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Thursday, May 5, 2022

 White Rim Trail

Part 3

Impression Series

Gooseberry to White Crack

Day 2 


Gooseberry campsite
Nov. 29, 2022

After awhile it was time to go, we still had to make Murphy's Hogback before the days end.

White Rim Trail snakes around finger like deep basins such as the one our troop would be skirting near the Monument Basin. While the trail skirts near the cliffs edge, unseen to many travelers is that the underside cut back maybe beyond the very trail they're on.

There would be several challenging areas for our group to conquer before we get to our lunch
at the White Crack turn off.

In the photo above, the Lavenders are navigating around one such obstacle as we all did.
Further down the WRT we came head on with another off roader and was getting more bad 
news about Hardscrabble area.

The off roader that Kevin had talked to informed us that rigs our size most likely wouldn't get pasted a 
section near Fort Nelson ruins, the trail was that torn up! We were only a few more miles from the 
White Crack campsite turn off. 

The iconic White Rim Trail is known for being one of the top bicycling trails in the United States if 
not the world. We've seen several bicyclist during our WRT journey, this can be a chalice of a life
for those who tackle this trail this way.


The White Crack campsite was only a few more miles ahead as we passed by a hardie bicyclist,
stopping monmentary, to ask him if he had enough water. Our group camp upon the White Crack 
quick enough.


WE would have lunch here

At this stop, Kevin brought up about his fuel consumption on his rig, it was using more fuel than 
expected. We as a group would have to make a decision about going beyond Murphy's hogback. 
That answer to that question will be answered once at Murphy's Hogback. Meanwhile from 
here there are several more climbs and switchbacks to tackle to reach the base of the Murphy's
Hogback climb.














 






Wednesday, March 23, 2022

White Rim Trail

Part 2

Impressions

Airport Tower to Gooseberry

Day 2 

November 29, 2021

The dawn of our second day, the chill in the air as I wander around snapping images of this morning. Movement was stirring among our group as they woke up to this beautiful day.





Bryan & Susan Lavender:

"The Park Service has a permit system that limits the number of people on the trail on any given day and keeps the competition for campsites from being an issue. You don’t have to worry about finding a spot to camp at the end of the day because you know your campsite is reserved and waiting for you. There aren’t may campsites along the way, which combined with the limited number of daily permits, results in a wilderness experience that features NO crowds. So all that vast expanse of beautiful country and there is nobody jostling your elbow to take a selfie! Perfect!"









Kevin and Linda MacAfee:


"The road was slow going given recent storms but we made great progress, stopping often for photos.  We ran into a few vehicles traveling the opposite direction who advised that the road towards the end at Hardscrabble was in very bad shape and probably not passable by full size trucks with campers." 

Along the way the Lavender's photograph a small arch that even I had missed during the last 5 journeys on this magnificent trail and one shouldn't overlook the different forms of life in the surrounding area, even the small ones.






White Rim Trail  holds many challenges for us truck campers especially hardside campers. With the weight of our rigs up high extra attention has to be done on the truck suspension to counter the sway of that weight moving around up high. A week before our WRT adventure another storm had rolled through the "Island in the Sky" region making the trail more interesting!


Entering Buck Canyon area one can see Washer Woman Arch and Monster Tower in the distance (above). WRT would take us very close to these natural wonders and a off camber section that I personally call "The Big Tilt" (video below)




After the "Big Tilt" Kevin took over as the lead vehicle, his rig is setup to travel this type of trail much better than the rest of us. We were well within the Monument Basin area

A few more rocky miles we crossed paths with a fellow off roader.
Our group stopped awhile to gather some more information about the Hardscrabble shelf road. It appears that the shelf road has several wash out on the road that our rigs may not be able to navigate

After a few more miles our group arrived at Gooseberry campsite, it was time to stretch and get some of the road bumps out of our bodies.


 After a bit of walking around, workin the some of the knots out it was time to get down the tail. We still had to make Murphy's campsite by day ends

My personal thanks to Bryan & Susan Lavender and Kevin & Linda MacAfee, John & Vickie for the permission to use some of their photos and their thoughts during our time on the WRT.




Tuesday, January 25, 2022



                                            White Rim Trail

Part 1 

                                          Day One 

                                Impressions

  White Rim Trail lies within the boundaries of Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky region in the State of Utah. Canyonlands was designate as a National Park as of September 12, 1964.

  

 The pandemic had cause a lot of delays in planning this epic journey. Nonetheless plans were made months ago (August, 2021) for this TC challenge.

Our group came from all over the country; Bryan and Susan Lavender from Arizona, Kevin and Linda MacAfee from Minnesota, John and Vickie Jackson from Rhode Island, Alex and Julie Blasingame from California. Everyone met up at Horsethief Campground by November 27, 2021 for the next day the long awaited journey begins.



Horsethief Campground


                         November 28, 2021

Bryan & Susan Lavender:

“The first time we saw the White Rim Trail was years ago, from the rim of Island in the Sky as we were taking the usual photograph through Mesa Arch. Our first thought was, “That looks interesting!” But at that time we had a much larger truck camper and after minimal investigation decided we didn’t have the right combination of equipment to take it on. A few years later, with a much smaller camper and some contact with the truck camper community online, an invitation to join a group on this trail was a chance we weren’t going to pass up!”

Photo by Kevin & Linda MacAfee, Shafer Trail Staging Area

Shafer Trail, MacAfee behind the Blasingame

Jackson and Lavender on Shafer Trail


We couldn’t ask for a more glorious day of bright blue sky to start of this multi truck camper journey. From our perch on the Shafer Road/Trail we could see the far away La Sal Mountains, not much snow on them.

.
La Sal Mountains in the distance

The journey down the famous switchbacks went by quickly even if the road down did go to the rough side

 

Shafer Switchbacks, Blasingame and Jackson's
           

Shafer Switchbacks would in highsight be the easy part of the overall journey. Our first stop was where the vaulted toilet was at where the White Rim Trail begins.


Kevin and Linda MacAfee:

"Just after Thanksgiving, my wife Linda and I joined three other couples driving the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands. One of the groups had driven the route before and served as our unofficial leader.  I, Kevin, had ridden a portion of it on a bicycle so was anxious to see the rest by vehicle."

The beginning of the White Rim Trail




Looking back, somehow the Shafer Trail manage to disappear into the cliffs behind us from which we came (Lavender photo). 

After awhile it was time to get our wagon train going for there would be several points of interest to ponder before the days end.

B & S Lavender:

"Not long after, we began to encounter more and more rock surface instead of the graded dirt that we had enjoyed coming down the Shafer switchbacks. The pace slowed! This became a defining feature of the Trail. While not a technically difficult road, it is a road you must pay attention to or your travels will become more exciting than you bargained for! Deep ruts, steep drop-offs, overhanging rocks with white paint from previous (inattentive) victims, hard-to-see little (and not so little) drops in the road that could mess up your day… the White Rim Trail had plenty to offer. "

Reaching the Gooseneck Overlook presented a magnificent view of the Colorado River. A easy to walk trail led to the cliff's edge and even induced some hand holding.

Bryan and Susan hand "n" hand

Reaching the Gooseneck Overlook presented a magnificent view of the Colorado River. A easy to walk trail led to the cliff's edge and even induced some hand holding.

Bryan,Susan,John,Vickie,Kevin and Linda

Our overlanding adventurers left to right: Bryan,Susan,John,Vickie,Kevin and Linda

 
Gooseneck Overlook


I've (Alex) been to this overlook six times and the tilting rock is still hanging in there. Across the vast canyon upon the plateau is Dead Horse Point State Park where several movies have been produced there and one that's come to mind is "Thelma and Louise" where the characters drove their car over the cliff  to their doom!

Off to the Colorado Overlook just a short distance away that our crew travel to.Another eye opening sight of the very far below Colorado River can be viewed from, only you can drive your rig right to the edge of the abyss.

On across the rocky road to the edge of the abyss of the Colorado Overlook.


Several vehicle had made their way across the rough road to the edge.

John wandering off along the shelf's edge while Kevin snaps a few photos of the magnificent view below. 

 
Musselman Arch was stone's throw away and our group was ready to get there!

Parking area/trailhead to Musselman Arch







                                          John making the walk


Kenvin posing for his wife, Linda

The gang had some fun at Musselman Arch, making a walk across it. We had to get moving again, still a many of miles to go and they would be some rough miles making our journey a slow one!


The week before we venture into the bowels of the White Rim Trail it had rained.
 Washing a lot of the red soil from the slickrock thus turning our trail into one rock and roll drive.


With the trail so torn up our speed was between 3-5 mph for most of the time.

Bryant and Susan Lavender:
"On our previous visit to Canyonlands, we had only done our sightseeing from up on Island in the Sky. To be sure, the views from up there are spectacular. On the Trail, you are down in the Canyonlands and you’re seeing everything from the middle level. The views are up and the views are down! And they are simply awesome. And they are unending! It is a unique experience to drive through"


Despite the trail be in a bad way we managed to stay in sight of each other.

After a easy climb, around a blind turn Airport Tower laid before us just a short distance away.

WRT would come very close to edge, there was a small washout that no doubt had 
funneled rain water into the Lathrop Canyon to our left. This canyon would take you to the Colorado River about 5 miles away and from some report I received was nearly impassable at this time.

Airport Tower could be easily seen by now as we were very close to our end of the day campsite. Last week rain storms had left their marks upon the landscape. Leaving behind uncovered slick rock, gouges across the trail and still damp wash out river beds.

It was a long day and I for one was glad to be at our campsite as the others in our group. Setting camp up would be a easy task with our rigs.

After setting up camp a few of us wandered about, John taking his long walk, the Lavenders setting their cameras up and the MacAfee's wanting to have a evening meal. Our ever present overhead light would soon be making a quick retreat 
behind the ever present Airport Tower bringing darkness to us and the night sky entertainment.



This is the end of Day One and the journey to Murphy's campsite, next day, would be a long one.

Some thoughts about the trip by John and Vickie Jackson

 "Traveling on the White Rim Trail in our truck campers was decidedly unique and so breathtaking it's hard to put into words.  Ever so slowly making our way over the rough and bumpy road gave me plenty of time to appreciate the awe inducing scenery and to think about my place in the grand scheme of things.  I return with a renewed sense of humility and gratitude at the miracle of being here now.  How pleasant it was to share this experience with a group of people who love to wander as we do. " 


My personal thanks to Bryan & Susan Lavender and Kevin & Linda MacAfee, John & Vickie for the permission to use some of their photos and their thoughts during our time on the WRT.


Next Part......Airport to Gooseberry