turbodb
Well-known member
I'd returned from The Re-Tour a mere three weeks before our departure date, but that didn't mean there were only a few short days to plan for our next epic adventure. In fact, quite the contrary - we'd been planning our trip south to Arizona and Utah for nearly a year - knowing that there was way more ground than we could cover in the two weeks we had allocated for the excursion.
Our plan was simple, if long. Start in St. George, Utah, and work our way east - first along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then through Glen Canyon National Monument (Lake Powell), and then through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to Bears Ears National Monument and Natural Bridges National Monuments. Then, finally, we'd work our way back north through Capitol Reef National Park, having seen the plethora of sights and plenty of dirt roads along the way. It was, to be sure, the most ambitious trip to date!
Over the summer, invites were extended and permits were obtained. We'd have six trucks making the run, the max we were allowed in the National Parks. But as is often the case, as the departure date neared, not everyone was able to make it - so it was that on the last Saturday in September, Monte @Blackdawg left from his home in Montana, and Mike @Digiratus and I left from Washington to meet up the next day in St. George.
It was - to say the least - an early morning, when I headed out at 4:15am - 12 hours or so of driving to meet up with Mike, and then another 6 hours to our rendezvous with Monte.
As I cruised south, the miles unfolded in front of me, slowly. You see, I'm the slowest driver of our group - moseying along at 62 mph - taking in the sights, and hypermiling. For me, it's enjoyable. This morning, I enjoyed an amazing sunrise about the time I crossed from Washington into Oregon.
And then, not long after - I hit a major milestone for the truck. One I thought I'd hit returning from The Re-Tour, but which I was just a couple hundred miles shy of when it was all said and done - 100,000 miles! Clearly, after some 19 years of ownership, the truck is just getting broken in.
I continued south and east, stopping only for fuel and food until early afternoon when Mike and I finally realized that we could communicate not only via ham radio, but also via some new-fangled SMS technology, which had distances much greater than our radio transmissions! ? We found each other around Boise, Idaho and were from that point on, a caravan of two - our speed increased or decreased depending on which truck you were riding in - to a middle-of-the-road speed around 67 mph.
Our destination for the evening was just south of Wells, Nevada, and we made reasonable time getting there - again, our stops only for fuel and food. And so it was that shortly after sunset, we found ourselves looking for a place to camp on BLM land, where we'd enjoy a propane camp fire and wonder how late Monte would be to our noon rendezvous in St. George the next day.
In the end, we figured that if we showed up around 1:00 pm, we'd probably only have to wait an hour - so we set our alarms and hit the sack, eager for the adventure that lay ahead.
September 30, 2018.
We awoke the next morning just a few minutes before sunrise. It was beautiful and clear, and we'd slept well - protected from the wind by the surrounding trees. And, as we got to putting away our tents, sunrise played across the sky.
It was only as we were pulling out of camp - the sun hitting the mountain range to our west - that we realized we had a "problem." Monte had found a spot to camp the night before that was closer to St. George than we were, and he was already on the road - now a good couple hours ahead of us.
Hmm. We booked it out of camp, a trail of dust in our wake.
As we headed south and a bit east, we stopped only once for fuel - opting to skip breakfast in favor of having Monte find us a tasty-looking Mexican eatery for lunch. After all, it was clear he was going to have a bit of time on his hands.
In the end, it turned out that Monte was early - a first in my experience, though he insists that he's be "on time" twice before - and we were half an hour late (or, an hour and a half late, if you considered that we were technically now in Mountain Time). Happy to have met up - and for the beginning of our adventure - we promptly sat down in a booth in a Mexican restaurant and ate a leisurely lunch.
Eventually, it was time to head out - picking up fuel, firewood, and a few last supplies on our way out-of-town and out-of-Utah - St. George being right on the Arizona border.
That border also turned out to be the end of pavement, and we were more than happy to air down and hit the dirt, even as clouds started to gather in the sky. This was Arizona after-all, and it was still September - how could the weather be anything but fine?
Tire pressure's lowered, we hit the trail. There were a few hours of dirt ahead of us to our first Grand Canyon National Park destination - Whitmore Overlook - where we'd camp for the night, but that didn't stop us a few miles in from pulling over and taking the first of what would be thousands and thousands of photos.
It was also here that the first raindrops feel on us and our trucks. "******** you rain!" Monte joked as we climbed back behind the wheels of our first gen Toyota Tacoma's and sped off along the trail, sure that what we'd felt was just a fluke.
We probably shouldn't have been quite so sure with what was behind and ahead of us - but it didn't matter, we were out in our element, sights to see; excitement (more than we knew) ahead.
.
Our plan was simple, if long. Start in St. George, Utah, and work our way east - first along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then through Glen Canyon National Monument (Lake Powell), and then through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to Bears Ears National Monument and Natural Bridges National Monuments. Then, finally, we'd work our way back north through Capitol Reef National Park, having seen the plethora of sights and plenty of dirt roads along the way. It was, to be sure, the most ambitious trip to date!
Over the summer, invites were extended and permits were obtained. We'd have six trucks making the run, the max we were allowed in the National Parks. But as is often the case, as the departure date neared, not everyone was able to make it - so it was that on the last Saturday in September, Monte @Blackdawg left from his home in Montana, and Mike @Digiratus and I left from Washington to meet up the next day in St. George.
It was - to say the least - an early morning, when I headed out at 4:15am - 12 hours or so of driving to meet up with Mike, and then another 6 hours to our rendezvous with Monte.
As I cruised south, the miles unfolded in front of me, slowly. You see, I'm the slowest driver of our group - moseying along at 62 mph - taking in the sights, and hypermiling. For me, it's enjoyable. This morning, I enjoyed an amazing sunrise about the time I crossed from Washington into Oregon.
And then, not long after - I hit a major milestone for the truck. One I thought I'd hit returning from The Re-Tour, but which I was just a couple hundred miles shy of when it was all said and done - 100,000 miles! Clearly, after some 19 years of ownership, the truck is just getting broken in.
I continued south and east, stopping only for fuel and food until early afternoon when Mike and I finally realized that we could communicate not only via ham radio, but also via some new-fangled SMS technology, which had distances much greater than our radio transmissions! ? We found each other around Boise, Idaho and were from that point on, a caravan of two - our speed increased or decreased depending on which truck you were riding in - to a middle-of-the-road speed around 67 mph.
Our destination for the evening was just south of Wells, Nevada, and we made reasonable time getting there - again, our stops only for fuel and food. And so it was that shortly after sunset, we found ourselves looking for a place to camp on BLM land, where we'd enjoy a propane camp fire and wonder how late Monte would be to our noon rendezvous in St. George the next day.
In the end, we figured that if we showed up around 1:00 pm, we'd probably only have to wait an hour - so we set our alarms and hit the sack, eager for the adventure that lay ahead.
- - - - -
September 30, 2018.
We awoke the next morning just a few minutes before sunrise. It was beautiful and clear, and we'd slept well - protected from the wind by the surrounding trees. And, as we got to putting away our tents, sunrise played across the sky.
It was only as we were pulling out of camp - the sun hitting the mountain range to our west - that we realized we had a "problem." Monte had found a spot to camp the night before that was closer to St. George than we were, and he was already on the road - now a good couple hours ahead of us.
Hmm. We booked it out of camp, a trail of dust in our wake.
As we headed south and a bit east, we stopped only once for fuel - opting to skip breakfast in favor of having Monte find us a tasty-looking Mexican eatery for lunch. After all, it was clear he was going to have a bit of time on his hands.
In the end, it turned out that Monte was early - a first in my experience, though he insists that he's be "on time" twice before - and we were half an hour late (or, an hour and a half late, if you considered that we were technically now in Mountain Time). Happy to have met up - and for the beginning of our adventure - we promptly sat down in a booth in a Mexican restaurant and ate a leisurely lunch.
Eventually, it was time to head out - picking up fuel, firewood, and a few last supplies on our way out-of-town and out-of-Utah - St. George being right on the Arizona border.
That border also turned out to be the end of pavement, and we were more than happy to air down and hit the dirt, even as clouds started to gather in the sky. This was Arizona after-all, and it was still September - how could the weather be anything but fine?
Tire pressure's lowered, we hit the trail. There were a few hours of dirt ahead of us to our first Grand Canyon National Park destination - Whitmore Overlook - where we'd camp for the night, but that didn't stop us a few miles in from pulling over and taking the first of what would be thousands and thousands of photos.
It was also here that the first raindrops feel on us and our trucks. "******** you rain!" Monte joked as we climbed back behind the wheels of our first gen Toyota Tacoma's and sped off along the trail, sure that what we'd felt was just a fluke.
We probably shouldn't have been quite so sure with what was behind and ahead of us - but it didn't matter, we were out in our element, sights to see; excitement (more than we knew) ahead.
- - - - -
Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos - it'd all be included here if it fit. But until then...
Keep reading the rest here
Exploring the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bears Ears and more! (Oct 2018)
Or, to get notified of all new adventures, sign up here!
Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos - it'd all be included here if it fit. But until then...
Keep reading the rest here
Exploring the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bears Ears and more! (Oct 2018)
Or, to get notified of all new adventures, sign up here!
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