This is evolving into my new favorite thread.
Utah Trip Report
- Thread starter concretejungle
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #22
The next morning was the first official cruise moab trail ride. I would be going on Hell's Revenge which was guided by Slee.
It was rated at a pretty difficult level so i was feeling a little intimidated. We all lined up in Moab on a side road and then headed to the trail. We got to the trailhead and there was a huge group of Bronco's about to hit the trail. We jumped in front of them and rolled. Slee set a pretty good pace.
We were lucky enough to have Slee and his crew, Darren from Australia, Greg Miller and his son, Torfab guys and low range off road guys. We had a great crew and a great trail.
I immediately started to feel more comfortable on the trail and the truck was running great. This was not as bad as i had expected. There were some very steep inclines and steep declines. A few off camber things here and there.
Just before the hot tub there is a steep ledge climb. You climb up it and immediately turn left at the top. As we all got to the hot tub one of the guys radioed up that someone was leaking. Sure enough, we had a Tacoma in our group. He had somehow cracked the front diff case and all the diff oil had leaked out onto the trail. He also broke a CV. So we pulled out the spill clean up kits and everyone worked together to clean up and to help him figure out what was broken and what to do.
We eventually made it to the hot tub where there was a huge crowd of people trying to convince one of the broncos to give it at try. It worked and he went for it. After many attempts, he never made it, but i give him an "A" for effort.
After we left the hot tub there was another optional climb that we could take. The group bypassed it but Greg and his son in the Proffit Cruiser Buggies went for it. The walked it..... apparently because they made it look really easy there was a guy following us in a jeep cj5 who thought he could make it. We were all about to get in our trucks and leave when i told Slee that we better have a look at this guy that i felt uneasy that he was trying this climb.
Sure enough, first attempt he missed rolling down the mountain by inches! I mean, he did a wheel stand and then slipped back down about 5 feet landing on his PS rear tire, just standing up! He then came down, teetering on flipping.
Slee and a few guys hooked a winch to him and helped him up, then we were on our way.
We didn't do escalator because slee didn't know each person's wheeling style or abilities and didn't want the liability of spotting them up a hard obstacle that they could really have a disaster on. This turned out to be fine in the long run since hole in the rock had some of the same type of obstacles only bigger. So, eventually i would tackle the same type of obstacle.
The remainder of the trail was scenic and uneventful. We finished the trail, slee handed out some killer first aid or tool bags and we headed back off to camp.
Fins and things... check.
Porcupine rim..... Check.
Hells revenge... Check.
It was rated at a pretty difficult level so i was feeling a little intimidated. We all lined up in Moab on a side road and then headed to the trail. We got to the trailhead and there was a huge group of Bronco's about to hit the trail. We jumped in front of them and rolled. Slee set a pretty good pace.
We were lucky enough to have Slee and his crew, Darren from Australia, Greg Miller and his son, Torfab guys and low range off road guys. We had a great crew and a great trail.
I immediately started to feel more comfortable on the trail and the truck was running great. This was not as bad as i had expected. There were some very steep inclines and steep declines. A few off camber things here and there.
Just before the hot tub there is a steep ledge climb. You climb up it and immediately turn left at the top. As we all got to the hot tub one of the guys radioed up that someone was leaking. Sure enough, we had a Tacoma in our group. He had somehow cracked the front diff case and all the diff oil had leaked out onto the trail. He also broke a CV. So we pulled out the spill clean up kits and everyone worked together to clean up and to help him figure out what was broken and what to do.
We eventually made it to the hot tub where there was a huge crowd of people trying to convince one of the broncos to give it at try. It worked and he went for it. After many attempts, he never made it, but i give him an "A" for effort.
After we left the hot tub there was another optional climb that we could take. The group bypassed it but Greg and his son in the Proffit Cruiser Buggies went for it. The walked it..... apparently because they made it look really easy there was a guy following us in a jeep cj5 who thought he could make it. We were all about to get in our trucks and leave when i told Slee that we better have a look at this guy that i felt uneasy that he was trying this climb.
Sure enough, first attempt he missed rolling down the mountain by inches! I mean, he did a wheel stand and then slipped back down about 5 feet landing on his PS rear tire, just standing up! He then came down, teetering on flipping.
Slee and a few guys hooked a winch to him and helped him up, then we were on our way.
We didn't do escalator because slee didn't know each person's wheeling style or abilities and didn't want the liability of spotting them up a hard obstacle that they could really have a disaster on. This turned out to be fine in the long run since hole in the rock had some of the same type of obstacles only bigger. So, eventually i would tackle the same type of obstacle.
The remainder of the trail was scenic and uneventful. We finished the trail, slee handed out some killer first aid or tool bags and we headed back off to camp.
Fins and things... check.
Porcupine rim..... Check.
Hells revenge... Check.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #23
Well, there are a lot of factors involved in selecting a RTT. I had one of the square, fabric fold out types before this one.
Personally, i really like the aerodynamics and ease of setup/take down of the hard shell RTT. They are also lighter so you don't feel them up there as much. Driving across the country with a RTT is a big deal. You will feel it up there with the winds and the highway speeds.
Nothing is perfect but i will say that this RTT i'm using now is pretty darn close.
Just a few items:
* you need to be OK with climbing around on your truck during setup and takedown.
*if you don't want to pee into a bottle at night be prepared to climb down the ladder at night. (not a big deal really but when i finally gave into peeing in a bottle, life was really good).
I really enjoyed reading last year's Rubicon trip, so naturally I'm all in on this one.
Subscribed! 
You missed a great hike at Devil's Garden. When you get to the extreme North end, you can see traffic running by on I-70 ... a ways off, but still an interesting sight.
If you go back to Delicate Arch and you're feeling really brave, walk over to the base and past it, then down into the basin between where you took the picture in this thread from and the arch. From the pictures, it does not look like much, but I can tell you it will make you soil your underwear
. The view from below is great! I did this during my trip in 2000 and I can say that I do not know that I would do it again now as the walk is pretty nerve wracking ....Great trip and I am enjoying your report!
I cannot wait for the HITR part ....
- Thread starter
- #27
On a side note story, i think this is kind of cool....
So i was camped in slick rock towards the rear of the campground right next to a neighboring driveway that would take you back to a high end RV park (where slee stayed by the way haha ). The first day i was there i noticed this grey car with two guys kept driving back and forth staring at my RTT. After about the 4th pass, they stopped and got out. I was thinking to myself, geeze man, i don't feel like discussing the truck and tent again.....
As the two guys walked up they commented on the RTT and said they do not see many James Baroud RTTs. I started to tell them that i had just purchased it about a week ago and then i glanced down at their tshirts. They were from OK off road which is who i bought the tent from. So i realized that, and the mood got real light! We started laughing and talking about it and i said that i had purchased it from a guy named chuck.... Well then the laughter really picked up, "i'm Chuck" said one of the guys! Too cool! What a small world! I had ordered a RTT from a company in New Jersey who shipped it to NC, where i installed it and drove it out to a campground in Utah where the guy who sold it to me drove out and saw it! Pretty cool.
So hopefully they will hook me up on any future purchases.
Also i should plug them that they were EXCELLENT to deal with.
So i was camped in slick rock towards the rear of the campground right next to a neighboring driveway that would take you back to a high end RV park (where slee stayed by the way haha ). The first day i was there i noticed this grey car with two guys kept driving back and forth staring at my RTT. After about the 4th pass, they stopped and got out. I was thinking to myself, geeze man, i don't feel like discussing the truck and tent again.....
As the two guys walked up they commented on the RTT and said they do not see many James Baroud RTTs. I started to tell them that i had just purchased it about a week ago and then i glanced down at their tshirts. They were from OK off road which is who i bought the tent from. So i realized that, and the mood got real light! We started laughing and talking about it and i said that i had purchased it from a guy named chuck.... Well then the laughter really picked up, "i'm Chuck" said one of the guys! Too cool! What a small world! I had ordered a RTT from a company in New Jersey who shipped it to NC, where i installed it and drove it out to a campground in Utah where the guy who sold it to me drove out and saw it! Pretty cool.
So hopefully they will hook me up on any future purchases.
Also i should plug them that they were EXCELLENT to deal with.
Awesome saga, Alex! Hurry up with more!
- Thread starter
- #29
All the stories about a caterpillar infestation at slick rock campground are true! I woke up the next morning to what seemed like hundreds of caterpillars on everything. Even as you walk around they fall on you and it's just really aggravating.
So after flicking caterpillars for 5 minutes i was ready to make some coffee and breakfast before heading out to another Cruise Moab trail assignment. Today i was assigned the 7 mile rim trail. This trail was not supposed to be very difficult and that was perfect for me. This trail was more about scenery and stretching your legs.
The group was pretty large and we met up at the trail head. After a quick safety talk we all aired down and hit the trail.
This turned out to be a wonderful trail! I would highly suggest it to anyone heading to Moab that is not really wanting to climb vertical walls and break their junk. This trail had it all from big scenery to some technical obstacles, a few slick rock off camber obstacles, sand roads hauling a$$ and wet canyon bottoms to get a little mud on your tires. Great times were had by all.
It was a long trail and we ended up finishing up at around 4:00. We all headed back to camp for the dinner and raffle. (yea i know i screwed up and said that the raffle was after hell's revenge but i had my days mixed up. Without a watch all the days just kind of blended together, so after hell's revenge was vendor night and then after 7 mile rim was the raffle).
I got back to camp, showered, drank some brews and headed over to the big white tent.
Dinner was great. They had huge burgers, pasta salad, chips, drinks and cookies. Not too bad.
The raffle was killer. They had two awnings and i just wanted one so bad. I didn't win one, but i did win a nice hoodie from woody at IH8mud.com that came in a "buggy bag". I also won a super nice ARB tire deflator tool from Kurt at cruiser outfitters. I won a couple of t-shirts and..... drumroll.... i won two, that's right, two bottles of WD-40!
As the raffle was winding down, i was exhausted. I had to remind myself that my body was still on east coast time and even though the clock says 10:30pm my body was saying it's 12:30am!! I had to be up for the last guided trail run of cruise moab, moab rim!
I had heard a lot of stories about Moab Rim in that the beginning has this turn they call "z-turn" which is a cliff hanger turn. You have about 3 feet of error until you plunge 400 feet into the colorado river. I was excited!
The next morning, i made a judgement call. I decided to skip the trail ride and have a relaxing morning finishing up talking to folks, have a big breakfast, pack my truck back up, put my RTT back on and then roll out to meet cruiser drew and the crew at noon.
In hindsight, it was the perfect decision. Come to find out the trail ride did not return from the trip until almost 5:00pm and there is no way i would have been able to find cruiser drew and the guys out in needles. Especially since i had never been there. Besides, i was about to embark on what most at camp had told me would be the most epic trail ride i had ever been on....
So after flicking caterpillars for 5 minutes i was ready to make some coffee and breakfast before heading out to another Cruise Moab trail assignment. Today i was assigned the 7 mile rim trail. This trail was not supposed to be very difficult and that was perfect for me. This trail was more about scenery and stretching your legs.
The group was pretty large and we met up at the trail head. After a quick safety talk we all aired down and hit the trail.
This turned out to be a wonderful trail! I would highly suggest it to anyone heading to Moab that is not really wanting to climb vertical walls and break their junk. This trail had it all from big scenery to some technical obstacles, a few slick rock off camber obstacles, sand roads hauling a$$ and wet canyon bottoms to get a little mud on your tires. Great times were had by all.
It was a long trail and we ended up finishing up at around 4:00. We all headed back to camp for the dinner and raffle. (yea i know i screwed up and said that the raffle was after hell's revenge but i had my days mixed up. Without a watch all the days just kind of blended together, so after hell's revenge was vendor night and then after 7 mile rim was the raffle).
I got back to camp, showered, drank some brews and headed over to the big white tent.
Dinner was great. They had huge burgers, pasta salad, chips, drinks and cookies. Not too bad.
The raffle was killer. They had two awnings and i just wanted one so bad. I didn't win one, but i did win a nice hoodie from woody at IH8mud.com that came in a "buggy bag". I also won a super nice ARB tire deflator tool from Kurt at cruiser outfitters. I won a couple of t-shirts and..... drumroll.... i won two, that's right, two bottles of WD-40!
As the raffle was winding down, i was exhausted. I had to remind myself that my body was still on east coast time and even though the clock says 10:30pm my body was saying it's 12:30am!! I had to be up for the last guided trail run of cruise moab, moab rim!
I had heard a lot of stories about Moab Rim in that the beginning has this turn they call "z-turn" which is a cliff hanger turn. You have about 3 feet of error until you plunge 400 feet into the colorado river. I was excited!
The next morning, i made a judgement call. I decided to skip the trail ride and have a relaxing morning finishing up talking to folks, have a big breakfast, pack my truck back up, put my RTT back on and then roll out to meet cruiser drew and the crew at noon.
In hindsight, it was the perfect decision. Come to find out the trail ride did not return from the trip until almost 5:00pm and there is no way i would have been able to find cruiser drew and the guys out in needles. Especially since i had never been there. Besides, i was about to embark on what most at camp had told me would be the most epic trail ride i had ever been on....
- Thread starter
- #30
After finally deciding that the truck was packed and I was ready to go, i headed to downtown moab. I then decided i had time for a second breakfast, so i did. I stopped in at the jailhouse cafe and had a delicious waffle with fruit, OJ, and more coffee. Andy and crew had just arrived in town and they text me to meet them at gearheads where they would fill up on water.
The mood had just changed. I felt the tide turn. It was like a wave of excitement had just rushed over me.... it was go time!
I paid for breakfast and walked out, jumped in the cruiser and headed to the store. I met up with Andy, Tom, Pasqual and Cameron had flown in from TN to ride shotgun with Andy for this epic journey. Couldn't have asked for a better group of guys. We all meshed perfectly and it was like reuniting with old friends. I felt comfortable and at ease.
Andy kept reminding me how serious of a trip we were about to embark on and that it was crucial that all items were checked up, i had plenty of water, plenty of fuel and was ready. Check.
Andy then said that he was going to head to the grocery store and for me to wait at gear heads. I think this was a trick because this store was AWESOME! They had everything an outdoor person would want. They had every square inch of that place covered in gear to buy. I told andy i should not stay, but he insisted. So while waiting i purchased a pair of Chaca sandals which ended up being a great buy. I wore them the whole trip!
Finally we were all ready to go. Fueled up, water topped off, fridges packed, food ready. South we headed on Hwy191. We were heading to the needles outpost in canyon lands. As we drove south it got more and more remote. I could see my cell signal getting weaker.
There was a nice spoof hole in the rock right off the side of the road. I chuckled and kind of wondered if anyone there really had seen in person the real hole in the rock?
We turned off into canyon lands. We drove for a little while until we took a left to the needles outpost. This place was really cool and kind of hippyish. It was all solar powered, the water had to be trucked in, and the sewage trucked out. Same with the gas, $6.50/gallon. That's right. That's the most i paid for gas the whole trip. But like Andy said, it will feel really cheap once you are out where we are about to be and you need gas.
We topped off (I think my top off was $71 but that did include an ice-cream sandwich) and headed further out. Finally we got to what seemed like a campground. It was, all of a sudden i saw cars again and they were all parked around in this campground way out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I was kind of in shock. It just seemed odd.
Andy instructed us to all pull up close and air down. It was time to exit pavement.......
The mood had just changed. I felt the tide turn. It was like a wave of excitement had just rushed over me.... it was go time!
I paid for breakfast and walked out, jumped in the cruiser and headed to the store. I met up with Andy, Tom, Pasqual and Cameron had flown in from TN to ride shotgun with Andy for this epic journey. Couldn't have asked for a better group of guys. We all meshed perfectly and it was like reuniting with old friends. I felt comfortable and at ease.
Andy kept reminding me how serious of a trip we were about to embark on and that it was crucial that all items were checked up, i had plenty of water, plenty of fuel and was ready. Check.
Andy then said that he was going to head to the grocery store and for me to wait at gear heads. I think this was a trick because this store was AWESOME! They had everything an outdoor person would want. They had every square inch of that place covered in gear to buy. I told andy i should not stay, but he insisted. So while waiting i purchased a pair of Chaca sandals which ended up being a great buy. I wore them the whole trip!
Finally we were all ready to go. Fueled up, water topped off, fridges packed, food ready. South we headed on Hwy191. We were heading to the needles outpost in canyon lands. As we drove south it got more and more remote. I could see my cell signal getting weaker.
There was a nice spoof hole in the rock right off the side of the road. I chuckled and kind of wondered if anyone there really had seen in person the real hole in the rock?
We turned off into canyon lands. We drove for a little while until we took a left to the needles outpost. This place was really cool and kind of hippyish. It was all solar powered, the water had to be trucked in, and the sewage trucked out. Same with the gas, $6.50/gallon. That's right. That's the most i paid for gas the whole trip. But like Andy said, it will feel really cheap once you are out where we are about to be and you need gas.
We topped off (I think my top off was $71 but that did include an ice-cream sandwich) and headed further out. Finally we got to what seemed like a campground. It was, all of a sudden i saw cars again and they were all parked around in this campground way out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I was kind of in shock. It just seemed odd.
Andy instructed us to all pull up close and air down. It was time to exit pavement.......
- Thread starter
- #31
After airing down, we entered a steep climb right out of the parking lot. From what i understand, and i could be wrong about this, but elephant hill is a "state maintained road" and it was mentioned is considered the most difficult road in Utah. I could see both.
There were sections between the rocks that had concrete packed in places to eliminate erosion and i guess to be considered maintenance. Either way, it was very steep and had some huge rocks. There is a section halfway up where you have to do a 3 point turn-around on a ledge because the turn of the trail is just too tight.
We all make it up and out to a huge rock platform. It was an intense way to start the trail. My heart was pumping now and i was 100% awake. Andy and Tom proceed to disconnect their front sway bars on their 80's and i was thinking to myself, so they are indicating that this is about to get more intense.
We climbed back down the back of elephant hill which was incredibly steep! The last section you actually have to back down. Very cool.
After that, we are basically running in and out of slot canyons, long sand roads with incredible rock formations around us. It's really amazing. The cactuses were blooming with flowers and the weather was perfect.
The fun part about it is that you would be scooting along on a nice smooth sand track, then come around a corner to a huge rock formation that you would have to drive over. Then, have some rocks that continue for another 100 feet and then you would be back on sand track.
We were looking for some petroglyphs. Eventually we stopped and took some pictures of this amazing ancient graffiti.
After that we continued through the most amazing scenery and eventually camped in an area called beef basin.
Dinner that night was amazing!
The next day we were heading for a place called bears ears.
There were sections between the rocks that had concrete packed in places to eliminate erosion and i guess to be considered maintenance. Either way, it was very steep and had some huge rocks. There is a section halfway up where you have to do a 3 point turn-around on a ledge because the turn of the trail is just too tight.
We all make it up and out to a huge rock platform. It was an intense way to start the trail. My heart was pumping now and i was 100% awake. Andy and Tom proceed to disconnect their front sway bars on their 80's and i was thinking to myself, so they are indicating that this is about to get more intense.
We climbed back down the back of elephant hill which was incredibly steep! The last section you actually have to back down. Very cool.
After that, we are basically running in and out of slot canyons, long sand roads with incredible rock formations around us. It's really amazing. The cactuses were blooming with flowers and the weather was perfect.
The fun part about it is that you would be scooting along on a nice smooth sand track, then come around a corner to a huge rock formation that you would have to drive over. Then, have some rocks that continue for another 100 feet and then you would be back on sand track.
We were looking for some petroglyphs. Eventually we stopped and took some pictures of this amazing ancient graffiti.
After that we continued through the most amazing scenery and eventually camped in an area called beef basin.
Dinner that night was amazing!
The next day we were heading for a place called bears ears.
- Thread starter
- #32
some pictures of the petroglyphs and the landscape of the day....
There was a section of the trail that was very neat where it was a tight squeeze between these two rock walls. And i do mean tight!
There was a section of the trail that was very neat where it was a tight squeeze between these two rock walls. And i do mean tight!
- Thread starter
- #33
The next morning we were all up pretty early.... I think about 5:30 for me. We were getting ready for a great breakfast, break camp and head towards bears ears, after coffee of course.
It was funny each morning to see all the coleman stoves come out and water boil everywhere. There were coffee drips dripping away all around camp and if you needed more hot water, someone had it ready!
We all slept well but i had decided that i was going to put the AC idler pulley on that i had picked up from Cdan at the Cruise Moab event. Talk about customer service!
The previous day i had ate red dust all day long. It was too hot to roll up the windows so i just dealt with it. I wanted to put a stop to that. Just before leaving for cruise moab, my AC idler pulley went out and started making horrible noises. So i asked Cdan if he was going to CM and once he said yes, i said please bring me a pulley and i'll pay you at camp for it. Pretty cool. I installed the pulley and was ready to go.
We broke camp and continued out into beef basin. It was a pretty green area considering the surrounding desert. Off in the distance were a couple of huge cattle. Well, i didn't have on my glasses and i just figured there were Bison out there. So, i radioed to look at those Bison...... it was quiet for a few seconds and then i hear... "yea, look at all the Bison over here too!" that's when i realized they were cattle. So the entire remainder of the trip i was ribbed about bison.
The scenery was epic. We headed through beef basin and came upon some old ruins. We checked those out and then jumped back on the trail. There was a side trail that the guys had spotted on another trip and weren't sure where it went, so it was decided to check it out. We hit this side trail which wound it's way through the canyon bottoms and ended up ending in the middle of a big grass basin. We stopped and Andy cooked up some amazing soup that he had prepared a few days ago. Cameron and i wandered up in the rocks to play with the RC Crawler i brought.
While up there, we spotted a cool rock formation that looked like a face. Joking around i said that every place and every mountain around here seems to have been named. No one has named this area, so we will call it jack-o-lantern rock.
we got back on the trail and ended up on a gravel road that we took over several mountain passes. We ended up going through an area called Bears Ears. After that, we followed the gravel road down the mountain where we camped for the evening.
The next morning we were all up pretty early.... I think about 5:30 for me. We were getting ready for a great breakfast, break camp and head towards bears ears, after coffee of course.
It was funny each morning to see all the coleman stoves come out and water boil everywhere. There were coffee drips dripping away all around camp and if you needed more hot water, someone had it ready!
We all slept well but i had decided that i was going to put the AC idler pulley on that i had picked up from Cdan at the Cruise Moab event. Talk about customer service!
The previous day i had ate red dust all day long. It was too hot to roll up the windows so i just dealt with it. I wanted to put a stop to that. Just before leaving for cruise moab, my AC idler pulley went out and started making horrible noises. So i asked Cdan if he was going to CM and once he said yes, i said please bring me a pulley and i'll pay you at camp for it. Pretty cool. I installed the pulley and was ready to go.
We broke camp and continued out into beef basin. It was a pretty green area considering the surrounding desert. Off in the distance were a couple of huge cattle. Well, i didn't have on my glasses and i just figured there were Bison out there. So, i radioed to look at those Bison...... it was quiet for a few seconds and then i hear... "yea, look at all the Bison over here too!" that's when i realized they were cattle. So the entire remainder of the trip i was ribbed about bison.
The scenery was epic. We headed through beef basin and came upon some old ruins. We checked those out and then jumped back on the trail. There was a side trail that the guys had spotted on another trip and weren't sure where it went, so it was decided to check it out. We hit this side trail which wound it's way through the canyon bottoms and ended up ending in the middle of a big grass basin. We stopped and Andy cooked up some amazing soup that he had prepared a few days ago. Cameron and i wandered up to play with the RC Crawler i brought.
While up there, we spotted a cool rock formation that looked like a face. Joking around i said that every place and every mountain around here seems to have been named. No one has named this area, so we will call it jack-o-lantern rock.
we got back on the trail and ended up on a gravel road that we took over several mountain passes. We ended up going through an area called Bears Ears. After that, we followed the gravel road down the mountain where we camped for the evening.
It was funny each morning to see all the coleman stoves come out and water boil everywhere. There were coffee drips dripping away all around camp and if you needed more hot water, someone had it ready!
We all slept well but i had decided that i was going to put the AC idler pulley on that i had picked up from Cdan at the Cruise Moab event. Talk about customer service!
The previous day i had ate red dust all day long. It was too hot to roll up the windows so i just dealt with it. I wanted to put a stop to that. Just before leaving for cruise moab, my AC idler pulley went out and started making horrible noises. So i asked Cdan if he was going to CM and once he said yes, i said please bring me a pulley and i'll pay you at camp for it. Pretty cool. I installed the pulley and was ready to go.
We broke camp and continued out into beef basin. It was a pretty green area considering the surrounding desert. Off in the distance were a couple of huge cattle. Well, i didn't have on my glasses and i just figured there were Bison out there. So, i radioed to look at those Bison...... it was quiet for a few seconds and then i hear... "yea, look at all the Bison over here too!" that's when i realized they were cattle. So the entire remainder of the trip i was ribbed about bison.
The scenery was epic. We headed through beef basin and came upon some old ruins. We checked those out and then jumped back on the trail. There was a side trail that the guys had spotted on another trip and weren't sure where it went, so it was decided to check it out. We hit this side trail which wound it's way through the canyon bottoms and ended up ending in the middle of a big grass basin. We stopped and Andy cooked up some amazing soup that he had prepared a few days ago. Cameron and i wandered up in the rocks to play with the RC Crawler i brought.
While up there, we spotted a cool rock formation that looked like a face. Joking around i said that every place and every mountain around here seems to have been named. No one has named this area, so we will call it jack-o-lantern rock.
we got back on the trail and ended up on a gravel road that we took over several mountain passes. We ended up going through an area called Bears Ears. After that, we followed the gravel road down the mountain where we camped for the evening.
The next morning we were all up pretty early.... I think about 5:30 for me. We were getting ready for a great breakfast, break camp and head towards bears ears, after coffee of course.
It was funny each morning to see all the coleman stoves come out and water boil everywhere. There were coffee drips dripping away all around camp and if you needed more hot water, someone had it ready!
We all slept well but i had decided that i was going to put the AC idler pulley on that i had picked up from Cdan at the Cruise Moab event. Talk about customer service!
The previous day i had ate red dust all day long. It was too hot to roll up the windows so i just dealt with it. I wanted to put a stop to that. Just before leaving for cruise moab, my AC idler pulley went out and started making horrible noises. So i asked Cdan if he was going to CM and once he said yes, i said please bring me a pulley and i'll pay you at camp for it. Pretty cool. I installed the pulley and was ready to go.
We broke camp and continued out into beef basin. It was a pretty green area considering the surrounding desert. Off in the distance were a couple of huge cattle. Well, i didn't have on my glasses and i just figured there were Bison out there. So, i radioed to look at those Bison...... it was quiet for a few seconds and then i hear... "yea, look at all the Bison over here too!" that's when i realized they were cattle. So the entire remainder of the trip i was ribbed about bison.
The scenery was epic. We headed through beef basin and came upon some old ruins. We checked those out and then jumped back on the trail. There was a side trail that the guys had spotted on another trip and weren't sure where it went, so it was decided to check it out. We hit this side trail which wound it's way through the canyon bottoms and ended up ending in the middle of a big grass basin. We stopped and Andy cooked up some amazing soup that he had prepared a few days ago. Cameron and i wandered up to play with the RC Crawler i brought.
While up there, we spotted a cool rock formation that looked like a face. Joking around i said that every place and every mountain around here seems to have been named. No one has named this area, so we will call it jack-o-lantern rock.
we got back on the trail and ended up on a gravel road that we took over several mountain passes. We ended up going through an area called Bears Ears. After that, we followed the gravel road down the mountain where we camped for the evening.
- Thread starter
- #34
A few more photos of the Beef Basin to Bears ears adventure.
- Thread starter
- #35
After yet another epic night of campfires, great wine, great beer and amazing food, we all slept well and awoke the next day ready to start the Hole in the Rock.
After ensuring everything was strapped down well, we headed to halls crossing to gas up and try to sneak in a shower before hitting the trail. We accomplished that and it was another expensive top off. This time gas was $4.20/gallon and i was completely willing to pay it. After all that, we dumped the trash and turned around and headed for the entrance of the trail. It was a gravel road that had a small green sign about 50 ft. off the road saying "Hole in The Rock". We stopped at the entrance and aired down.
It was getting hot and so i went ahead and put 4 bottles of water in the front seat. I drank those quickly.
The first bit of the trail is a gravel road, that turns into a sand road, which then started to have some small rock formations in the sand road. Soon, it started to get into some pretty serious rock climbs. The traction was great on the rocks but they were very large. Things continued to get more and more interesting. At first, you could clearly see the trail. There were small metal iron rods about 12inches long sticking out of the rock with a red cap on top to indicate the trail. The further you went, these eventually stopped and then there were just small stacks of rocks called Caroms placed sporadically that indicated the direction of the trail.
It was extremely scenic and even though we were already pretty much "out there" it continued to lead us further and further into wilderness. It was wonderful. The colors were amazing in the rocks. The rock formations and the cool dried out river beds that we crossed were really intriguing.
After ensuring everything was strapped down well, we headed to halls crossing to gas up and try to sneak in a shower before hitting the trail. We accomplished that and it was another expensive top off. This time gas was $4.20/gallon and i was completely willing to pay it. After all that, we dumped the trash and turned around and headed for the entrance of the trail. It was a gravel road that had a small green sign about 50 ft. off the road saying "Hole in The Rock". We stopped at the entrance and aired down.
It was getting hot and so i went ahead and put 4 bottles of water in the front seat. I drank those quickly.
The first bit of the trail is a gravel road, that turns into a sand road, which then started to have some small rock formations in the sand road. Soon, it started to get into some pretty serious rock climbs. The traction was great on the rocks but they were very large. Things continued to get more and more interesting. At first, you could clearly see the trail. There were small metal iron rods about 12inches long sticking out of the rock with a red cap on top to indicate the trail. The further you went, these eventually stopped and then there were just small stacks of rocks called Caroms placed sporadically that indicated the direction of the trail.
It was extremely scenic and even though we were already pretty much "out there" it continued to lead us further and further into wilderness. It was wonderful. The colors were amazing in the rocks. The rock formations and the cool dried out river beds that we crossed were really intriguing.
- Thread starter
- #36
Honestly, the trail seemed like it had this ability to continually and at a steady rate, dial up the difficulty level as you continued on. The climbs and ledges got larger and steeper. The off camper situations started to show themselves much more frequently. I was starting to feel my RTT up top and thought to myself, is it worth it. Every night i answered that question with a yes.
The markers got fewer and fewer and you could tell that the further you went, there were less and less vehicles that made it in that far.
Finally we stopped at a section with a sign. It really was strange for me to see this because from my perspective i felt like we were on the moon. Literally, i felt so far out into the wilderness i couldn't imagine a sign being out here.
This was a huge turning point in the trip for me. It was at this point that the story and the history of the trail i was on smacked me in the face. I was about to get educated.
Growing up as a mormon, i had alway been told over and over about the pioneers who set out to Utah and all the difficulties they had getting there. How they overcame adversity... how they walked up hill both ways in the snow... Well, here it was. Right in front of me, real life proof of what they had done.
This sign told of a legend that as the mormons were blazing this trail in an effort to secure new graze land for their cattle, they got caught up on this ridge (mind you the winds out here easily get up to 60+mph) in a horrible blizzard and didn't know how to get down. A ram supposedly showed up out of nowhere and hopped down a path to lower ground and a better trail down. They followed the rams lead and used hand tools to dig roads wide enough to get wagons and cattle down mountains.
We walked up the mountain about 100 ft. and there it was. A dug way that was actually created by hand over a hundred years ago. You could still see some of the steps carved into the rock. You could still make out the pick marks!! And to imagine not only digging this thing, but all the dug ways that they had to dig. Steering a wagon full of all your possessions down these in the winter and not knowing what was around the next corner of this dire adventure. We were walking and driving our cruisers on history. I had a new respect for this trail the remainder of the trip.
The markers got fewer and fewer and you could tell that the further you went, there were less and less vehicles that made it in that far.
Finally we stopped at a section with a sign. It really was strange for me to see this because from my perspective i felt like we were on the moon. Literally, i felt so far out into the wilderness i couldn't imagine a sign being out here.
This was a huge turning point in the trip for me. It was at this point that the story and the history of the trail i was on smacked me in the face. I was about to get educated.
Growing up as a mormon, i had alway been told over and over about the pioneers who set out to Utah and all the difficulties they had getting there. How they overcame adversity... how they walked up hill both ways in the snow... Well, here it was. Right in front of me, real life proof of what they had done.
This sign told of a legend that as the mormons were blazing this trail in an effort to secure new graze land for their cattle, they got caught up on this ridge (mind you the winds out here easily get up to 60+mph) in a horrible blizzard and didn't know how to get down. A ram supposedly showed up out of nowhere and hopped down a path to lower ground and a better trail down. They followed the rams lead and used hand tools to dig roads wide enough to get wagons and cattle down mountains.
We walked up the mountain about 100 ft. and there it was. A dug way that was actually created by hand over a hundred years ago. You could still see some of the steps carved into the rock. You could still make out the pick marks!! And to imagine not only digging this thing, but all the dug ways that they had to dig. Steering a wagon full of all your possessions down these in the winter and not knowing what was around the next corner of this dire adventure. We were walking and driving our cruisers on history. I had a new respect for this trail the remainder of the trip.
- Thread starter
- #37
Sorry for the delay. I got busy! I will try to continue this thread today or tomorrow....
Thanks for the well documented report and pictures
This has been a truly enjoyable read, looking forward to the rest!
- Thread starter
- #40
After seeing the dug out shelf road, the pick marks still in the rocks, seeing how steep these roads were and just trying to fathom how a group of people could take a wagon up/down these roads with horses and all of their supplies; AFTER they built them, i was awestruck! And, to think about how they handled the water situation, after all we were in the desert and it was VERY dry out. Each morning i would sit 5 bottles of water in the front seat area and they were all gone before lunch.
We all got back in our cruisers and continued on. Our destination for the evening was a sheltered camp area that is approximately at the halfway point. The scenery continued to impress as well as the challenges of the trail. The shelf climbs and descents continued to get a little bigger each time. We all started to fall in the groove with our driving. We had set a good pace and i felt more and more comfortable. The cactus were in full bloom, there were white and purple flowering plants everywhere, and, the weather was perfect! We had gotten lucky with the weather.
I also came to another realization on this trail at about this point in it. My realization was that the 80 series land cruiser was just an EPIC vehicle. I could not imagine being out here with anything else! And that's the truth. The amount of supplies that we carried, spare tools and parts, creature comforts (and lots of them) extra gas and ultimately, reliability and 4wheeling abilities. These trucks were really proving their worth. For me, my truck had taken me from NC to CA last year and wheeled the Rubicon trail then got me back home. This year, it got me to Utah from NC, wheeled 4 moab trails and now has taken me to the most amazing off road trail i had ever experienced. I felt like a proud papa! Also, you really got to realize that all the times searching Mud and beating up your knuckles in the garage adding a little gizmo here and an adjustment there.... out here you really used all of your mods! It was a good feeling.
Eventually we came to this shelf road that hugged the side of the slick rock mountain. It was fairly steep but what was worrying me was the drop off to the right. I was really feeling my tent up top on this road. Andy radioed that the camp spot was just up this shelf road and we would be stopping for the day. I was also excited because Tom planned on making a Pieja (I have no idea how to spell it) and i not only can't spell it but never heard of it.
I was continued up the shelf road the only comforting feeling that i had was a comment that Andy also did not like off camber situations. So to me, this was good. He was in front of me and if he felt unsafe then i was in the clear...... well, then i noticed he was out taking pictures and Cameron was driving! Crap! We finally got to "the place" on the shelf road that i was dreading. It was a steep drop off on the right with an eroded right side of the road and a nice erosion step that would tip your truck out towards the cliff! Man you want to talk about nervous! I sat there and watched Cameron VERY slowly take Andy's 80 up over and around this obstacle. Then i radioed that i wanted a spot! So cameron came back down and spotted me over this.
To say i was nervous was an understatement. I will be very honest here... i was scared. No kidding. But, we were so far in and i had seen one 80 do this, there were two trucks behind me waiting for me and they both had RTT's and i had not heard them radioing that they were worried. So, using the two foot driving method i slowly and i stress the word slowly, started to mash the gas and brake to get my RPMs at a good steady crawl. I began to crawl up and over this step. The truck leaned out, i was practically leaning out the driver's side window trying to shove as much weight to the left side of the trail as my seatbelt would allow. As my front end started back down the back side of the step, i had to turn sharp left and let the rear come up and over this obstacle. I could feel my DS rear tire start to lift and i was completely ready to unload in my pants! My hands were sweating like a whore in church and finally, i was over! Thank god! Another 100 feet and we were home for the night in a killer camp location.
It was time for a beer, dinner and relaxation..... then i asked the question that i really didn't like the answer to. "So, Andy, is this a loop trail or do we have to come back out and down that crazy thing?" Andy replied "yea, going back down it doesn't feel as bad".... hahahahahahaha so that was literally on my mind the entire rest of the hole in the rock trip. We had to come back down that! What the hell....
Ok, time to relax and have dinner.
*the food picture is from Cameron's camera. I did't really take any food pictures since i was in a trance with the amazing food that these guys were preparing and mine was always gone before i could even reach for the camera.
We all got back in our cruisers and continued on. Our destination for the evening was a sheltered camp area that is approximately at the halfway point. The scenery continued to impress as well as the challenges of the trail. The shelf climbs and descents continued to get a little bigger each time. We all started to fall in the groove with our driving. We had set a good pace and i felt more and more comfortable. The cactus were in full bloom, there were white and purple flowering plants everywhere, and, the weather was perfect! We had gotten lucky with the weather.
I also came to another realization on this trail at about this point in it. My realization was that the 80 series land cruiser was just an EPIC vehicle. I could not imagine being out here with anything else! And that's the truth. The amount of supplies that we carried, spare tools and parts, creature comforts (and lots of them) extra gas and ultimately, reliability and 4wheeling abilities. These trucks were really proving their worth. For me, my truck had taken me from NC to CA last year and wheeled the Rubicon trail then got me back home. This year, it got me to Utah from NC, wheeled 4 moab trails and now has taken me to the most amazing off road trail i had ever experienced. I felt like a proud papa! Also, you really got to realize that all the times searching Mud and beating up your knuckles in the garage adding a little gizmo here and an adjustment there.... out here you really used all of your mods! It was a good feeling.
Eventually we came to this shelf road that hugged the side of the slick rock mountain. It was fairly steep but what was worrying me was the drop off to the right. I was really feeling my tent up top on this road. Andy radioed that the camp spot was just up this shelf road and we would be stopping for the day. I was also excited because Tom planned on making a Pieja (I have no idea how to spell it) and i not only can't spell it but never heard of it.
I was continued up the shelf road the only comforting feeling that i had was a comment that Andy also did not like off camber situations. So to me, this was good. He was in front of me and if he felt unsafe then i was in the clear...... well, then i noticed he was out taking pictures and Cameron was driving! Crap! We finally got to "the place" on the shelf road that i was dreading. It was a steep drop off on the right with an eroded right side of the road and a nice erosion step that would tip your truck out towards the cliff! Man you want to talk about nervous! I sat there and watched Cameron VERY slowly take Andy's 80 up over and around this obstacle. Then i radioed that i wanted a spot! So cameron came back down and spotted me over this.
To say i was nervous was an understatement. I will be very honest here... i was scared. No kidding. But, we were so far in and i had seen one 80 do this, there were two trucks behind me waiting for me and they both had RTT's and i had not heard them radioing that they were worried. So, using the two foot driving method i slowly and i stress the word slowly, started to mash the gas and brake to get my RPMs at a good steady crawl. I began to crawl up and over this step. The truck leaned out, i was practically leaning out the driver's side window trying to shove as much weight to the left side of the trail as my seatbelt would allow. As my front end started back down the back side of the step, i had to turn sharp left and let the rear come up and over this obstacle. I could feel my DS rear tire start to lift and i was completely ready to unload in my pants! My hands were sweating like a whore in church and finally, i was over! Thank god! Another 100 feet and we were home for the night in a killer camp location.
It was time for a beer, dinner and relaxation..... then i asked the question that i really didn't like the answer to. "So, Andy, is this a loop trail or do we have to come back out and down that crazy thing?" Andy replied "yea, going back down it doesn't feel as bad".... hahahahahahaha so that was literally on my mind the entire rest of the hole in the rock trip. We had to come back down that! What the hell....
Ok, time to relax and have dinner.
*the food picture is from Cameron's camera. I did't really take any food pictures since i was in a trance with the amazing food that these guys were preparing and mine was always gone before i could even reach for the camera.