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October 2010
We ended up all over the place on this trip. We left SLC early Friday morning under rainy skies but fortunately it was sunny and beautiful by the time we made it past Price. The huge storms over the weekend had me really worried about the condition of the roads, especially considering my stuck in the mud experience in the swell just 2 weeks earlier. We started down the San Rafael Desert Road around noon on Friday and were pleasantly surprised at how good the road was. There were plenty of areas where the road was a little washed out but nothing bad and most importantly, no car swallowing mud holes.
First stop along the road was at Chaffin Ranch Geyser. We pulled up and it was just starting to shoot some little spurts. Or maybe it was just finishing up and we missed it, who knows, but we did get to see it get some pretty good shots off.
The swollen San Rafael River
After that we made our way down to Trin Alcove Bend. The road out there was pretty tough to follow since there were no tracks on it but it wasn't too bad. That's a great spot to sit and soak in some scenerey.
From there we went to Moonshine wash. Moonshine and the surrounding washes had obviously had a lot of water in them the day before. Notice the debris line from the yesterday's flood.
The mud in Moonshine made obstacles quite difficult, especially without proper footwear. Just before the slot really got good we hit a pour off of about 10 feet into a pool. In dry conditions it would have been fine but I had my doubts about being able to get back up it, especially with my dog, so instead we just hung out and enjoyed the canyon there for a while and then turned back.
Our camp at Keg Knoll
On Saturday we made the hike out to Colonnade Arch. Wow, what an awesome arch and a great little hike too. The scenery is just jaw dropping.
There was so much water around. Great for Nikita.
From Colonnade we took the desert road west towards Highway 24. The road was much worse for a few miles as the water had washed out several miles of it. From there we made our way into the Swell and down into Red's Canyon. We spent that second night at the Lucky Strike Mine. There are several mines in the area that we checked out as well as a few old abandoned cabins.
Inside one of the Lucky Strike Mines
On Sunday we planned to continue down Red's Canyon past Tomsich Butte and loop back up to McKay Flat but we hit a nasty mud hole just a little before Tomsich. It would have really sunk the right side of my truck so I decided not to risk it and we turned around and went back the way we came. If you read my trip report from a few weeks earlier you'd have an idea how good I felt about turning around. If you haven't read that trip report, you can here: Hell in The Swell, September 2010
From there we checked out one more mine I had my eye on.
See those tiny wood shims wedged in the ceiling to keep things together? Sketchy!
Dynamite storage?
This was truly a perfect trip all around. Good times.
Featured image for slideshow:
We ended up all over the place on this trip. We left SLC early Friday morning under rainy skies but fortunately it was sunny and beautiful by the time we made it past Price. The huge storms over the weekend had me really worried about the condition of the roads, especially considering my stuck in the mud experience in the swell just 2 weeks earlier. We started down the San Rafael Desert Road around noon on Friday and were pleasantly surprised at how good the road was. There were plenty of areas where the road was a little washed out but nothing bad and most importantly, no car swallowing mud holes.
First stop along the road was at Chaffin Ranch Geyser. We pulled up and it was just starting to shoot some little spurts. Or maybe it was just finishing up and we missed it, who knows, but we did get to see it get some pretty good shots off.
The swollen San Rafael River
After that we made our way down to Trin Alcove Bend. The road out there was pretty tough to follow since there were no tracks on it but it wasn't too bad. That's a great spot to sit and soak in some scenerey.
From there we went to Moonshine wash. Moonshine and the surrounding washes had obviously had a lot of water in them the day before. Notice the debris line from the yesterday's flood.
The mud in Moonshine made obstacles quite difficult, especially without proper footwear. Just before the slot really got good we hit a pour off of about 10 feet into a pool. In dry conditions it would have been fine but I had my doubts about being able to get back up it, especially with my dog, so instead we just hung out and enjoyed the canyon there for a while and then turned back.
Our camp at Keg Knoll
On Saturday we made the hike out to Colonnade Arch. Wow, what an awesome arch and a great little hike too. The scenery is just jaw dropping.
There was so much water around. Great for Nikita.
From Colonnade we took the desert road west towards Highway 24. The road was much worse for a few miles as the water had washed out several miles of it. From there we made our way into the Swell and down into Red's Canyon. We spent that second night at the Lucky Strike Mine. There are several mines in the area that we checked out as well as a few old abandoned cabins.
Inside one of the Lucky Strike Mines
On Sunday we planned to continue down Red's Canyon past Tomsich Butte and loop back up to McKay Flat but we hit a nasty mud hole just a little before Tomsich. It would have really sunk the right side of my truck so I decided not to risk it and we turned around and went back the way we came. If you read my trip report from a few weeks earlier you'd have an idea how good I felt about turning around. If you haven't read that trip report, you can here: Hell in The Swell, September 2010
From there we checked out one more mine I had my eye on.
See those tiny wood shims wedged in the ceiling to keep things together? Sketchy!
Dynamite storage?
This was truly a perfect trip all around. Good times.
Featured image for slideshow:
