Hole in the Rock

[thering]

Three weeks ago a bunch of us ventured down to the Hole in the Rock trail. One Jeep Rubicon, my 89 Toyota Pickup, a Jeep Cherokee, and three ATVs. We made it all the way in and out in four days and didn't have any break downs. There are signs of lots of erosion which is making the trail more and more difficult to pass, plus in Lake Canyon the sluff-off is right up to the new bypass. It looks to be very precarious and will probably not be there for very much longer. Enjoy the pics at this url:

http://www.et.byu.edu/~thering/Hole in the Rock/index.html

 

[Cody]

the washout looks to be about where it was at this time last year.

nice pictures. looks like you guys had a fun trip. Thats pretty country out there

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Great pics

Hard to tell from the pics, but it doesn't look like the sluff is too much worse than it was last December? Though eventually its gonna fall and the trail will either be re-routed or closed? The initial washout likely occurred due to a "jam" of sorts lower in Lake Canyon, it back-filled with water and when it let go it took alot of earth with it. Time will only tell...

 

[Brett]

So that's what this spot looks like without water....

 

[Brett]

Oh, and looking at the pics of the washout area, I'd say another 10 feet has gone off compared to the pics that I have of it.

 

[offroaddave]

Three weeks ago a bunch of us ventured down to the Hole in the Rock trail. One Jeep Rubicon, my 89 Toyota Pickup, a Jeep Cherokee, and three ATVs. We made it all the way in and out in four days and didn't have any break downs. There are signs of lots of erosion which is making the trail more and more difficult to pass, plus in Lake Canyon the sluff-off is right up to the new bypass. It looks to be very precarious and will probably not be there for very much longer. Enjoy the pics at this url:

http://www.et.byu.edu/~thering/Hole in the Rock/index.html

Best first post EVER!!!!
Nice pics, Thanks

 

[Houndoc]

Looks like a great trip. One I would love to do sometime! Those who have done it, what would you saw are the minimum vehicle requirements to sefely make it?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

33's and a good driver if you plan to do the Rincon, otherwise 31's. We took an FJ62 on 33's, open diffed through, no assistance needed (other than slipping into a washout). A rear locker would make things alot more comfortable.

 

[Greg]

Gotta love the UP Maint. of Way section truck in the background! !

Looks like a great trip, I need to make HITR one of these days.

 

[OldGeezer]

It'll be re-routed. In fact, it has allready been done. I went down 4 weeks ago and followed it on my dirt bike. It wont go through Lake Canyon at all. Instead you will go around the canyon on the Nokai Dome road then re-connect a couple of miles beyond the washout.

 

[thering]

That is good news!!

It'll be re-routed. In fact, it has allready been done. I went down 4 weeks ago and followed it on my dirt bike. It wont go through Lake Canyon at all. Instead you will go around the canyon on the Nokai Dome road then re-connect a couple of miles beyond the washout.

I actually have a phone call into the BLM to see what if any plans they have for that problem in Lake Canyon. So you say the trail is actually already blazed to go around the south end of Lake Canyon? How much longer is the trail with this new route?

 

[OldGeezer]

I actually have a phone call into the BLM to see what if any plans they have for that problem in Lake Canyon. So you say the trail is actually already blazed to go around the south end of Lake Canyon? How much longer is the trail with this new route?

Yep, just follow the ribbons. I didn't keep track of the mileage but I can get a rough idea off of the maps. I don't have them with me so I'll have to get back to you. I wouldn't be surprised if it adds half a day to the trip. Maybe more.

 

[Austicus]

i didn't notice a bid difference in the washout from when i was there back in march. although mental image vs real image is hard to compare

 

[Revenant]

Enjoyed the pics, thanks for posting 'em up.

 

[OldGeezer]

Map

Ok, here's a map I put together this morning. The red track is the original trail. The yellow is the Nokai Dome road. The green is the newly created connection. From the halftrack to point "005" using the old way is about 9.5 miles. About 12 miles using the new way. But it might actually be faster using the new way because the road to point "007" is a good road. You wont need to come in from the airport on that rough/slow going road anymore.

 

[Fuller]

wow that looked like a blast i need to get down there and do that trail

 

[Cody]

so, how much of the trail does the new route bypass?

Is it all of the beginning until a mile or so after lake canyon?


I'm a little confused on that map.

 

[OldGeezer]

so, how much of the trail does the new route bypass?

Is it all of the beginning until a mile or so after lake canyon?


I'm a little confused on that map.

Yep, all of the beginning.

 

[Cody]

that kind of sucks

 

[thering]

Thanks for map

Ok, here's a map I put together this morning. The red track is the original trail. The yellow is the Nokai Dome road. The green is the newly created connection. From the halftrack to point "005" using the old way is about 9.5 miles. About 12 miles using the new way. But it might actually be faster using the new way because the road to point "007" is a good road. You wont need to come in from the airport on that rough/slow going road anymore.

That is sweet! Now we can go back down in the Spring. We were changing our Spring break plans from HITR to Moab because we weren't sure the trail would be open. Thanks for putting that map together - now we can go back down there for sure....
It looks like you don't miss too much of the trail especially the challenging stuff down toward the end.