It is plain to see that my ratio of mind-numbing 8 to 5 “work” versus “fun” time is seriously whacked.

Somehow, I managed to hold on until the weekend again.

Saturday morning found David and I in my Explorer heading for Moab again. We parked at the $5 parking lot near the top of the Moab Valley where we could take the dugway up into Little Canyon. (This is like the third time we have taken this trail this year.) We were heading for the top of the cliffs immediately above the Little Canyon dugway.

We had driven up the trail many years ago in one of my first Ford Explorers but we didn’t go all the way to the point overlooking Little Canyon. Another time, we had also parked in Little Canyon and climbed up the cliffs to visit Lyn-Lin Arch. This time we were going to try to visit Lyn-Lin Arch from the top.

What we didn’t know is that this trail was now know as “Metal Masher” by the 4X4 jeepers. While most of the trail from the parking area was good dirt road, it was the last mile of trail along the cliffs that gives the trail its ominous name. And an appropriate name it is!

Along the way, we stopped to hike down upper Little Canyon to Griffin Arch, a large class “D” natural arch.

We also explored a little of the rim of upper Little Canyon, just after the first dry fall.

The temperature was in the low 90’s with no clouds but we took it fairly easy. Still, by the time we got back to the ATV’s after hiking about 1.5 miles, we were done with hiking for the day.

Well, OK. We did hike a short distance to get better pictures of Trail Arch (another class “D” natural arch) but that doesn’t count.

Soon after Trail Arch, we were into the part of the trail that gives “Metal Masher” its name. I would rate this trail ”Extreme” for ATV’s though we only had to stop once to rebuild the trail over a drop off. Between “challenging” climbs up steep sandstone shelves, there was also quite a bit of bouncing through scree fields of sharp rocks about the size of bowling balls. For someone who prefers using ATVs for transportation to a destination rather than thrill rides, these obstacles were mostly just annoying.

As the trail skirts along the rim of the cliffs, we could see my Explorer only about 3/4 of a mile away and below us. Unfortunately, that short distance also meant at least another hour ride just to get there.

By the time we finally reached the furthest and highest point, we were sun blasted and beat up from the ride. The shadows were beginning to grow long so we knew we didn’t have a lot of time.

We climbed around in the cliffs until we found a way that should get us down to the level of Lyn-Lin Arch but we didn’t feel like we had the time nor the strength to attempt it. It looks like climbing up from the bottom requires about the same amount of effort so we decided to head back down the trail instead.

Unlike 4X4 vehicles, going down a rough trail is easier that going up when you are on ATVs. Soon we were back on good dirt roads again and flying back down Little Canyon, down the rocky dugway and back at the Explorer before dark.

Just before entering the town of Moab, we took the Potash Road which winds along the north side of the Colorado River as it heads west and then southwest. Along the river there are a few camping areas which seemed to be most flooded out from recent rains. Only a few campsites were occupied. The parking area we were heading for is right next to the road and we were surprised to find only one other vehicle in the parking area.

We unloaded the ATVs and headed up the rough trail know as the Poison Spider trail, which we hoped would take us to Little Arch, located high above the Colorado River near “The Portal” just outside of Moab Utah.

The Poison Spider trail is mostly decent sand or rocky trail with half a dozen problem spots where you are required to navigate up impossible sandstone rocks and crevices with names like “The Waterfall” and “The Wedgie”. Really ugly stuff. For ATVs, I would call it an Average difficult trail with spots of Extreme thrown in.

However, the view from on top was great!

On the way up, we stopped to hike up a short canyon to Long Bow Arch, a large class “A” natural Arch hidden in the sandstone fins.

We also stopped to locate Apple Core Arch, a class “D” cliff edge arch.

Instead of the usual Utah summer ”Monsoon” seasonal thunderstorms that pop up from heat thermals hitting moisture layers, the rain we were dodging was a true storm front which blanketed the entire sky with gray clouds. We knew we were going to get hit before the day was over and we were just hoping that rain on the slickrock sandstone didn’t make it even slicker. However, the cloud cover was making the general temperatures quick agreeable. (It was a cool August day in Moab, which is as likely as saying it was a cold day in Hell.)

Along the way, we only saw one other vehicle, a UTV carrying a husband/wife/big dogs combo.They probably owned the other vehicle in the unloading area. They stopped to report that the trail in was also the trail out. (Dang it!) They were on their way out to avoid the approaching rain. (Double Dang!)

Somehow, we managed to make it clear to Little Arch (which is actually a big class “B” natural arch) before the rain drizzle started. After a few quick pictures, we headed back and experienced rain drizzle most of the way back. This was not quite enough to actually get you wet but it could still sting the face when you were blasting down the sandy road.

On the way back, we took a trail that took us to the grave site of a young girl who died of a poison spider bite, probably while camping with her parents back in the 1890’s. And that is how Poison Spider Mesa got its name.

Back on level ground with the Explorer, we loaded up between bouts of rain drizzle and headed for home again.

An excellent and cool day exploring more of Utah back country.

Total ATV mileage: 13.2 miles.

So my wife and I jumped in my Explorer and drove up Provo Canyon to Heber City Utah and then past Park City to Coalville Utah. In Coalville, we noticed an old fashioned Polar King drive-in was still in business and decided we would stop there for dinner on the way back.

From Coalville we drove east up the canyon, past Upton and Cliffview until we hit the Wyoming state border. Down a short side road, we found the boundary marker for the Wyoming – Utah corner. This was another destination in my effort to visit every corner of Utah.

On the way back down the canyon to Coalville, we drove quite a bit slower so I could take pictures along the way. Once back in Coalville, we took yet another side trip to drive through Hoytsville Utah and then back to Coalville for dinner at the Polar King. However, the Polar King is now a Mexican Resturant. (Huh!?) It wasn’t even a drive-in anymore. Inside, most of the clients were also Spanish Speaking.

We had a burrito plate and left a bit disappointed. Oh ya… no restrooms either.

It was then time to head for home stopping for a bathroom break in Heber City, Utah.

While waiting for the road to be cleared, we got to speak to a lady from Bluff Utah who was heading back to her home. Her husband guides impromptu ATV trips in that area.

Once we were back on the road again, we headed south almost all the way to Goblin Valley State Park and parked the Explorer at the Temple Mountain trail head.

Instead of heading north on the ATVs, past the miner cabins like we did in March 2009, we headed south on the Behind the Reef trail. The trail was damp in places because of previous rains and we kept a eye on several black clouds in the distance that threatened rain for later in the afternoon. Along the way we saw a lot of evidence of recent heavy rains with fresh washouts in the gullies and the damage from flash flooding.

But the weather was indeed cooler than normal.

The first stop was in Wild Horse Canyon.

We parked at the end of the jeep trail and hiked down the canyon a short distance so we could take pictures of Wild Horse Arch, a class “C” natural arch (sometimes referred to as a “natural bridge” though it isn’t).

Because there was a smaller class “D” arch next to it, I guess you could even call it a double arch. In fact, just below and to the west was another class “D” arch which almost makes it a triple arch!

Nah, never mind…

On the way back to the ATVs, we also took pictures of another class “D” arch called Play Arch, which is really more of a large hole in a boulder.

Next to Play Arch are the remains of Mr. PacMan, if anyone should ever ask what happened to him.

Near the mouth of the canyon, there was another natural arch type structure but we couldn’t decide whether it qualified as a true natural arch. It might be more of a leaning pinnacle.

Back on the ATV’s, we continued south to Crack Canyon where we parked at the Wilderness Study Area boundary and started hiking down the canyon. We didn’t really have a purpose for hiking in this canyon other than to just do some hiking and enjoy the area. We found several near slot canyon sections and a few dry falls that had to be climbed.

We did find one small class “D” natural arch that we suppose will need to be called Crack Canyon Arch.

We soon ran into a group of young hikers and soon decided to turn back. (We didn’t realize the canyon was going to get crowded.) We probably hiked a mile into the canyon before turning around.

Back on the jeep trail we continued riding south to the next canyon heading east which was Chute Canyon. We drove just to the end of the canyon road where the road had been destroyed by recent flash floods. The clouds were gathering to the west and we didn’t feel like hiking further into the canyon.

(Warning Note: When you see clouds like this heading towards you, DO NOT enter narrow canyons and washes!)

Instead we opted to take the nearby ATV trail which we discovered was the real “Behind the Reef” trail.

The “Behind the Reef” ATV trail begins by climbing up a steep dugway where fallen rocks has limited the size of vehicles to less than 52″. We had to stop several times to inspect the next obstacle and decide whether it was worth continuing. The sign at the bottom of the trail described both the beginning of the trail and one end of the trail in Little Wild Horse Wash as being extremely challenging. We found the first part of the trail to be exactly so and worried that we might find the Little Wild Horse Wash end even worse. The idea of having to come back that way was a bit frightening. We certainly didn’t have enough daylight to do that safely.

Still we continued and found the trail at the top to be much better.

The trail allowed us to continue south to the top of Little Wild Horse Canyon.

We drove just far enough to look southeast into the Little Wild Horse Canyon where the vehicle track stopped

We then back-tracking a ways to hit the Little Wild Horse Wash trail heading northwest and back to the main roads. Black rain clouds were heading our way and we wanted to get out of Wild Horse Wash before they hit.

The trail up Little Wild Horse Wash mostly just followed the drainage and went quickly with just a few obstacles from collapsing bank edges. Still it was over six miles before we hit the first dugway out of the wash. While the first dugway was rocky and a bit steep, it was the second dugway that made us clinch our teeth as we powered up the steep and rugged grade. We were glad to be on top and stopped to take a few pictures with lightening flashing in the near distance.

Several miles later, we discovered that we had yet one more dugway to climb and this one was the one that the sign tried to warn us about. It was steep, covered with large, sharp rocks and many obstacles. David was able to climb through the worst section but I got hung up. He had to go clear to the top so he could park his ATV and walk back to assist me. I just hung on with the breaks locked to keep from toppling over backwards. With David’s help, I was able to keep the front end on the rocks long enough to grind my way through. I was soon parked next to David’s ATV and we were both shaking.

Now we were truly on top of the mesa but with storm clouds bearing down on us, that wasn’t really the best place to be either. The rain held off until we finally reached the main road about five miles later. Then there was nothing to do but bear the light rain and ride as fast as it felt safe.

A few miles down the road, we approached some wild horses and I stopped to see if they were going to let me take movie pictures of them. A big black stallion quickly herded them into the cedars and out of site. Nearby I noticed two other stallions watching the proceedings from a small hill. (Wild horse herds are usually run by a senior female but it must have been close to “that time of the year” when the males show up again.)

The rain would be fairly light and then get heavier. At times the rain REALLY hurt when they hit the bare skin and it was borderline cold. (If it had gotten any colder, I would have stopped and put on my jacket. After the heat of the earlier part of the day, it actually felt good.) Soon we had our lights on to see the road which occasionally was washed out by earlier rains. We could see where another vehicle had had problems crossing one muddy wash. Then we came up on a small wash that was currently flooding. The muddy water looked to only be about a foot deep so we plunged into it. We made it through but were surprised to find that it was closer to about two feet deep and stronger than it looked.

Soon the road started to descend off the higher mesa and the rain stopped. It was warmer here and we were soon dry again. Finally we reached the Explorer, having finished a wide loop.

All in all, another good day. And cooler than normal!

Total ATV mileage for the day: 46.5 miles.

The next day I decided I needed to spend some serious time in human non-interaction and emotional/physical/spiritual decompression. After cleansing my camera of all reunion based digits, I jumped in my Ford Explorer, cranked the stereo up loud and drove north. Several hours later, the twitch in my face had settled down so I turned down the stereo and began to enjoy my surrounding.

It was another beautiful Utah summer day with mostly blue sky and a few puffy clouds that sometimes gave pictures  extra interest. I just drove through the northern part of Utah taking pictures of whatever caught my fancy.

I started taking pictures in Deweyville.

Then Tremonton.

Then Garland.

Then north to Riverside.

East to Beaver Dam.

Then Petersboro.

Then Newton.

Then Trenton.

Then Richmond.

Then Smithfield.

Then Logan.

And finally Wellsville, just as the sun was setting.

I then headed for home again.

Meanwhile, my wife called me on my cell phone to remind me that I was missing the reunion final dinner at her folks house. Dang it…

David and I drove my Explorer down to the north end of the San Rafael Swell near Castle Dale Utah and then south down Buckhorn Draw to a side canyon called Calf Canyon. This was a canyon that we first saw from the top earlier this spring. Because we noticed a jeep trail heading up the canyon, we made a mental note to explore it from the bottom. We figured this would be a good time to do this since we needed to plan a trip where we were moving most of the time to keep from over heating in the near 100 degree temperatures.

We parked at the mouth of Calf Canyon and unloaded the ATVs.

We then headed northeast up Calf Canyon until the canyon and jeep trail split. We then headed east up another side canyon called Pine Canyon.

When the road ended, we decided that we wanted to see more of Pine Canyon so we parked and began hiking south for just over a half mile. That gave us a good view up the side canyons and not so far that we were in danger of heat exhaustion. We were hoping for clouds to form and help cool things off some.

On the way back to the ATVs, the clouds started streaming over head. By the time we had wandered back over to explore the rest of Calf Canyon, there was even a slight chance of a rain shower. By the time we got to the mouth of Cow Canyon, the rain was actually hitting the ground and we almost got wet!

Delightful!

The most interesting things to see in Calf Canyon were a couple of large twin alcoves but we didn’t take the time to walk over to them and check them out.

We also got a chance to look at Calf Canyon Arch from the bottom.

So for the rest of the day, we enjoyed much cooler weather than the sun and heat that we had feared. The rain showers missed us for the rest of the day but the passing clouds made the ride very enjoyable.

Since it wasn’t long before we were back at the Explorer, having seen enough of Calf, Cow and Pine canyons to satisfy us, we loaded up the ATVs again and continued south on the Buckhorn Wash road.

After leaving Buckhorn Wash and crossing the San Rafael River near the campground, we continued south for another six miles where the dirt roads headed for Oil Well Flat and Cane Wash. We again unloaded the ATVs and this time headed east to Cane Wash.

Once we were finally in the sandy dry creek bed of Cane Wash, we found ourselves near the trailhead for No Mans Mesa.

We first headed north 3.5 miles until the vehicle trail ended at the a Wilderness Study Area boundary.

That was too bad because the canyon was just getting interesting. In another 6 miles, the dry wash dumps into the San Rafael River but hiking required much more time than we had. Instead of hiking, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the rest of Cane Wash on ATVs and ended up back at the Explorer just before sunset.

Along the way, we found some Bronze Evening Primrose blooming.

We couldn’t have picked a better or cooler day for exploring and enjoying the outdoors of Utah!

Total ATV mileage for the day = 38.5 miles.

Saturday morning, David and I headed for the center of the San Rafael Swell via Green River, Utah. We wanted to explore some country north of the I-70 freeway, east of the Buckhorn Wash road and southwest of Mexican Mountain. On the maps, this looked like fairly boring country but we wanted to see it for ourselves anyway.

By the time we left the main gravel road that joined the I-70 freeway with Buckhorn Draw and headed east through Rattlesnake Flats, the temperature was pleasantly hot. Every time we stopped to check out a vista, we were swarmed with no-see-ums so we hoped for a good wind for the day and we were not disappointed.

After an hour or two, we had bumped along the dirt roads, rarely needing four-wheel drive except for a few rocky shelves, until we hit the end of the road just 2.5 miles from Swazey’s Leap. We weren’t inclined to walk the two and half miles DOWN A CLOSED ROAD (grrrr….) , just to see the narrow gap over the San Rafael River gorge where the Swasey’s had built a stock bridge many years ago. Instead we started exploring side jeep trails as we headed west, back towards the Buckhorn Draw road.

One of the side roads took us for a distance along the east side of Drowned Hole Wash. From the rim of this wash, we could see a couple of interesting natural arches across the canyon which we proceeded to hike to. Because of the cliffs near the bottom of the wash, we had to hike around the edge just under the rim of the cliffs that formed the top of the wash. By then, the temperature was about 95 degrees but with a slight wind and an occassional cloud, it was tolerable.

The first set of natural arches that we hiked and climbed up to, turned out to be three class “D” arches. The bottom two joined each other near the back and the third was directly above them. The rock in this wash reminded me of limestone that corroded easily in the weather. This left faciful melted rocks and holes including the three class “D” arches.

I wanted to call the class “D” arches “Triple D Arches” but David had a problem with that name. He seemed to think that people might spend a long time looking at our pictures and say things like “I don’t see it… do you see it?”

We also hiked up a saddle in the cliffs so that we could peer into the next arm of the wash to verify that a rock structure we saw from the distance was not another natural arch. It wasn’t. We then headed back to the vehicle mostly following the path that we had come in on. By the time we got back to the Explorer, we had only hiked 1.5 miles but that was more than enough hiking in that heat.

Storm clouds moved by to help cool things down but the “virga” rain never reached the ground before it evaporated again. Soon the sun was beating on us again.

We checked out a few other side roads without seeing much else of any interest. However, by the time we hit the Buckhorn Wash road again, the shadows were getting long and the buttes and mesas were becoming much more picturesque. We headed north towards the San Rafael River bridges and campground where we spent the “sweet light” time taking pictures until after sunset.

We then continued up Buckhorn Draw and headed for home again.

Another perfect day exploring Utah!

NOTE: While hiking the Drowned Hole Wash, I mentioned to David that I had now spent over forty years exploring the Utah deserts and canyons. (Not counting a couple of years walking the paths of England and Wales.) After forty years, you would of thought that I would have seen enough. Still, every trip is new and exciting. We never know what we are going to see just over the next hill.

I hope I have another forty years left in me because there is a heck of a lot of Utah that I am still anxious to see.

(Someone needs to invent a “walker” for old hikers.)

From Moore Utah we continued south until we crossed the I-70 freeway and the road turned to gravel. We continued south, still pulling the ATV trailer, not really knowing where we were going. We were almost to the north end of Capital Reef National Park before we turned east and drove into the Middle Desert area. We finally parked and unloaded the ATVs after crossing Middle Desert Wash. We then headed down a dirt road heading south towards Salt Wash.

Our plans were soon cut short when I started having mechanical problems just after passing a corrugated metal water capture installation. I found that the bearing and seal had gone out on the rear left wheel. I limped back the seven miles to the vehicle were we loaded up and headed for home by continuing the loop through the Cedar Mountain route. That was a long way to drag an ATV trailer with little to show for it.

“A bad day in southern Utah is still better than a good day sitting in front of a work computer” … or something like that.

ATV trip total mileage = 14 miles.

First we drove north into Idaho and then west to the Burley/Rupert Idaho area. We arrived in Rupert just in time to take part in the 4th of July celebration in the town center park. The parade had just ended but the live concert and food concessions were just what we needed to enjoy a lunch.

I lived in nearby Burley Idaho for several years when I was young so I was surprised how large the Hispanic population was in this Idaho potato producing area of the country. Since all but one of the food concessions were for Mexican food, we enjoyed fresh tamales, tacos and burritos for lunch.

We then got back in the Explorer and headed south through Burley.

And then to Oakley Idaho, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. This was a old Mormon pioneer farming town with wonderful pioneer era two-story homes that were well kept.

Most of the town business buildings seemed to now be stone supply offices and outlets for the natural stone that was obviously being quarried nearby. The natural stone was probably keeping Oakley Idaho thriving since the town was at the end of the pavement, not on a highway leading to somewhere else.

The Oakley residence were even keeping the Oakley Opera House going.

Between Burley and Oakley were continual green fields of mostly potatoes, sugar beets and alfalfa. This looked like a wonderful place to live but I know about their terrible secret — the horrid wind, especially in the five or six wicked winter months. Nevertheless, Oakley is a wonderful place to visit — in the summer.

From Oakley we headed south on a good gravel road, past hillside rock quaries and were soon following Grouse Creek through the low hills.

After a pleasant ride through the hills and past miles of alfalfa fields along the creek, (the only wildlife we saw was a raccoon hunting the creek bed) we arrived at an active ranch where we expected a road to carry us through the fields and across the creek. However, the road was a private road and closed to the public. We spent the next hour or so exploring the area to see if there was another way but we were unable to find one. We turned around and headed back about 10 miles into Nevada never having gotten closer than about three miles to the tri-state corner. If there is access to this tri-corner area, it would be from over the mountain to the north.

We would have to come back another day and try a different route.

Oh well…

I wanted to visit (or re-visit) five different sites in approximately the same area. I managed to visit four. However, I found out later that I missed some pictographs in one of the areas so I need to go back now I know where they are located.

Site one:

I even spent some time taking pictures of the cactus and wild flowers, while trying to beat back the swarms of no-see-um biting gnats. They were bad in this area.

Site 2:

Site 3:

(No that is not a pictograph.)

Site 4:

The day was getting short and I headed for home satisfied for another day in the outdoors.