On Sunday me and two other friends headed out west to do some exploring in the west desert since we havent really been out there much except for the Sun Tunnels last year. Earlier in the week Bryan and I had gone out west to look around, and plan a little for a camp out in the area sometime this winter. So we had a basic idea of what we were in store for when we planned this. So we planned to meet up on Sunday morning at 10am and then head out on I-80 West from there. We ended up leaving a quarter to 11 which wasnt bad for us considering we are usually running behind schedule.
Here's our group at the Smith's Parking lot picking up some food for lunch and drinks. Bryan was gonna lead the group since it was mainly his interest in checking the region out. We had a mutual friend that was interested in joining us for some exploration so we let him know that morning and joined us.
We made pretty good time on I-80 and got off on the Dugway Exit for U-196 I believe is called. Here's our group under the overpass going over the plan. Our first stop was going to be Horseshoe Spring since we were curious to see what the spring was like.
Although on the way there I saw Lone Rock and I had seen it on my Gaia map and decided it was worth taking a look, so we drove over to it and looked around the area, we didnt stay long because there was a group of shooters at the base and we were nervous they were using Lone Rock as a backstop and we didnt want to get shot at, although I dont think they shot anything the whole time, which was good. So we went ahead on our way towards Horseshoe Spring.
When we got to the turn off I was expecting to have to drive a couple of miles off the main road but turns out it's just a few hundred feet maybe off the main path and it's right there, I can see how it gets the name. The water was crystal clear and I can imagine it would be nice to get into it when the weather is warmer. At this time the water was lukewarm.
Since getting to Horseshoe took alot less than we had expected we decided we would continue on South towards Dugway and on the way there we would take any detours that would come up. Nothing really pique'd our intereste so we made it down to Dugway and got onto the road right next to the church, I dont remember if the sign reads Pony Express or Simpson Springs or something different. But this is where we had been earlier in the week and we wanter to check out some more of the area.
So I aired down my tires for the road ahead, we talked with the guys in the Tacoma since they didnt have a CB and we headed off down the dirt road. We got to the Y intersection and we turned off left towards Lookout Pass. There was a surprisingly large amount of people out there, I'd say around 8-10 SUV's, mostly ATV'ers and horse riders. When we got to the top there was a Chevy Cruze parked at the top that really sucked the 'expedition' out of our trip since it was on regular all season city tires driving through the sticky mud at the top of Lookout Pass haha.
I consulted my Gaia map and saw that if we continued onward we would have the option to drive part of the PET and into Stockton/Tooele or turn South for more open road along the Sheeprock Mountains. By now we were getting hungry since we didnt eat breakfast before leaving so we decided to explore South and find a camp area away from the people by Lookout Pass and have lunch. So we drove on for a few miles and turned off into a small camp area that had a sign that read firewood cutting by permit or something like that.
At this point I realized how badly I needed to get some fenders that cover my tires, it is such a PITA going through muddy areas, instantly coats the sides, mirrors and windows in mud.
It was still pretty early, I think it was around 1:30 when we got here and I cooked up some hot dogs on my little charcoal grill and Bryan brought some Elk steaks and cooked them up on there. Overall it was a very satisfying lunch, sat around and bs'd a little while and packed it up to head back out about 3:30pm.
I had spare gas and so did the other Toyota but Bryan didnt have spare gas for his Jeep so we decided continuing on this path wasnt really in the books for today so we turned back the way we came over LP and proceeded to drive back, on the way we took a couple of small detours to look at nearby trails and there really wasnt much except mud and more mud. I was already messy so I just said whatever and kept on going along. We climbed a hill that had a decent look over the valley we were in and I took a couple of panorama shots.
In this picture Lookout Pass should be towards the left.
Here's the original size if you want to view it larger
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7492/15723528484_39b7ecb916_o.jpg
And from this photo LP should be behind me
Here's the original size if you want to view it larger
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7469/16345068572_094d749551_o.jpg
So we spent a short time here just looking around but since the sun was beginning to set we hurried on our way to see what else we could spot on our way out.
We turned off into a gravel pit where we hung out for a little while and some rednecky looking chaps approached me after staring intently for an uncomfortably long time and asked me where I got my 4Runner to look so muddy. I told them it wasnt on purpose but if they take the LP turn and continue it past the peak and down into the valley they are sure to run into some soupy mud of their choice. Then they stood there in silence and I stood there in silence and after a few minutes of silent awkwardness I walked away. There wasnt much else to do out here, Bryan was tired and the Tacoma guys called it a day so I aired up my tires as dusk set in and we rolled out of there.
When we arrived back to town it was about 7pm and I didnt really have other things to do so we headed off to the car wash so I could hose down because I couldnt see a damn thing out of my windows.
Here's a before picture, I used the water in my Scepter can to rinse off my side windows and mirrors so I'd be able to drive out before leaving the pits.
And $14 later here is the after picture.
Well it was still early enough, I had enough energy to still be up so we decided (I decided) to go down to Lucky 13 and get some grub.
nom nom nom
Anyone else think fried pickles are delicious??
And that concluded our Sunday Funday. It was a good day, although it was fun to explore the West Desert, I gotta say, there really isnt a whole lot to do besides drive and look at landmarks and such. I had fun but I think on my next trip West I'll visit the North side of I-80 and check out more of the area surrounding the Sun Tunnels.
Thanks for looking!
Here's our group at the Smith's Parking lot picking up some food for lunch and drinks. Bryan was gonna lead the group since it was mainly his interest in checking the region out. We had a mutual friend that was interested in joining us for some exploration so we let him know that morning and joined us.
We made pretty good time on I-80 and got off on the Dugway Exit for U-196 I believe is called. Here's our group under the overpass going over the plan. Our first stop was going to be Horseshoe Spring since we were curious to see what the spring was like.
Although on the way there I saw Lone Rock and I had seen it on my Gaia map and decided it was worth taking a look, so we drove over to it and looked around the area, we didnt stay long because there was a group of shooters at the base and we were nervous they were using Lone Rock as a backstop and we didnt want to get shot at, although I dont think they shot anything the whole time, which was good. So we went ahead on our way towards Horseshoe Spring.
When we got to the turn off I was expecting to have to drive a couple of miles off the main road but turns out it's just a few hundred feet maybe off the main path and it's right there, I can see how it gets the name. The water was crystal clear and I can imagine it would be nice to get into it when the weather is warmer. At this time the water was lukewarm.
Since getting to Horseshoe took alot less than we had expected we decided we would continue on South towards Dugway and on the way there we would take any detours that would come up. Nothing really pique'd our intereste so we made it down to Dugway and got onto the road right next to the church, I dont remember if the sign reads Pony Express or Simpson Springs or something different. But this is where we had been earlier in the week and we wanter to check out some more of the area.
So I aired down my tires for the road ahead, we talked with the guys in the Tacoma since they didnt have a CB and we headed off down the dirt road. We got to the Y intersection and we turned off left towards Lookout Pass. There was a surprisingly large amount of people out there, I'd say around 8-10 SUV's, mostly ATV'ers and horse riders. When we got to the top there was a Chevy Cruze parked at the top that really sucked the 'expedition' out of our trip since it was on regular all season city tires driving through the sticky mud at the top of Lookout Pass haha.
I consulted my Gaia map and saw that if we continued onward we would have the option to drive part of the PET and into Stockton/Tooele or turn South for more open road along the Sheeprock Mountains. By now we were getting hungry since we didnt eat breakfast before leaving so we decided to explore South and find a camp area away from the people by Lookout Pass and have lunch. So we drove on for a few miles and turned off into a small camp area that had a sign that read firewood cutting by permit or something like that.
At this point I realized how badly I needed to get some fenders that cover my tires, it is such a PITA going through muddy areas, instantly coats the sides, mirrors and windows in mud.
It was still pretty early, I think it was around 1:30 when we got here and I cooked up some hot dogs on my little charcoal grill and Bryan brought some Elk steaks and cooked them up on there. Overall it was a very satisfying lunch, sat around and bs'd a little while and packed it up to head back out about 3:30pm.
I had spare gas and so did the other Toyota but Bryan didnt have spare gas for his Jeep so we decided continuing on this path wasnt really in the books for today so we turned back the way we came over LP and proceeded to drive back, on the way we took a couple of small detours to look at nearby trails and there really wasnt much except mud and more mud. I was already messy so I just said whatever and kept on going along. We climbed a hill that had a decent look over the valley we were in and I took a couple of panorama shots.
In this picture Lookout Pass should be towards the left.
Here's the original size if you want to view it larger
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7492/15723528484_39b7ecb916_o.jpg
And from this photo LP should be behind me
Here's the original size if you want to view it larger
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7469/16345068572_094d749551_o.jpg
So we spent a short time here just looking around but since the sun was beginning to set we hurried on our way to see what else we could spot on our way out.
We turned off into a gravel pit where we hung out for a little while and some rednecky looking chaps approached me after staring intently for an uncomfortably long time and asked me where I got my 4Runner to look so muddy. I told them it wasnt on purpose but if they take the LP turn and continue it past the peak and down into the valley they are sure to run into some soupy mud of their choice. Then they stood there in silence and I stood there in silence and after a few minutes of silent awkwardness I walked away. There wasnt much else to do out here, Bryan was tired and the Tacoma guys called it a day so I aired up my tires as dusk set in and we rolled out of there.
When we arrived back to town it was about 7pm and I didnt really have other things to do so we headed off to the car wash so I could hose down because I couldnt see a damn thing out of my windows.
Here's a before picture, I used the water in my Scepter can to rinse off my side windows and mirrors so I'd be able to drive out before leaving the pits.
And $14 later here is the after picture.
Well it was still early enough, I had enough energy to still be up so we decided (I decided) to go down to Lucky 13 and get some grub.
nom nom nom
Anyone else think fried pickles are delicious??
And that concluded our Sunday Funday. It was a good day, although it was fun to explore the West Desert, I gotta say, there really isnt a whole lot to do besides drive and look at landmarks and such. I had fun but I think on my next trip West I'll visit the North side of I-80 and check out more of the area surrounding the Sun Tunnels.
Thanks for looking!
