Utah Trip Report

[concretejungle]

This trip report is not going to be the same storyline as the Rubicon trip, so i'm sorry about that. I didn't take my dad this time so there is not nearly as much comedy and drama involved. hahaha

The reason for me staring this trip report is two fold, first off, it was the most amazing trip I have ever been on and now that i've had a few days to decompress, its time to start telling about it. I'm not kidding and i'm not embellishing it, it was truly epic.

Secondly, I would be interested in putting together this trip again with some of you guys/gals. I tracked all the trails, gas stops, camps spots on my GPS so i have all the tracks to return to. It would have to be a small group of capable rigs and you would need to block off at least 10 days to experience this. So hopefully in the near future we can bring that discussion up. I would be interested in a 2015 date.

All my pictures are on an external drive at the house, so i will start inserting pictures this evening.

So on to the story....

This story actually started last year, as I was about to leave the TLCA event Rubithon. As I was about to leave for the ride home it was suggested by cruiser drew and others that i stop in Moab for a day and at least run one trail. That's exactly what happened, on the way home my dad and I stopped in Moab and wheeled Fins and Things. After we got off the trail I told my dad that this was a place we had to come back to. That's when cruise moab started to ring in my head.

So, that's the beginning of how i decided i was going to drive my truck to Utah and wheel moab. The rest of the story falls together as all great stories do.

When i was on the Rubithon trip i met some great Mud friends that i had conversed with over the past years on the internet but never met. Cruiserdrew was one of them. When i told Cruiserdrew that i was going to be attending cruise Moab he insisted that i stay and do the hole in the rock trail with them after cruise moab. I had never heard of that trail so immediately i started googling it and youtube it. After all, on youtube i have already wheeled most of utah!! There is some information out there, but not a ton.

In short my trip would be: Leave Friday for Moab. Make it to Moab Sunday, tool around and explore Sunday and Monday maybe hitting arches NP. Hopefully meet up with some cruiser heads rolling in on Tuesday and explore more trails. Wednesday, register for cruise moab and do some drinking with cruiser heads. Thursday, Friday, wheel cruise moab. Hit the raffle Friday night and hope to win some cool stuff. Saturday, hit my last trail of the cruise moab event and then meet up with the guys for the second tier of the trip. The second tier of the trip was meeting with Andy and crew on Saturday, head to canyon lands and the needles district, start off on Elephant hill and end up in beef basin, then head over to bears ears, out from bears ears and then start hole in the rock. Hole in the rock was a 3 day event. After exiting hole in the rock, we would enter into red canyon, wheel it up to an old abandoned uranium mine called Radium King mine. After that, i would be back on pavement and then start the trip back east while the rest of the guys went back into the canyons for another couple of days. . . .

 

[elkaholic]

Can't wait for the rest of this .... I love that area of the country and have been numerous times. It is just about impossible to run out of places to explore and trails to run ....

 

[Cirbo]

I haven't been there since 2005. Would love to go back.

 

[krzyabncanuck]

Can not wait for the report. Was supposed to go this year but when the better half got laid off there went my play money........

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Like everyone else, I can't wait!

I'm planning on moab 2015 for Moonshine.

 

[concretejungle]

With the exchange of a few emails between cruiserdrew and myself, dates were set. Once that was accomplished my mind switched over to prepping the truck for the trip. I felt like the truck was pretty capable as it is and really i didn't need much of anything. But one thing was on my mind from the last cross country trip; a roof top tent.

Out broke the dry erase board. On the top it read "Moab 2014" "Departure Date: April 25th". It was set, now i just needed a few things. Well, next thing you know the list got longer and longer. I had all year to prepare, so as it got closer to go time, i had checked the majority of the items off the list.

I purchased a RTT, load bars and had them arrive at the house about a week before departure. The fridge was clean and running. I had purchased a vacuum sealer so i could prepare some food, seal it, freeze it and have it later. Last items were fresh new u-joints in the driveshafts and a to check them for balance. All good!

I was getting anxious. Next on the list was to confirm itinerary for the trip out, lock in schedules and make sure i had cell phone numbers and all the proper maps, paperwork.

Now a side note is that during this time the entire crew for the adventure trip got an email string going and also used google drive to prepare a meal list. So i clicked on the link.... WTF! This was supposed to be a camping trip, not a gourmet culinary experience. No. Apparently "norcal" doesn't play around when it comes to eating on the trail. Also i should mention these guys are also Coleman fanatics and we are talking more burners then you would see at a 5 star restaurant. Since steak, chick and pasta, eggs Benedict, paieja were all taken, i opted for burgers and pancakes for breakfast. haha

Truck maintenance.... check
Food purchased..... Check
Signed up for cruise moab... check
Confirmed adventure trip with Andy.... check
Truck loaded......... Check
Everything at work squared away since i will be GONE I told them, like as in i will not answer the phone...... CHECK.

It was Thursday night and i could barely sleep. Time to go in the morning.

 

[concretejungle]

Friday morning rolled around and i was up and ready to go. I had actually done an excellent job of prepping and had very little to do in the morning other than wake up and get in the truck.

I finished loading a few of the items from the freezer and fridge into the Engel, hopped in the truck, turned on the GPS and set it to coordinates for a campground i had read about online about 80 miles west of St. Louis. It was going to be a long day but i wanted to get out there as fast as possible.

It was an uneventful trip out. I rolled into the destination about 10:00 pm. I couldn't see much but realized in the morning that the place was actually VERY nice. It was still a little close to the road since i could hear the trucks rolling at 80mph at night. They had showers, crappers and nice clean camp spaces. It cost me $13 and i was happy to pay.

The next morning i woke up and was eager to hit the road. I made some coffee, a quick breakfast burrito and took off west. My next destination was a camp spot i had also heard about online. If it was as good as this one, i should be in luck!

This day was a haul. This is the worst part of the drive and i wish you could just skip it. But, you can't. So you just deal with it. It was particularly windy this day and the timing couldn't be worse. There was a 25 mph head wind slash side/head wind that would stop your progress or try to shove you off the right side of the road. It was hell. There were times where if you took your hands off the wheel it would turn directly right.

The cruiser was having a hard time running 75mph even with the supercharger. I couldn't wait to get into colorado to my next camp site. The gps said i only had 11.5 more hours to go.......

 

[concretejungle]

I must give I-70 a little credit. One nice thing about it once you get west of Kansas City is that the traffic really dies down. So you don't have to worry about all the knucklehead drivers. On a soap box you sure can tell you are out west when you drive. Everyone has common sense, they move over and they let you drive 75 to 80MPH all over the place. Bag east, we are just slow....

So, i get to denver finally as it's getting dark and i can just make out the rockies in the distance. My GPS had me on track for the campsite at 10:15pm.

Past denver i go, and up the Rockies i start. Heading up, cruiser is running great, it's getting later, i'm getting tired but shouldn't be a big deal. Right as i start getting up Eisenhour pass before i make the tunnel, it starts to rain. Then, it turns into snow. Then it start to dump snow. Trucks are starting to pull off and chain up. I'm thinking WTF do i do now. I keep digging that's what i do. So i keep driving, but at a much slower pace. I can barely see and i really can't tell just how slick the roads are.

Getting real close to my campspot.

Finally, GPS says exit. OK, biiiiiigggg problem. First off, it's about 11:00pm so it's dark as can be. Not much city and street light pollution up there, snow dumping down, oh, and there is about 4 to 5 foot snow drifts surrounding the road with at least 3 to 4 feet of standing snow. I look at this supposed camp spot that i'm supposed to drive down by the river and have a nice little spot to camp and it's under feet of snow!

So, I just decided to turn around and drive into the parking lot of copper mountain ski resort which is right behind me, pop up the tent, crash and figure it out in the morning. And that's what i did.

I guess i didn't really do my homework since apparently everyone out there acted like it was normal to get dumped on up there this time of year.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Oh my god oh my god oh my god. *little kid jumping up and down* What happened next?!?

I'm jealous that you're making these trips with Andy. I've conversed with him a bunch over the past couple of years and want to meet him, to thank him, for all advice he's given me.

 

[LockedNLoaded]

Man I am so jealous right now.

 

[concretejungle]

Woke up the next morning to the sound of snow plows plowing around me. Kind of in a daze, i got out of the tent, brushed everything off, folded the tent down, got in the truck and headed down the mountain. I pulled off in vail at a starbucks and ordered some coffee and a spinach wrap. It was damn good!

Jumped back on the road and had a destination of moab, Ut; or somewhere close. As i started down the mountain, the snow got less and less until eventually it was completely nonexistent. I eventually pulled off at Glenwood Springs which was a really cool town for some lunch and fuel. Gassed up, hit the road.

It was still incredibly windy. It did take concentration to keep the cruiser on the road. I eventually made it to the entrance of Arches NP and decided to go ahead and check it out. As i pulled in i noticed that my exhaust had gotten loud all of a sudden. It sounded like i had a hole in it. I was third in line to get my entrance ticket so i just grinned and acted like everything was cool. Got my entry ticket which is good for a week at any NP, and did a u-turn and headed out.

I decided to go find a cool camp spot and chill. I wanted to just chill after driving for two hard days, snow, wind, rain, and now an exhaust issue. I had time to deal with it and actually had a tube of exhaust putty in the tool kit.

So i exited Arches and continued south on 191. Not too far down the road i decided to take a left on 128 (i think that's right) and see if there were any camp spots up there. I had heard and read that there were but it's first come first serve. It seemed crowded so i better get to hunting a camp spot.

I rode up the canyon road which was super scenic. Peeled off at Big Bend campground right on the river and popped the tent. It was still windy and this would be a good test of the new RTT in the wind. I aimed the tent into the wind since it's got a little wedge shape to it and then cracked some beers and turned on some music.

The exhaust leak was from a section of flex pipe i had put in my exhaust. The problem is that i had wrapped my exhaust with header wrap for the heat. All winter i drove around in the snow and slush and this wrap soaked up the salt and brine from the road all winter. It just sat there and ate away at that pipe. So the pipe eventually just blew out. I pulled out the tube of exhaust putty and caked it on there. I figured i would let it set up all night and then i would use a little bit of the leftover exhaust wrap to wrap it up to reinforce it. I actually was feeling really positive about this repair!

The temps outside were nice, the wind wasn't getting me down. I cooked some food, looked at some pictures i had taken on the trip and eventually made my way into the tent and to sleep for the night. I slept like a rock.

The next day i planned on getting up and heading into arches NP to check it out.

 

[erymer]

Please don't stop....must....have....more

 

[mtweller]

Bitchin'!!!

R

 

[FJinTegaCay]

Subscribed!

 

[concretejungle]

The next morning i woke up feeling great. The wind was still blowing but not as hard. I made some coffee and a little breakfast. I leisurely broke camp down and put things away. I was trying to enjoy vacation time. Today i planned on hiking around Arches NP and to see how my exhaust fix held up.

I left camp heading for Arches. The exhaust sounded quiet and I was thinking that this patch job just might work. No one would know it was caked together underneath all the exhaust wrap.

I entered Arches and began driving up through the main road in the park. The scenery was spectacular. I stopped every location i could to snap some pics. I also tried to hike every hike i could there. The first were just some small overlook trails. Courthouse towers were cool as heck and then it was off to hike up and see delicate arch. The hike up to the arch was pretty intense. It was all uphill and although not high altitudes, just enough to have me breathing hard. Oh, and i was out of shape too!

First thing i noticed is as you got further into the trail, there really isn't a designated paved trail. You are guided by stacks of rocks called Caroms. When i asked about this, along with the fact that there is a section of the trail that is a cliff hanging trail that has no guard rail and you could easily fall a couple hundred feet with kids running up and down it. I was told that in Utah "they do not like messing up nature" and so you don't see a lot of signs and guard rails. Its basically hike at your own risk. I loved it.

So i hiked delicate arch and back to the car. Further up the road i went until i finally got to the top at Devil's Garden. It was starting to get late so i only hiked about half of this hike and started back to the truck. The next decision would need to be made and it was difficult... what was for dinner and where would i camp tonight.

I would figure it out on the way back down out of the park. As i started down, i could hear the exhaust getting louder. Great! Now i need to really think about what to do with the exhaust. I had tech inspection in a couple of days and it would not pass with a blown out exhaust.

 

[Cirbo]

As a person who is always thinking about investing in a RTT, I'd like to hear your impressions after living in yours for so many days.... when you get a chance.

jC

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Subscribed

 

[concretejungle]

By the way, i do have some great panorama pics but i can't upload them. It says they are too large. Sorry!

So after exiting Arches i decided to head down into Moab and jump on the internet. It was probably around 4:00 and i had enough time to surf the web for exhaust shops in the area and then look for a place to camp. I saw a McDonalds so i pulled into the lot and went inside with my laptop. As soon as i sat down at the table and opened up my laptop a guy sat down at the table beside me to exhale a very late lunch. I heard him talking and realized he was local... maybe he could provide some local knowledge. So i said "hey buddy are you local?" he looked a little surprised and said yes he was. i replied with "well you can probably tell i aint' y'all" haha

I told him i had an exhaust problem and wondered if there was anywhere in town to get my exhaust fixed. He basically looked at me and said not really. He then asked me what vehicle it was on. I told him an old land cruiser... he perked up and said, "well, actually just go next door to the moab 4x4 outpost and ask for Steve" I was in astonishment... "next door?!" "Yep" he said and tell Steve i sent you since i just installed his fence last spring for the shop".

He then handed me his cell phone that was calling the shop, so i asked for steve and he said to come on over.

I drove over to the shop and had to search out Steve. It was one of those shops where you can tell that there are a lot of folks that do random jobs and Steve tells them what to do next. Everyone was looking for steve....

Finally i found steve and showed him the issue. He said no problem just leave it with him. I then told him that was kind of a problem since it was my home right now. IF the truck was staying so was I. He then asked if i could be there first thing in the morning? Absolutely i could. In fact i told him i could camp in front of the fence and be here all night long guaranteed to be first in line. He laughed and said that wasn't necessary but just be here in the morning. Done!

So the next morning i was there bright and early.

Finally Steve showed up and i just kind of kept mirroring him trying to be as visible as possible. He finally took my keys and said he would have it out ASAP. Remembering that today was Cruise Moab registration there was just a little stress on my shoulders but i felt good about things. An hour passed, another hour passed... i was getting a little anxious. Finally steve came out of the garage and told one of the workers he was heading in town for a T-case and some other parts. What about me, i was thinking!?

About 30 minutes later he returned and again i basically started following him around. He turned to me and said "you should be about done, let me check". He came back out and said almost done.

About 15 minutes later he pulled around with the cruiser and handed me the keys. I said what's the damage? He said no charge. I thought, NO WAY what gives?! He said no charge again. What?! I asked what the catch was. He said that since welding that pipe was a difficult weld, he wanted one of his new apprentice welders to do it as a test. He said he welded it but it's ugly. He said he went behind him and checked it and ensured it was done tight and would not be problem but it was ugly and he could not charge me for ugly welds coming out of his shop.

I was grateful and said sure and thank you so much!

I was off to the Moab brewery for lunch, a beer and then off to check in for Cruise Moab.

 

[concretejungle]

With a fresh patch on the exhaust and the truck running like a top, I was on top of the world. My phone was in DND mode and that was excellent as well. I had booked a camp spot in Slickrock camp ground for the cruise Moab event so that's where i was heading.

I arrived to see a few cruisers starting to drive around and a large white tent starting to be erected in the lot beside the campground. It was official, i was there!

Checked in at the campground and immediately started meeting people and chatting. Looked at some killer trucks and started sipping on some NC Brews i had brought with me.

I thought that you could register this day, but that was not the case. They just were not ready, so i decided to head back to Arches for a little more sight seeing before it got dark.

The next day was registration day and a night run on Fins and Things.

I registered for the event, passed inspection and then started talking. And, talking more and more. Eventually i was getting stir crazy and wanted to go play. Most of the guys were either already too toasted to drive or were planning on the night run. I was not really excited about the night run. I didn't see the point so I had decided I was not going to attend that. instead, i decided to go run fins and things alone, before it got dark.

So, i did. I ran fins and things, did the baby lions back and then hit porcupine rim trail. All were relatively easy and it was great to get the feel of the traction and how the truck works. It was a good warm up! I snapped some great pictures and headed back to camp.

It was a great day and tomorrow would be the first real trail ride. After talking with a few folks we decided that since it was so easy to do, i would take my RTT off for the wheeling. The last thing i wanted to do was lean it into a rock wall and break the fiberglass shell on a new RTT!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I remember driving past that Moab 4x4 place when we were out there in 2012. Glad to hear they're good people!