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Well that was a bit scary (skyline drive, no really, skyline drive)

frieed

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
So my wife and I decided to beat the heat today. Let's go drive along skyline drive I say, it's beautiful and this really easy dirt road (my wife does Not like to wheel). We started onto skyline drive from Hw 6. Easy going, stunning scenery, cool temps. We did the stretch from 6 to 31 with a couple side trips to scout out possible camping places. So on to the next segment, the part just south of 31. We drove a little while past where the road improvements end then parked to eat our lunch and enjoy the magnificent view of the SanPete (?) valley. While we were eating, the thunderstorms rolled in. Fantastic show. Ok, time to continue on south and drop down at Spring City Canyon.

Holy crap, I now know that the road base for the unimproved section is dried snot, and guess what you get after it rains, and hails. I have never been so happy to see deeply rutted roads in my life, cause to quote Arlo Guthrie, on one side there was a mountain, on the other there was nothing. In some stretches, I could use existing ruts to keep me from sliding sideways off the road, in others, I intentionally dropped a tire into the ditch on the uphill side, because the ditch on the downhill side was about 4000 feet deep. I was in 4-low for about 8 miles, just to limit forward momentum. Mind you, I'm not talking mud bogging here. There couldn't have been more than 1/8-1/4 inch of rain, it was just that slippery. The weird part was that it looked dry, as the front wants to slide off to the left and the back wants to slide off to the right. And me, trying to act calm and collected the whole time so my wife doesn't get so scared she never leaves the house again.

My off-camber detector has a sensitivity level that I didn't know existed...

Sorry, no pics, but if I hurry with the camera, I think my knuckles are still white.
 
rockreligious

rockreligious

NoEcoNaziAmmo
Location
Ephraim
Yep, and the top of that canyon used to be even worse than it is now, there are a few canyons down here that you shouldnt be on if its been raining. I grew up on the mountain just north of where you came down. you would have been better off running skyline further south and coming down ephraim, Ephraim is now almost paved. or heading back north and coming down pleasant Creek (Mt. Pleasant) it has more rock in the ground and is less slick. glad it went well.
 
frieed

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
This got really crazy starting in the vicinity of where the power lines cross and on into the vicinity of the spot where you weave between the big boulders.
The road up to skyline from Spring City is nicely improved, with real road base, plus it was dry.
 
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zukijames

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
glad you made it safe.. biggest scare of my life was coming down log canyon(the mountain to the west of fountain green) in about 8 inches of snow in my borther in laws long bed extra cab chevy 3/4 ton.. drives alot different than my sami.

anywho going slow in 4 lo was causing me problems i was trying to hug the mountain and go really slow .. letting off the gas would cause me to slide

when in doubt throttle out!

but really glad everyone is save and hope your wife will get on a dirt road again
 
frieed

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
Since this was along the ridge, not much continued down. Down was definitely the scariest though, back end wanted to swap places with the front. Funny you mention snow. Just prior to the rain I was commenting that I'd love to do this drive with 4" of new snow. I may have to retract that statement.
 
OB1

OB1

Active Member
Location
West Point
I was on that same road about a month ago with my Mega Cab pulling a camper when the same thing happened. That road is very slippery when wet. I was able to find a spot to turn around and head back north to 31.
 
rockreligious

rockreligious

NoEcoNaziAmmo
Location
Ephraim
One of the scariest times Ive had in the mud was coming down Dry Canyon after running the Hanging tree all day in a hard rain, we got out the top in the dark and didnt want to go back down the trail, I now know that if its been raining hard all day your better off going down the trail, its mostly rock, Dry Canyon has never seen gravel and we couldnt stay on the road, our tires were three feet wide with mud, and had to keep winching rigs back onto the road all the way down, then dry canyon has a hugh cliff half way down...it was sketchy. the water gets pretty deep on HTT when its rained hard all day, we were a little concerned about flash flooding.
 
zukijames

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
its crazy how fast some moisture can change a trail/road..

hells revenge is pretty interesting with a few inches of snow on it.

tonight i went to go ride my dirt bike noticed it had rained a little .. got to where i ride and holy crap i could hardly make it down the road to get to the track!
 
jeep-N-montero

jeep-N-montero

Formerly black_ZJ
Location
Bountiful
Last October I was up there about 1.5 miles off of 31 with 2 inches of snow on top of 3 inches of mud and had to get out in 2wd with our off-road tent trailer behind us. Let's just say that it took us 25 minutes to cover that 1.5 miles and spent 3 hours cleaning the mud off the Jeep and the trailer when we got home. That same road can normally be driven in a minivan without issue when dry. Just goes to show you that some types of dirt/mud/clay when wet can test even the best of drivers. We will be up there next weekend, hope it rains a bunch before then to keep the dust down and put some water in the streams.
 
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