, Silly Dave managed to move to the right of a large rock that left him high centered with a large noise emanating from the front differential. We managed a coordinated effort with the use of Maxtrax and stacked rocks to get him off of the boulder and up to the base of the main obstacle. Using a 4Runner, we setup a solid anchor for SDave to winch up the hill. A GX made it up most of the way until it kept getting high centered at the top. Every attempt to get it back up of that rock failed once the tires turned sending other rocks and maxtrax out from under the tires, so we winched it up to become the new steadfast anchor. Around this point, we had a some moto and SxS traffic backing up. We made quick work with the next 2 trucks and made room for the bikes to ride through. Another well equipped 100 series crawled up with delicate precision spotted and assisted by the whole crew, but somehow, the heavy rig struggled up the unsettling boulders and the front end let out a dreaded pop that began to repeat itself. From there we repeated the well known process to stabilize the vehicle on rocks just high enough to clear the biggest boulder and winch past it up the hill.
Our grouped moved on and over to a large pull out area with a view of beyond and we proceeded to convert SDaves truck to 2 wheel drive by removing the front drive shaft and hub flanges and covering the hubs with a Gatorade bottle that fit just right. Some duct tape fabrication held the bottle halves in place and the black 100 was set to roll again. The other 100 driver opted to perform the procedure after we made camp retaining the use of what drive might still be available from the front end. As our club moved on, it was impressive to see what SDave could accomplish with just rear wheel drive. It was apparent that he had some driving skills and the guts to put them to use where momentum was needed to overcome the lack of traction.
The basin was named after L. B. Lockhart, a prospector that settled at Utah bottoms on the Dolores river in the early 1900’s. It is exposed to vast reaches of grandeur from the Colorado river below reaching up the steep cliffs and hillsides across numerous mesas, chimneys, arches, and such amazing topographical texture. Towering above are the plateaus and viewpoints like the famous Hatch point, named after Alonzo Hatch.
In 1952 a Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star crashed in the canyon on a flight from Hill AFB to Biggs field TX. The aircraft carrying 2 pilots suffered an engine failure when it flamed out and after 3 in flight starting attempts the turbine wheel had exited the aircraft and weakened the tail assembly which separated from the aircraft. The plane then spun out of control and after a jettison of the cockpit lid, a LT. Harsh was flung from the craft and then parachuted to the ground. He suffered a twisted ankle and survived in the canyon until spotted by another C-47 aircraft and rescued some 27 hours after the incident. The co pilot Lt. Wingert had died near the wreckage that still remains in place due to the remoteness of the crash site. Upon looking the area over and the aid of some optics, our group was able to spot and photograph both a tail section and aircraft debris spread across a few drainages in the area.
Cruising on towards Lockhart canyon a distance that was best described in clicks heard from a 100 series front diff, I was impressed by the characters in our convoy and how well they maintained an optimistic outlook that makes it fun to be around each other and chat on the radio. The group was tolerant and accepting of dogs and kids and an errant driver over the occasional fire pan. It seemed like the group was easy going about the time or pace that we traveled though it was nice to find a good place to rest and setup camp after a long day on the trail. Our recon revealed one of very few locations that actually seemed suitable and legitimate as a campsite for this occasion and the upcoming CM event. We had good conversation around the fire under the stars.
Up and running like a well oiled machine of a 2UZ, we were ready and rolling and working like a pit crew to sort out another 2wheel drive conversion. Solo cups were fit and fashioned over the hubs with such quality that the stock center caps still fit on over them and you couldn’t tell there was anything out of place. The trail ahead was pretty smooth as we enjoyed some more incredible views and made it out to Indian Creek and then airing up for the road out past newspaper rock. We had been very fortunate to enjoy excellent weather for the entirety of the trip. Setting off and bidding farewell, I could still hear the chatter over the radio for quite some time in the distance.
After further consideration from this and past experience, taking in to account various ideas, I determined that it would be better to run the route for the Cruise Moab Overnight run from the south instead of the North. I had considered this before as an alternative, though I thought that the more challenging route from the north was still reasonable and worthwhile. After encountering the difficulty that we did, I think it will be best to take the easier route down the most challenging obstacles with a likely larger group. Though it’s possible, and has been done, I would prefer to minimize the potential of damage, while still enjoying the adventure. I did not expect to encounter the mechanical issues that we did, though I know that it is part of the risk and I feel confident that we tried to avoid the damage while exercising caution in a challenging situation. Fortunately, the remainder of the trail was no trouble and this prerun with our club was very helpful in determining several valuable insights for the future run. If you are registered for Cruise Moab and considering it, feel free to join us on this great trail if there are still spots available.
special thanks to Kyle for some of the photos.
