IntrepidXJ's Adventure Weblog

Started out today heading into the San Rafael Swell via I-70.

Coming up on the reef with the moon above (it’s there if you look closely)

Made my way to Eagle Canyon……going under I-70….just enough room

Under I-70 again….this time in the canyon

Then I swung by Swasey’s Cabin

Good place to fuel up again

Bottleneck Peak

Old suspension bridge over the San Rafael river

Stopped and saw some pictographs

Utah’s Little Grand Canyon

A section of the old Spanish Trail

Finally, I made my way across the Green River Cutoff to US-6 and headed to Price

Well, today I started out by finding out that the water pump that I installed last Friday has gone bad already…….was leaking from the weep hole pretty badly. So I got a later start today becuase I had to take care of that.

Started out on Spring Canyon Bottom….nice overhang on the shelf road here

Then I headed down Hey Joe Canyon……but it was taking me too long and I needed to get to Green River, so I did not finish it this time.

A little overgrown

Where are those limb risers when you need them

After heading back out, I went to check out the Dellenbaugh Tunnel……unfortunately, I could not find it (The tunnel that is, I went to the end of the trail)….and I was in a hurry……so I’ll have to look again next time.

Tombstone Rock

On my way back from the tunnel, I managed to find a nice rock that wanted to dent my wheel pretty badly….

Nothing like changing a tire in the middle of the desert with no shade

I did manage to pound out the dent and fill the tire with air…and it seems to be holding. It should work OK as a spare for now, until I can replace the wheel when I get home

After that setback, I headed up Rainbow Terrace

Finally, I was originally planning on taking the Crystal Geyser trail into Green River, but because of my delays and because I was worried about my fuel level, I decided to head out on Ruby Ranch Road and hit up I-70 to take to Green River…..which looked a lot like this

Little snag. The brand new waterpump I installed last Friday with Mark is now leaking from the weap hole!

Taking care of that this morning….

I guess there are worse places to be stuck

Shorter day today for me. Have a few things I need to take care of on the Jeep once it cools down.

Anyways, I started the day heading over Hurrah Pass

Then went out to Chicken Corners

From there I headed over to Lockhard Basin, which is very difficult to find the start of. Once I found it, I headed up a few miles into the canyon, but decided to turn around as I decided I really didn;t want to run a trail that long today.

So instead, I headed over to Shafer trail. Overlooking the Colorado

Looking back at the trail (and switchbacks)

Well, I had been in Colorado for over a week, so it was time to head out. Yesterday I left Silverton and headed over Ophir pass (and was able to get all the way across this time).

The side of Ophir I missed the first time

After making it across, I headed for Gateway, CO where I entered John Brown Canyon

From there I took the Castleton-Gateway Road towards Castleton……back side of the La Sals (If you consider the front side from Moab)

View from the top of Polar Mesa (much better in person)

Then I took Thompson Canyon to Onion Creek

Took the short side trip to Fisher Towers

Gassed up in Moab and hit La Sal Pass. It was pretty tight until you got over the pass. There was also this talus slope

Mt Peale at the pass

Looped around and took Geyser Pass back….view from the top

Finally, I went up and down the first section of Moab Rim

Started out the day with a little drive through the CO National Monument to get to Rattlesnake Canyon

Looking down into Rattlesnake Canyon

Then I headed over to Cimarron and took Owl Creek pass back towards Ouray

Chimney Rock

Black Bear was still closed and the fact that it rained all night didn’t help either. So I guess I will have to run it another time.

Again, I had a meeting that lasted most of the day, but was still able to squeeze in a little bit of wheeling afterwards.

Today I ended up heading out to Bangs Canyon (which is right by Billings Canyon). After that, I quickly ran out to 21 Road and ran the easier section Wally and I skipped last year. Here’s some pics:

Looking back towards Junction

Heading down into Bangs Canyon

Posing rock at the top of the other side of the canyon

Looking back at the ridge that took me down into the canyon

Storm rolling in

21 Road into the Book Cliffs

A little crawling on 21 Road

Tomorrow I head back into Silverton for the final day of COfest.

Well, day 7 has come and gone. Unfortunately, I was stuck in a UFWDA meeting most of the day. However, this evening, I did manage to get out to the Grand Junction Desert and get a few pics of the Book Cliffs.

Book Cliffs in the background with a nasty storm rolling in

At the end of 27.25 Road

Sun is setting, storm is rolling in and high winds are kicking up some dust

More meeting tomorrow….

Well, my original plan for today was to take Ophir Pass over to Telluride and then take Imogene back into Ouray before heading up to Grand Junction……unfortunately a big storm in Telluride changed my plans last night. When I got to the top of Ophir, I found a road closed sign, so I headed over to Black Bear….again, another road closed sign. Finally I headed over to Imogene from Ouray and found a ranger putting up another road closed sign…….apparently they had some bad storms and a few mudslides that closed the trails on the Telluride side. I did take Imogene to the top and back, though.

After getting out of Ouray I headed up to Grand Junction over the Uncompahgre Plateau.

Here’s some pics from the day.

Ophir Pass

Yankee Boy

What I found at Imogene

Imogene

Back to some red rocks near Montrose

Heading down into Jack’s Canyon

Now I’m going to be in Grand Junction for a few days attending the UFWDA annual meeting….so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get on any trails again until Friday…..but I’m going to try

Wow! That’s all I can say about the San Juans……I have seen thousands of pictures opf the area over the years, and none of them do this place any justice….not even any I took. You really have to go there to get the full experience……the scenery is just amazing! Anyways, I will leave you with a few pictures from Monday now.

From Engineer Pass

Whitmore Falls

Carson City along Wager Gulch

From Cinnamon Pass

Animas Forks

Placer Gulch

Lake Como from California Pass

Corkscrew Pass