Plan B - San Rafael Swell, 11/23-11/25/07

[cruiseroutfit]

Why Plan B? Because as we arrived at the Canyonlands visitor center Friday morning to begin the White Rim Trail, we were greeted with 6" of snow . The rangers were not allowing anyone down for the day, and likely not tomorrow either. After a short discussion and 2M weather reports, the SR Swell was looking like the best option!

The visitors center parking lot

One member of our group had never been in the Swell, so we decided to show him some of the best spots. We started with Black Dragon Wash, ended for the evening on Jackass Flats at the end of the Swazey Leap Road. We hiked to the leap in the morning and packed up camp after returning. From there we traveled to the Swinging Bridge and onto the Buckhorn picto. panel. Our last stop for the day would be the Wedge, Utah's own "Little Grand Canyon", equally as impressive and far more secluded IMHO. There we said goodbye to the Russels. Their two young boys had been awesome on the trip thusfar, they decided not to jinx it with a cold night ahead . Richard and I set camp on the edge of the Wedge, what more could you ask for in life.

Black Dragon Wash

Black Dragon Wash

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The Wedge

The moon coming up over camp @ the Wedge

Saturday was pretty much a "call it as it comes" day, zero plans. We decided to check out the Fuller Bottom river crossing, as it turns out we passed the Hayes clan along the way (good seeing you ). After crossing the San Rafael River we explored the Sids Mountain Loop, I had always bypassed it, I'm wishing I hadn't all these times. The views it offers back into the Sids Mountain area are un-parralleled, worthy of the extra mileage on the trail.

Awoke to this:

View from Sids Mountain Loop

 

[cruiseroutfit]

From the intersection with the Fuller Bottom road, we decided to head down the northern portion of the Eagle Canyon access road. Maps and atlas's listed the canyon crossing as "impassable to full-size vehicles" or "cannot cross, washout". I wanted to see it for my own eyes after hearing it was potentially passable. I honestly hadn't planned to drive it in my Tacoma, rather attempt it in the Land Cruiser at a later day. Richard and I spent a couple hours hiking the washedout section, and eventually decided we would give it a try. We were both a bit aprehensive, I had my Trail Trailer in tow and Richards FJ62 is both diffs.

Natural Bridge enroute to Eagle Canyon

Eagle Canyon

Richard coming down a ledge

Long story short we made it for the most part unscathed... a lot of spotting, some careful rock placement (not stacking ) and a bit of rocker damage (not mine ). As it turned out, the hardest obstacle ended up trying to get my Tacoma up a sand/rock hill at the end of the washout, my trailer was stuck on a rock ledge below while the Taco was in a deep sand pile, all amidst a 45 degree slope. I ended up taking a bit of a tug from Richard ahead of me. We were out! The rest of the trip was uneventful, a short jaunt to the intersection with the Moore Cutoff Road, and all pavement back to Sandy. Good times!

Thats it for now, the rest of the pics and a full report will end up on my website sooner or later

 

[Skylinerider]

Very Too bad about WRT though.

 

[Dominic]

That place looks awesome.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Note:
I spoke with Wayne Beddington (sp?) of the BLM about the Eagle Canyon "impassable" section. It is legal to drive, but conditions change so much in the canyon bottom (with each rain) that they don't reccomend it for full-size vehicles. I too would not recommend it for any larger rigs (ie Suburbans, full-size trucks, etc.). Good call on the part of the BLM to list it as such rather than suffer the wrath of a stuck family

 

[Brett]

Let me know when you plan your next outting, I want to get out on a winter trip!

 

[Greg]

Looks like a great weekend Kurt! I love Eagle Canyon, makes you feel like you're all alone in the world. I really wish I had a worthy vehicle, I miss those kind of trips.

 

[Cody]

WTF. Why do I always have to post the "where the hell was my invite" post on every one of these.....

I guess I get the message.

Cody

 

[Greg]

WTF. Why do I always have to post the "where the hell was my invite" post on every one of these.....

I guess I get the message.

Cody

It's cause 'Jeeps are s**t!'

 

[Brett]

It's cause 'Jeeps are s**t!'

And no one like's Cody

 

[40_Below]

Awesome write up and pics man, I would love to get out there exploring some day.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

WTF. Why do I always have to post the "where the hell was my invite" post on every one of these.....

I guess I get the message.

Cody

This will all be covered in the full write-up, but I can't have you feeling bad in the meantime. So here's the story.

I was originally invited to do the White Rim Trail by my freind Troy, you can only have 3 rigs on the permit, so it was going to be Troy, Richard and I. A few days before takeoff, Troy had to bail (death in the family). Richard and I decided to still go... my freind Matt was heading to Moab that weekend too, we invited him to fill the 3rd spot on the trail. Well, in hindsite there wouldn't have been an issue inviting a million people... no permits in the Swell. Hope your not offended. I've sent you & Bretty-pie and email about another upcoming trip.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Looks like a great weekend Kurt! I love Eagle Canyon, makes you feel like you're all alone in the world. I really wish I had a worthy vehicle, I miss those kind of trips.

Anytime... You know that first trip we did in Eagle Canyon was my first SR Swell trip ever, since I've been to Moab less & less and back to the Swell more often... While there isn't the obvious challenging trails that Moab has to offer, there is the seclution and scenery. You could seriously do 99% of the stuff in the Swell in your Dodge. Lets plan a trip for the spring time!

It's cause 'Jeeps are s**t!'

OK, thats the honest answer... but my other one hopefully sounded reasonable.

 

[high_roller]

Very cool, thanks for sharing the pictures with us

 

[Greg]

Anytime... You know that first trip we did in Eagle Canyon was my first SR Swell trip ever, since I've been to Moab less & less and back to the Swell more often... While there isn't the obvious challenging trails that Moab has to offer, there is the seclution and scenery. You could seriously do 99% of the stuff in the Swell in your Dodge. Lets plan a trip for the spring time!

After getting a small taste of the Swell on that trip, I do want to see more. It's such a neat area! I'd like to pick up some kind of cheap expedition-worthy SUV before too soon. We missed out on a lot of trips this year, I really wanted to run Black Bear Pass this year, but that didn't happen. My 4Runner had some issues early on & then we sold Catherines '99 4Runner that we had. Hopefully it won't be too long. I'll be game for a Spring trip, perhaps even a winter trip.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

After getting a small taste of the Swell on that trip, I do want to see more. It's such a neat area! I'd like to pick up some kind of cheap expedition-worthy SUV before too soon. We missed out on a lot of trips this year, I really wanted to run Black Bear Pass this year, but that didn't happen. My 4Runner had some issues early on & then we sold Catherines '99 4Runner that we had. Hopefully it won't be too long. I'll be game for a Spring trip, perhaps even a winter trip.

LMK, I'm always down

 

[yellowbronco]

Wow, that is awesome!!! I have only ventured into the swell a time or two, but those pics tell me it's time to go back.

 

[scoutabout]

No guys, there's nothing to see in the Swell. Don't waste time going there. These pictures are from a completely different area.

 

[Kiel]

No guys, there's nothing to see in the Swell. Don't waste time going there. These pictures are from a completely different area.

We are to smart for your tactics