DVD
Adventurer
I wonder where that trail goes?
This lunch spot would be a great campsite. Let’s drop a GPS point in case we ever return.
We’ve been looking at those mountains for the past 3 days; let’s explore there some day.
Overland adventure can be addictive that way. The more you get out, the more you want to get out. We love exploring Utah, and have taken numerous trips, but when a fellow Arizona Land Rover Club member planned a Utah Traverse trip, we jumped at the chance to join the crew.
The trip was truly exceptional -- the scenery, the camaraderie, the vehicles, the communities opening after Covid-19, the rhythm of travelling new trails and setting new camps for 10 days, the new and renewed friendships -- all incredible!
Scenery
Of course, the scenery and adventure are the primary draws for a trip across Utah. Here are a few photo highlights:
Typical trail shot (photo credit: Doug Lawyer)
Alstrom Point, with Navajo Mountain in the distance
Along the Virgin River, near Zion
Exploring the White Pockets (technically just over the AZ border)
Descending Honeymoon Pass into St. George basinParticipants
3 generations on this trip: 70-somethings, 50-somethings, 30-somethings, and one rambunctious adolescent dog (photo credit: Doug Lawyer)
Rather than providing boring biographies (and probably getting details wrong), I'll summarize that we had a great group of experienced travelers and a great trip leader. Everybody came to the trip with well maintained vehicles and necessary provisions (recovery equipment, emergency first-aid, and daily provisions). And everybody was experienced to know what a 10-day expedition would entail and came prepared with the little extras they needed to make it comfortable and fun -- from steaks to fresh salad to cold orange juice and beer.
The human element was probably the biggest variable pre-trip and the biggest success of the trip. Everybody was ready to leave every morning. When the inevitable trail mishaps occurred, everybody pitched in to help. We shoveled snow for 1/2 an hour to get past a snow drift on the Henry Mountains only to find another drift 1/2 mile ahead that was impassable.
Trail repair - after 3 Utah Traverses, Andrew's tire carrier broke a weld
No matter how great the plans, once the trip begins, the trail will throw a few curves. When plans did go awry (too windy to camp at Alstrom Point, deep and long snow drift stopped us from traversing Henry Mountain, the sign reading "Trail Closed 5 Miles Ahead" blew over in the wind - we noticed it after back-tracking) everybody adapted with grace and patience.
A snippet overheard when approaching Andrew and Joan's camp one morning: "Joan, it's another blue-ribbon day." What a great attitude from our septuagenarians. A trip like this can bring out the best or worst in people, and we were fortunate to have good travel companions. Friendships forged on the trail are some of the best.
As an interesting coincidence, we had 3 Rebelle Rally veterans on this trip. Laurie and Thayer have both participated (although different years and hadn't met before this trip), and our trip leader Doug served on the support team for the rally:
Laurie and Thayer with dusty Rebelle Rally stickers on the vehiclesTrip rhythm
One of the joys of a longer trip is getting into the the daily flow of the journey. Every trip is different (new/different equipment, bringing along our dog, etc.), so it was interesting to see how we got better at the process of breaking camp and hitting the trail every morning. Our experienced trip leader also had many good campsites predetermined, so we always had great overnight sites where we could explore upon arrival and in the morning. We had some long days, but we always had time to stop at interesting spots along the way and enjoyed plenty of time outside the vehicles every day.
Morning coffee prep (photo credit: Doug Lawyer)
Laurie exploring near our campsite - always with a cup of coffee!
Packing up and ready for another great day on the trail!
Map time! After getting camp set, we'd usually go over maps
Camp is set and time to enjoy each others company and cold drinks (photo credit: Doug Lawyer)
Mothers Day dinner feast (green pork chili verde burritos and cold beer)
Campfire is lit and time to watch "channel 1" - I'm happy to report that we solved all the world's problems - or at least escaped them for a while
Route
We traveled east to west across Utah, starting near Canyon of the Ancients on Colorado border and meandering across the southern part of the state. Without getting into a turn-by-turn route, here is a sample of the route.
This lunch spot would be a great campsite. Let’s drop a GPS point in case we ever return.
We’ve been looking at those mountains for the past 3 days; let’s explore there some day.
Overland adventure can be addictive that way. The more you get out, the more you want to get out. We love exploring Utah, and have taken numerous trips, but when a fellow Arizona Land Rover Club member planned a Utah Traverse trip, we jumped at the chance to join the crew.
The trip was truly exceptional -- the scenery, the camaraderie, the vehicles, the communities opening after Covid-19, the rhythm of travelling new trails and setting new camps for 10 days, the new and renewed friendships -- all incredible!
Scenery
Of course, the scenery and adventure are the primary draws for a trip across Utah. Here are a few photo highlights:
Typical trail shot (photo credit: Doug Lawyer)
Alstrom Point, with Navajo Mountain in the distance
Along the Virgin River, near Zion
Exploring the White Pockets (technically just over the AZ border)
Descending Honeymoon Pass into St. George basin
3 generations on this trip: 70-somethings, 50-somethings, 30-somethings, and one rambunctious adolescent dog (photo credit: Doug Lawyer)
Rather than providing boring biographies (and probably getting details wrong), I'll summarize that we had a great group of experienced travelers and a great trip leader. Everybody came to the trip with well maintained vehicles and necessary provisions (recovery equipment, emergency first-aid, and daily provisions). And everybody was experienced to know what a 10-day expedition would entail and came prepared with the little extras they needed to make it comfortable and fun -- from steaks to fresh salad to cold orange juice and beer.
The human element was probably the biggest variable pre-trip and the biggest success of the trip. Everybody was ready to leave every morning. When the inevitable trail mishaps occurred, everybody pitched in to help. We shoveled snow for 1/2 an hour to get past a snow drift on the Henry Mountains only to find another drift 1/2 mile ahead that was impassable.
Trail repair - after 3 Utah Traverses, Andrew's tire carrier broke a weld
No matter how great the plans, once the trip begins, the trail will throw a few curves. When plans did go awry (too windy to camp at Alstrom Point, deep and long snow drift stopped us from traversing Henry Mountain, the sign reading "Trail Closed 5 Miles Ahead" blew over in the wind - we noticed it after back-tracking) everybody adapted with grace and patience.
A snippet overheard when approaching Andrew and Joan's camp one morning: "Joan, it's another blue-ribbon day." What a great attitude from our septuagenarians. A trip like this can bring out the best or worst in people, and we were fortunate to have good travel companions. Friendships forged on the trail are some of the best.
As an interesting coincidence, we had 3 Rebelle Rally veterans on this trip. Laurie and Thayer have both participated (although different years and hadn't met before this trip), and our trip leader Doug served on the support team for the rally:
Laurie and Thayer with dusty Rebelle Rally stickers on the vehicles
One of the joys of a longer trip is getting into the the daily flow of the journey. Every trip is different (new/different equipment, bringing along our dog, etc.), so it was interesting to see how we got better at the process of breaking camp and hitting the trail every morning. Our experienced trip leader also had many good campsites predetermined, so we always had great overnight sites where we could explore upon arrival and in the morning. We had some long days, but we always had time to stop at interesting spots along the way and enjoyed plenty of time outside the vehicles every day.
Morning coffee prep (photo credit: Doug Lawyer)
Laurie exploring near our campsite - always with a cup of coffee!
Packing up and ready for another great day on the trail!
Map time! After getting camp set, we'd usually go over maps
Camp is set and time to enjoy each others company and cold drinks (photo credit: Doug Lawyer)
Mothers Day dinner feast (green pork chili verde burritos and cold beer)
Campfire is lit and time to watch "channel 1" - I'm happy to report that we solved all the world's problems - or at least escaped them for a while
Route
We traveled east to west across Utah, starting near Canyon of the Ancients on Colorado border and meandering across the southern part of the state. Without getting into a turn-by-turn route, here is a sample of the route.
(to be continued)
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