Utah in the fall 2015 - 9 days, 475 off-road miles, and 14 hours of digging! (PICS!)

RIDGE

Adventurer
Things didn't go as planned, but there wasn't much of a plan to start with. I wanted to follow xjblue's 2009 Utah Traverse trip report (http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...Utah-Traverse-Sept-09?highlight=utah+traverse), but starting at Big Water, UT. As our depart date grew closer, we were losing guys to job schedules, vehicle issues, etc. I think a couple were just not sure it was in their best health to trust me. Hahaha...but seriously, I've practically been through med school (the hard way). So, besides my girlfriend, Kristal, only two other people followed us in their Jeep on this adventure. They met us at Lone Rock (Lake Powell) and their names are Dennis and his son, Kyle.

My rig is a 1996 Ford van with an Agile Off-Road 4x4 conversion. I'm proud of this thing. It has gotten me through some tricky situations that I didn't think was possible in such a large rig, and it has a ****-ton of sentimental value. However, I'm not afraid to scratch it or dent it, but I try really hard to keep it looking good. Anyway, it has a Ford TTB front axle, 14 Bolt (GM) rear axle with an ARB locker, 4:56 gears, 35" tires, and a 5.8 V8. On the inside is a microwave, fold out bed, and a big ARB refrigerator. For an adventure rig, this thing is set up to get up! My trailer is an average M100 military trailer that seems to be tougher than ****. It's been tested! I guess the only mod is a 40 gallon fuel tank bolted down in the front, and two small pieces of pipe welded to the tail gate so it can be held horizontal. Normally they swing all the way down.


My friend's Jeep TJ is bone stock. LOL.


October 26:
We met Dennis and Kyle at Lone Rock to do final packing and trip planning. Dennis had driven out from Illinois and picked up Kyle at his home in Colorado Springs. Kyle fights wild fires all over the country and is a trained survivalist. Between him and Kristal (registered nurse), I felt confident I didn't have to play it too safe. Dennis has been exploring and camping all over the place for decades, including Alaska. These guys are troopers!

We packed the trailer with a Honda CRF450X, 65 gallons of fuel, 40 gallons of water, tools, spares, more spares, and all the normal camping stuff. We were told to not gather firewood, so any open spot was filled with our own (we had enough for 7 nights). Included in the "normal" camping stuff was a porta-potti. Word to your mother, never, ever, ever bring a porta-potti on an off-road trip. That thing was upside-down more than right-side up. Luckily it hadn't been used yet. The dirt bike was our last resort back-up plan in case something happened...I don't walk so good, ironically, because of dirt bikes.

After loading the trailer I wanted to go play around in the OHV area at Lone Rock. I un-hitched the trailer and away we went. I think Kristal spoke for the group when she asked me to not total the van before the trip started. I knew everything was okay but I think this is when Dennis and Kyle started wondering what they signed up for!






Kristal and I settled into a nice cove for the night, only a few feet away from the water at Lake Powell. Our journey would begin the next day and we couldn't be more excited!


I need to go get some work done...I'll try to post up more tonight. Lots of pictures to follow, and some pretty good adventures. Here's a teaser of what's to come...




It wasn't a cakewalk! This was the norm by day 5.
 
Last edited:

EMrider

Explorer
Hey Chris, I have the same wheels on my SMB. ATX Ledge?

Great start to the report. Looking forward to the rest.
Rob
 

RIDGE

Adventurer
Thanks guys!

Day 1
October 27th


Okay, so our first day was from Lone Rock to Alstrom Point (overlooking Lake Powell), but included The Kelly Grade on Smoky Hollow loop. With lots of rain the weeks before, it was pretty muddy and not a lot of people ventured out. We ran into some washed out roads but nothing too difficult.

Some of these pics might be slightly out of order, but I don't have enough time to organize them. We used two different cameras and they didn't upload in exact order.








We stopped at an overlook and saw this jack rabbit trapped in an old (I think) trap. It's leg was dangling pretty bad but I'll save you the gory pictures.




My first thought was to put a bullet in it's head and end it's suffering...the funny thing is, I'm an amputee and I was just thinking, "kill!" LOL, so we amputated the bunny's leg and pulled it's skin over the bones, taped it up with a bunch of gauze, and wrapped it in a blanket. I'm sure somebody will eventually see it and think some sick bastard wanted a lucky rabbits foot.

After surgery we found the underground fires. Supposedly, they have burning for 10,000 years. I can't imagine what the pioneers thought of these smelly, smoking holes in the ground.


Back on the trail...


















 
Last edited:

RIDGE

Adventurer
Hey Chris, I have the same wheels on my SMB. ATX Ledge?

Great start to the report. Looking forward to the rest.
Rob

Hey Rob!! No, these are Raceline wheels. Hopefully we can meet up for a trip soon! I'm trying to talk Mike H. into going.
 

RIDGE

Adventurer
Alstrom Point was crazy cool! We camped here and had a nice campfire while we threw a few back.












Although picturesque, we re-located to a safer camping spot!




Aired down is the only way...






Sunrise was off the chart!
 
Last edited:

Trailboss

Senior Curmudgeon
Great rig and photos. That M101 trailer is very versatile - I love mine (identical to yours still with the military cover) that I towed 1200 miles through the Smoky Mtns in TN, NC and Georgia in Oct.
 
Last edited:

RIDGE

Adventurer
Day 2
October 28th
Leaving Alstrom Point is simply returning the same way you came. It's only 5 miles each way from the main trail, and definitely worth it. We went from the beautiful buttes of Lake Powell to Mars types of terrain within an hour.






We stopped along the edges of some cliffs...








But mostly, we just drove and enjoyed the scenery.








 
Last edited:

RIDGE

Adventurer
Like I said earlier, some of these photos are out of order because of using different cameras, and some are blurry. On a trip like this, if we stopped each time we saw something cool, we'd still be there! We took well over 3000 photos.

To make matters worse, 2 weeks ago (on a 4 day Arizona dirt bike ride), I lost the phone that I kept notes on, waypoints, and GPS tracking. I had backed up some of the stuff but not all of it.

My leg wasn't the only thing I lost while racing dirt bikes...my memory is gone too! Lol. So I don't know exactly what pass this is, but it was cool! We stopped for lunch here.






Back on trail...












 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,546
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top