Hole-in-the-Rock Adventure 2010

[IntrepidXJ]

Thursday, April 8, 2010 | Day 1

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171455-1/IMG_6280.jpg

Late last year I finally decided to put together a trip that has been on my to-do list for way to long. I needed to finish driving the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition (San Juan Mission) Route by driving the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail. I had driven pretty much all of the other sections of the route that are drivable except for this one. This was planned as a three day trip so that we could take our time and also get in some hiking along the trail. My adventure started on Thursday, which was the day before we were supposed to meet at the trail. I wanted to take my time driving to the trail near Hall's Crossing and also make a few stops along the way.

After stopping at Back of Beyond Books in Moab and filling up my gas tank in Blanding, I set off west on UT-95. Of course I had to stop at 'Salvation Knoll' since it was an important landmark to George Hobbs and the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171505-1/IMG_6205.jpg

From Salvation Knoll I made my way further west to my first trail of the trip. On my maps, I noticed there was a segment of the Hole-in-the-Rock trail that I had not driven that connected UT-95 and UT-276. After some research into the route, I found that it is still a valid route that is open to motorized travel, so I figured I would give it a try.

When I reached the turnoff from the highway, I was greeted with a well maintained county road. The sign even marked it as part of the Mormon Trail

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171507-1/IMG_6208.jpg

After a mile or two of the easy pretty well maintained road, it got a little rougher and crossed some slickrock sections
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171509-1/IMG_6219.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171515-1/IMG_6243.jpg

Eventually I reached a large section of slickrock that dropped off into a small canyon. I didn't immediately find a way down, so I parked the Jeep and hiked around for a while until I picked up the trail again. From this point on, the well maintained county road was left behind and the much rougher and narrower trail continued. It was hard to follow in many places and required that I hike ahead first, but there were enough signs along the way to reassure myself that I was on the right track.

Marker along the route indicating this was part of the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171519-1/IMG_6249.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171523-1/IMG_6254.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

Dropping down
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171446-1/IMG_6258.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171449-1/IMG_6266.jpg

Dripping Springs Canyon with more markers
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171451-1/IMG_6267.jpg

After using my navigations skills to keep on track, I eventually reached UT-276 and was back on the pavement again. Here is the route I drove, marked in blue.
http://myxj.net/trailinfo/HITR/DrippingCanyonSmall.jpg

My next destination was to take the Clay Hills Crossing Road all the way to the San Juan River. During the original expedition, there was a side reconnaissance this direction over the Whirlwind Bench to the Clay Crossing. This is an easy maintained county road that is used as a take-out by rafters on the San Juan. While the road is not difficult, the scenery along the Red House Cliffs is nice.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171457-1/IMG_6292.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171459-1/IMG_6300.jpg

This was a nice high-speed road, so I was back at the highway in no time ;)

My next stop was along the highway at the plaque marking Clay Hill Pass. This was another major obstacle for the original expedition, which spent eight days building a road down to the bottom for their wagons.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171461-1/IMG_6313.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171463-1/IMG_6314.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

A little further down the highway, I made yet another stop. This time it was to check out the Castle Ruin. George Hobbs of the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition spoke of these 'Cliff Dweller' ruins in his account of the trip.

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[IntrepidXJ]

After my visit to Castle Ruin, I made my way to Hall's Crossing where I met a few people from our group at the campground. I was not planning on camping there, I so made my way over to Cal Black Airport and fueled up before heading to Lake Canyon.

Navajo Mountain in the distance
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171485-1/IMG_6376.jpg

On my way to Lake Canyon, I got to check out some of the old wagon tracks from the expedition which had carved grooves into the slickrock.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171487-1/IMG_6384.jpg

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Deep wagon tracks
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171493-1/IMG_6410.jpg

When I reached the East Fork of Lake Canyon, I met up with Dave, Rob and Jared and we headed out to the washout of the Lake Canyon portion of the trail.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171497-1/IMG_6416.jpg

The original Hole-in-the-Rock Jeep Trail used to drop into Lake Canyon and then cross to the other side. A few years ago, the sand that fills the canyon (remnants of Lake Pagahrit) where the trail crossed the canyon was washed out by flash flooding. The lighting wasn't ideal, but you can see the washout of the sand in the bottom of the canyon below.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171499-1/IMG_6421.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171501-1/IMG_6427.jpg

From the washout, we headed back up canyon a little ways and setup camp for the night. It was a great start to a great trip!

Stay tuned for photos from the next four days.....I took a lot of pictures and it's going to take some time for me to go through them all!

[Cirrus2000]

Very cool stuff! Quite an adventure - I like the way you make "theme" trips. Looking forward to more!

[Reddirtdawg]

That took some work putting that all together for us. Thanks....it was great! Looking forward to more of your photos.

[blueeyes]

Thx for the report and pics. looking forward to more.

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using Tapatalk

[Win]

Great trip report, as usual. I really appreciate the information you provide, hopefully I'll get to do some of these trails.

Win

[americanhero]

Great report and pics. Can't wait to see more.
Would love to do this by myself.

[oldno7]

This is cool, thanks for posting your report, it is well done.

[Don]

Nice report. Looking forward to more!

[BaitForTheBuzzards]

We just did the other half of this same trip. We drove through Comb wash and then hiked over the Comb on the San Juan Hill trial that the pioneers built. I couldn't believe they could get wagons over this kind of terrain. Thanks for the report.

[IntrepidXJ]

Friday, April 9, 2010 | Day 2

After a cool night in Lake Canyon we were up early and broke down camp. Before heading out, Jared and I went for a hike up Lake Canyon to warm up. When we made it back to camp, we headed back out of Lake Canyon and headed towards the Nokai Dome shortcut which would take us to the Halftrack Junction.

Passed this along the way
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171547-1/IMG_6455.jpg

Stopped at Halftrack Junction
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When we reached the junction, we made contact with the rest of the group who were headed up the trail behind us. We continued on, knowing they would catch us soon enough.

and they did...
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However, shortly after joining the rest of the group, our small group left the main group again and headed the other direction. We went down the old trail and back to the washed out section in Lake Canyon for a different perspective.

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The washout in Lake Canyon from above
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Lake Canyon and the Henry Mountains
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171563-1/IMG_6550.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

After some lunch, we were back on the trail again. After crossing through Death Valley, we were soon approaching Grey Mesa. First we passed the old wagon track that the Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers had used to get their wagons down off of Grey Mesa.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171567-1/IMG_6559.jpg

Narrow and steep
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We would not be heading up this way. Instead we would be climbing up onto Grey Mesa via an old rough trail blasted into the slickrock by prospectors.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171577-1/IMG_6600.jpg

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[IntrepidXJ]

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171525-1/IMG_6606.jpg

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Once on the mesa, we were greeted with a few miles of smoother roads, which was a welcome relief from the miles of broken and bumpy slickrock we had just crossed.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171531-1/IMG_6620.jpg

Views of the Great Bend of the San Juan River from above
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171533-1/IMG_6625.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

Once we headed off the mesa on the other side, we were traveling on slickrock once again.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171535-1/IMG_6644.jpg

Headed down 'The Chute'
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Shortly before sunset we finally reached the end of the trail. It was a long day of driving.

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Dave and I setup camp away from the rest of the larger group, had some dinner and went to bed early.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171543-1/IMG_6700.jpg

It was definitely a long day behind the wheel, but it was also a lot of fun. Here's a couple action shots of me...

Getting a little air under the rear tire. Taken by Alex.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171587-2/DSC_8403.jpg

The following two pictures were taken by Dave on the way back to the washout in Lake Canyon
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171597-2/IMG_4720.JPG

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171601-2/IMG_4756.JPG

Stay tuned for day's 3-5!

[offpiste]

:2thumbs: good trip, how are you liking the wheel base in the 4 door?

[Sombeech]

:popcorn:

[moab mark]

:popcorn:

X2

[IntrepidXJ]

Friday, April 10, 2010 | Day 3

After a near perfect night camping, we were up early again so that Dave and I could hike down to Cottonwood Hill from the end of the 4x4 trail. On our way down we passed a number of grooves carved into the rock from the cables used to drag the wagons up the hills.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171638-1/IMG_6732.jpg

View of Aladdin's Lamp along the way.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171644-1/IMG_6741.jpg

The Hole-in-the-Rock in the distance, beyond Lake Powell. Cottonwood Canyon below.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171642-1/IMG_6738.jpg

The trail down into Cottonwood Canyon. This is where we stopped and turned around.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171650-1/IMG_6748.jpg

Nice scenery along the way
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Another trail marker
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171654-1/IMG_6752.jpg

You can see the trail cut up the side of Cottonwood Hill. The hike back up was not as easy as it was on the way down.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171656-1/IMG_6754.jpg

The Hole-in-the-Rock in the distance.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171666-1/IMG_6780.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

As close-up as I could get a photo of the Hole-in-the-Rock. When the pioneers encountered the cliffs down to the river from the other side, this cleft in the rock was the only way down they could find. They managed to blast a very steep wagon road from the top down to the river. This ordeal is where the name Hole-in-the-Rock expedition came from, though they encountered numerous obstacles in the terrain along the way.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171664-1/IMG_6777.jpg

Back near the top again.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171670-1/IMG_6789.jpg

Rob & Jared back at camp
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Navajo Mountain towers above as we start the trek back. Our goal was to take it slow on the way back and stop for a few more hikes.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171674-1/IMG_6803.jpg

A few slickrock fins to climb and descend.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171676-1/IMG_6819.jpg

Parked near the bottom of 'The Chute' to go on our next hike of the day.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171680-1/IMG_6827.jpg

On our way...
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171682-1/IMG_6829.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171688-1/IMG_6834.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

Jeeps below us.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171684-1/IMG_6831.jpg

Oasis in the canyon.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171690-1/IMG_6835.jpg

There were a number of large potholes filled with water we had to go around.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171694-1/IMG_6840.jpg

Finally, we reached our destination: Old Settler Natural Bridge

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171700-1/IMG_6860.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171696-1/IMG_6843.jpg

Dave on the steep slickrock
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171706-1/IMG_6875.jpg

Fun with reflections
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171708-1/IMG_6879.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171710-1/IMG_6882.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

Can you spot Jared high above?
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171720-1/IMG_6893.jpg

Back at the Jeeps....another reflection
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171730-1/IMG_6903.jpg

Our next obstacle....The Chute...straight ahead
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171734-1/IMG_6910.jpg

Going up!
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Ledge at the top of 'The Chute'
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Back up on the mesa! Heading towards the Henry Mountains
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171750-1/IMG_6936.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

Our next hike would take us down The Rincon trail a little ways. We wanted to try and find a high undercut pouroff into Iceberg Canyon.

After about a mile and a half, we were staring down into Iceberg Canyon, but not at the right location. We wanted to get to the pouroff directly across the canyon from this viewpoint.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171752-1/IMG_6938.jpg

Photo of me
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171604-1/IMG_6947.jpg

Soon we were scrambling up and over some steep slickrock domes to reach the other viewpoint. We did finally make it!

Long way down
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171608-1/IMG_6963.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171614-1/IMG_6980.jpg

Apparently, men are required to throw rocks from high ledges, so we abode...

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Great scenery along the hike as well
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171618-1/IMG_6985.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

Once we made it back to our vehicles, we were back on the trail again.

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Headed down from Grey Mesa

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171622-1/IMG_6996.jpg

When it started getting late again, we found a large area of slickrock to camp for the night.

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We were treated to a colorful sunset.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171630-1/IMG_7036.jpg

Checking out our videos from earlier in the day before turning in for the night.
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171634-1/IMG_7043.jpg

It was another long and very fun day! I'll have great memories from this day :)

[Cirrus2000]

Again - great stuff! Really enjoying this report! :2thumbs:

[oldno7]

Randy
This area is awesome. I would really like to make this trip.
Do you have any tracks from here you might share?

[IntrepidXJ]

Randy
This area is awesome. I would really like to make this trip.
Do you have any tracks from here you might share?

Yes, I did keep tracks from the whole trip. I just haven't had a chance to go through them yet.....I'll post them up here once I do.

[trackrunner]

this thread is full of win

[IntrepidXJ]

Sunday, April 11, 2010 | Day 4
Monday, April 12, 2010 | Day 5

We had camped pretty close to the end of the trail the previous night, so once we were up and packed up we made our way back to the highway. I didn't stop for anymore photos on the way out. Once back at the highway, a few of us stopped at Cal Black Memorial Airport to fuel up. Everyone else was heading back home, but I had one more day to do some exploring. On my way back towards Blanding I decided to try and head down Red Canyon to Lake Powell.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171830-2/IMG_7055.jpg

It started out as a recently maintained county road through some great scenery
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171824-2/IMG_7051.jpg

Henry Mountains in the distance
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http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171836-2/IMG_7066.jpg

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Eventually the road started to get a little rougher and had not been maintained recently. There were a lot of rocks and small boulders that had fallen from the canyon walls and had to be avoided.....even one large boulder I was able to squeeze by.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171845-2/IMG_7077.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171848-2/IMG_7079.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

Unfortunately I took a wrong turn by staying on the main road and not following the bottom of Red Canyon and didn't quite make it to Lake Powell. By the time I realized my error, it was time to turn around and head back out, so I'll have to come back other time to finish all of Red Canyon. There are a number of side trails in the area, so I need to go back anyways ;)

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171851-2/IMG_7096.jpg

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When I reached the pavement again, I headed to Blanding for some dinner. Being a Sunday in Utah, pretty much my only option was Subway. After dinner I headed south to Bluff so that I could check out The Bluff Fort Historic Site, which is dedicated to the San Juan Mission and their settlement at Bluff, Utah. I figured that stopping my this site would be the perfect end to my Hole-in-the-Rock weekend!

The Navajo Twins towering above Bluff
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http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171863-2/IMG_7116.jpg

Sunbonnet Rock, dedicated to the pioneers of the San Juan Mission in 1958
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Sunbonnet Rock and the Navajo Twins
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171875-2/IMG_7128.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

Here's a few photos from The Bluff Fort Historic Site

Kumen Jones Ruin
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171878-2/IMG_7137.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171887-2/IMG_7147.jpg

The Barton's well and cabin
http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171890-2/IMG_7149.jpg

Plenty of wagons around

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171893-2/IMG_7157.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171761-2/IMG_7168.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171764-2/IMG_7171.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

But I think this was the coolest wagon at the site, as it was one of the original wagons to travel through the Hole-in-the-Rock trail

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171773-2/IMG_7192.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171776-2/IMG_7194.jpg

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After wandering around the Bluff Fort for a while, it started to get late so I needed to find a place to camp. I decided to head over to the Sand Island Recreation Area a few miles outside of Bluff for the night.

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171800-2/IMG_7224.jpg

[IntrepidXJ]

From my campsite, I was able to walk over to the Sand Island petroglyphs and shoot a few photos.

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After a good nights sleep, I headed over to the Twin Rocks Cafe for some breakfast and then up to the Bluff Cemetary, where I found the grave sites of some of the original pioneers.

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http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171899-2/IMG_7304.jpg

Before heading home, I stopped at the Bluff Fort again. This time while they were open.

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http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171914-2/IMG_7333.jpg

http://www.myxj.net/g2/d/171917-2/IMG_7335.jpg

This was definitely a trip to remember!

[accadacca]

Just awesome. I love seeing your adventures. :cool2:

[moab mark]

Just awesome. I love seeing your adventures. :cool2:

X2

[IntrepidXJ]

I'm glad you all enjoy them....makes the work I put into them worth it :)

Thanks!

[ststephen]

I have to add my sincere thanks for all the time to put this together. What a great set of pictures along with some history lessons and just plain "wow" factor. I just shared this with my family remembering looking out over some of this terrain from the hole-in-the-rock. Another great addition to this site!

[oldhockeyvb]

Thanks so much for the great trip report. This trail is on my life list of things to do. Hopefully in the next few years I'll be able to plan a trip. This information will help a lot

[ibenick]

First, excellent trip report, top notch. :hail2thechief:

Second, it looks like some of the jeeps on the trip weren't heavily modified. I'm wondering if you could give me some insight on how my mostly stock 09 Tacoma double cab TRD Off-Road would do on this road... at first i thought no way but maybe??? If not, what mods would be the must do's to be properly equipped (lift, tires, etc).

For reference, here's a pic of me taking it on the other side of Hole-in-the-Rock earlier this year.