Day 1: Thursday
Tyson and I left SLC around
6:30, made a stop for food & fuel and hit the road for Wellington where
we had planned to meet the Gardners at 9-9:30. We arrived in Wellington
right around 9:15, grabbed some snacks and headed South to Huntington.
We spent a few minutes in Huntington trying to find the actual road into
Buckhorn, after a small loop we were on our way. We made quick time bombing
down the Buckhorn Wash Road and decided to make camp somewhere near Buchhorn
Wash. We settled on one of the first trails we came upon, turned out to
be Furniture Draw, a killer spot to camp. We had no clue we were in an
amazing gorge until the morning light Greg kept us warm with a fire,
we enjoyed the weather (warmer than SLC) and crashed ~ 1am.
Day 2: Friday
We warmed up by the fire
after a cold night, had breakfast and broke camp... we had alot of ground
to cover so we wanted to get going. First stop was the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph
panel, followed by some exploration at a small cave where we noted the
desert big horn
From there we were off to
the Swinging Bridge, we stopped for a minute to marvel the bridges construction
and surrounding landscape, and got back on the ground. The trip down to
I70 was rather quick, we made great time and had plenty left to explore
some more. We decided to cross I70 at Exit 129 (NOW called 131!) and head
over to Dutchman Arch and the Head of Sinbad Pictographs. Amazingly it
seemed like ever road we followed took us to another picto panel, ranging
from dozens of paintings... to just a few.
We then crossed back under
the freeway (in another culvert) and headed south to find Swaseys cabin
and the Lone Warrior pictograph. We spent a few minutes checking out the
cabin, and the short hike to the icebox .
From Swaseys cabin we continued
to head West towards Eagle Canyon where it started to get fun. A recent
snowfal left the trail a bit slippery, the fist could of ruts were getting
us worried about a potentially long day. The trail continues down to the
bottom of the canyon on narrow trails, surrounded by some of the most amazing
landscapes you could imagine! Under the bride and back to the other side
of Eagle Canyon where we decided to stay on the trail in the hopes it would
take us back to I70 as we had assumed it would. Sure enough we wandered
back up to I70 where we once again crossed underneath via an even narrower
cement culvert.
With some time to spare we
decided to make the trip down to check out the Copper Globe Mine, a turn
of the centure mining area in a seemingly hibernated state... The mine
was awesome, relics, cabins, woodpiles, and some deep shafts & tunnels.
With daylight running short, and our gas tanks approaching empty... we
hit the trail back to I70 in hopes of reaching Green River for some fuel
(and sodas) and then on to Moab.
After reaching the highway
we were flagged down on the EB side of I70 by a couple of foreign kids
that had run out of gas on the WB side of 70. We maneuvered onto the WB
side of the freeway and gave them enough gas to get their little Saturn
SUV over to Salina.
The rest of the trip was
uneventeful, we made it to Moab unscathed with enough time to setup camp
prior to heading out to dinner. The four of us it up Bucks Grill at the
North end of town with Mr. Steve Jackson for a great meal. After dinner
we sat around the campfire, swapping storied and giving Tyson life advice
Day 3: Saturday
Saturday came early, we
made our way over to the Moab Valley in where the U4WDA breakfast was ready
to go. Sgt handled the Association business, and we then headed South of
town to meet for the trail runs. I had chosen Strike Ravine as it was on
my "hitlist" of trails to do in Moab. A killer turnout, and a great trail.
The Tacoma did me well. We finished up the trail and headed over to Area
BFE for some hotdogs and chili.
Back to camp for a much needed
shower, and then over the La Hacienda for some dinner... Always good food
and great company As our nightly ritual continued, Greg got a fire
roaring for us and we say around chatting for hours. ~10:30 I got a call
from a good freind Richard who had been in town for the Association run.
Richard had driven his bone stock 01' WJ down to town and caught a ride
for the mornings trail rides. Following the trail rides Richard decided
to go do some exploring, he ended up doing 99% of Kane Creek in his open
diffed WJ.
Well, Richard got stuck near
the waterfall (not sure the official name) on Kane Creek and hiked out
to 191 where he was able to hitch a ride into town. He called me and we
were off to help get his rig out. We picked him up at his hotel, and made
our way down Kane Creek to the stranded Jeep... hooked the winch cable,
stacked a couple rocks and pulled him up and out. A great night adventure
and a chance to use some of the new toys on my Tacoma. We made it back
to the highway and bombed back to camp... bedtime!
Day 4: Sunday
Richard showed up to our
camp ~7:30am to take us out to breakfast, what better then the Pancake
Haus to get the day rolling. We headed back to camp, loaded things up and
said goodbye to Greg and Catheryn.
Richard decided to join us
for the last leg of our trip, I was happy to have a second rig around especially
considering the adventure the night before. We made quick time to Green
River, tried to check out the river museum (closed on Sunday's for the
season ), and continued on our way to Wellington. We arrived at Wellington,
stretched out legs and swapped drivers, and Tyson started the trip up Nine-Mile
Canyon. Over the next couple hours we made our way up Nine-Mile as we stopped
to check out Petroglyphs, old cabins, etc, finally arriving in Myton some
hours later. This is the end of the dirt as we would travel on 40 to Duchesne,
Heber City (had lunch with Richard at the Wagon Wheel) and down Provo Canyon
before arriving back in Sandy.
775 miles in 3 days...
200+ of them in the dirt...
Camping in Furniture Draw
Canyon, San Rafael Swell, Utah
Furniture Draw Canyon,
San Rafael Swell, Utah
Cave off of the Buckhorn
Wash Road, San Rafael Swell, Utah
Buckhorn Wash Pictograph
Panel, San Rafael Swell, Utah
Desert Bighorn Sheep,
San Rafael Swell, Utah
Buckhorn Wash Pictograph
Panel, San Rafael Swell, Utah
Buckhorn Wash Pictograph
Panel, San Rafael Swell, Utah
Swinging Bridge, San Rafael
Swell, Utah
Spire off of Buckhorn
Wash, San Rafael Swell, Utah
South Buckhorn Wash, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Crossing Under I70, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Crossing Under I70, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Headed to The Head of
Sinbad, San Rafael Swell, Utah
Headed to The Head of
Sinbad, San Rafael Swell, Utah
Dutchman Arch, San Rafael
Swell, Utah
Buckhorn Wash Pictograph
Panel, San Rafael Swell, Utah
"Lone Soldier", San Rafael
Swell, Utah
Swasey's Cabin, San Rafael
Swell, Utah
Swasey's Ice Box, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Eagle Canyon & I70
Bridges, San Rafael Swell, Utah
Wild Horses, San Rafael
Swell, Utah
Tombstone, San Rafael
Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Copper Globe Mine, San
Rafael Swell, Utah
Strike Ravine Trail, Moab,
Utah
Rollover, Moab, Utah
Nine Mile Canyon Road,
Utah
Nine Mile Canyon, Utah
Balance Rock, Nine Mile
Canyon, Utah
Petroglyphs, Nine Mile
Canyon, Utah
Nine Mile Canyon Overlooking
Myton, Utah
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