Driving to Moab...

[jms]

...really is a piece of cake. So we added a ~300 mile detour to the usual 480 mile route from Phoenix:



Here's a pic along the way; at the saddle of Blue Notch Canyon near Hite, UT:


Disclaimer: neither my truck nor myself are really "CK5-approved", so beware.
But the route was a hell of a lot of fun. 800+ pics so far, and that's before hitting any trails in Moab.
Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[Whitey1303]

what bumper is that?

 

[y5mgisi]

I dont see how that truck could not be CK5 approved!

 

[blazinzuk]

I have been mapping an all dirt route to Moab for quite a few years.

Something I hope to do with some friends in the next couple of years.

Still don't have the whole route but pretty close

 

[jms]

what bumper is that?

Yeah, well. ORD.
Is the sticker on the truck not big enough? Ever notice that blue truck in the ORD ads?

I dont see how that truck could not be CK5 approved!

No 14-bolt, ARBs, still on 35s, lowered 208, aluminum radiator with plastic tanks, hi-steer without Dedenbear knuckles, 30-spline stubs, no Warn winch, dual front shocks,...

I have been mapping an all dirt route to Moab ...

Wasn't all dirt, but all scenic. More dirt would have been turning north at Natural Bridges and go Maverick Point and South Elk Ridge into Beef Basin, and out UT 107, then take Lockhart Basin into Moab. We've done that part a few years ago. Adding that route - instead of going to Blanding and taking 191 - would have presented logistical problems: fuel supply, and we didn't want to camp. But I'd certainly recommend it. In fact, we're planning to leave Moab via Lockhart Basin.

 

[Deuling]

More pics pleezzzz

 

[miniwally]

I'm jelous.

You should do the needles district trip from Hite sometime. 60 miles one way and you probably will only see cattle. Camping required but it's cool. I would like to get back into that type of "wheeling" sometime.

 

[jms]

More pics pleezzzz

Total pic count as of today: 991. Can't post any of'em because of really slow interwebs here at River Canyon Lodge. Nice rooms, but timed out three times on a resized file... I might run out of card space on this trip.

I'm jealous.

You should do the needles district trip from Hite sometime. 60 miles one way and you probably will only see cattle. Camping required but it's cool. I would like to get back into that type of "wheeling" sometime.

Trips based out of Hite are sort of on the horizon for next year. It seems Hite now might be a reliable source of gas - given the distances on the west side of the river(s), that's a game changer.

We actually considered camping, and it turns out the gear we stowed away after our last river running trip more than 10 years ago is still intact and functional ... and I even found 2 MREs from back then...

My truck is the limiting factor, at 10mpg; the Cruiser is doing 14-ish. There are a bunch of trails in the Maze section of Canyonlands NP that I'd like to run, and my trail buddies from BC that come here every year are sorta twisting my arm...

Just bring the 4488, and we'll let you run up front, for "scouting" purposes - I hear those Ultra4 racers run pretty smoooooooth on the trails...

 

[miniwally]

I confused my districts, yes the maze district is awesome. We did it in Stephens blazer back in the mid 90's. Topped off with gas in Hite and carried ten or so gallons. Went all the way in, camped "up top" by the maze part then again another night by the doll house. Went down and took a bath in the Colorado, kind of cold in March.

Could bring the race car but it's too loud. And you think gas is an issue at 10 mpg just try 4mpg on for size. It might push 8 or so going slower.

 

[jms]

OK - Golden Spike today; brought up the rear. Claudia was the official tailgunner; I'm not registered with CruiseMoab this year.

Started at 8:15 with 20 trucks, out the other end at 5pm. Breakage: a broken sway bar link on an FJ Cruiser, and I popped a shock: one of my front 5125s started leaking oil badly, and I took it out during lunch break at the Golden Crack at 1:30pm. This was an occasion where it turned out to be really handy to have four shocks up front...

Pix when I get back to real interwebs access...

Tomorrow: 3D, Mashed Potato, and perhaps Spring Canyon...

 

[jms]

Made it home . Left Moab yesterday via Lockhart Basin trail (60 miles of dirt...), stayed in Mexican Hat, and drove down to the Valley today.

Truck is a little worse for wear, but did great. This was my first long trip with the TBI. Total pic count: 1379. It'll take a while to sort thru.

 

[jms]

Here are a few shots, in chronological order to give a little impression on what we saw:

Bridge at Marble Canyon:


My companion for the trek:


White Pocket on the Paria Plateau:


Good deed for the day: pulling a 2WD Nissan Arvada out of the muck...


Evening view from our cabin at Kodachrome Basin State Park:

 

[jms]

I apologize for the quality of the images. The issue is that CK5 will claim ownership of any image posted on here; however, since I'm working towards a photo exposition, I'm not able to post the good stuff without risking a potential future conflict... So: anything worth printing at 3 feet wide - you're going to have to go out there and look at it yourself...

Anyways, here are a few more:

Highway 12 east of Escalante:


Driving the Burr trail; ~20 miles blacktop; ~50 miles of dirt, dropping into the Waterpocket Fold area of Capitol Reef National Park


Evening view from our accommodations at Lake Powell:


Skipping Blue Notch Canyon for now, since the truck pic above is from that trail; Wednesday lunch spot at Spring Canyon Point above the Green River north of Moab:


View from Dead Horse State Park outside Moab:


My truck crossing the Golden Crack; Drew from Canada, and Winston


Coming out from Mashed Potato:


Leaving Moab, on the trail into Lockhart Basin:

 

[jms]

By the way: Moab seems to be getting more annoyingly wholesome year after year. And while I am generally against badass-ness - even if it's typically faked anyways - this is getting too far .

And you have to go to the hippies there if you want good coffee .

 

[jms]

Mashed Potato might be something to do at Blazer Bash, as part of the 3D trail loop. It's on the easier side, all slickrock, lots of short climbs and descents; also not very long. 33's and a locker ought to do it, but since I've had front and rear lockers for so long now, I'm really not the best judge for that.

I did have both lockers on at a few occasions, but that was because I was driving in front w/o spotting. The green marks on the rocks are the vehicle trail, whereas the white marks are the equestrian trail. There is a big hot tub - check out some videos on YouTube... It can be bypassed. All climbs/descents are pretty much square - no off-camber fall-off-the-cliff stuff.
I have a very accurate GPS track that I found on the web.

Here is a pic a buddy of mine took from the tail end of the group; this is near the end of the Mashed Potato trail, with the big tub in the foreground to the left:

 

[Chief Brody]

I'm never less than amazed at the photos I see from out there....the colors are stunning....never been out west before...

 

[TREA18]

I'm never less than amazed at the photos I see from out there....the colors are stunning....never been out west before...

I know what you mean. I need to go soon, and keep the great pictures coming.

 

[jms]

Colorado River as seen from the bridge at Marble Canyon



House Rock Valley Road



Cottonwood Canyon Road



Rocks along the way...



That day was about 130 miles. 100 of those were trail and/or dirt... I had the tires at 18psi, so it was fairly smooth.

North end of Kodachrome Basin - who thought it would be a good idea to cut a road into the side of the mountain? But more importantly - why did they close it?

 

[jms]

Utah Highway 12 just east of Escalante - you'll have to fight the rental cars for spots at the overlooks...





Up from Escalante to Boulder, then on the Burr trail on to Capitol Reef National Park and down to Lake Powell...

 

[bp71k5]

Nice pictures. I contemplated heading through that cottonwood trail this past year before blazerbash, but the rain was pretty heavy and so I avoided it. But after we got back to our camp, I ran into some German tourists that came through it in a giant RV ok...