I decided to take a little Boyz time and explore some dotted lines on the topo map. I ultimately wanted to find out if there were any connections between Utah highway 12 (north of Boulder) and the Notom road--other than the Burr trail and hwy 24.
The short answer to my question is NO.
The quickest way to get that answer would have been to call the Park Service and ask--but that's not nearly as entertaining.
The three of us drove down Friday night, and crashed in the truck at marshy little Bluegrass Lake--just north of Boulder, turning off the highway right around the crest.
The short version of the story:
Spent the whole morning wheeling down to Dry Bench. I think I was the first full-size vehicle to follow the trail in a decade. It was very overgrown, and I have many fine new pin-stripes.
There were a few genuinely rough and rocky spots--but nothing difficult for the 80. Besides negotiating thickets of dead and dried out pinon, the crux was a steep and sandy washed-out gully (sorry, no pictures). I was a little nervous, but my 80 rallied up it with out even breathing hard (maybe it's driver is becoming more skilled as well?).
Around midday, we reached the functional end-of-the-line: The Capitol Reef National Park boundary and a posted "no motorized travel" sign across the dwindling trail. My Google Earth expeditions lead me to believe that the trail DOES go--but not legally. Being a responsible citizen, I turned around and spent a couple hours wheeling back up to the highway.
Futile, but fun.
I decided that exploring the handful of other dotted lines on my list would wait for another trip, and we decided to drive the Tantalus Flats/South Draw trail through Capitol Reef--I KNEW that went through.
It was a very scenic, fun trail. Only ran into a couple other folks.
Nothing like wheeling in fully climate controlled FZJ80. She really did the trick this weekend. In addition to bookoo scratches, I inadvertently perched my front axle up on a big boulder and almost had to break out the winch to get off
. Also found a slow leak in one of my Terra Grapplers the day after I got home--looks like a tiny puncture in the sidewall. The trail was criss-crossed with downed trees and overgrown brush. Add to that piles of volcanic boulders and cobbles and you really but the tires to the test. The Nittos have really been great. I'll take it into Discount Tire tomorrow--I've got the full replacement certificates if needed.
Overall a great weekend dash with the boys, even though my expedition technically failed.
Luckily, there are 20 or 30 more dotted lines waiting on my topo, and the boys are always ready to roll
Ryan
The short answer to my question is NO.
The quickest way to get that answer would have been to call the Park Service and ask--but that's not nearly as entertaining.
The three of us drove down Friday night, and crashed in the truck at marshy little Bluegrass Lake--just north of Boulder, turning off the highway right around the crest.
The short version of the story:
Spent the whole morning wheeling down to Dry Bench. I think I was the first full-size vehicle to follow the trail in a decade. It was very overgrown, and I have many fine new pin-stripes.
There were a few genuinely rough and rocky spots--but nothing difficult for the 80. Besides negotiating thickets of dead and dried out pinon, the crux was a steep and sandy washed-out gully (sorry, no pictures). I was a little nervous, but my 80 rallied up it with out even breathing hard (maybe it's driver is becoming more skilled as well?).
Around midday, we reached the functional end-of-the-line: The Capitol Reef National Park boundary and a posted "no motorized travel" sign across the dwindling trail. My Google Earth expeditions lead me to believe that the trail DOES go--but not legally. Being a responsible citizen, I turned around and spent a couple hours wheeling back up to the highway.
Futile, but fun.
I decided that exploring the handful of other dotted lines on my list would wait for another trip, and we decided to drive the Tantalus Flats/South Draw trail through Capitol Reef--I KNEW that went through.
It was a very scenic, fun trail. Only ran into a couple other folks.
Nothing like wheeling in fully climate controlled FZJ80. She really did the trick this weekend. In addition to bookoo scratches, I inadvertently perched my front axle up on a big boulder and almost had to break out the winch to get off
. Also found a slow leak in one of my Terra Grapplers the day after I got home--looks like a tiny puncture in the sidewall. The trail was criss-crossed with downed trees and overgrown brush. Add to that piles of volcanic boulders and cobbles and you really but the tires to the test. The Nittos have really been great. I'll take it into Discount Tire tomorrow--I've got the full replacement certificates if needed. Overall a great weekend dash with the boys, even though my expedition technically failed.
Luckily, there are 20 or 30 more dotted lines waiting on my topo, and the boys are always ready to roll
Ryan
