Nice story and pics Alex! At least I get to live vicariously through your efforts 
Utah Trip Report
- Thread starter concretejungle
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #62
Thanks guys!
Andy, next we saw more bison! lol
Andy, next we saw more bison! lol
Ironically I got to meet a fellow North Carolinian all the way out in Utah. Sup Alex! I hope you don't mind if I share a link to my pics. There were over 400 I had to sort through to pic only a handful.
Just want to mention that everybody should make an effort to get out to Cruise Moab because it is absolutely incredible. This year as a new member of the host club I got to participate in the effort and next year I may lead a trail. I know Johnny plans on coming out and Darin is a hopeful but I'd like to see a strong Olde Northe State representation in 2015. And if anybody wants to fly out to Grand Junction I'll make sure to get you there and have a great time at the event. I can't stress enough how valuable a trip like this is to anyone with a genuine passion for LandCruisers... yes that's right. It's more valuable than gold, diamonds, and saving for retirement. Just do it and have no regrets. And for those that hesitate because of the heights, Ramon, there are plenty of hard core challenging trails that won't make you uncomfortable, because of heights at least.
The trails in photos are of Fins and Things (on Tuesday), Hells Revenge (w/ Alex and Miller Buggies), Moab Rim (really uncomfortable scary off camber climb in a 62 and Z-Turn), and my favorite trail Golden Spike (with the Golden Crack poser pics).
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/112134549425729848536/albums/6015718125585016609
Just want to mention that everybody should make an effort to get out to Cruise Moab because it is absolutely incredible. This year as a new member of the host club I got to participate in the effort and next year I may lead a trail. I know Johnny plans on coming out and Darin is a hopeful but I'd like to see a strong Olde Northe State representation in 2015. And if anybody wants to fly out to Grand Junction I'll make sure to get you there and have a great time at the event. I can't stress enough how valuable a trip like this is to anyone with a genuine passion for LandCruisers... yes that's right. It's more valuable than gold, diamonds, and saving for retirement. Just do it and have no regrets. And for those that hesitate because of the heights, Ramon, there are plenty of hard core challenging trails that won't make you uncomfortable, because of heights at least.
The trails in photos are of Fins and Things (on Tuesday), Hells Revenge (w/ Alex and Miller Buggies), Moab Rim (really uncomfortable scary off camber climb in a 62 and Z-Turn), and my favorite trail Golden Spike (with the Golden Crack poser pics).
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/112134549425729848536/albums/6015718125585016609
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
I found a few pics of Alex in my stash==
This last one you can see him behind Cameron who was driving my truck at the time:
I should have taken a bunch more.
To correct one detail-I was still driving over the off camber spot going up with Cam spotting. It was the next morning that Cam was driving my truck on the upper shelf and I was spotting and taking pics with his camera. But you are correct that I do not like that spot at all and feel that sometime there will be a tragedy at that spot.
I wish I had a pic of the spot where we broke into the clear and had the epic view across the sand stone over to the Hole in the Rock itself. It really puts that whole trail in perspective.
This last one you can see him behind Cameron who was driving my truck at the time:
I should have taken a bunch more.
To correct one detail-I was still driving over the off camber spot going up with Cam spotting. It was the next morning that Cam was driving my truck on the upper shelf and I was spotting and taking pics with his camera. But you are correct that I do not like that spot at all and feel that sometime there will be a tragedy at that spot.
I wish I had a pic of the spot where we broke into the clear and had the epic view across the sand stone over to the Hole in the Rock itself. It really puts that whole trail in perspective.
- Thread starter
- #65
Andy, thanks for adding pics! I swear I thought you were taking pics of Cameron driving but it does make since now since he did spot me up and over the ledge.
Mike, It was great meeting you! Help round the troops up for a Moab trip from the NC group!
Spent the last two days editing video. I should have a few links up in the next day or two.
Mike, It was great meeting you! Help round the troops up for a Moab trip from the NC group!
Spent the last two days editing video. I should have a few links up in the next day or two.
- Thread starter
- #66
OK, so here is the first video i have finished. It's the trip from Elephant Hill to Beef Basin.
I'm not a pro at video editing so be kind.
I'm not a pro at video editing so be kind.
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
It just gets better!
- Thread starter
- #70
Thanks guys! The hole in the rock video is great! For some reason it finished processing last night and must of errored out since the last 5 minutes of the video were not there. So i will try it again this evening.
- Thread starter
- #71
OK here is the video for the Hole in the Rock trail. Hope you enjoy.
BTW, this is the second HITR video. I took the original and edited it to slow some sections down. I think it turned out a little better.
BTW, this is the second HITR video. I took the original and edited it to slow some sections down. I think it turned out a little better.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #72
After another great dinner, music around the campfire and plenty of beverages, we all slept well and awoke the next morning prepared to head to Red Canyon. The guys wanted to go look for a place they had seen on the map called Radium King Mine. Tom had fashioned a handy geiger counter with a few items he had laying around on his work bench, so off on our adventure we went.
Heading into a town ( don't recall the name, I will have to check on the map and report back)... i say town lightly because i didn't see a single person there, the gas station was an unmanned pump and the few houses looked empty. Yes, the gas was expensive but worth every penny. After topping up the guys were talking about the boat marina that was no longer in the water and that we had to check it out. It was right in front of us so we all drove down to the bottom of the boat ramp and took some pictures. This boat ramp and marina was super nice. They looked brand new in fact which i guess is another example of the dry desert air allowing things to last forever. Apparently there hadn't been water here in years and really there isn't much hope that there will be again. Sad and a indicator of what many communities out west are going to be dealing with in a few years if not already.
again, i had some really cool panoramic pictures that i can't upload because they are too large.... sorry.
Heading into a town ( don't recall the name, I will have to check on the map and report back)... i say town lightly because i didn't see a single person there, the gas station was an unmanned pump and the few houses looked empty. Yes, the gas was expensive but worth every penny. After topping up the guys were talking about the boat marina that was no longer in the water and that we had to check it out. It was right in front of us so we all drove down to the bottom of the boat ramp and took some pictures. This boat ramp and marina was super nice. They looked brand new in fact which i guess is another example of the dry desert air allowing things to last forever. Apparently there hadn't been water here in years and really there isn't much hope that there will be again. Sad and a indicator of what many communities out west are going to be dealing with in a few years if not already.
again, i had some really cool panoramic pictures that i can't upload because they are too large.... sorry.
- Thread starter
- #73
Once we got off the pavement we all aired down and started up a gravel road which would take is up and over a cool pass and into Red Canyon. Our goal was to head through the canyon and then down through where Lake Powell used to be, up through Blue Notch and then head for Radium King Mine road.
Once at the top of the pass you could look down the canyon and see Lake Powell in the distance. Pretty spectacular view. It was another of many examples of being able to look out and see where you would be in a few hours.
The canyon was very scenic, as was the entire trip. Really rich colors and cool rock formations everywhere. As we descended down into the canyon the colors really started to come out. Some of the rock formations where these huge rocks balancing on little pedestals of dirt. It seemed that the next rain storm and many of these rocks would come barreling down the mountain. The further we worked our way down the canyon the colors in the rocks began to change. We were seeing all kinds of colors, blue, yellow, white, red, green, yellow, black.... I had never witnessed rock colors like this.
Once at the top of the pass you could look down the canyon and see Lake Powell in the distance. Pretty spectacular view. It was another of many examples of being able to look out and see where you would be in a few hours.
The canyon was very scenic, as was the entire trip. Really rich colors and cool rock formations everywhere. As we descended down into the canyon the colors really started to come out. Some of the rock formations where these huge rocks balancing on little pedestals of dirt. It seemed that the next rain storm and many of these rocks would come barreling down the mountain. The further we worked our way down the canyon the colors in the rocks began to change. We were seeing all kinds of colors, blue, yellow, white, red, green, yellow, black.... I had never witnessed rock colors like this.
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
Alex-the little "settlement" was Hite. The site of the Hite marina/boat launch now 300 feet above the water. It's still a federal facility and there must be ranger presence there, but I'm not sure. In past years, the little store there was still open, now it's just the gas pump. That's a very handy gas pump for canyon travelers, but I can't imagine many others use it.
- Thread starter
- #76
We continued to wind our way through the canyon. It was really deceptive in the fact that you could see a section of lake powell that looked like we would get to it just over the next hill only to see more canyon and colored rock. It really was amazing to see all the colors.
We eventually rode down into an area that used to be under water but no longer was (obviously) and so you could still see little shells and signs of past history of being submerged.
We dropped down into a river bed that was dry. This was a really cool part of the trip. I kept imagining a flash flood coming through and i'm sure if you were caught in a storm that would be a real possibility.
We eventually rode down into an area that used to be under water but no longer was (obviously) and so you could still see little shells and signs of past history of being submerged.
We dropped down into a river bed that was dry. This was a really cool part of the trip. I kept imagining a flash flood coming through and i'm sure if you were caught in a storm that would be a real possibility.
- Thread starter
- #77
We eventually worked our way up to a gravel road which we hoped was radium king mine road. After some discussion and referring to maps and GPS, we decided this was it.
We rode up a winding road where the colors continued to remain a blueish green with yellows and reds. We eventually found a killer area that had a lot of abandoned mines. There was an old abandoned air strip and several old abandoned mining shacks.
We set up camp in front of one of the mines. Tom broke out his homemade geiger counter while we all messed around looking for "hot spots". Then we had an amazing dinner with wine, again. Another great night. This was kind of a surreal night for me since i knew that the next morning meant that i would be on the road heading east again. I would be leaving the isolation, beauty and mental healing of the Utah desert and head back into the stoplights and people of the city.
After a great night's sleep, we packed up and continued down radium king mine and back down to pavement.
We aired up and i said my goodbyes to the guys. We exchanged info the night before so we could all stay in touch.
I had experienced some amazing scenery and enjoyed every minute of it. Time to hit the highway. I was heading north to Moab where i would grab a quick lunch, gas up and try to make it to Denver, CO for the night. Maybe it was time to get my first hotel room of the trip.
I split off from the group and hit the cruise control..... it flashed and went out! Wait, what! WTF?! no way, i'm not driving across the country without cruise control!! OK, we have an issue....
We rode up a winding road where the colors continued to remain a blueish green with yellows and reds. We eventually found a killer area that had a lot of abandoned mines. There was an old abandoned air strip and several old abandoned mining shacks.
We set up camp in front of one of the mines. Tom broke out his homemade geiger counter while we all messed around looking for "hot spots". Then we had an amazing dinner with wine, again. Another great night. This was kind of a surreal night for me since i knew that the next morning meant that i would be on the road heading east again. I would be leaving the isolation, beauty and mental healing of the Utah desert and head back into the stoplights and people of the city.
After a great night's sleep, we packed up and continued down radium king mine and back down to pavement.
We aired up and i said my goodbyes to the guys. We exchanged info the night before so we could all stay in touch.
I had experienced some amazing scenery and enjoyed every minute of it. Time to hit the highway. I was heading north to Moab where i would grab a quick lunch, gas up and try to make it to Denver, CO for the night. Maybe it was time to get my first hotel room of the trip.
I split off from the group and hit the cruise control..... it flashed and went out! Wait, what! WTF?! no way, i'm not driving across the country without cruise control!! OK, we have an issue....
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
Bravo, Alex. I enjoyed the story and videos. Well done. You coming back next year? We found a whole new area to explore in Escalante.
No Cruise usually means your brake fluid is low. Sounds crazy, but that's how it is.
No Cruise usually means your brake fluid is low. Sounds crazy, but that's how it is.
- Thread starter
- #80
Well Andy.... let me tell you another little story 
The day before leaving for the trip, i headed up to the tire store to get my tires balanced. On the way there i smelled brakes. I pulled off near the tire store and discovered that my PS rear brake caliper was sticking. I continued to the store and got my tires balanced, then came home and worked on the caliper. I called NAPA, auto zone, orally, advanced auto and Toyota looking for a replacement. No one had one.
So i flushed the fluid, lubed up the pins, blew everything out with air and it worked again. I tested it on a few short trips and it was working.
I went on the trip. Got back and parked the truck. Ordered two new rear calipers from beno. Got them in the mail and about a week later went to replace them. When i went to turn the truck around in the driveway the rear caliper was seized again! Big time!
That means the trip was meant to be. The wheeling gods were watching over me.
next year, i will ship my cruiser either out or back......
Let me know where to meet up and a date for next year.
The day before leaving for the trip, i headed up to the tire store to get my tires balanced. On the way there i smelled brakes. I pulled off near the tire store and discovered that my PS rear brake caliper was sticking. I continued to the store and got my tires balanced, then came home and worked on the caliper. I called NAPA, auto zone, orally, advanced auto and Toyota looking for a replacement. No one had one.
So i flushed the fluid, lubed up the pins, blew everything out with air and it worked again. I tested it on a few short trips and it was working.
I went on the trip. Got back and parked the truck. Ordered two new rear calipers from beno. Got them in the mail and about a week later went to replace them. When i went to turn the truck around in the driveway the rear caliper was seized again! Big time!
That means the trip was meant to be. The wheeling gods were watching over me.
next year, i will ship my cruiser either out or back......
Let me know where to meet up and a date for next year.