Elvota

The girlfriend and I decided to do some exploring around southern Utah this past weekend. We added a Thursday and Friday for good measure. No wheeling pics, but some cool scenery. Highly recommend the area for just getting away. Traveled over 150 miles on pure dirt. Can't complain to much about that.

Day 1:

Drove late Wednesday and camped by Jacobs Lake in northern AZ. Headed up House Rock road the next morning. All dirt into Utah. Don't think we've crossed a state line like that before.

View from Jacob's Lake viewpoint:


Abandoned ranch house (or what was left of it):


Machine against nature:


Once back on 89 in Utah, we headed North again up Cottonwood Canyon road. Back in the dirt. Almost to much to look at while you drive.

Side road:


View from the top:


Gratuitous vehicle shot (this is YT after all )


On to day two..........

Elvota

Day 2:

Camped on Cottonwood road. Lot's of places to pull off with hardly any traffic, although it was a Thursday. My Dad had some "secret" tips all around the area. Some pics of the slot canyons that can be found along the road if one knows where to stop.

Wider canyon walls:


Dog had a lot of fun clambering around:


Pretty skinny:


For scale:


Lot's of colors and twists:


Whoops... dead end... sand was like snow:


This one shows the rapid changes in direction that can be found in the rock:


After the hike, we drove further North and stopped by Grosvenor Arch:


After the arch we ended up on some more asphalt for a few miles into the town of Escalante. After lunch, we decided to explore the Hells Backbone Loop. Easy dirt road that climbs to over 9,250 feet with amazing views.

Looking down into the canyon. It was massive!!!!


A Toyota is truly unstoppable. Didn't even blink at this sign...


Ancient weathered tree perched at the rim:


The spooky bridge. Big drops on both sides:


After that, we headed out Hole in the Rock road to set up camp:


Then it was on to day three....

Elvota

Day 3:

Hole in the Rock road holds endless possibilities for exploration. Over 50 miles to a dead end... that's a lot of washboard.

It's worth trying to find these,

GPS N37 39.687, W 111 32.681... unnamed arch:


GPS N37 39.601, W 111 33.811... creek with amazing unmapped tunnel and bridge (bridge not shown):


Back on to Hole in the Rock and onto Devil's Garden. Some pics of the formations in the area:


Group shot:


Dual:


After that, the simple dirt road took a toll on the rig. Vibrations caused the exhaust support straps to fail, and then the flex coupler. Leading to raw open headers and a shortened trip back to the highway.

Carnage (muffler removed... and no I don't have access to a tubing bender):


Even though the sound of full 150 horses ripping away is pretty cool, it sure gets loud. Something had to be done, so we stopped at a corral and dug around for a rusty old soup can...

Bingo... fixed.


That got us back to running the muffler for the next 20 dirt miles to Escalante... but Escalante doesn't even have a stop sign, let alone a auto parts store, and we still had many miles left to explore. Luckily, the local grocery store had exhaust couplers cleverly disguised as canned peaches.


With that professional fix, we headed out on Smokey Mtn. Scenic byway, some 65 miles of dirt back to Big Water which is about 15 mile East of Page, AZ.

So the Peach Can exhaust test was underway.

On to day four.....

Elvota

Day 4:

Smokey Mtn. Road is one of the more desolate we have found. Very long with almost no traffic, yet well maintained. Really gives one the sense of Utah's scale which seems to be endless. The road itself offers one amazing view after another around each corner. We didn't snap to many pics this day, just enjoyed the drive.

Interesting colors on this little boulder:


All a dog really needs is a stick. All a MTR really needs is some dirt :


Road ends at a bluff and then incredible views of Lake Powell and surrounding areas.

View much to big for one pic. If you look close in the mid-ground you can see the road down into the valley:


Of course... got to get one with the truck in there.


After a winding decent with some of the most varied layers one will ever see you get to Big Water, and asphalt again. Heading East to Page, had to take a shot of Glen Canyon dam:


All in all it was a great trip with tons to see. Highly recommend it to anyone in the area... or driving to the area from afar. It is worth it. We will definitely be heading back soon.

PM me if you are interested in more details as to how to find the places we found.

We hope you enjoyed the pics....


Here's to getting all our Toyota's more dust and less shine.

Oh, and yes.... the Peach Can exhaust fix held fast the 350 plus miles home, and even for my work commute this morning.

ChickenLover

Awesome pics. Awesomer jury rig! Looks like you guys had a great time.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Very cool pics.

This is what I am wanting to do on vacations, and when I retire, take long drives and explore.
That is pretty much what I am building my rig up for, not to rock crawl, but for expeditions.

I like the exhaust fix, very ingenious.

tragerbon

Sweet....very nice pics, thanks for the morning wake-up pics, my commute into downtown Houston in another 20 mins wont be as nice LOL, thanks again.

ToyoRunner94

beautiful scenery. id love to explore that area. however, seeing you and the dog in the crevaces and whatnot made me think about the hills have eyes. haha. sorry to ruin the moment. im sure you were safe.

UncleBob

Wow. I've never seen anything like that in person. You are very lucky to be able to explore such beautiful scenery. Thanks for posting the pics!

bruzer

Nice pics! Like the dog too. Had I known you were here in southern Utah I could of showed you some really cool places to wheel and camp. Glad you had a good time.

SteveO

Very cool!

And Very ingenious fix for the muffler.

I've been out to Hole in the Rock before. Myself and two dogs. We slept in the back of the 4Runner, and man was it cold when I went (late October). That 50 miles of dirt road nearly unseated my rear coil from the spacer (When I had coils).

Awesome shots of some great country.

AxleIke

I love that road...It truly is the one place you can see if your dentist knows his stuff, if he doesn't, you will rattle your fillings loose. i was even at 10psi, and it wasn't doing much.

While out on hole in the rock, did you guys do any of the slot canyons, like peek a boo? Those are probably some of the coolest things i've ever done. Feel like you're on another planet when you are down there, it's really sweet.

Escalante is one of the coolest areas of utah. Very sweet pics.

Elvota

Thanks for all the comments.

AxleIke,

With heavy clouds to the West and the exhaust problem we were not able to do any of the slot canyons off Hole in the Rock. I have heard nothing but good things about them and will be back soon for more exploration.

I think next time we will head up Smokey from Big Water, and then drop down to Hole in the Rock through Collet Canyon. That is supposed to be a more difficult trail and would make for a good route.

AxleIke

ah, well, very good call about not going in them then...there are a lot of stories about people getting stuck in those during flash floods, and then the next set of visitors through finds a corpse. Not good.

There is really so much to explore that you need at least three trips to see everything.

Thanks for sharing the pictures, they are beautiful. I'm thinking i need to head back.

geornnr

I just finished re-reading Edward Abbey's Desert Solitare a few days ago, so you're pics were very cool and timely to look at.
Awesome Country! Thanks for sharing.

90inworks

i love the exhaust fix lol

Henrythewound

I work as a geologist in AZ and a lot of these pics made me drool. I would love to get my hands on a text file of all your waypoints if you have one. That rock's colors were due to all the lichen on it. I loved the arches and campsite pics. How does your dog do on these trips? I have 2 and I think they would be a handful but would LOVE it. Thanks for sharing.

Elvota

Our dog had a blast, but she doesn't get the miles she needs at home to toughen up her paws. We thought the sand wouldn't be that bad for her, but I think the sandstone itself was really rough, so she was walking tender by the end. There are leash laws in Escalante, but few seem to abide them. On the more remote areas we didn't see a soul though.

A few more pics considering your interests. This one was strange:


Not exactly geology... but the root actually was growing through the rock... that ledge rubbed sand away to rock below. Crazy:


PM me the best way to send you the GPS file. I have a few important places marked. It was recorded on a Garmin if you have compatible software.

40_Below

X2 man nice pics.
Utah is the best!

Lysmachia

I have a backround in geomorphology - and yes it makes me drool too. I have yet to be in that part of Utah but really want to see the slot canyons! I have seen the vermillian cliffs and Zion (not to mention everything around Moab) That part of the country could entertain me for years....


Thanks for sharing!